Xiaomi Mi 10T release date, price, design, specs & news
It’s been several months since Xiaomi unveiled its Mi 10 flagship devices but a set of premium mid-rangers – in the form the of Mi 10T, Mi 10T Lite, andMi 10T Pro– have followed them. Today, Xiaomi has announced UK pricing and availability details for the series.
With high refresh rates and big camera sensors across the lineup, all three phones look like portable powerhouses – even the Lite phone packs in a 120Hz display and the global debut of the Snapdragon 750G chipset.
Check out episode 35 of our weekly mobile podcast Fast Charge (below), where we talk about the Mi 10T series in more detail.
When will the Xiaomi Mi 10T phones release?
Xiaomi launched the Mi 10T series globally on 30 September. A UK launch event followed on 19 October.
In the UK, the Mi 10T and 10T Pro will be available to pre-order from 30 October until 5 November. Both phones go on sale on 6 November.
The Mi 10T Lite will be available to purchasedirectly from Xiaomifrom 26 October, but pre-orders on contract begin on 30 October fromVodafone.
SeeWhere to buy Xiaomi Mi 10T seriesfor more details.
How much do the Mi 10T phones cost?
The Mi 10T starts from £469/€499, jumping to€549 for a model with extra RAM.
The Mi 10T Pro is only a little more at £599/€599, with a higher storage SKU at €649.
Finally, the Mi 10T Lite comes in even lower. It starts from just £229/€279r. Meanwhile, the model with extra storage is only £299/€329.
What are the Mi 10T specs & design?
The Mi 10T is a surprisingly powerful device for one that’s ostensibly a mid-ranger. Here are the headline numbers:
The headline spec is really the 144Hz refresh rate display – tech so far seen only in gaming phones, and faster than the 120Hz panels seen in many other flagships this year. The only compromise is that the panel is an LCD, rather than OLED.
The main camera is a 64Mp shooter – down from the 108Mp found in theoriginal Mi 10– but it should still be very capable thanks to a large sensor size. It’s joined by an ultrawide and a macro, with a 20Mp selfie shooter too.
The 5000mAh battery is actually a slight upgrade on the Mi 10, as is the 33W charging – though note that wireless charging has been dropped.
Once again it’s powered by the Snapdragon 865 – which means 5G support too – and comes with either 6GB or 8GB RAM, and 128GB storage.
As for the design, it comes in black or silver, with Gorilla Glass 5 coating both the display – which is flat, not curved – and the phone’s rear. Xiaomi describes it as ‘splash-proof’, but doesn’t list a specific IP rating. As with the other two Mi 10T phones, there’s a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
What about the Mi 10T Pro?
Finally, the big daddy. The Mi 10T Pro takes the best of the Mi 10T and adds a little extra:
The big change is the camera, which uses the same 108Mp sensor as the original Mi 10. That ‘1/1.33” super sensor’ will capture far more light, for better dynamic range and lowlight performance – not to mention enabling 8K video capture.
RAM starts from 8GB, and storage goes up to 256GB, but otherwise, the core specs are the same as the Mi 10T, as are the other camera lenses, the battery, and the charging speed.
The phone looks similar too. It’s basically the same size and weight, with the same black and silver finishes, but it throws in an extra light blue model that’s Pro-only.
What about the Mi 10T Lite?
The Mi 10T Lite understandably drops a few key specs down, but it’s still a pretty compelling offering:
There are two main differences to note here. First up, the display refresh rate drops from an industry-leading 144Hz to a still-very-impressive 120Hz – though otherwise, the displays are essentially the same.
The chipset is arguably a bigger change, as the Mi 10T Lite is the first phone in the world to use the newQualcomm Snapdragon 750G chipset. It still delivers full 5G support, but processing and graphics performance will drop a little from the 865 in the other two devices. It should still be very capable for most tasks but might suffer a tiny bit in serious gaming.
RAM is just 6GB, and entry-level storage drops to 64GB, though 128GB is still an option. The 4820mAh battery is technically slightly smaller than the Mi 10T, but likely not enough to matter, especially with the lower power chipset. Charging speed is the same too.
The main camera is the same as the Mi 10T, but the other lenses have lower Mp counts – though there’s an additional depth sensor to make up for it.
The design is quite different though. The punch-hole selfie camera has moved from the corner to the centre, and the rear camera lens has made the same move and changed shape. In fact, the camera module here looks incredibly similar to the module onXiaomi’s recent Poco X3.
The Lite is also a little more colourful, with dark blue, dark grey, and a rose gold/teal gradient finish – though it’s still made out of Gorilla Glass 5, rather than opting for a cheaper plastic back.
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Author: Dominic Preston, Contributor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming.
