Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
The Good Stuff
- Stylish design & durable
- Excellent AMOLED display
- Great battery life
- Power charger, headphone jack & microSD slot available
- Acceptable quality main camera
- Low price
- Budget price
The Bad Stuff
- Limited video recording capabilities
- Mediocre performance
- Poor quality ultrawide camera & night mode
- No 5G network capabilities
- Limited features from MIUI 13
Are you tired of buying an expensive smartphone yet you have no idea how to use its many complex features? Isn’t it better you get yourself a cheaper and simple-to-use smartphone? Let me show you the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11, one of the newest and most affordable smartphones to come this year. But is it really worth your time? Let’s see more on this review.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
Front & back view of the Graphire Gray Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
Phone Specs
Display
6.43″ AMOLED, 90Hz | 700 nits, 1000 nits (peak) | 1080x2400px screen resolution | 20:9 aspect ratio | 409ppi
Chip
Qualcomm SM6225 Snapdragon 680 4G (6 nm), Octa-core (4×2.4 GHz Kryo 265 Gold & 4×1.9 GHz Kryo 265 Silver) | Adreno 610 GPU
Operating System (OS)
Android 11, MIUI 13
Storage, RAM
64GB 4GB RAM, 64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM | UFS 2.2 | microSDXC (dedicated slot).
Rear Camera
50 MP, f/1.8 (wide), 26mm, PDAF | 8 MP, f/2.2 (ultra-wide), 118-degree | 2 MP, f/2.4 (macro) | 2 MP, f/2.4 (depth) | 1080p@30fps video recording
Selfie Camera
13 MP, f/2.4, (wide) | 1080p@30fps video recording
Battery
5000mAh | Fast charging 33W, 100% in 60 min (advertised), Power Delivery 3.0, Quick Charge 3+
Misc
Fingerprint reader (side-mounted) | Infrared port | 3.5mm jack | Virtual Proximity Sensor | 179g | plastic body | IP53, dust and splash protection
Released
February 2022
Retail Price
Click Here!
Reason to Buy
Reason not to Buy
Overview
So what is this Xiaomi Redmi Note 11? It’s a budget-midrange smartphone that is part of the Redmi Note 11 series and is a predecessor to the Redmi Note 10. From first observation, it comes with a 6.43-inch AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate and 1080p screen resolution. At the back, there’s a 50MP quad-camera with four camera lenses and a back panel with a matte plastic finish.
Looking inside the Note 11, there’s a Snapdragon 680 4G processor with an Adreno GPU, RAM ranging from 4GB up to 6GB, storage ranging from 64GB to 128GB, and a large battery 5000mAh battery. The model starts from 64GB storage with 4GB RAM all the way up to the top 128GB storage with 6GB RAM. As you unbox, you will find a lot of things inside, that includes the following:
It’s great that they include a phone charger and a protective phone cover.
What We Like
Good design & durable
The design of the Redmi Note 11 is impressive. It doesn’t even look like a budget smartphone. It weighs less than 200g so it’s light to handle, the matte finish feels comfortable on the hand, and comes in an array of colors, such as Pearl White, Star Blue, and Graphite Gray. With durability, the Redmi Note 11 comes with a great build and tough glass protection but comes with an IP53 rating which means it’s dust and splash protection, not water-proof, not dust-proof.
Front, side & back view of the Star Blue Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
Gorgeous display
The 6.43-inch display is massive and looks superb thanks to the AMOLED screen technology. The crystal clear 1080 x 2400 screen resolution, the good brightness and vivid colors, and the 90Hz refresh rate all contribute to the stunning screen quality you can expect from the Redmi Note 11. Expect smooth scrolling between menus, a detailed view of colorful HD images, and equally detailed HD movies. No HDR support, but overall, the screen looks stunning.
Great battery life
The next thing we like is the battery life. You get a massive 5000mAh battery that can power up the phone the whole day on a single charge and even more hours on moderate use. The phone comes with a 33W charger that can charge up the phone from 0 to 100% in a little over an hour. It’s good that you get a charger on the purchase though, and the battery life is the least of your worries. No wireless charging but that’s expected when you get a budget phone.
Acceptable main camera
The smartphone comes with a quad-lens rear camera that is made up of a 50MP wide lens, an 8MP ultrawide lens, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth lens. For those who like taking selfies, the phones come with a single 13MP wide lens that’s good enough for video calls and of course taking selfies. In terms of photo quality, they look good. Could be better but are acceptable.
Low budget price
Since it’s a budget phone, expect to pay less than US$300 for the Redmi Note 11. That’s a great price if you ask me. If you click on the link now you can see it for yourself.
What We Don’t Like
Limited network capabilities
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 is only available with 4G network capabilities. This means no 5G network capabilities like other standard 5G budget smartphones of today.
Mediocre performance
There are so many reasons not to like the performance of the Redmi Note 11. Firstly, it comes with an older Snapdragon processor released in late 2021. It performs well but it comes with a number of limits, such as it only supports 1080p video recordings and supports 4G network capabilities. Next, the Adreno GPU is equally outdated, but it can run games. But the benchmark scores are not looking too good. So that says a lot about gaming performance.
Back & side view of the Graphite Gray Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
No 4K video recording
One of the worse things with the Redmi Note 11 in the camera department is that you can only record 1080p videos. No 4K video recording feature here, thanks to the limiting features you get from the Snapdragon processor chip.
Disappointing ultra-wide & night mode
As for the camera, the Redmi Note 11 takes acceptable photos during the day. Digital zoom also looks okay. However, it fails with the ultrawide camera and in low-light areas. Ultrawide photos don’t look very good as the photos show a loss of color and lacking detail. If you like taking photos, stick to taking them during the day using the main camera option.
Missing features from the MIUI 13 OS
If that’s not enough, the MIUI 13 OS is missing a few widgets that are not available in other current smartphones. The reason is that the OS is based on Android 11 which is also outdated. Let’s hope in the future there will be an update to fix the current OS issues.
Verdict
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 is a budget smartphone. It’s well designed with good durability, has a great quality screen, good battery life, lots of accessories and features upon purchase, and comes at a good budget price. Unfortunately, the smartphone falls flat with the overall limits in performance, lacking in camera quality, limited video features, and network capabilities.
It’s hard to recommend the Redmi Note 11 because it’s a budget smartphone and it does come with limitations. Another reason is that the cons outweigh the pros, which to me, the major con is the lack of performance, which is a shame. Should you buy it?
Bottom line, if you’re looking for a smartphone for limited or moderate use like making or taking calls, or web browsing and video streaming on Youtube or Netflix, then yes. I recommend you get the Redmi Note 11. But if you want a smartphone that has the latest specs and features, like a 5G network, and good software experience, and a good camera, then, No. I suggest you look elsewhere.
Now it’s your turn. What are your thoughts on Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 smartphone? How has your experience been thus far? Please comment below with answers or even more questions. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. And if you have a good feeling about this phone, don’t ignore it. Take advantage of the price on offer and purchase it now, by clicking here or clicking on the button on the top of the review.