Xiaomi has been a household name in India, thanks to its sub-brand Redmi which helped it gain immense traction. However, the company has always had a hard time pitching its flagships to Indian consumers. But now Xiaomi wants us to take its flagships seriously with its Mi 11X series smartphones.
After last year’s Mi 10 fiasco, Xiaomi has launched two new flagships in India, hoping to get a hold of the premium segment while dominating the budget category at the same time.
The Xiaomi Mi 11X series consists of two smartphones – Mi 11X and Mi 11X Pro. So, as the name suggests, the Mi 11X is the cheaper of the duo, but it still packs some great hardware. Meanwhile, the Mi 11X Pro is the ‘Pro’ model that comes with top-of-the-line hardware pitched against several other Android flagships.
The Mi 11X series is the rebranded Redmi K40 series launched in China a few months ago, in case you missed it. So, Mi 11X and Mi 11X Pro are essentially the Redmi K40 and Redmi K40 Pro. But no hard feelings, as Redmi K40 Pro can handle whatever is thrown on it, and I’m expecting the same from Mi 11X Pro, and we’re going to check if I’m going to be disappointed or not.
First of all, what makes Mi 11X Pro a ‘Pro’? The Mi 11X, priced at Rs. 29,990 comes with quite a powerful Snapdragon 870 chipset. While the ‘Pro’ comes with 2021’s top of the line Snapdragon 888 SoC and a higher resolution primary camera, starting at Rs. 39,990 putting it against the OnePlus 9R and iQoo 7 Legend.
Fun fact, iQoo 7 Legend is the cheapest Snapdragon 888 powered smartphone. It beats Mi 11X Pro by a total of 9 rupees!
Now, let’s focus on the Redmi K40 Pro. Oops, it’s Mi 11X Pro. So, the Mi 11X Pro everything that it needs to be qualified as a flagship. From a 120Hz AMOLED panel to Snapdragon 888, it has all the power you’d want from a sub-40K smartphone.
What’s in Box?
- Mi 11X Pro
- 33W Power Adapter
- USB Type-C Cable
- Protective Case
- USB Type-C to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter
- SIM Eject Tool
Looks
Starting with its design, the Mi 11X Pro is an elegantly crafted smartphone, not leaving much to ask. Xiaomi has taken a 2021 approach here; there’s a tall display with a scanty punch-hole cutout and narrower bezels than before. Flip it around, and you’ll find a subtly placed camera module with a ‘Xiaomi’ branding that keeps things simple. However, the shades of Mi 11X Pro are a different story altogether, especially the Celestial Silver.
The Mi 11X Pro comes in three shades – Lunar White, Cosmic Black and Celestial Silver. The Lunar White and Cosmic Black are quite subtle and calm colour options, while the Celestial Silver is not less than a chameleon. Fortunately, Xiaomi sent us the Celestial Silver colour and oh boy, it changes colour more quickly than my friends.
The Celestial Silver is not silver, but it is a cumulation of a number of shades that could be visible depending on the angle at which light falls. So closing on it, the Celestial Silver does look good, but it might not be for everyone.
Hardware
Everyone has their design preferences, but what matters in a smartphone is its hardware, and Mi 11X Pro doesn’t disappoint. So, Mi 11X Pro features a 6.67-inch FHD+ E4 AMOLED display, with a 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate, and the display is impressive. Now complementing the display, it has a pair of stereo speakers giving quite a good output, plus it’s Dolby Atmos certified. So you will have no complaints as long as you’re consuming media.
Look, Mi 11X Pro is a total powerhouse; It packs Qualcomm’s Flagship Snapdragon 888 chipset, and the unit we got has 8GB of DDR4 RAM and 128GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. Well, as expected, I didn’t face a single hiccup during my limited time with it. I tried Genshin Impact, and CoD Mobile and both the games were running flawlessly though the phone was getting a little warm, and this is something we’re experiencing with other Snapdragon 888 powered smartphones as well.
Mi 11X Pro comes with a 4520 mAh battery with a 33W fast charger that might not meet today’s battery standards, but believe me, this 33W charger is more than enough to take care of your needs, and the 4520 mAh battery almosts lasts a day on moderate usage.
Experience
As far as MIUI is concerned, I didn’t face any major issue, and things were on point mostly. There were no ads, no spammy notifications, and most importantly, apps were loading fine even after being in memory for almost an hour.
Optics
The cameras on Mi 11X Pro are quite controversial. It has a 108MP primary camera, but do you know that the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max comes with the same 108MP Samsung HM2 sensor, which is a bummer, at least for me. Apart from the primary sensor, the 8MP ultrawide and 5MP macro camera can also be found on the much cheaper Redmi Note 10 Pro. All of this might be a bit controversial, but the cameras don’t disappoint, and yes, they produce a tad better images than the Redmi Note 10 Pro and Pro Max.
The 108MP primary camera produces images with a decent amount of sharpness and details even during low light scenarios. The 8MP ultra- wide is a little off, but it gets the job done, and we all know how good is Xiaomi’s 5MP SuperMacro camera. So, there’s not much to complain about, but things could have been better. We’ll delve deeper into these cameras in the final review.
Now, the Mi 11X Pro has a 20MP camera which does a good job in producing true-to-life images and some nice portrait selfie shots.
First Impressions
I’ve spent almost 48 hours with the Mi 11X Pro, and it didn’t disappoint me at any point. This phone packs a lot of punch and is available for a lot less than most Snapdragon 888 powered smartphones, making Mi 11X Pro a true contender for the title of ‘Flagship Killer,’ after the departure of OnePlus from the game. Stay tuned for our in-depth review.