First of all, English is not my mother tongue, so I will ask for some leeway.
I have tested the new (well, newest if not new) the Mi 2S (about 1 month) while still having the Mi 2. I wanted to get back to the community in case some were wondering if it was worth a new purchase.
In case, people would ask as to where I bought the phone, I prefer to clear this point at once. My brother in law wanted to buy a Mi 2A for his wife but he only speaks French, so he tried to contact some websites and one held his attention due to some fast replies : www.phonasia.com
I wasn't confident at first knowing some websites where a trust relationship were already built.
Well, since they were using Paypal as a way to pay and he could finalize his payment via phone (they got a French and a UK number) and he got a good price, so...
I had my Mi 2S in his cart and I got it in about 10 days (in Paris, France). Everything went well at the end. For people who would want to buy through this website, I would gladly give my brother in law's email for sponsorship.
Anyway, now this is out of the way, I can begin my In Depth Comparison between the 2 smartphones.
The 2 devices : Xiaomi Mi 2S 32 GB (available since this Spring) and Xiaomi Mi 2 32 GB (available since December 2012).
At first glance, we could say that Xiaomi only changed the SoC (System On Chip), we got the S4 Pro then the S600. Secondly, the Camera got upgraded too, from 8MP to 13 MP (only on the 32 GB version though).
Well, it's not entirely true. Let's go see that.
1) What didn't change
The design of the phone, the vibrator and... that's all. Some photos of the exterior aspect of the two mobiles (we just can't tell the difference) taken from my Canon EOS 350 (a few years old Reflex).
The Mi 2S is on the left here.
More photos here : Dropbox at the bottom of the folder.
2) The Screen
We can't see it cleary on the photos but the difference is quite clear on the naked eye. The Mi 2S' screen is brighter but it's as if it was 2 totally different screens, it's still globally the same screen quality speaking but the difference is there.
Here is the whole screen on screen comparison : Dropbox
The Mi 2S is on the left and the Mi 2 is on the right.
Here is some shots that I selected where I think it would show the difference at its best.
I think the last one with the xda website is the clearer. When you zoom we can see the difference of levels about the white color.
3) Loudspeaker
I don't have yet any device that can measure the sound level (decibels) but it's very easy to tell which one is has the better loudspeaker.
I played a couple of songs while syncing them on both devices and we could clearly hear louder the the Mi 2S.
The downside is that I don't a very good ear, so I couldn't tell which displayed the better sound quality wise.
4) GPS
This is the main change to me. The old Mi 2 (and I tested 3 different ones (my brother in law's, my mother's and mine) had a crappy GPS to say the least. Sometimes it took several minutes, like FIVE which is eternity when you need it. I installed GPS Status, GPS fix but it only worked at first and only sometimes. It wasn't reliable. You can also find some of my posts in the miuiandroid forum in the dedicated topic named "GPS issues" (I think or something like this).
With the Mi 2S, it was like a entire different world, it was like Disney Land. The GPS fixes very quicky like any other smartphone on the market since 2009 - 2010 (my first Android phone was the Motorola Milestone, late 2009 and I never had any GPS issue). Google Maps got a fix and was guiding me within 10 secs. It is really is amazing comparing to what I had before.
5) Benchmarks
Well, I noticed a differential about 10 to 20% in favor of the Mi 2S depending on the used Benchmark. The Mi 2 is displayed on the left and the Mi 2S on the right.
First one : Quadrant Standard
I immediately ruled out that one because of the too great differential which is about 40%. Anyway, here are the results.
Epic Citadel : the difference was nonexistent. I think we got the same results because the GPU is strictly the same, the Adreno 320.
Vellamo : 10 to 20 % better in favor of the Mi 2S.
Vellamo also tests the precision and the latency of the Touchscreen. Let's see the results.
HTML5 test (no idea about the settings despite of the fact that is set on custom)
Next Bench is 3DMark Basic (Mi 2 is above and Mi 2S is below.
Now let's switch 3DMark to Extreme, there is difference of 5%.
Last Bench... Antutu !
The full results (some more details) are available here : Dropbox
6) Battery Life
Well, after 1 month of use, I really can't tell if the battery life is better or not. It seems to be, but it's very hard to tell on the day to day basis since it could seems better because I wanted to believe that and it depends a lot of the usage which is not linear for me. Some days, I would have plenty of work by mid day, the battery would be quite drained and for good reason. Others days, like my days off, I'm hardly touching my phone, and I would have plenty of remaning battery life (about 60%+) to last a second day.
But, I noticed the effect of the new SoC, the S600, the smartphone is not so keen to overheat as the Mi 2 while I'm using it not even intensively but, let's say moderately (emails + Chrome with 10 tabs + Tapatalk + looking at pictures). The Mi 2 isn't overheating but it is warm, at least warm enough to feel it (not hot, not at all, but warm).
7) Photos
Let's turn our interest on the Cameras performance.
Mi 2's shots on the left and Mi 2S on the right. First round of photos in normal mode, second one with HDR. I took the first photos indoor.
(the first shot wasn't set on 8 MP)
The colors taken by the Mi 2S are closer to real life colors. Details wise, I can't really tell the difference yet. The HDR mode on the Mi 2 seems to over saturate the colors a bit.
