Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra review: The ultimate Android flagship?

My transient opinion of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely was launched in Europe on Could 4, 2021, on the candy value of €1,199. It poses as a direct competitor to the Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely packs a triple digital camera module, together with a 50 MP Samsung GN2 primary sensor, a Snapdragon 888 chipset mated to 12 GB of RAM, an AMOLED show with a 120 Hz refresh price and WQHD+ decision, and a secondary show on the again - all operating off the juice from a 5,000 mAh battery that performs good with 67-watts quick charging functionality.

However nonetheless, we’ve to keep in mind that the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely retains the identical display screen, SoC, chassis, and selfie digital camera because the vanilla Xiaomi Mi 11, which retails for €450 cheaper upon its launch.

The standard of the digital camera module alone clearly deserves to position it within the “extremely” flagship smartphone phase, however I am not satisfied that Xiaomi has executed a greater job than Samsung in relation to delivering the final word Android smartphone.

WQHD+ AMOLED display screen in 120 Hz remains to be attractive

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely options the identical show as within the vanilla Xiaomi Mi 11.
This implies you find yourself with a 6.81-inch AMOLED panel in WQHD+ decision at 3200 x 1440 pixels, at pixel density of 515 ppi, all in a 20:9 side ratio. The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely’s show helps HDR10+ and includes a 120Hz refresh price and a most brightness of 1,700 nits. There may be a further bonus right here although: the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely’s ‘secret weapon’ is the 1.1-inch AMOLED show on the again.

I preferred the:

• 120Hz refresh price.
• WQHD+ decision.
• 480 Hz contact sampling price.

I did not just like the:

• Similar show because the vanilla Xiaomi Mi 11.
• Rear show is simply too “gimmicky”.

I am not going to repeat my overview of the vanilla Xiaomi Mi 11’s show phrase for phrase, so I invite you to take a look at my full overview in the event you have an interest. To place it merely, this is among the greatest, if not one of the best, smartphone shows on the market proper now.

When it comes to specs, you get assist for 10-bit shade depth, HDR10+, and DCI-P3 spectrum in addition to 900 nits brightness (1,700 max) that ship a wealthy show of shade and distinction. MIUI 12 nonetheless gives a reasonably big selection of the way to customise the viewing expertise. The choices to “upscale” video content material and adaptive playback consolation modes primarily based on ambient lighting satisfied me additional.

One other element that I additionally actually preferred was the contact sampling price, which is the variety of instances per second the display screen registers a contact. The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely gives a 480Hz contact sampling price, which fares higher than the Asus ROG Telephone 5, a gaming smartphone that trumpets this function as the middle of its consumer expertise.

The ultimate level is concerning the add-on show nestled to the suitable of the digital camera module on the again of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely: It’s a 1.1-inch AMOLED panel. That is actually fairly small. More often than not, the display screen merely acts as an always-on show to indicate the date, time, and remaining battery degree.

However this show will also be used as a preview to take photos or selfies utilizing the rear digital camera module. Nevertheless, this “preview” mode solely works with the essential picture mode. Oddly sufficient, Xiaomi doesn’t permit it for use for portrait pictures or in video mode.

General, I actually loved, if not beloved, trying out the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely’s display screen all through my overview. It is actually an odd factor to say, however smoothness and definition actually play a key function within the premium feeling of a smartphone. My OnePlus 8T’s show, which is my every day driver, appeared moderately uninteresting as compared. Nevertheless, do keep in mind that it is the similar display screen because the vanilla Xiaomi Mi 11, which is offered for a lot much less.

Snapdragon 888 efficiency blighted by overheating

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely options the Snapdragon 888 SoC and the accompanying Adreno 660 GPU, all coupled with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM. On paper, this could at the least match the efficiency of the vanilla Xiaomi Mi 11, if not exceed it typically.

I preferred the:

• Uncooked energy of the Snapdragon 888 SoC.

I did not just like the:

• Overheating points (in benchmarks).
• Unstable body charges (throughout gaming).

When it comes to pure benchmark scores, there’s not a lot distinction between the efficiency of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely and the vanilla Mi 11. Once more, you may assume that this can be a lucky factor. The smartphone ranks as common amongst high-end Android gadgets.

However this smartphone suffers from the identical issues as its “little brother”, specifically overheating and ensuing body price losses. Particularly, we seen some severe thermal throttling happening within the smartphone because the mercury shoots up moderately rapidly.

I want I might offer you extra correct knowledge, however I could not even full the Wild Life Stress Check benchmark from 3DMark. This benchmark simulates intensive gaming utilization for 20 minutes. However the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely-overheated lengthy earlier than the top of every of the 5 makes an attempt (that are spaced quarter-hour aside to chill down the machine), forcing the overview to pause and stutter.

Every time with out fail, the smartphone was sizzling to the contact. In real-life utilization or a extra practical state of affairs (max graphics on CoD Cell, WQHD+ display screen, and 120 Hz refresh price enabled), I did not discover overheating to such a level. However, I did expertise severe loss in body charges throughout gameplay.

General, I can not say that the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely is not a succesful smartphone, however I used to be frankly disillusioned by its efficiency in relation to gaming, particularly the way it fails to deal with thermal points nicely. That is inexcusable for a smartphone that’s presupposed to be the final word flagship.

The most effective digital camera smartphone in 2021?

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely includes a gargantuan triple digital camera module with:

• 50 MP primary lens, f/1.95 aperture, 1/1.12-inch sensor dimension, OIS.
• 48 MP ultra-wide-angle lens, f/2.2 aperture, 128° FOV.
• 48 MP periscope telephoto lens, f/4.1 aperture, 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid, 120x digital.

