In summary
The Xiaomi Mi 11 has a lot to offer. The screen is its main asset, but the device also scores well on many other points. Points of attention are the battery life and the software, but these do not immediately make the phone a must. So the Mi 11 does a lot of good, but has a few caveats. If you can live with that, it’s not a bad buy.
–
Pros
- Very nice screen with adaptive refresh rate
- 55W wired charging and 50W wireless
- Good macro camera
- Smooth and fast Android experience
–
Negatives
- Quality loss when zooming
- Battery life not great
- Software still has areas for improvement
–
–
–
–
–
Xiaomi is making good progress, including with regard to smartphones. The price fighter has had an office in the Netherlands since last year and also a luxury physical store in Rotterdam. In the Pricewatch we see Xiaomi phones becoming increasingly popular, which is not surprising, because the devices usually offer more in terms of hardware than the other smartphones in the same price segment. In the lower price ranges you often get more storage, more memory, a faster soc or an increased screen refresh rate; in higher classes, these are often luxury features that are not common for that price segment. The Xiaomi Mi 11 is an example of this, with a suggested retail price of 850 euros in the Benelux.
In the same price segment as the Mi 11 is the recent Galaxy S21, with which we compare the Xiaomi device in this review. Samsung gave the device a plastic back, a lowered resolution and a flat screen, probably to keep the price down. There is also no charger in the box. The Mi 11 has a fast charger in the Benelux and you can charge it with no less than 55W. The device has curved screen edges, a glass back with the strong Gorilla Glass Victus and a high 1440p resolution. You also get 256GB of storage as standard. In addition, the device has many high-end features that the S21 also has, such as an adaptive 120Hz screen refresh rate, wireless charging, but faster than with the S21, and a respectable primary camera with large sensor. On the other hand, the Mi 11 does not have a dedicated camera for zoom photos and no official IP certification.
The Mi 11 is the first smartphone with Snapdragon 888. That also helps a manufacturer like Xiaomi. As a result, there is more attention for the device than if it were to be released somewhere halfway through the year as the umpteenth smartphone with SD888. Xiaomi is a manufacturer that keeps the competition sharp and that is how we like to see it, but is the Mi 11 also recommended in practice? What about the MIUI software, for example? Is it suitable for everyone? And besides that: specifications are nice, but how does the device perform in practice? You can read it in this review.
–