Anyway, what about outdoors, right ? The shots were taken during a cloudy day, so the lights weren't ideal.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...0cZzCqQ/s720/IMG_20130610_155745_HDR.jpg[/img
I noticed 2 things :
- the Mi 2S did a better job while lights weren't ideal
- again, oversaturation in HDR mode by the Mi 2. But, overall, in both devices, the HDR made quite a good job. Just look at the sky, we can clearly see the clouds and the sky while in normal mode, everything is "greyish".
2nd day outdoor, cloudy again (it's Paris, what do you expect ?)
These shots were taken with a larger range of colors than before. In normal mode, I can hardly tell that the new camera is an improvement, to me it's quite similar. Maybe someone with more photo experience can tell us more stuff about that.
The downside is that I'm not a photographer and I didn't respect some strict rule while taking photos.
Still, I think the Mi 2S did a better job with the Tree shots.
Let's en this photo shoot by test the cameras in very low lights environment :
The flash is clearly better on the Mi 2S.
The entire photoshoot is available there : Mi 2 Photos and Mi 2S Photos
Some people might draw way better observations than I did.
To conclude this long post :
What didn't change => the global design.
Otherwise, every piece of hardware changed : screen, GPS (!!!), loudspeaker, SoC, Camera and flash.
Overall, the user experience has been quite the same, the Mi 2 is really speedy enough to perform as well as the Mi 2S. But the GPS is a real big improvement to me because I really need it. The other notable advantage, I really felt like the phone isn't getting that warm, at least not as quickly as the Mi 2.
To me, if you got the Mi 2, it's not worth upgrading the Mi 2S unless you're an ultra geek (which I am) and you need the latest stuff out there.
Now, I guess it's time to say good bye and I want to thanks my mom and dad, my family, my friends for supporting me everyday... wait, wait, I think I'm writing, somehow the wrong speech here. I just want to thank you for reading my long post and I hope some of you would have found this one useful enough in their future purchased.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me here or via PM.
Very thanks for your great comparison/review! i just bought a mi2s, and i want to know how it's the network behaviour overall on this phone? Because one of the reasons to change from my Razr I, it's because i'm having a lot of data drops on HSDPA.... Thanks!
I live in Paris (France), and here, we've got 4 different carriers.
I'm using the one that suits me because I got great coverage at work and home. I can't really tell as to the strenght of the Mi 2S' antenna since my network with my carrier is great regardless the phone.
On the other hand, I have poor coverage with the others carriers, once again, regardless of the used phone.
All I can say is that once you are covered by your carirer and it is well done, then you have next to 0 problem (no data drops on DC HSDPA of stuff like that).
Related
So I was really considering on buying the 5s but now thinking is it really worth it?
They are boasting about the camera but they removed OIS! IR blaster though that's not a deal breaker. Guess camera is the highlight really
Here's a decent video https://youtu.be/ffO30N8OxtM
I'm actually contemplating about the same choice. I almost bought Mi 5 Prime with 3GB RAM, but was a bit hesitant because of the following things:
Mi 5 is one of the easiest bend-breakable phones so you need some sturdy case to mitigate bend break problem
(un)availability of custom ROMs as I don't think I'd like running MIUI on the long run. I would rather put some as vanilla as possible OS on it
Ordering from China is a bit risky
But in the meantime Mi 5S came out and I really like that it has aluminium back and upgraded processor although I'm not sure whether there's significant performance difference between the two. But if I do buy myself Mi 5S, I'll likely have to wait for a longer time before I'll be able to get some vanilla Android on it. Pixel is just too crazy expensive.
I guess I'll wait a bit until we get some feedback from the community to see how well this device is built and performs.
Just my 2 cents:
1) OIS on the Mi5s is not available for the sensor atm, might be, "might be" due to its large sensor. (As Google Pixel phones do not have OIS as well)
-On the bright side, the DIS works like a charm :3
2) If you want to get yourself "Daydream VR ready", do get the Mi5s as the Snapdragon 821 supports it~ (even though the performance increase is not skyrocket high)
3) After watching several videos from Youtube about Mi5 and Mi5s, camera performance is in fact increased for the Mi5s.
-However, low light scenario based pictures and videos would have varying results I suppose.
-Since it uses the same sensor as Google Pixel but not as great as Google Pixel's camera quality, future updates "might" be able to increase the Mi5s camera performance. (Or maybe even custom ROMs).
4) From what I heard on chinese Mi5s reviews/hands on, the ultrasonic fingerprint reader's performance may vary. Might be due to its 'newborn' nature (it is a new tech, so optimisation might not be optimal).
5) Like what literadesign mentioned, the Mi5 surely is a "bendable" phone. I assume that Mi5s alloy body would have make it less bendable. (Hard to say, do not just buy it to try its bendable level lel)
In the end, it is all about your choice~
Damn, didn't know the mi5 bends easy. The mi5 with 4way axis is a joke, seen some vids
What other alternatives are the part from op3? Mayne Zuk z2 pro
Hi All,
I've bought both the Xiaomi Mi5s (miui 8 global) and the OnePlus 3T (oxygen OS 4.03 Android 7) and am trialling both for a few before I send the loser (if you could possibly call one of these great phones a loser) back. I'm finding it very difficult to chose.
Either phone is a huge upgrade from my previous and very safe and stable iPhone 5s. I hope you can help me resolve my conundrum.
