Today, 4 March 2021, Xiaomi launched its Redmi Note 10 series to the world. In a staggered, messy and convoluted fashion.

It's a shame, because we've been using the Redmi Note 10 Pro for a week and, as affordable phones go, it's bloomin' brilliant. Like, genuinely, probably the best phone in its price bracket - hence why we were so praise heavy in our review.

Little did we know whilst using this phone - having agreed to an embargo which meant we couldn't discuss its details until 13:00 GMT today - that it would launch in India several hours before as the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max.

Meaning, yes, you guessed it, that there's an India market version of the Redmi Note 10 Pro that, um, is a bit less 'max'? Apparently: it drops the 108-megapixel camera main event for a 64-megapixel one instead.

Fine, that makes sense. Except, for the global market, we get a Redmi Note 10S. Yes, "ten ess" (but not the sport). And, no, Apple iPhone, we still don't forgive you for making that an acceptable naming convention either.

It gets more confusing though: the 10S should just be the global version of the India 10 Pro, right? Kinda. Only the 10S has a smaller screen, obviously, because why wouldn't it?

Still following? Good. Us neither.

Which is when the Redmi Note 10 5G gets thrown into the mix. But only for the 'global' release, so not for the India market. And, based on this phone's different size, different hardware - its a MediaTek Dimensity 700 adopter for the 5G connection - and different camera setup, we struggle to see how it even fits into being part of the Redmi Note 10 family at all. It's just a different device, it doesn't belong here.

Not forgetting, of course, that there's a Redmi Note 10 buried among these mass of handsets. Which, as the smaller and lower-powered model, does make sense - if you can cut through the chaff of all the others.

So there we have it: a total dog's dinner of naming, launch times, and regionality. It doesn't help consumers, so we struggle to really see how it helps Xiaomi too. We've often alluded to the company presenting names that undersell its models - the Mi 10 Lite, as one example, was anything but 'light' - and hope it stops.

Because, among all this, there's a brilliant phone in the shape of the Redmi Note 10 Pro - oh, hang on, Redmi Note 10 Pro Max? - that potential consumers shouldn't have to scratch their heads so much in the process of buying.