Xiaomi Mi 10 vs. Mi 10 Pro: Which version should you buy?

The Mi 10 series is here and ready to take on this year's flagships. As expected, the company announced the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro in an online-only event, although one that only applied to the Chinese market. Xiaomi had planned to host a global product launch on February 23 in Barcelona, but it has confirmed that it will do so at an "event in Europe at a later date". You can read the full statement below.

Xiaomi has wasted no time in pushing the Mi 10 series hard though, with the Mi 10 Pro already topping DxOMark's leaderboard. While we have included provided an overview of the Mi 10 and Mi 10 in the table below, it is worth highlighting the differences between the two. On the one hand, both feature a 6.67-inch and 90 Hz OLED panel. Both operate at 2,340 x 1,080 too, but the display in the Mi 10 Pro can get slightly brighter than its non-Pro sibling. The Mi 10 can still reach an impressive 1,120 nit peak brightness, but the Mi 10 Pro edges it with a peak brightness of 1,200 nits.

Additionally, while both feature a 108 MP main rear-facing camera, the one in the Mi 10 Pro has an 8P lens. By contrast, the one in the Mi 10 has a 7P lens. The Mi 10 Pro also has better ultra-wide and telephoto cameras, along with a dedicated portrait camera.

Furthermore, the Mi 10 Pro features faster-wired charging and more storage. On the other hand, the Mi 10 has a slightly larger battery and comes in three colours to the Mi 10 Pro's two.

In short, both devices seem like worthy challengers to the S20 series, or the upcoming OnePlus 8 and Huawei P40 series. The inclusion of a smaller battery in the Mi 10 Pro is rather strange, though. Likewise, we fail to understand why Xiaomi persists with 1080p panels when the market has moved onto 1440p and beyond. While the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro seem quite expensive by Xiaomi's standards, it is worth keeping in mind that the US$ prices below are estimates. Xiaomi is yet to confirm pricing outside of China, so we would recommend treating them as a guide at this stage.

However, if battery life is an important factor for you, then the Mi 10 may be the better purchase. Conversely, if you want peak camera performance, then we would recommend considering the Mi 10 Pro instead. Ultimately, both will probably offer excellent value for money when they are eventually released globally. Apparently, there are at least EEA, Global, Russian, Indonesian and Indian variants in the works.

Buy Mi Note 10 now on Amazon