My thoughts so far on the comparison:
Software and interfaces:
Both phones have great software but for me the xiaomi swings it on being more customisable in terms of the interface, being able to easily change themes. As nice as changing themes is however, a lot of the themes are like those Kodi skins with weird phrases like "seize the moment" plastered on the home screen. It is a nice to have though and some of them have added some clever navigation features for app sidetray access.
It has a couple of other features that are nice to haves like 'force touch' and recording calls as a standard option but both of these features I would rarely use and can live without. Miuis second space feature is a bit surplus to requirements considering fingerprint locking is all you need for security I'm not sure why I'd need to hide apps etc on another part of the phone, I also found it a bit slow to switch spaces.
Hardware:
Here the OnePlus wins, more ram more speed, not that noticeable in day to day operations but the fingerprint sensor on the Xiaomi has been disappointing, even after rescanning my thumb a couple of times it still either fails to unlock or takes a long time to unlock. The OnePlus 3T is super quick on the fingerprint unlock like the speed of light and very reliable for me. Screen sizes on both are nice, I prefer the larger OnePlus though. I would also say the microphone sensitivity on the OnePlus 3T is better in picking up the "OK google" commands. Both seem to be quite quiet on phone calls with the earphones plugged in, if you make regular conference calls this is quite annoying and there are lots of complaints on the xiaomi forums regarding this for the global rom.
Camera:
This is where the big let down is on the 3T and probably the reason I am still hanging on to the xiaomi . Despite impressive specs on paper I've found shots low in detail compared to the Xiaomi and poor when shooting moving objects. Low light performance is not great on both but overall I feel the Xiaomi Mi5s is the better camera. Video recording I can't comment, both seem to very similar. I'm not a huge photographer and don't post lots of pictures to social media so maybe I can live without it. I'm hoping something can be done with the OP3T camera to resolve some of the above issues.
Athetics and buttons etc:
I like the feel of the OP3T better but the Xiaomi is easier to hold on accounts of is size.
Anyway I hope you can help me with some thoughts here, would love to keep both but I ain't that rich, ideally I'd merge the two but it just can't happen.
No offense but starting your review (and the software aspect) talking about themes is ..... meh.
felixjet said:
No offense but starting your review (and the software aspect) talking about themes is ..... meh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK so maybe you could suggest what's more important for you personally? Am I too hung up on the themes aspect?
Xiaomi Mi5s has a rear camera sensor with 1.55 um pixels (IMX 378 - As in the G Pixel), yet low light performance is not great? How come?
"Despite impressive camera specs on paper for 3T" - The Mi5S has more impressive specs on paper.
Because sensor is not everything my friend
I'm planning to buy Mi A1 in February. Since A1 is Snapdragon powered device in theory it's capable of SD goodies. It has slightly higher octa-core CPU(5X has hexa-core) and GPU clock speed, expandable storage and also have 4 GB of RAM unlike 5X that has 2 GB. I think it will be highly noticable in multitasking. Is there a huge deference (if any) between disabled and forced enabled Camera2API in photos? I'm worried because of it. Enabling Camera2API allows us to use Google camera from what I've heard.
Can someone post photos in different environments to let me compare them with my 5X, that would be grateful.
Hope Xiaomi release source code for this device before February, custom ROMs are "kill features for me".
If it's a bad choice tell me why.
not a major upgrade since 5x still has a support by google, camera is better, community is better since it's google,
Mi A1 released months ago but there is no source, You can't tell if this phone is interested from developers. The safe bet is to wait for a couple more weeks, maybe a month but this is just my opinion. You still can't go wrong to buy this phone. On 11.11 aliexpress will sell this phone for $184 + free shipping. this is insane price.
There's no noticeable difference in 6 or 8 cores, but difference between 2 and 4 GB of RAM is pretty huge.
I made 2 photos, one with stock Camera app(using HDR) and Google Camera app(using HDR+), I tried to make 2 exact same photos. First one is using Google Camera, second one is using stock Camera app: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VVaKFtKlq2ZNOtbz2
Also, kernel sources will be definitely released to public, question is when.
Compare with N5x, camera mia1 damn suck :v
matcho13579 said:
There's no noticeable difference in 6 or 8 cores, but difference between 2 and 4 GB of RAM is pretty huge.
I made 2 photos, one with stock Camera app(using HDR) and Google Camera app(using HDR+), I tried to make 2 exact same photos. First one is using Google Camera, second one is using stock Camera app: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VVaKFtKlq2ZNOtbz2
Also, kernel sources will be definitely released to public, question is when.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but can you take photos other than your leg lol. Does ZSL work? As in HDR+ works without loading spinner. I would super appreciate it if you can show us some night shots with HDR+
I've just migrated from N5X to A1 and so far I'm impressed. I was afraid of slightly bigger screen, but got used to it after few hours and now 5.2" feels "small" For me the main differences:
1. 4GB RAM, multitasking is working as expected, no more unfinished HDR photos, no more launcher crashes, ..
2. CPU is much more responsive, doesn't overheat and throttle. I wasn't able to keep up big cores of N5X on long enough, they were shut down very often to keep the temeperature down.
3. A1 is faster overal, app installations took half the time of N5X
4. Stock A1 photos in low light are not very impressive. However simple mod brings gcam (so far I like the simplest version the most) with its HDR+ which does pretty much the same job as on N5X with faster processing.
