The Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro mark the end of the era of affordable Xiaomi flagships

[Redaktion]

Yesterday, Xiaomi launched the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro globally. While the phones are solid offerings, some would consider them to be priced inappropriately, with the Mi 10 Pro carrying a hefty €999 MSRP. But are the phones overpriced? Well, the numbers seem to say so.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-Xiaomi-Mi-10-and-Mi-10-Pro-mark-the-end-of-the-era-of-affordable-Xiaomi-flagships.459254.0.html

[skoda9635]

As much as I love Xiaomi I hate this move. They were always like we have 5% profit margin and we can live with that. Well I guess no more. Mi 10 Pro has less value than S20+ unfortunately.

I know, now they have Redmi to take over sub 500€ segment but Mi 10 is not such a great device to be priced 700€ and more. They should went for 600€ price and not 700€. Now I am going to look elsewhere or mayba on K30 Pro if that one would be sold globally.

[CmdrEvil]

What's wrong with buying from China?
I have so far bought 4 phones (2 banggood, 2 aliexpress) and was always happy with the product which offered great quality and value for money.
To me warranty means nothing. Most people will break their phones accidentally way before the phone dies by itself.

[heffeque]

What's wrong with buying from China?
I have so far bought 4 phones (2 banggood, 2 aliexpress) and was always happy with the product which offered great quality and value for money.
To me warranty means nothing. Most people will break their phones accidentally way before the phone dies by itself.

A friend of mine bought a laptop from China. The battery was a dud, so... yep, he's stuck with an expensive non-portable laptop that doesn't meet his needs. All to save a few bucks.
It's really not worth the risk. Warranties are more useful than people think.

[somegek]

What's wrong with buying from China?
I have so far bought 4 phones (2 banggood, 2 aliexpress) and was always happy with the product which offered great quality and value for money.
To me warranty means nothing. Most people will break their phones accidentally way before the phone dies by itself.

It is not that bad actually. Buying from China doesn't count 20% VAT and shipping cost. So effectively you are paying about 150 for 2 years of warranty, which is about 25 cents a day.

[Wouter]

This article 100% describes my thoughts on the new Mi10&Mi10 Pro.
Every year I was looking forward to and buying the new Xiaomi flagship phone because of their affordable price/quality rate but I will definitely skip this year and if they continue like this I will switch back to Samsung.
Good work Ricci Rox!

[Los Santos]

I stopped reading at Samsung S20 having better camera than mi 10 pro.

The author don't even know what he is talking about.

[S.Yu]

What's wrong with buying from China?
I have so far bought 4 phones (2 banggood, 2 aliexpress) and was always happy with the product which offered great quality and value for money.
To me warranty means nothing. Most people will break their phones accidentally way before the phone dies by itself.

I have to agree, but deal with a seller with a good reputation that provides some sort of customer protection. Just because it's grey imported doesn't mean there's zero guarantee whatsoever, because certain companies do have somewhat lax QC and you get more duds than usual, like Lenovo, LG,  and yes, Xiaomi.

What's wrong with buying from China?
I have so far bought 4 phones (2 banggood, 2 aliexpress) and was always happy with the product which offered great quality and value for money.
To me warranty means nothing. Most people will break their phones accidentally way before the phone dies by itself.

A friend of mine bought a laptop from China. The battery was a dud, so... yep, he's stuck with an expensive non-portable laptop that doesn't meet his needs. All to save a few bucks.
It's really not worth the risk. Warranties are more useful than people think.

Unless he bought an extremely niche model, the battery should be available under $100, and he could do the repairs himself with the help of YT.

What's wrong with buying from China?
I have so far bought 4 phones (2 banggood, 2 aliexpress) and was always happy with the product which offered great quality and value for money.
To me warranty means nothing. Most people will break their phones accidentally way before the phone dies by itself.

It is not that bad actually. Buying from China doesn't count 20% VAT and shipping cost. So effectively you are paying about 150 for 2 years of warranty, which is about 25 cents a day.

