Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite: 120 Hz 5G Smartphone with new CPU

After the Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G and the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite, Xiaomi was not tired of releasing another Lite smartphone. The Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite is even equipped with a new processor and 120 Hz display.

Technical data of the Mi 10T Lite

Xiaomi recycles POCO?

Despite the “Mi 10T” in the name, the manufacturer wants to visually distinguish the Lite version from the Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro. This is achieved with the central punch hole at the top of the screen, where the front camera is located. The two more expensive versions of the 10T have the front camera in the upper left corner. So the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite clearly resembles the POCO X3 NFC – that’s not the only similarity. Because the Lite also extends over a 6.67″ screen diagonal and places the fingerprint sensor on the right side.

No wonder that this screen is also an LCD panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate. Like its big brothers, it implements the Adaptive Sync technology, which allows automatic switching between refresh rates. The resolution is 2.400 x 1080 pixels, Gorilla Glass 5 protects both sides, but the brightness of 450 Nits is lower than on the Mi 10T Pro.

And yes, the back also looks damn similar to the POCO X3 NFC. The camera module is also central and has a similar shape to the digital camera lens as on the POCO. However, a camera sensor is missing. In addition there is the circle around the camera bump. There are other colors for this: Pearl Gray, Atlantic Blue and Rose Gold Beach. The last Colorway in particular is new to Xiaomi’s smartphone portfolio.

With a brand new CPU

As previously announced on Twitter, this is a smartphone with a new processor from the 700 series, namely the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G. The Octa-Core CPU was recently introduced and offers a 2.2 GHz clock speed, 5G support and the Adreno 619 graphics chip. As the name suggests, it sits slightly above the SD 732G from the POCO X3 NFC, but is slightly weaker than the Snapdragon 765G from the Mi 10 Lite 5G. In addition there are 6 GB LPDDR4X and either 64 or 128 GB UFS 2.1 memory. The Mi 10T & Mi 10T Pro get the faster and more current storage standards. But the memory is expandable here by microSD card.

Another similarity to the POCO X3 NFC, but also the Mi 10T, is the 64 megapixel main sensor. It offers an aperture of ƒ/1.89 and works with pixel binning technology, so that it ultimately resolves with 16 megapixels. In addition to this, there is an 8 MP ultra wide angle camera with 120° recording angle, a 2 MP macro camera and a 2 MP depth sensor. Why exactly the cheaper cell phone is given an additional sensor, which does not end up in the more expensive model, is beyond us. On the front is a 16 Megapixel front camera.

However, one must cut down a little on the battery, which is not quite as large with 4,820 mAh as the 5,000 mAh of the Mi 10T (Pro), but should still provide for a running time of 2 days. It is praiseworthy, however, that this one can also be charged with the included 33W charger via Quick Charge 4.0. Wireless charging is not possible here either.

Connectivity

One could almost argue that the Mi 10T Lite is even better equipped than the more expensive models in the area of connection standards. NFC, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, Dual GPS and USB-C are on board, as well as a 3.5 mm jack connector, which is missing on the Mi 10T and 10T Pro. You also have a hybrid SIM slot, which has room for either a 5G SIM and a 4G SIM, two 4G SIMs or a 5G/4G SIM and a microSD card. Besides the 5G bands which are important for Germany, LTE Band 20 and 28 are also supported. And yes, in fact the inexpensive Mi 10T Lite also has a stereo speaker like the POCO X3 NFC – nice!

On the Mi 10T Lite, the manufacturer has of course pre-installed the in-house MIUI operating system in its 12th generation, which is based on Android 10. With Xiaomi you don’t have to worry about regular security and system updates.

Assessment

In short, you could say that the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite is a POCO X3 NFC with 5G support. This requires a new processor, which in practice is unlikely to differ much from the POCO processor. Otherwise you get the same 120 Hz display, sufficient memory, the same camera, an almost equally sized battery, stereo speaker, dual SIM and the same design. What do you think of the Mi 10T series?