5. I am not interested in custom ROMs, but A1 is limited at this for the time being
6. A1 has shameful headphones hissing noise, especially with sensitive low impedance headphones. To be fair, N5X has similar issue, however solved easily with custom kernel and lowering the headphone gain. Once Xiaomi releases kernel sources, I expect this issue to be solved in the same way too.
7. Build quality is better on A1, however it is bigger and heavier phone. Better feeling, but a bit less pocket friendly..
8. ZSL HDR works, but with same mixed results as on N5X - bunch of my test photos were blurred. Never had this issue with forced HDR mode, so I'm using it exclusively. Spinner doesn't bother me, at least I know I should keep phone steady
9. A/B partitioning is super nice for seamless updates, but I experienced some issues with Magisk. After failed installation of some modules, Magisk image probably got corrupted and I had to remove it completely and install it again without such modules. Took a bit of trial and error, but I have fully systemless rooted and modded (build.prop tweaks) phone now.
10. Oreo vs Nougat - I miss only really fast boot times and easy use of substratum. Otherwise no big loss in my eyes.
11. attached crops of test comparison photos (Stock HDR enhanced N5X vs. Gcam HDR enhanced A1). Please note that I was able to achieve sharper results with A1, but this is the only photo which I have taken with N5X as well. And there are no legs
TehGooner said:
Thanks but can you take photos other than your leg lol. Does ZSL work? As in HDR+ works without loading spinner. I would super appreciate it if you can show us some night shots with HDR+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the work, so that was the most I could do at that moment xD But you can see pretty big difference between them.
I will make 2 more photos when it's evening here and will post it.
I switched to A1 from op3. Obviously it was a forced switch as there was multiple failure in op3.
Both the phones have their own upper hands and the most I miss from op3 is the super amoled screen. Low light camera in op3 was better but then A1 has portrait mode. Looks wise A1 is not less than op3. As of now, the phone doesn't feel slower to me in daily use as compared to op3.
@TehGooner
Try to guess which photo is taken with Google Camera app: https://photos.app.goo.gl/TKD0zxZZcdPLu2WJ3
matcho13579 said:
@TehGooner
Try to guess which photo is taken with Google Camera app: https://photos.app.goo.gl/TKD0zxZZcdPLu2WJ3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn it's really good.
matcho13579 said:
@TehGooner
Try to guess which photo is taken with Google Camera app: https://photos.app.goo.gl/TKD0zxZZcdPLu2WJ3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This makes me feel good about buying A1
Can't wait to get Gcam, waiting for Oreo first before rooting.
Sent from my Mi A1 using Tapatalk
I switched, and the phone is better daily driver. No lags or overheating, no more app closing because of memory running out. Does not have nfc but used only once on my Nexus. Mi remote is a cool feature though. Portrait shots are really good in daylight, and modded Google camera works great. What I don't like is that the phone should have launched with Oreo out of the box, or it should have got Oreo by now. There are no cool features like night light and life to check gestures, no double tap to check notification (this feature is present in redmi note 4, which has similar hardware). Android one seems more like a marketing strategy now.
Coming from a Nexus 5X, Mi A1 really is an upgrade. It's like having a more premium phone than Pixel devices since the device feels like an iPhone but with stock android. 4GB ram and SD625-14nm.
Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Dynamic range is pretty good comparing with "modern" tiny-sensored iphones.
Funny thing, that Nokia PureView 808 (2012) STILL provides better resolution and better signal-to-noise ratio.
S10 vs Mi Note 10
Hey guys. Here's a side by side picture showing the Mi Note 10 vs the Galaxy S10.
Unfortunately I've had to lower the size of the pics to 10MB because that's what the image host accepts.
On the right I included a cropped section from each camera. The Mi Note 10 has the higher megapixels
Notes: HDR auto enabled for both cameras
AI mode on for the Mi Note 10
Both pictures taken on the standard lens
MoneyFist said:
Hey guys. Here's a side by side picture showing the Mi Note 10 vs the Galaxy S10. ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks you! To me, the Mi Note 10 camera looks like a real winner. The detail of the Mi Note 10 shot is noticeably better, especially on the right side of the canal. I believe that the color balance is noticeably better, too.
I like the mi note 10 as the photos are not altered by the software more what you see and that's what you get. I love the Lumia 1020 and I used it for 2 years plus till it died, and I moved on to Samsung Galaxy S7, pic were good but unrealistic as colours were enhanced .
With this device I take more real pic.
If you edit the picture with Snapseed and +25 to saturation the Mi Note 10 pic looks almost identical to the S10 on the colour front
While waiting for my Mi Note 10 to arrive, I am starting to wonder if I have made a mistake. I am replacing a Pixel 3XL with the Mi Note 10, based largely on the initial camera reviews and the Dxomark rating.
But now I am reading less than rosy reviews of the camera, like this one:
https://www.androidpit.com/xiaomi-mi-note-10-camera-problems
I also saw the oversharpening and overprocessing with the telephoto lenses, as well as the fringing. Can others share their experience with the camera, compared to brands like Apple, Google and Samsung?
Also, how good is Xiaomi at fixing such issues with updates? I am afraid that like many other Chinese companies, they will drop support for the Mi Note 10 in favor of the bazillion new models they seem to have in the pipeline.
