Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro Review – A Much Needed Flagship Killer

Xiaomi is back with yet another smartphone, but this time it’s a flagship, and it also has ‘Pro’ in its name – meet the Mi 11X Pro. Xiaomi’s phone comes at a time when several smartphone manufacturers are trying hard to make a splash in the budget flagship segment. Still, they are unable to recreate that ‘OnePlus’ moment. The question remains, could the Mi 11X Pro be the newest ‘Flagship Killer’ in the town, or does OnePlus still hold the crown?

For context, the Mi 11X Pro comes with Snapdragon 888 SoC, a 120Hz AMOLED panel, a 108MP camera and whatnot. But is it enough for Xiaomi to win the crown, or does it need more to claim the title? Let’s find out what fate holds for Mi 11X Pro.

Design and Build – Uncannily Familiar

The Mi 11X Pro follows a new but familiar design language, and it is indeed quite reminiscent of the Mi 11 as we’ve seen Xiaomi adopting the same kind of design for its other smartphones. Like many recent Xiaomi phones, this one also follows a minimalist approach with a subtle pill-shaped camera module and the slick ‘Xiaomi’ branding.

First of all, it’s not a compact smartphone; it’s your traditional big-screen Android flagship. But on the contrary, the 11X Pro is considerably thinner and lighter, weighing 196g and 7.8mm thick. Speaking of the in-hand feel, the Mi 11X Pro feels quite premium, but Xiaomi could have gone with the metallic side rails instead of going with the plastic frame.

With Mi 11X/K40, Xiaomi introduced a new colour- the Celestial Silver. However, it is anything but silver. The Celestial Silver here is a cumulation of millions of colours, which changes depending on the light falling on it. Personally, I’m not a fan of the gradient. I do like the matte finish on the Celestial Silver variant, which is not present in the other two colours, Cosmic Black and Lunar White. Well, it’s not made for everyone, but you can get this colour if you’re bored of those basic colours. Also, the front and back are protected by the Gorilla Glass 5 (not Victus).

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The volume rocker and power button are present on the right side, while the left edge is left empty. The fingerprint sensor is embedded in the power button. The bottom accommodates the SIM tray, USB Type C port and a primary speaker. Meanwhile, the IR blaster is present up top, along with the secondary speaker completing the stereo speaker setup.

Overall, Mi 11X Pro is one of the best-looking smartphones in the sub 40K segment. However, I wish there were some more serious colours to define the ‘Pro’ tag, and Xiaomi needs to ditch those lame camera brandings, at least on premium smartphones.

Display – The Flash

The Mi 11X Pro features Samsung’s E4 AMOLED panel measuring 6.67-inch with FHD+ resolution. Further, just like any other Android flagship, the 11X Pro also has a high refresh rate of 120Hz and a whooping touch sampling rate of 360Hz, and OH BOY, you can feel the speed flowing through the veins of 11X Pro. Finally, for the display nerds, the panel comes with support for Widevine L1 and HDR10+.

The display is fast; sorry, I meant damn fast. The scrolling feels smooth, and the animations are lucid. Despite running MIUI 12, the 11X Pro manages to take complete advantage of its high refresh and sampling rate.

The colour accuracy is also on point, and the blacks are deep- the way we like it. According to Xiaomi, the E4 panel on 11X Pro can achieve an average brightness of 900 nits while reaching 1300 nits while viewing HDR content. We were able to verify these numbers, and the display was bright enough even while using it in the bright sunlight.

The punch-hole cutout needs a special mention. It’s too small even to be there, and that’s a good thing. For comparison purposes, the punch-hole cutout on the 11X Pro measures 2.76mm, 20mm smaller than the Redmi Note 10 Pro’s punch-hole. However, the silver ring around the cutout feels a bit unpleasant.

In a nutshell, Mi 11X Pro comes with a flagship-grade display, leaving not much to complain about. 

Performance – Top Notch!!

The Mi 11X Pro comes with top-of-the-class internals – Snapdragon 888 chipset, 6/8GB of DDR4 RAM and 128/256GB of UFS 3.1 onboard storage. Well, the hardware speaks for itself. However, if you’re still not convinced, the 11X Pro scored 7,52,671 in the AnTuTu Benchmark; meanwhile, it managed to pull a single-core score of 1127 and a multi-core score of 3533 in GeekBench 4.

