The Redmi K20, although excellent worth for funds, had generated a lot of buzz in India for the incorrect causes largely to do with its pricing. It was the initial time a “Redmi” phone had broken the 20k barrier but sadly, it was not in a position to break perceptions. The reaction from fans, let’s just say, wasn’t especially encouraging for Xiaomi, so substantially so that Manu Kumar Jain had to pen an open letter to justify its cost and simultaneously announced it will not show any pesky ads turning it about into a item that remained Redmi only in name. It became a Mi phone at some point. That was in 2019.
Xiaomi is one of the extremely handful of providers out there that is swift to discover, adapt and in most circumstances, come back even stronger. It is one of the extremely handful of providers out there that requires feedback extremely seriously and, in most circumstances, does not make the very same error twice. To this day, it has not launched a single Redmi “flagship” in India. Instead, it selectively tweaked these phones to suit this market place. The Redmi K30 was launched as the Poco X2. The Redmi K40, similarly, has been launched as the Mi 11X. Since the Poco X2 was a “Poco” phone, you can say the Mi 11X is in numerous strategies the spiritual successor to the Redmi K20.
Doing this serves a dual goal. Xiaomi does not have to justify its pricing alternatives any longer, for now at least, and it aids strengthen the Mi brand in India — a thing that it has been attempting to do for a though now till last year when it decided to switch gears and go complete throttle — although you can argue that it is also coming at the expense of diluting the portfolio. Be that as it could, that is a subject greatest left for one more day. The cause why I brought up the Redmi K20 is since I seriously, seriously liked that phone and I seriously, seriously like the Mi 11X. Call it Mi, get in touch with it Redmi, get in touch with it Poco, it does not seriously matter. But what I like most about it is, even although the occasions have changed — the world is not the very same location it used to be in 2019 — Xiaomi hasn’t lost its knack for providing a lot of phone for a lot significantly less funds. In time, it has turn into smarter with the positioning also.
X marks the spot
To say that the Mi 11X is loaded will be an understatement. Right from the style to the show, to the processor, to the battery, even the cameras are specced to impress. In spirit of all this indulgence, let’s immediately go via the specs of this phone just before diving into how it fares in the actual world.
You get a 6.67-inch E4 AMOLED show from Samsung. The panel has 120Hz refresh price and 360Hz touch sampling. It can theoretically peak 1300 nits and play HDR10+ content. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and has a centrally aligned hole punch reduce-out.
Under the hood, it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 method-on-chip with up to 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of UFS3.1 storage. A 4,520mAh battery powers the phone. There is help for 33W rapid charging. Out of the box, it runs MIUI 12 based on Android 11. Connectivity solutions on the phone involve 5G (sub 6G: n77/n78), Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6. It has dual stereo speakers with Hi-Res Audio and Dolby Atmos.
On the back, it has 3 cameras: a 48MP principal, 8MP ultra-wide-angle and one more 5MP macro. On the front, it has a 20MP camera.
The phone has a back made of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Its outer frame is made of plastic. It has a side-mounted physical fingerprint reader for biometrics. The phone is also IP53-rated which tends to make it dust and splash resistant.
The Mi 11X begins at Rs 29,999 for a variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. A version with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage will set you back by Rs 31,999.
The X issue and what could be superior
The style of the Mi 11X is a cross amongst the Mi 10T and Redmi Note 10 Pro — each extremely premium hunting phones to draw inspiration from — with a visibly distinct two-stage rear camera assembly. It’s basically two slabs of glass held with each other by a plastic frame, and though this latter option has chalked up some controversy, I assume it is a tiny harsh. Use of plastic aids Xiaomi hold the cost as properly as the weight of the phone in verify. As a bonus, it tends to make it significantly less slippery in the hands.
| Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G critique: Out to consume OnePlus’s lunch
Keeping the phone “razor” thin and light is a conscious style option. This phone was made for practicality via and via, not to be a weapon of mass destruction (a thing like say the Mi 10T or Poco X3 Pro). For some context, the Mi 11X measures only 7.8 mm in thickness and weighs just 196 grams. The Mi 10T weighs more than 215 grams and measures more than 9 mm in thickness. The substantially toned-down dimensions imply, the Mi 11X is a phone you can use for extended hours with tiny pressure. As for the look and really feel, there’s no doubt that it can effortlessly go toe to toe with the greatest.