I received my Mi Note 10 and took a few shots. Overall, disappointing images, compared to my Pixel 3XL.
Main camera: The dynamic range of the main camera is not nearly as good as that on the Pixel. Even forcing HDR on the Mi Note 10 doesn't help much, as the Pixel shows more detail in both sun-lit and shadow areas. Strangely, given the higher resolution of the Mi Note, the definition of blades of grass in a landscape shot is noticeably better on the Pixel. Also, the colors are kind of "electric" on the Mi Note 10, not natural.
Portrait mode is poor in less than bright conditions.
In Wide mode, the dynamic range is also pretty poor.
Night city light shots from the Mi Note 10 are not as good as the Pixel, although in Night Shot mode the Mi Note 10 improves noticeably. But it still suffers from poor dynamic range.
The only shot where the Mi Note did better the Pixel was at 10x zoom. The Pixel 3 does it all with just one lens, and at its maximum 7x it had somewhat less detail than the Mi Note 10.
Sadly, the Mi Note feels like a second rate phone on the photography front. Funny enough, I don't have any issues with the rest of the phone. The fingerprint unlock is not fast, but I can live with it. I don't have touch issues on the edges. But the main reason I bought it was for the camera, which in my experience so far, is just not very good.
I am wondering what DXOMARK was testing and how they came up with their conclusions, which are so different than mine?
MacGuy2006 said:
I received my Mi Note 10 and took a few shots. Overall, disappointing images, compared to my Pixel 3XL.
Main camera: The dynamic range of the main camera is not nearly as good as that on the Pixel. Even forcing HDR on the Mi Note 10 doesn't help much, as the Pixel shows more detail in both sun-lit and shadow areas. Strangely, given the higher resolution of the Mi Note, the definition of blades of grass in a landscape shot is noticeably better on the Pixel. Also, the colors are kind of "electric" on the Mi Note 10, not natural.
Portrait mode is poor in less than bright conditions.
In Wide mode, the dynamic range is also pretty poor.
Night city light shots from the Mi Note 10 are not as good as the Pixel, although in Night Shot mode the Mi Note 10 improves noticeably. But it still suffers from poor dynamic range.
The only shot where the Mi Note did better the Pixel was at 10x zoom. The Pixel 3 does it all with just one lens, and at its maximum 7x it had somewhat less detail than the Mi Note 10.
Sadly, the Mi Note feels like a second rate phone on the photography front. Funny enough, I don't have any issues with the rest of the phone. The fingerprint unlock is not fast, but I can live with it. I don't have touch issues on the edges. But the main reason I bought it was for the camera, which in my experience so far, is just not very good.
I am wondering what DXOMARK was testing and how they came up with their conclusions, which are so different than mine?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I strongly believe that a 27 mp photo taken with a sensor 4 time bigger than the 12mp pixel 3 sensor has less detail compared with this one. Really, i believe that!! I swear!!
The dxomark test was made with the mi note 10 pro that have a 8p Lens system, but the difference Is very very little.
If you feel the pixel 3 photos Better than mi note 10, i suspect that you bought a mi note 3. Ahahahha
such awesome photo quality. I've got mi max 3 / note 8 pro / note 10 pro.
Note 10 pro is really really awesome and hassle free to install gcam
using this btw
burial: GCam_7.2.010_Burial-v6_release21.01.20.apk
mezza8512 said:
I strongly believe that a 27 mp photo taken with a sensor 4 time bigger than the 12mp pixel 3 sensor has less detail compared with this one. Really, i believe that!! I swear!!
The dxomark test was made with the mi note 10 pro that have a 8p Lens system, but the difference Is very very little.
If you feel the pixel 3 photos Better than mi note 10, i suspect that you bought a mi note 3. Ahahahha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe what you want. The issue is not resolution, it's dynamic range. Detail in strongly lit and in shadow areas is worse in images taken on the Mi Note 10, than in images taken on the Pixel 3XL. The color is also over-processed and looking just tacky.
I am really disappointed, because I thought I was getting a great bargain, but instead got less than I paid for (the Pixel 3XL is cheaper nowadays than the Mi Note 10 and the 4XL can be had for a $200 or so more, on Google Fi). I'll give this phone a week or so, just to make sure, but my initial impression is not good.
My guess is it's all software. I tried a couple of the GCam mods, one crashes after each shot, the other one is a bit better than the stock main camera, but still not nearly as good as the Pixel 3XL.
I am on the latest Global, with the January update.
I should also note that I am looking at the original camera images on a 30" calibrated monitor, where the differences are glaring. On the phone itself the over-processed Mi Note 10 images look pretty good, but while this may be good enough for some, it's not what I am looking for.
OK, just went for a run and took a few shots along the way with the Mi Note 10. Late afternoon, good light.
In my opinion, they are all are pretty bad, mainly because the dynamic range is so poor. On my calibrated monitor, they also appear overly processed and the grass takes an electric hue, which reminds me of Chinese phones from years back.
Here are a few Mi Note 10 examples here:
---------- Post added at 19:13 ---------- Previous post was at 18:49 ----------
And here is a few pairs of similar shots from the Mi Note 10 and a Pixel 3XL..
