We can earn a commission if you make a purchase from the links on this page.
Design
As I see it, Xiaomi has been killing it for the past few years in terms of design. From the Mi 9 to the Mi 11, every device was exceptional in terms of overall looks and feel, and although the glossy exterior of the Mi 9 was considered by many to be a mistake, I liked it. The new Mi 11 uses matte gorilla glass in its shape, which creates a silky feel that provides enough grip but retains virtually no fingerprints. The display has a slight curve on the sides, which is not as sudden as that in the Mi 10 series, but still offers a more pleasant gesture-based navigation, especially when a case is involved. And let’s be honest, you probably want to use a case with this great phone for that extra protection.
I like the colors on the Mi 11. We had the blue Mi 11, but what first amazed me when I held the phone to the light was the shiny hue that flowed from it: blue and yellow and even a little dark violet at the edges. interwoven in a captivating display of colors. I absolutely love it. I also like the exaggerated edge around the 108MP main camera, as well as the glossy two-tone camera island that makes for an interesting design element that stands out. I also like the curved back of the phone, which fits o-so nicely in the hand and leaves the impression of a much more compact device.
In a typical Xiaomi way, the Mi 11 has an infrared blaster to recommend other devices, but if you’re looking for a headphone jack or a microSD card slot, this’s a great luck. Fortunately, there are dual stereo speakers set up by Harman Kardon that sound good. The haptics are fast and precise, which is definitely a significant improvement in quality of life.
Show
The Mi 11 is equipped with a large 6.8-inch OLED screen with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The screen has a QHD + resolution, which is a great way to say it has 1440 x 3200 pixels. This is very sharp, but completely unnecessary, as anything beyond FHD + is an excessive use in ordinary daily use. What would be more effective is an FHD + screen that would bring further energy savings.
Still, the display is really great to look at, and while the standard screen mode is a bit cooler than the ideal 6500K color temperature, Xiaomi has thrown in tons of configuration settings that let you switch to a more muted sRGB, a live P3 or an over-saturated color scheme, or even adjust the colors in your own way. No matter what color option you go for, I do not think the screen will disappoint you.
Display measurements and quality
Performance
The Xiaomi Mi 11 was the first phone announced with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, which is currently one of the fastest available for Android devices. I do not continue with the usual chatter that you will not see any delay or slowdown because you will not do it. In fact, the last few generations of smartphone chips have been so fast that the difference in perceived speed was incomprehensible at best. The Mi 11 performs wonderfully in all scenarios one might expect to encounter, even if it does not necessarily feel faster than any other modern day flagship phone. This is proof of how fast chipsets have become.
With 8 GB of RAM, the user has enough space to use multiple applications simultaneously. I did not notice any aggressive RAM management behavior and programs that had to stay open just did. Fortunately, there is also a 12 GB version of the phone present, which should be even better for demanding users. The latter comes with 256 GB of original storage, which is more than enough, but think no expansion of the microSD card slot on the Mi 11 is possible.
Software and functionality
MIUI remains one of the most functional Android skins out there, with numerous neat features hidden throughout the interface. It also looks good, despite borrowing some footage from iOS. It is also one of the few custom interfaces out there with multiple user support. The Second Space feature is very useful: you can create two separate workspaces and instantly access each one by unlocking the phone with another finger. There are also numerous interesting features in the camera app, but we will get to that later.
The in-screen optical fingerprint scanner is fairly fast and accurate, but the most interesting thing is that it also serves as a heart rate monitor. By holding a finger on the scanner for a short scan of 15 seconds, the Mi Health app can measure your current heart rate. The accuracy of the instrument should probably not be fully trusted, but is nevertheless a neat feature.
There’s also a fairly quick face unlock feature, and although it’s entirely based on photos and not as secure as 3D face unlock solutions, it’s pretty convenient because it unlocks the phone in an instant.
MIUI 12 on the Xiaomi Mi 11
Camera
The camera app on the Xiaomi Mi 11 is rich in shooting modes and various features, some of which are quite gimmicks, but there are also useful ones. What’s more useful here is the improved AI function of the camera, which now automatically switches to night mode when it sees that the light is simply not enough.
Speaking of the camera on the Xiaomi Mi 11, it uses the same 108MP that was found on the Mi 10 last year, although it was downgraded in some respects. First, the new phone has a main opening of F1.9, while last year’s flagship used an F1.7 aperture. There is also an ultra wide camera and a macro shooter at the back, but no telephoto. Sorry, since a telephoto time would have been more useful than a macro lens, but what can you do? However, the lack of a dedicated camera does not prevent you from zooming in on your subject: you can reach up to 30X with the Mi 11, even if something beyond 10X is hardly useful. Xiaomi is probably saving its best new camera technology for the Mi 11 Ultra, which has leaked a lot.
How about the image quality? Pretty good! Photos are lifelike, with excellent detail and dynamic range. Colors are a bit conservative and focus on realism instead of being too vivid. The automatic HDR does its job well, although it does not shadow as much information as I would like, but it’s just me. Portraits appear with a large subject separation, although I would like to zoom in a 2X view in portrait mode, which would cause a more flattering field of view. Selfies are well-detailed thanks to the 20MP hole-punch camera, and with a bit of slight post-processing, it can become an excellent addition to one’s social feed.
Here is a comparison between the three main zoom levels that the user immediately presents: 0.6X, 1X and 2X.
Xiaomi Mi 11 0.6X, 1X, 2X sample photos
By default, the Mi 11 takes massive 27MP photos, which typically store between 10 and 20 MB. A short photography trip one afternoon almost used a gigabyte of memory, though I could have saved space if I had used the HEIF format. However, it is not widely supported in most third-party apps, which is why I chose the better compatibility. If you are a photography bug, definitely go for the larger version. That said, here’s a full 108 MP image.
Xiaomi Mi 11 108MP monster
Portraits do not display as many artifacts, despite the removal of the dedicated depth sensor.
Xiaomi Mi 11 potraits
Otherwise, as seen in the example below, good lighting conditions will reward you with excellent photos.
Monsters from Xiaomi Mi 11
Selfies are great, but only if you disable the strong beautification effect enabled by default.
Xiaomi Mi 11 selfies, portrait selfies
As I mentioned earlier, the night mode now switches on automatically when the phone notices that the lights are too low. Make sure the option in question is enabled in the camera settings menu, but it must be enabled by default. As for the camera’s dim light, it’s good, nothing to write home about. Colors are slightly muted and not as vibrant as I would like, while details in the darker parts of the scene don’t get as big as I usually love.
Xiaomi Mi 11 Night Mode
Video can be shot at up to 8K @ 30fps, which is the highest standard in early 2021. Videos become excellent and useful for further editing. Here are many useful and fun features: with VLOG you can take creative intros for your vlogs, while with Movie Effects you can take interesting types of footage.
Battery
The 4,600 mAh battery on the Mi 11 usually lasts me a full day of moderate to heavy use. For the record, I set it to FHD + resolution and activated a 120Hz refresh rate with all the bells and whistles. I expected the phone to last a bit longer, but I think the high resolution screen has too much power.
What’s spectacular is the super – fast 55W charge that complements the phone. It does it in no time – 0% to 100% can be reached in about 50 minutes, but in my opinion a quick charge of 30 minutes will give you about 75-80% of the charge, which is more than enough for ‘ a full day of use. Should we address the elephant in the room as well? Xiaomi is not yet full with Apple or Samsung and has included a boot in the box of the Mi 11. If that’s not good enough, the supplied charger is actually a GaN one, which is generally more energy efficient and produces. less heat, albeit a little more compact.