I preferred the:

• Glorious degree of element and sharpness.
• 5x and 10x efficient zoom.
• Versatile digital camera module.

I did not just like the:

• Evening mode efficiency.
• Digital processing is accentuated in low gentle circumstances.
• Diploma of distortion in ultra-wide-angle pictures.

Images by the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely utilizing the principle lens

The principle digital camera of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely makes use of the brand new Samsung GN2, which relies on a big 1/1.12-inch sensor. The lens captures photographs in 12.5 MP by default through pixel binning. It additionally has bi-directional Twin Pixel autofocus thrown in for good measure.

Throughout the daytime, underneath good lighting circumstances, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely captures wonderful pictures when it comes to element degree and publicity. The dynamic vary is sweet and vast, even on advanced pictures. The colorimetry nonetheless stays a bit saturated, however lower than Samsung’s efforts.

The aperture of f/1.95 could seem a bit too low subsequent to the f/1.8 lenses of the Galaxy S21 Extremely, the Oppo Discover X3 Professional, and the OnePlus 9 Professional. Nevertheless, the principle power of this digital camera module is the sharpness, the extent of element it captures, and never solely with the principle sensor alone. Digital noise is just about non-existent.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely pictures with the ultra-wide angle lens

For the ultra-wide angle lens, it is the Sony IMX586 sensor that provides a 128° FOV. Throughout the day, the extent of element is as soon as once more wonderful with good shade consistency in comparison with the wide-angle pictures. Nevertheless, I discovered that there was fairly a little bit of distortion on the edges of the picture with some fish-eye impact.

Zoom efficiency of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely

The telephoto lens on the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely is identical as on final yr’s Mi 10 Extremely which we did not obtain. The lens is a 5x optical zoom periscope with an aperture of f/4.1. The aperture on the Galaxy S21 Extremely was a bit bigger (f/3.5), however its focal size was shorter, at about 103 mm versus the Mi 11 Extremely’s 125 mm.

On the subject of zoom efficiency, I used to be left impressed. The lack of high quality at 5x is actually very restricted in comparison with 1x, whereas the extent of element in some 10x zoom pictures typically shocked me pleasantly.

Dynamic vary efficiency might be one of the best you could find in the marketplace with a telephoto lens, and publicity was very correct. Colours nonetheless remained per these captured through the principle digital camera.

Clearly, Xiaomi needed to outdo Samsung on this division by providing a full digital zoom of 120x. Similar to Samsung’s 100x area zoom, that is nothing greater than bragging rights that serves no goal apart from to look good on the specs sheet and advertising supplies.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely-night pictures

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely has an “computerized” evening mode. When you have “AI” mode enabled, it’ll robotically kick in scene recognition, and upon recognizing a scene that is darker than regular, it’ll robotically activate evening mode in accordance with the ambient gentle degree. However you too can manually go for the devoted evening mode in the event you so want.

I need to say that the outcomes had been moderately combined. The truth is, I merely discovered the photographs to be too easy and misplaced an excessive amount of element. The Mi 11 Extremely illuminated scenes very nicely if required, dealing with sturdy gentle sources effectively to keep away from flare results and picture burn-in. However the lack of sharpness doesn’t make it one of the best smartphone to seize recollections at evening.

General, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely’s digital camera module is great. It’s clearly one of many high 5 digital camera smartphones available in the market for 2021. I beloved the telephoto lens and total the extent of element displayed by every of the digital camera module’s sensors. My solely disappointments had been the evening mode and digital smoothing that kicks in too typically in low gentle circumstances. But it surely’s as versatile a digital camera smartphone as Oppo and Samsung’s representatives.

The 5,000 mAh battery and 67-watts quick charging assist

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely packs a 5,000mAh battery that accepts each wired and wi-fi quick charging at 67-watts through the included charger.

Personally, I desire to abuse the smartphone and allow the 120Hz refresh price in WQHD+ decision on a regular basis. Utilizing this configuration, I lasted a full day of use on common, between 9 and 11 hours with a combined utilization sample (internet, video and music streaming, 1 or 2 video calls, some gaming thrown into the combo). This meant I nonetheless needed to plug the smartphone into the ability socket on the finish of the day.

Quick charging at 67-watts labored very nicely, because it took me lower than 40 minutes on common (greatest time: 36 minutes) to get a full cost. By leaving the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely plugged in for half-hour, I might go from 0 to 90% on common (greatest rating: 91%), which is infinitely quicker than the 25-watt cost that the Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely helps.

General, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely does not provide the longest battery life within the high-end Android market, however the 5,000mAh battery, which is bigger than those discovered within the OnePlus 9 Professional and Oppo Discover X3 Professional , makes it potential to deal with the ability required to maintain the succesful SoC and excessive refresh price show going. Its energy saving modes are additionally fairly efficient and may provide as much as an additional half day’s utilization.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely specs and different particulars

Earlier than shifting on to the specs sheet, I’ve listed a couple of issues that had been excluded from the complete overview however are nonetheless value mentioning.

• The design of the Mi 11 Extremely is huge (234 g) however above all badly balanced, since all the things goes into the massive digital camera module which makes the smartphone uncomfortable to carry.
• The Xiaomi Mi 11 Extremely is IP68 licensed and may subsequently stand up to immersion in water (in recent water at 1 meter deep, for half-hour).
• Two built-in Harman Kardon stereo audio system provide wonderful high quality however are somewhat weak on bass.
• The digital camera utility gives a “Multi Cam” mode that makes use of all of the lenses on the similar time, like Samsung’s Single Take mode.

Conclusion