I can see a little more detail in the Mi Note 10 shots at 100%, but things are crushed and just don't look good:
I'd be really happy to be proven wrong, so I don't have to deal with returning the Mi Note 10.
Dear MacGuy2006,
I have been a silent reader until now, but I still have to give my comment here.
You say that the pixel images are better, I see it completely different. The resolution is worlds lower and the whole picture looks much more blurred when you look at it in detail.
I agree with you that the colors are a bit more intense, that's why the pictures look better at first, but that's not so. The Note 10 photos are just more neutral, but that doesn't say anything about the quality of the pictures, that’s only a part of the Software.
A small change in Photoshop (gradation curves and saturation) and the Mi Note 10 looks much better. I even think, after a little tuning in Photoshop you can't compare both cameras at all. In my eyes, the pixel is far behind. None of the photos of the pixel shown by you are better for me.
Regards
Pascal
Pentagrave666 said:
Dear MacGuy2006,
I have been a silent reader until now, but I still have to give my comment here.
You say that the pixel images are better, I see it completely different. The resolution is worlds lower and the whole picture looks much more blurred when you look at it in detail.
I agree with you that the colors are a bit more intense, that's why the pictures look better at first, but that's not so. The Note 10 photos are just more neutral, but that doesn't say anything about the quality of the pictures, that’s only a part of the Software.
A small change in Photoshop (gradation curves and saturation) and the Mi Note 10 looks much better. I even think, after a little tuning in Photoshop you can't compare both cameras at all. In my eyes, the pixel is far behind. None of the photos of the pixel shown by you are better for me.
Regards
Pascal
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Hi, Pascal. I appreciate your point and I agree with it.
But I think the issues with the Mi Note are a bit bigger than a small change in PS. I just lined up an image from the Mi Note 10 and an image from the Pixel 3XL, both at 100%, and took a screen shot. One would expect a much greater difference in resolution between the Mi Note sensor and the Pixel 3 sensor, right? I certainly expected a lot better, both in terms of detail and dynamic range.
But while the Note image has a bit finer detail, there is a lot of smearing and feathering. The orange/red tree in the upper right looks painted in both, and it shouldn't really on the Note image. While when pixel peeping I like the Mi Note 10 image better, I am wondering if all the smearing is causing the compressed apparent dynamic range? It looks like a Pointillist painting.
But as I said, I hope I am just overreacting and missing something. I'd really like for this to be the great bargain I hoped for. But I am not feeling it right now.
Just use gcam and small tweaks or even just load up pre-configured xml file can easily solve all your problem and achieve better quality image
MacGuy2006 said:
Hi, Pascal. I appreciate your point and I agree with it.
But I think the issues with the Mi Note are a bit bigger than a small change in PS. I just lined up an image from the Mi Note 10 and an image from the Pixel 3XL, both at 100%, and took a screen shot. One would expect a much greater difference in resolution between the Mi Note sensor and the Pixel 3 sensor, right? I certainly expected a lot better, both in terms of detail and dynamic range.
But while the Note image has a bit finer detail, there is a lot of smearing and feathering. The orange/red tree in the upper right looks painted in both, and it shouldn't really on the Note image. While when pixel peeping I like the Mi Note 10 image better, I am wondering if all the smearing is causing the compressed apparent dynamic range? It looks like a Pointillist painting.
But as I said, I hope I am just overreacting and missing something. I'd really like for this to be the great bargain I hoped for. But I am not feeling it right now.
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I understand what you mean and I've seen this kind of thing many times in pictures of Note 10. I guess the software just screws that up. The sensor itself is certainly much more powerful than you can see on some pictures.
It gives the impression that it tries too much to suppress the noise, so a lot of the details that should be there disappear.
Let's hope that a software update will come or Gcam will solve the problem.
- I would describe the camera like this: Right light, right situation, absolutely perfect shot.
- Minor problems with lighting (too little light or too high dynamic range) and the pictures are only average.
In my eyes it is not a camera that works well everywhere. The software simply needs more attention and time to take the right photo. By time I mean now the correct positioning or maybe manual settings on a photo instead of the automatic.
In any case the sensor has enormous power, but unfortunately not always and not everywhere
Pentagrave666 said:
I understand what you mean and I've seen this kind of thing many times in pictures of Note 10. I guess the software just screws that up. The sensor itself is certainly much more powerful than you can see on some pictures.
It gives the impression that it tries too much to suppress the noise, so a lot of the details that should be there disappear.
Let's hope that a software update will come or Gcam will solve the problem.
- I would describe the camera like this: Right light, right situation, absolutely perfect shot.
- Minor problems with lighting (too little light or too high dynamic range) and the pictures are only average.
In my eyes it is not a camera that works well everywhere. The software simply needs more attention and time to take the right photo. By time I mean now the correct positioning or maybe manual settings on a photo instead of the automatic.
In any case the sensor has enormous power, but unfortunately not always and not everywhere
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OK, I've calmed down
I went home yesterday and spent some time taking night shots with the camera and viewed the whole batch on my TV set up (it's a very large TV, calibrated On a large screen, I can appreciate the additional detail from the Mi Note 10. And you are right, under the perfect conditions the images are great. In fact, when comparing on the TV, Xiaomi seems to be closer to images from the iPhone 11, which is a good thing.