Still, if I have been asked to nitpick, I would have liked it more had Xiaomi not opted for a Mi 10T-like piano black finish on the unit I have for critique. I would choose the Redmi Note 10 Pro’s version of black any day more than this. The Mi 11X’s other two colourways — silver and white — are a tiny more resistant to smudges and fingerprints, even though once more, the Redmi Note 10 Pro hides them superior. Speaking of which, the Mi 11X is dust and splash resistant with an official IP rating which is usually a good issue to have.
While it is wonderful that Xiaomi has been in a position to pack dual speakers — and an “actual” stereo setup at that — in the Mi 11X, along with an IR blaster, a headphone jack would have just made this issue blow competitors out because almost everything else about this phone is just peak excess when it comes to media consumption.
I am of course speaking about that major, wonderful screen. Xiaomi has sourced it from Samsung and it is effortlessly one of, if not the greatest, at its cost with wonderful contrast and viewing angles and brightness aplenty. It’s also rapid and fluid although it can’t alter refresh price dynamically. Moreover, Xiaomi has thrown in so numerous toggles inside the settings, you can actually tune the screen to your certain requirement. Such a level of granular customisation does not exist in any other phone in the market place today. There is also a version of Apple’s accurate tone, for crying out loud.
Not only does the phone help HDR10+ content natively in streaming services like Netflix, but it can also upscale regular videos to give them an HDR look utilizing artificial intelligence. MEMC is also accessible if you are into that sort of issue. Again, Xiaomi leaves some area for improvement by not providing you an alternative for DC Dimming.
The Mi 11X has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC, the chip that at present holds the title for the quickest CPU clock speed (3.2GHz) that tops even the Snapdragon 888 (2.84 GHz). There are clearly other elements to it (cause why SD888 is what it is) but extended story quick, the Snapdragon 870 is a extremely potent chip which tends to make the Mi 11X a extremely potent phone. In truth, some could possibly say, it is the most potent phone beneath 20k with the Dimensity 1200-powered Realme X7 Max coming seriously close at least as far as benchmarks are concerned.
Comparisons aside, there’s no denying that each chips hold wonderful prospective, but I do not assume it is a fair comparison thinking of how the Mi 11X and Realme X7 Max are packaged and positioned. Same cause why it will not be fair to evaluate it with the Samsung Galaxy A52 even although it has some of the most compelling cameras beneath Rs 25k. Don’t even get me began on the OnePlus 9R, frankly, I have no concept why it exists (it is also a lot more highly-priced for some cause). The Mi 11X’s actual competitor is the iQOO 7, a phone that packs the very same SD870 chip and has a lot more in typical with Xiaomi’s phone than something else in the market place today.
Compared to that phone, the Mi 11X’s functionality leaves a lot to be preferred. The iQOO 7 somehow feels more optimised and is in a position to squeeze more out of the SD870 which has a tendency to run hot when stressed. The Mi 11X tends to throttle more typically and it shows in each benchmarks and actual-world usage as Xiaomi’s application tends to reduce screen brightness nearly straight away inside a handful of minutes into a graphically demanding game like Genshin Impact and frame price dips are really typical. Call of Duty: Mobile is handled superior, but extended gameplay sessions do take toll on method sources. Generally speaking, the Mi 11X can get really hot when playing games. Xiaomi does not explicitly speak about any cooling resolution but even if there is one, it is not maintaining up properly with what the SD870 is throwing at it. Also, just so you know, the SD870 does not have an integrated modem and though the jury is nonetheless out on irrespective of whether it could have unfavorable effect on energy consumption and at some point, the thermals, the Mi 11X’s functionality does raise a handful of issues.
