Xiaomi continues to push out affordable flagship phones of a quality to make Apple, Samsung, Google and the rest sit up and take notice, and today we've been treated to three more: the Mi 10T Pro, the Mi 10T, and the Mi 10T Lite.
Perhaps most notable of the specs on show here are the 144-Hz refresh rate screens that adorn the Mi 10T Pro and the Mi 10T models – a refresh rate that fast is still very much a rarity in smartphones, but it should guarantee incredibly fluid scrolling and animations.
This pair of 5G-equipped, top-end phones also come with triple-lens camera configurations, with the Mi 10T Pro carrying a huge 108-MP sensor as its primary camera, alongside 13-MP wideangle and 5-MP macro sensors. The Mi 10T matches up, but its main sensor is rated at 64 MP.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 powers both the Mi 10T Pro and the Mi 10T, the same premium processor inside the likes of the OnePlus 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S20. It's joined by 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB or 256 GB of storage (Mi 10T Pro), or 6 GB or 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage (Mi 10T).
Both phones sport a 6.67-inch, 2,400 x 1,080 pixel LCD display, only punctuated by a small punch hole notch for the front-facing camera. The fingerprint sensor has been moved to the power button on the side.
That makes the Mi 10T Pro and the Mi 10T very similar – it's really just the improved camera lens and higher storage options that set the Pro model apart. As for the Mi 10T Lite, it's a step down in specs, but also more affordable.
The Lite variant runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor, with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB or 128 GB of internal storage. It has a triple-lens, 64-MP + 8-MP + 2-MP rear camera that's slightly inferior to the ones on the other models, but it keeps the same 6.67-inch, 6.67-inch, 2,400 x 1,080 pixel LCD screen – albeit with just a 120-Hz refresh rate.
As usual with Xiaomi, the starting prices are worth noting: €599 (about US$700) for the Mi 10T Pro, €499 ($585) for the Mi 10T, and just €279 ($325) for the Mi 10T Lite. At the moment it doesn't look as though these phones will go on sale directly in the US.
Xiaomi did have a couple of other interesting bits of technology to show off at today's launch: firstly a compact 65-W fast charging adapter, which uses up-and-coming GaN (gallium nitride) technology to get more charging power out of fewer components. It will work with the new phones, though they max out at 33-W fast charging.
Then there's another Mi Watch – not the Mi Watch that Xiaomi already sells and that runs on Wear OS, but another smartwatch with its own custom software. Xiaomi says the wearable offers an impressive 16 days between battery charges, and it comes with Alexa on board. It's going on sale in Europe for €99 (about $115).
Product page: Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