But on a lot of images, there is smearing and definite crushing of color in high contrast scenes. It seems the greens can be particularly troublesome for the Mi Note. I compared 108mp to 27mp and the smearing and the color crush is really evident only in the 27mp.
I wish there was a 16x9 option using the 108mp sensor as is.
I guess I was expecting too much. The Pixel 3XL photos still look more dynamic on the TV screen, but in perfect conditions the Mi Note provides better detail.
I will probably keep it and hope that Xiaomi improves the camera app to better take advantage of the large sensor. What is the experience of others with Xiaomi updates?
Why do you need a 16:9 option on the 108mp sensor? Just crop the photo into 16:9 afterwards, cause that's exactly what other phones do that let you take 16:9 photos.
Why 16x9? Because most photos I keep are eventually viewed on large 16x9 screens (TV's). I would rather frame correctly while taking the photo than crop later. I'd imagine that others prefer this too, since there is always a 16x9 option for the main camera.
Plus, the file size would be smaller and likely the processing time will be less, too.
Why frame correctly? You can also frame it correctly after. The 108mp mode isn't made for point and shoot. It's meant to get the max out of it so you still have to tweak a few things after so you might as well crop it. Takes 2 seconds.
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
It's not only the best phone I've ever used, I think it's clearly far & away the best in class for a phone today and I genuinely want it to raise bars for what's possible with the hardware. As a package, it's remarkable. Best in class overall & in many areas.
I just love it. Nothing is a disappointment. Getting on the xiaomi.eu ROM negated the ill effects of importing a deGoogled phone. It's reliable, charges in ludicrously quick time, is a fantastic camera, seems unofficially pretty splashproof. Feels good, looks good, sounds good, works with everything
Yes, it gets five snowflakes
A few weeks in I have an update!
I'm in the UK. I switched to EE as they confirmed what I figured out: band 20 is not their only 4g band for rural areas. All the old 3g bands are now 4g bands.
So I get 4g everywhere. I live in semi rural Cheshire. If you didn't tell me this had no band 20 I wouldn't know.
And the phone is running Xiaomi.eu rom. As no root yet I also run Blockada. The combination of both means no web ads and no app adverts either.
I feel like I've solved 75% of the software problems. Between this and the flawless hardware I think it's a flawless phone. As long as you're not a lazy user who never reads threads or works things out.
No notification light? TrueEdge works a dream for edge lighting customisable by app or even contact
Headphones quiet? Not with the EU ROM, no stupid warning either
Google maps? Working. I can see where I was yesterday
Everything else is just gravy. I can manage over a day between charges but it's a struggle. This can only go up with root, Greenify works without root to an extent but I do miss lspeed.
I would like to say. You're still importing a phone built for China. I cannot recommend this if you're too lazy to read the EU thread and put on that ROM which makes it westernised and with Google. You'll end up with a phone stuck in Chinese you leave to waste.
In that sense it's not a full recommendation. However if you're on XDA you should at least be open to the idea of modifying your phone for the best performance.
But it's my daily phone now. I use it for work and play. For music , video, streaming to Chromecast, amazing photos (seriously. Plus you can set it to RAW)..
If you buy it and never want to modify it you're either a fool or live in China.
If you buy it and want to unlock it welcome to XDA! You are reading a review of the best phone I've ever used (and I've been modifying phones since jailbreaking my iPhone 3g)
I miss my stereo speakers on the mi 10 pro and that's it!
If this phone had the same speakers this would be untouchable!
Build quality is amazing. I got the silver 16gb ram with 512 memory and I can't be more happy. Some websites like gsm arena state the silver model is actually ceramic not glass. Can't confirm
Antipecterial screen protector and case in the box are a wonderful touch by xiaomi
Screen is fantastic. Haptic feedback is too notch. Great hardware from all aspects
Speakers are good. Samsung level I believe but no where near the amazing ones on the mi 10 pro!
Battery is good. this beast just changed how I use my phones. Now I don't leave it overnight to charge it worry if I run out of juice. Between the 120w charger at home. 100w car charger and 55w wireless on my desk it is never below 80% at any given time on a busy day
Camera is good. Wide-angle videos looks like a GoPro. This is the first xiaomi I don't install gcam on.
I had a Mi 11 Ultra in 2021 but it broke after 2 months and requested a refund.
Last month I bought Mi 10 Ultra used for 320€. Very good deal, but.. taking consideration of being a used phone let me says these thoughts..
Cons first:
The fingerprint sensor doesn't work Calibration missing, suspected that it had a screen replaced, bought the 4 in 1 Calibration tool RL-071B(Yellow striped instead, wonder if thats the issue) and i cant manage to calibrate it on CTI menu, tried dozens of times, white paper black paper, diferent positions of the finger, diferent fingers, disabled dark mode, bright room, dark room, replaced twrp persist.img from stock and custom roms, tried diferent roms, official, xiaomi.eu. only havent rooted the device yet.
It's 3 step calibation, "Put flesh flat", "Put black flat" and "Put flesh chart horizontaly", and most of the error is "1505 bad point cluster".
I saw tones of videos of people succeding it but I grow tired of this and almost lost hope, most local repair shops in my city don't even know these workarounds.
So i'm only using pattern and facial unlock sadly. If anyone want to help me find another solution for the fingerprint, PM me.