To be clear, all this should really concern energy customers only. Basic day to day tasks are handled effortlessly by the Mi 11X. There’s lots of RAM and storage onboard although as opposed to Xiaomi’s most worth spending budget phones, there is no expandable storage in the Mi 11X and 128GB is all you get by default — a 256GB alternative would have been good.
That SD870 is almost certainly also why the Mi 11X does not have chart-topping battery life like a majority of Xiaomi phones do. It’s fantastic, lasting 11 hours and 35 minutes in our video loop test, but not wonderful. The Xiaomi phone also plays it protected with rapid charging, capping only 33W at a time when the iQOO 7 can leading whopping 66W.
The phone ships with MIUI 12. At the time of writing this critique, my unit is operating Xiaomi’s newest MIUI 12.5 update although it is not the greatest version because Xiaomi nonetheless does not let you eliminate numerous method apps like it promises, sort of like the Redmi Note 10S, so I am assuming the Mi 11X is also based on an “interim” version appropriate now. From a safety point of view, it is rocking the May patch.
The most clear advantage of MIUI on a Mi phone is that there are no advertisements. There is a lot of bloat/duplicate apps and spammy notifications but aside from these quirks, MIUI is effortlessly one of the most feature-wealthy Android skins with tons to discover. Funtouch OS inside the iQOO 7 appears bare bones in comparison although there is no cause why it shouldn’t appeal to stock Android aficionados. An location of concern for Xiaomi devices is the update rollout. MIUI 12.5 has been a extended time coming to India. As for big “OS” updates, Xiaomi does not have an great track record at this.
Moving on, I will not get the Mi 11X for its cameras. Those are its weakest hyperlinks. It’s disappointing since more reasonably priced Xiaomi phones are pulling more detail and dynamic variety in scenes than the Mi 11X. For some curious cause, pictures taken with this phone also lack punch and look dull and lifeless, in sharp contradiction to how most Xiaomi phones ordinarily work. The principal Sony IMX582 sensor (very same sensor that Xiaomi also utilised in the Redmi K20 by the way) requires barely serviceable pictures though pictures taken with the ultra-wide-angle, although it produces slightly superior colours, come out soft. The macro camera is enjoyable to use, but it has restricted scope and appeal. Low-light pictures taken with the Mi 11X are a step under getting serviceable. The Mi 11X tops out at 4K@30fps and videos shot with it are absolutely nothing to create home about. The front camera shoots somewhat superior pictures and saves the day for this phone.
Conclusion
The Mi 11X has a lot going for itself. It is a standard Xiaomi phone punching way above its weight class with leading-of-the-line specs and a mouth-watering cost. It’s got a premium look and really feel and fundamentally nails all the fundamentals necessary for a slick multimedia expertise. The very same is accurate about basic all-round functionality, it just functions, rather, it flies unless you are carrying out a lot of gaming on it. Battery life is fantastic also and the phone charges immediately. The only problem I have with this phone is the camera expertise, it is so as opposed to Xiaomi, it tends to make me really feel if this was a deliberate try to hold the expense down.
| Redmi Note 10 Pro Max critique: Setting a new benchmark for worth for funds
Regardless, it is essential to address the elephant in the area. Back in 2019, Xiaomi did not have any competitors. Fast forward to 2021, and it has lots of it. Moreover, competitors is obtaining superior at some of the factors that Xiaomi has been carrying out because what seems to be ages now. Every as soon as in a though, a dark horse will rise and attempt to beat Xiaomi at its personal game. There will be occasions when that competitor will beat it also and I am assuming Xiaomi is sensible sufficient to know that. That’s precisely what has occurred with the Mi 11X. It is a lot of phone for a lot of funds, but if I have been to bet my funds on a thing appropriate now, I’d do it on the iQOO 7.
Pros: Sleek style, Beautiful show, Fast day-to-day functionality, Good battery life
Cons: No headphone jack, No expandable storage, Heats up when stressed, Disappointing cameras, Slow Android update rollout