Xiaomi Mi 11 5G Review

While the phone has evolved in a meaningful way over its predecessor, the Mi 10 5G that I have used and loved, the Mi 11 arrives with a power-hungry display, slightly smaller battery, and less versatile camera setup that mostly reuses the hardware from the Mi 10. Viewed in a vacuum and considering its $749 in China and other applicable markets, the Mi 11 is a great phone, but not as good as I'd have liked it to be. Is that a problem? Given that Samsung's Galaxy S21-series didn't introduce that much improvements over the previous generation, I'd say Xiaomi gets a pass this time. 

Design

The way I see it, Xiaomi has been killing it in terms of design in the past few years. Starting from the Mi 9 up until the Mi 11, each device has been exceptional in terms of overall look and feel, and although the glossy exterior of the Mi 9 was considered a misstep by many, I liked it. The new Mi 11 utilizes frosted Gorilla Glass in its build, ensuring for a silky smooth feel that offers enough grip while retaining virtually no fingerprints. The display has a slight curve at the edges, which isn’t as abrupt as the one on the Mi 10-series but still makes for gesture-based navigation a bit more pleasing, especially when a case is involved. And let’s be honest, you’d probably want to use a case with this large phone for that extra protection.
I love the colors on the Mi 11. We had the blue Mi 11, but what surprised me the first time I held the phone against the light is the shimmery play of hues that ensued: blue and yellow and even some dark violet at the edges intertwined in a captivating display of colors. I absolutely love that. I also love the exaggerated rim around the main 108MP camera, as well as the glossy two-tone camera island that makes for an interesting design element that stands out. I also love the curved back of the phone, which fits oh-so-nicely in the hand and leaves the impression of a much more compact device.

In a typical Xiaomi fashion, the Mi 11 comes with an infrared blaster to command other gadgets, but if you’re looking for a headphone jack or microSD card slot, tough luck. Fortunately, there are dual stereo speakers tuned by Harman Kardon, which sound great. The haptics are quick and precise, which is definitely a noteworthy quality-of-life improvement.

Display

The Mi 11 is outfitted with a large, 6.8-inch OLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate. The screen has a QHD+ resolution, which is a fancy way of saying it boasts 1440 by 3200 pixels. That’s plenty sharp, but totally unnecessary as anything past FHD+ is totally an overkill in regular day-to-day use. What would have been more impactful is a FHD+ display which would have introduced further energy savings.

Still, the display is truly gorgeous to look at, and while the default screen mode is a bit colder than the ideal 6500K color temperature, Xiaomi has thrown in tons of configuration settings that let you switch to a more muted sRGB, a vivid P3 or an overly saturated color scheme, or even tweak the colors your own way. No matter which color option you go for, I don’t think the display will disappoint you.