The Mi 10 is Xiaomi’s flagship series for the year, bringing a new premium design and capable high-resolution cameras. A new listing suggests that another device will be joining the series, powered by the Exynos 990 chipset.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 and the Mi 10 Pro made their global debut in March as Snapdragon 865-powered 5G flagships. They were soon joined by the Mi 10 Lite and Mi 10 Youth in China. A new report suggests that a Mi 10e is also on the horizon, perhaps trying to be the affordable flagship from the fray.
Geekbench scores of the purported Xiaomi Mi 10e were listed on Slashleaks, mentioning an Android 10-running smartphone which will be powered by the Samsung Exynos 990 chipset. For the uninitiated, the Exynos 990 is Samsung’s current top-of-the-line chipset which powers its flagships in countries like India. However, it's inferior in terms of processing power when compared to its Snapdragon and MediaTek counterparts.
Xiaomi doesn’t usually opt for Exynos chipsets on its smartphones, but considering the price implications that come with the Snapdragon 865, this could be a way for it to bring an affordable flagship to the market. The listing also states that the Mi 10e will have 8GB of RAM. The Exynos 990 also has a 5G variant, but that bit was not mentioned in the spec sheet.
While the benchmark scores are in the right ballpark, it doesn’t necessarily confirm a product that will make it to the market. Considering how much flak this chipset has received for its performance and efficiency, we’re wary about the Mi 10e’s existence. In certain scenarios, it is shown to be outperformed by even the MediaTek Helio G90T, which is seen on budget smartphones.
In the past, Vivo has been the only other notable OEM to opt for Samsung silicon on its smartphones, and even those didn’t take off. It will be interesting to see this play through, especially with new chipsets such as the Exynos 1000 and MediaTek Dimensity 1000 Plus on the horizon.