The camera while using either Xiaomi.eu or oficial china stock miui 13.0.4.0/13.0.5.0, Miui 12/A10 12.0.9.0 have camera focus issues. Just tonight on 13.0.5.0 xiaomi.eu recorded a video at night and it keeps loosing focus and take too long to recover with objects more then at 3 meter distance.
Sometimes even close objects and specially in low light.
The battery charges from 5% to 100% in 40min with 120w charger (i have a 120w chinese charger and a 120w european charger both bought by the previous user) in 13.0.4.0/13.0.5.0. Read somewhere that from 12.0.6.0 to 12.0.9.0 Xiaomi started to cut down on charging speed. making the 120w useless. This is mostly a 67w charger time like the Mi 11 Ultra. Maybe to avoid damaging the battery since its a Li-polimer and not a Si-O2 like the Mi 11/12 Ultra.
I have the Xiaomi 80W wireless charger adapter when i bought the mi 11 ultra but i don't like cause it makes abit of noise while chargind by blowing fans to it to keeping the device cool down. Charging times are around 1hour 30min more or less.
Display autobrightness during low light is too low but this is a simpthom of most Xiaomi devices. (fixed by flashing a fix but might lead to bootloop on certain roms)
Sadly, only way to use stock navigation gestures with third party launchers like my Nova launcher was to use a Android 10 rom, now i have to resort to keep navigation buttons and use 3rd party navigation gestures like "My Gestures" if i want to use Nova launcher. This is fixed in Samsung devices including my Galaxy Note 10+ Android12. Damn you Xiaomi..
I don't use Android 10 cause Bluetooth might glitch as it happen to me where i couldnt turn it on on miui 12, if you dont update Bluetooth and the update only happens in miui 13 to my knowledge. Fixed it by flashing miui 13/A12 again.
Longest wait i ever had on unlocking bootloader, 360 hours, my Mi 11 Ultra was around 168 hours back then.
Pros now:
Excelent detail of cameras ofc. Specialy during day shots the automatic swtich to ultrawide for macros is great (Missing that option on Mi 11 ultra back then)
The ultrawide lens is so wide that need to have special care not to put my fingers in front of them. xD
And the Zoom lens has OIS and its good. But there were alof of misconceptions that it was a 10x zoom but it ain't its 120mm so its closer to 5x, the good thing it's a 48mp zoom so it can binn zoom shots for extra detail.
The curve display is not that curved, like some curved smartphones, which is a good thing to avoid acidental touches and the Miui setting also helps on that.
The display brightness outdoor during sunlight is also good.
I had a Galaxy Note 10+ and i liked the Vivid colors option and for the mi 10 ultra to have the same kind of colors they need to be in "saturated option, Warm temperature".
My used battery is showing excelent quality in settings and it's lasting a good ammount. I have everything turn on (120hz, Dual Wifi(see bellow), Bluetooth on with Honor magic watch 2 connected and Health app with no battery optimization, location on, dark mode on, NFC on, Always on display with mountain superwallpaper on, exception is mobile data off).
With accubattery is showing bettween 7hour20min use and now recently with xiaomi.eu 13.0.5.0 it's showing 8hours30min but it's probably still updating to my use since i flashed it)
The sound is loud (not as loud as Mi 11 Ultra is i recall) and has a good balance between stereo speakers.
The Equalizer options with Bluetooth earbuds and probably work with usb-c are amazing. Lets you Amp those your earbuds to levels i rarely see in other phones, and lets you choose Xiaomi earbuds presets even if they are not Xiaomi earbuds like my Soundcore Life A2 NC. It's an amazing feature to be honest. The virtual surround option there is mostly a gimmick and adds abit of eco.
Wifi range is trully wonderful, i had several phones, Sony, Samsung and a Vivo Nex S xD and none compare to the MI 10/11 Ultras, My opinion is probably based by the restrictions of Specific Absorption Rate(SAR) that in Europe and the US has, that limits wifi and network quality and on China these must be diferent. This is the radiation that the phones produce. If i ever get cancer you can say i told you so... just kiding really.
My Galaxy note 10+ was always leaving me in a bad spot when it comes to that where i couldn't show my friends a proper youtube video cause it was always loading.
Despite not metting my country requirments for 5g and 4g networks, missing 4g B20 and 5G N78 i still have good signal quality and 5g connects alot of times in my city. Never done a speed test cause my traffic is very limited but no problem watching a 1080p youtube video, and i had issues with my 4g Galaxy Note 10+.
Haptic feedback motor is also very good, not as good as Mi 11 Ultra, but it only works for MIUI UI and not youtube videos or games for example to my knowledge.
There are hidden options that can be recalled using the App called Miui Hidden settings from NetVor.
These hidden settings include Dual Wifi that was only Mi 11 Ultra and connect to a 2.4g and 5G wifi at same time to have better speeds and stable connection, or have 2 diferent wifi at home and stay connected to them all the time. At my home i have 1gb speeds and im getting 550-720mb wifi speeds but with dual wifi 2.4gz+5ghz i get 850mb.
They let you enable better HDR videos if that works (not sure) and also enable the never enabled tecnology called MEMC for smoother videos (also not sure it works properly).
That's it.
Despite some mishaps it's a wonderful device, if one day i grow tired of it and want to buy another phone it's going to be hard to sell if fingerprint is not working properly.