We have seen the Snapdragon 680 in a range of devices already. The price range generally varies from Tk16,500 to Tk28,000.
The previous cheapest handset with the Snapdragon 680 inside was Xiaomi Redmi Note 11. This time around, Xiaomi broke its own record by releasing another 680-powered handset at an even lower price. The Xiaomi Redmi 10C.
The 4GB+64GB version of the phone is priced at Tk13,999 while the 4GB+128GB version will cost Tk14,999.
Aesthetic
The look of the Redmi 10C is a bit subjective. While I liked the texture on the back, some might not like it. On the other hand, the placement of things seemed a bit off to me. Some might be okay with that.
The phone is really tall. In a tall phone like this, putting the fingerprint sensor beside the camera units at the top was a bad move for sure.
The headphone jack is also located on top instead of the bottom, which also bothered me a little. Although Xiaomi has been doing it for a while now.
The placement of the volume rockers also seemed a bit higher than what I would have recommended.
That being said, the 190 grams phone fits quite well on hand because Xiaomi only made it taller while keeping the wideness comfortable enough for a strong grip. The phone is 8.3 mm thin.
Redmi 10C is available in three colours — Graphite Gray, Ocean Blue and Mint Green.
Performance
As mentioned earlier, the phone is powered by a Snapdragon 680 chipset, which is a quite standard choice nowadays for phones that cost between Tk16,000 to Tk20,000.
What was surprising though is the fact that Xiaomi managed to use it in a smartphone that costs only Tk14,000.
There’s not much new to say about Snapdragon 680 at this point. For a smartphone this price, the Snapdragon 680 is more than enough. This is a chipset that handles all the basic tasks without breaking a sweat. This is not a gaming chipset by any means, but it does offer a decent gaming performance while playing graphics-intensive games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile or Asphalt 9.
However, the best part about this chipset is the fact that it is only 6nm in size. This is an extremely power efficient chipset and an ideal choice for budget smartphones since one of the perks of these smartphones is the battery life.
Display
The phone has a massive 6.71 inches IPS LCD display with an 82% screen-to-body ratio. GMSArena shows that the phone has Corning Gorilla Glass protection.
The display is vibrant and decent for its price range. However, the resolution is only 720 x 1650 pixels.
Having a 720p display in a smartphone is also something subjective when it comes to the users. Many believe that 720p displays do not look as good as 1080p displays while many argue that 720p displays are a better choice for low-budget phones considering the specifications of the hardware.
We have reviewed many 680-powered smartphones with a 1080p display before. While there’s no doubt that 680 is capable of rendering all the pixels 1080p has to offer, I would still agree with the latter people.
You see, the price of the Redmi 10C is really low, and Xiaomi clearly had to do some cost-cutting along the way. Now, if this choice was given to me, and I needed to choose between the look, display resolution and performance, I would have undoubtedly chosen the performance, exactly what Xiaomi did.
And it is not only the boost in performance you are going to get. This one decision will also benefit when it comes to battery life. 720p displays will generally be less power-hungry than 1080p displays and the differences between them will be barely visible unless you use a Google Cardboard VR set.
Camera
While it is not wise to expect a quad-camera setup from a smartphone that costs only Tk14,000, Xiaomi did make it look like the phone has four cameras while it has only two.
On the back, you will see a square camera unit, within which four little circles will be visible. One of which is a 50MP main camera and another is a 2MP depth sensor. The rest two are only a circle with AI written on it and another is the flash.
The 50MP primary camera performs the way it should in a smartphone at this price point. The images are sharp and have some boosted colours. The portrait images are just a treat for the eyes.
In front, the phone has a 5MP selfie camera. It also performs well.
However, what does not perform well is video taking. There’s not much to complain here, to be honest. Both the back and front camera supports 1080p video in 30fps without any stabilization. It’s better not to capture videos on a shaky platform.
Battery
This is where things get interesting. Remember the argument on 720p displays? You will get the most out of it in battery backup.
The phone has a 5,000 mAh battery with an 18-watt charging brick. It takes a little more than 2 hours to fully charge. However, due to the power-efficient chipset and a lower resolution display, it easily lasts for a day and a half.
Final verdict
Long story short, Xiaomi Redmi 10C is a device highly recommended within a 14k price range. The phone has an excellent chipset within this price, a decent camera, nice battery life and a good display.
If you are looking for a performance-centric phone within 14k, you can definitely go for it without a second thought.