We didn’t encounter any jitters or slowdowns in our day-to-day usage during our time with it. The gaming performance was also at its best. We played titles like Genshin Impact, CoD Mobile and Asphalt 8, and they were smooth as a breeze. However, the device started getting a little warm after a while, but it cooled down, which is not a problem of any sort as it’s pretty familiar with smartphones with such horsepower.

Just like any other Xiaomi smartphone, the Mi 11X Pro also runs MIUI 12 on top of Android 11. Yes, MIUI is a resource-hungry skin, but the 11X Pro has adequate resources to handle MIUI. We didn’t face any issues with the performance, but MIUI is still quite irritating. The advertisements are under control, but there are loads of pre-installed apps, and there’s no option to uninstall them. WHY? 

Here’s the thing – the Mi 11X Pro retails for INR 39,999, and a person spending this much would at least expect some control over which apps they want to keep or not, and Xiaomi has a solution already- it’s MIUI 12.5. Except it is not yet here. SO PLEASE, XIAOMI, GIVE US THE MIUI 12.5 AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Now leaving MIUI behind, there are some good things too. First of all, a huge kudos to Xiaomi for improving haptics in its recent smartphones, and also the speakers are loud and crisp.

The Mi 11X Pro’s battery boasts a capacity of 4,520 mAh, which is not the largest in the segment, but it almost gets you through a day if you’re using it moderately. In addition, it comes with a 33W charger, which is not the fastest charging technology in the market but gets the job done. The 11X Pro takes almost an hour to get wholly juiced up before you can hit the streets.

After all this, we can vouch for Mi 11X Pro’s performance. So there’s not much left to complain about, and MIUI 12.5 is the solution to all our woes.

Camera – The ‘108MP’ Hype, Again!

Here’s the thing, the Mi 11X Pro has the same camera setup as the much cheaper Redmi Note 10 Pro Max. The 11X comes with a primary 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor, 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera and a 5MP “telemacro” camera with 2X zoom. Moreover, you’d be getting a 20MP camera for selfies.

The primary 108MP camera clicks well-detailed images under adequate lightning while it struggles with noise during low light conditions. Nevertheless, the dynamic range is good enough, and HDR gets work done in tricky situations. You can also click images in 108MP resolution that offers better details while zooming in than the 12MP pixel binned shots.

Now, don’t expect much from the ultra-wide camera. The 8MP ultra-wide camera is just there to get the work done. As a result, the images shot from the 8MP ultra-wide snapper are less detailed, and the colours are dull. However, you do get a more comprehensive perspective amidst some compromises.

The 5MP macro camera is again the star of the picture. It’s undoubtedly the best implementation of a macro camera in a smartphone. So, the macro camera lets you click close-ups with decent details. It also has auto-focus, which helps in getting the best out of this macro camera.

The low light performance is not charming though the 108MP primary camera clicks good enough images with some noise, while the ultra-wide camera is a total mess in low light conditions. However, Night Mode helps a lot get the best out of both the cameras, but we’d suggest you not use the ultra-wide camera at night until necessary.

Results from the 20MP selfie camera were pleasing. The shots were well detailed though the skin tones were not perfect. You also get to click portrait selfies and the option to record videos at 1080P at 60fps. In the end, it serves its purpose of clicking social media-ready shots and showing yourself on zoom.

The camera setup didn’t disappoint on the Redmi Note 10 Pro, neither do they here. The camera system lead by the 108MP sensor shines in most scenarios. Moreover, there are loads of features to get the best out of these cameras, making the whole camera experience enjoyable.

Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro Verdict – A Safe Bet

The Mi 11X Pro gets the fundamentals right – you’re getting an incredible display, a top-class chipset under the hood, decent cameras and an exciting design. However, Xiaomi needs to tone down MIUI a little, at least for its premium offerings. Nevertheless, Mi 11X Pro is one hell of a smartphone for its price of Rs. 39,999. It offers an excellent value for money against its competition. If we were to judge, then the Mi 11X Pro tick all the boxes to crowned as the ‘flagship killer’ of 2021.

Is Mi 11X Pro Better Than OnePlus 9R?

By all means, the Mi 11X Pro is a lot better than the OnePlus 9R. With OnePlus 9R, you’re getting a year old design, a less powerful chipset, and a two-generation old camera setup. Meanwhile, Mi 11X offers a better design, a much better display, a flagship chipset, and a lot better cameras. Unfortunately, the only edge 9R has over 11X Pro is OxygenOS which is diminishing in the shadows of ColorOS, while MIUI is getting back in-game with each update. 

We recommend to go for the Mi 11X Pro if you’re considering purchasing the OnePlus 9R.