Some sellers should be able to circumvent VAT...IMO you're actually paying for the European rent of brick and mortar stores and high minimum wages, also the cleaner system without as many ads baked in, so Xiaomi was likely selling at razor thin margins before in EU, just to make their name.

[Robbert]

And that's why they explained the Redmi strategy so that nobody is surprised and we would not get uninformed posts like this. FYI. Mi 10 is the or among the most affordable 5G phones on the market.

[Ricci Rox]

And that's why they explained the Redmi strategy so that nobody is surprised and we would not get uninformed posts like this. FYI. Mi 10 is the or among the most affordable 5G phones on the market.

The S20 5G was literally $800 on Amazon two days ago. The Mi 10 Pro costs $1115. You're going to have to do a lot of work to convince me that the Mi 10 Pro is a better phone than the S20. Because, of course, it's not.

I stopped reading at Samsung S20 having better camera than mi 10 pro.

The author don't even know what he is talking about.

There are camera comparisons that show the Mi 10 being even worse than last year's S10.

[Amin]

Exactly, I was going to buy mi 10 pro over s20 despite its shortcomings. It had better value but now at this price not even a chance. What were they thinking!

[Aizad]

Everything is affordable as long as it doesn't sell! The more it sells, the less affordable it gets!

[traffmagic]

I waited too much for this phone but when i checked the price at the launching ceremony and it is totally beyond my expectations as i was not thinking about this much price. 😢 The saddest person right now for Xiaomi

[_MT_]

I have to agree, but deal with a seller with a good reputation that provides some sort of customer protection. Just because it's grey imported doesn't mean there's zero guarantee whatsoever, because certain companies do have somewhat lax QC and you get more duds than usual, like Lenovo, LG,  and yes, Xiaomi.
...
Some sellers should be able to circumvent VAT...IMO you're actually paying for the European rent of brick and mortar stores and high minimum wages, also the cleaner system without as many ads baked in, so Xiaomi was likely selling at razor thin margins before in EU, just to make their name.

Of course you have a guarantee. In China, under Chinese consumer protection laws. A problem when buying from far away is shipping. They might ship for peanuts as the shipping is subsidized by the Chinese government AIUI. But I have to pay for returning it. And it's going to take time.

I guess it depends on how good is your state at collecting taxes. Whoever imports the merchandise is responsible for paying VAT and other taxes. And even if I manage to get it into the country without having to pay when it crosses the border, I'm still responsible and liable. Not paying is a crime. Of course, there is a simple way of getting it through customs if the seller is cooperative - lying on declaration. But that effectively prevents insurance (you can't claim it's worth €50 and then insure it to €1000). And without having a proof of having paid the taxes, they can demand I pay retrospectively and can confiscate it. That's more hypothetical, but everything expensive can attract their attention when crossing border in the future. And if the device lacks markings mandatory in the EU (which Chinese versions can lack), it's a dead giveaway it's an individual import (it's illegal to sell it here).

At least in electronics stores I buy from, staff has nowhere near minimum wage. Perhaps warehouse drones at the distributor, but I wouldn't bet on it. Maybe the Ukrainian janitor? But we don't have the highest minimum wage in the Union. Also, VAT is not the only thing you're supposed to pay. With trade wars, one would think people are aware that there are such things as tariffs. AFAIK, we don't have an FTA with China. And there are other things (which don't concern individual imports). Like fees for recycling. Our pretty comprehensive warranty guaranteed by law for at least two years. Or fees for the movie and music industries as compensation for piracy. Etc. It varies from country to country. All of that has to be paid for.

[Clango]

Truth to be told, as much as I'm willing to overlook some aspects here and there for their previous devices, and at the Chinese MSRP I was under the impression that xiaomi was looking at high end, perhaps push the margins a bit like OnePlus which is perfectly understandable, but the mi 10 pro, despite it's fairly cheap 700 dollar MSRP in China is marked up quite a lot in Europe, even when I'm more or less a xiaomi fan I think it is a bit ridiculous, I mean I like the device a lot but frankly it is still not up there yet, I was expecting maybe a 600/700 euro pricing for the 10 and 10 pro and that would be a pretty sweet price, but yeah this price is slightly too ambitious imo.