Redmi Note 10S review: Good phone, but overshadowed by the Note 10 Pro

The Redmi Note 10S is good value for money on paper, but starting at Rs 14,999, is it a better deal than the Redmi Note 10 Pro that starts at Rs 15,999? Read on to find out.

When we first heard about the Redmi Note 10S, we were confused as to why Redmi needed a fourth device in the Note 10 series, which covered the budget to mid-range smartphone segment pretty well with the existing three devices. The fact that the Redmi Note 10S starts at just Rs 1,000 lower than the Redmi Note 10 Pro made its existence even more questionable.

We have now spent about a week with the Redmi Note 10S and here’s what we think about it, starting with a quick look at its specifications.

Redmi Note 10S specs: 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED screen | MediaTek Helio G95 SoC | 64MP+8MP+2MP+2MP rear camera + 13MP front camera | 6GB RAM | 64/128GB storage | 5,000mAh battery + 33W fast charging |

Redmi Note 10S review: What’s good?

The Redmi Note 10S is a good looking phone and it’s also one that feels great in hand. The design aesthetics seen on the other Redmi Note 10 variants are found here. The slim 8.3mm build is great to hold, and the back is also gorgeous. However, the plastic back makes the phone a little slippery.

We also loved the stereo speaker design on the Redmi Note 10S that has outputs from nearly diagonal points of the phone’s chassis. This makes it hard to block both speakers when playing games or watching movies. The speaker output is not exactly even across both panels, however, this is still a better experience than having a single speaker. 

Redmi Note 10S review: What’s not good?

There isn’t a lot the Redmi Note 10S does wrong. However, if we were nitpicking, the phone could have implemented a higher-refresh-rate display for those of us looking for that smooth scrolling action. The two 2MP sensors don’t really offer much. Perhaps a higher-resolution ultrawide sensor would have made this a more well-rounded rear camera setup. The front camera is simply too poor for anything beyond a few casual selfies and video calls.