Xiaomi Mi 11X Review: A great overall package
Sporting a Snapdragon 870 processor and 120Hz display, the Xiaomi Mi 11X looks great on paper. But how well does it perform in the real world? Let's find out.
A few years ago, Xiaomi took the world by storm after launching the Poco F1 which was one of the best budget smartphones ever. Its spiritual successor, the Redmi K20 was never appreciated enough in India. Looks like the company has decided to bring the K40 series from China under the Mi 11X series name to appeal to the customers.
The Mi 11X is a mid-range smartphone with specs to tackle well beyond its weight class. Sporting a Snapdragon 870 processor and 120Hz display, the 11X looks great on paper. However, are you willing to spend your hard-earned money by just looking at some numbers on the spec sheet? If not, continue reading to find out whether the Mi 11X is worth your money or not.
Mi 11X Review: Specifications
Mi 11X sports a 6.67-inch FullHD+ Super AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 20:9 and a refresh rate of 120Hz. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor paired with 6/8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. The storage is non-expandable. It runs on Android 11 based MIUI 12 out of the box. All of this is backed by a 4,520mAh battery.
On the optics front, the 11X features a triple rear camera setup including a 48-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and a 5-megapixel macro sensor. Upfront, there is a 20-megapixel selfie snapper.
Mi 11X Review: Design and Display
Mi 11X sports the clean aesthetic of the Mi 11 series. The back is made of glass with a rounded rectangle camera module up top arranged in a nice design along with Xiaomi branding and 5G branding on the bottom left. The frame is plastic, but the phone looks and feels premium in hand.
On the front, the 11X sports a 6.67-inch panel with a wide display cutout for a selfie snapper in the centre. The cutout for the camera is really small and the bezels are also quite narrow all around.
As for the placements, the Mi 11X sports a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge surrounded by the dual sim card tray, speaker grille and the primary microphone. The right edge houses the power button and volume rockers. The top edge of the phone is mostly left clean with the exception of the secondary microphone. The power button doubles up as a fingerprint sensor, which is not evident at the first glance.
Coming back to the display, it is a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels. The best part of the display is the 120Hz refresh rate support. Whether you browse Instagram all day or play games or just casually use your phone, 120Hz refresh rate will obviously make the phone run smoother. If you prefer watching movies and other content on the smartphone, you will be happy to hear that the display is good, with great brightness and viewing angles. Overall, whether you wanna watch movies, play games or just scroll Instagram, this display won’t disappoint you.
Mi 11X Review: Performance, Software and UI
Mi 11X is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor paired with 6/8GB of RAM. Our review unit came with 8GB of RAM. With the phone being priced in the 30,000 range, the Snapdragon 870 is a really good processor. Apart from packing in 5G capabilities, the 870 brings fluid performance with great thermals. During the review period, the combination of gaming, internet browsing and music playback didn’t cause the phone to sweat even a bit.
During intense gaming sessions, the smartphone got a bit hot but performed great. Whether it be Asphalt 9 or Call of Duty, it handles whatever you throw at it perfectly without any hiccup.
The 11X runs on Android 11 based MIUI 12 out of the box. The MIUI 12 is way better than the MIUI 11 and the company seems to be on the right track. The UI is a bit less colourful, the new animations are smoother, the stock google dialer, messages, contacts apps are a welcome addition. The biggest change is the separation of the notifications and shortcuts dubbed into notifications and control centre, which looks and feels like iOS.
Mi 11X Review: Cameras
Mi 11X sports a triple-camera setup at the back. The setup comprises a 48-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 5-megapixel macro-sensor. The smartphone also gets Pro Mode, Night mode, Slow-Mo mode and much more.
The camera app is straightforward and offers a good amount of features. First of all, the 5-megapixel macro sensor performs a lot better than many phones with the garbage 2-megapixel macro sensor. It provides images that one can use easily.
Moving on to the main sensor, the sensor is disappointing. It doesn't even have optical image stabilization for this price range. The dynamic range is not good, and the images are generally overexposed. The details are also average. The colours are a bit vibrant. The ultrawide sensor has the same characteristics.
The selfie camera has the same performance. The normal light performance is adequate and the low light performance is also usable.
Mi 11X Review: Battery
The Mi 11X sports a 4,520mAh battery which by today’s standards and the price range this device stands in, is a bit less. The smartphone does support 33W fast charging and comes with a fast charger included which is nice. During my time with the device, light to medium usage got me around a day and some of the usage. On heavier days, the battery lasted around a workday. I am sure the battery life will take a hit when 5G becomes available in India and we start using it.
With the included 33W charger, the smartphone manager can charge itself from zero to 100 in less than an hour which is nice.
Mi 11X Review: Verdict
Starting at Rs 29,999 for the 6GB RAM variant and Rs 31,999 for the 8GB RAM variant, the Mi 11X offers good value for money with great design and materials. It also falunts great performance and a good looking display. The software is a love of hate with the MIUI always. The camera’s are a bit disappointing.
If you are willing to compromise a bit of camera performance for overall performance, display and build, then the Mi 11X is a great smartphone for you. If camera is your priority, you can look towards the likes of Realme X7 Pro and the Vivo V20 series.