Xiaomi is one of the most popular Chinese manufacturers producing not only smartphones but also earphones, power banks, smart TVs and other products. In fact, according to IDC, in the smartphone category alone, the company has successfully become the third most popular brand by shipments in the world; beating the likes of Apple, OPPO, vivo and more. Looking to push the envelope further, the company has announced the Mi 11, their latest flagship smartphone equipped with 5G connectivity. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, they revealed only ONE flagship smartphone; something we haven’t seen from manufacturers in a while!
New Aspirations with a new Flagship
The Mi 11 isn’t just a new flagship from Xiaomi, it marks the company’s move to push boundaries and start taking on giant brands like Samsung and Apple. Most obviously, Xiaomi has its software aspirations fixed squarely on Apple. With the announcement of their new flagship, the company also announced a new update to their signature MIUI interface: MIUI 12.5. The updated MIUI interface continues to focus on user experience with new features focused on increasing performance, reducing load times, optimizing app compatibility, and improving security.
Xiaomi’s focus on creating a performance centric flagship doesn’t wane when it comes to the Mi 11. It’s the first commercially available smartphone equipped with Qualcomm’s latest flagship processor the Snapdragon 888. The processor is equipped with 5G connectivity on both mmWave and Sub5 spectra with a new 1+3+4 architecture which promises better performance and battery life. The Mi 11 is also equipped with faster UFS3.1 storage for and faster 4600MHz LPDDR5 RAM. In addition, the new Mi flagship also comes with a 4,600 mAh battery that supports 55W fast charging, 50W wireless fast charging and 10W reverse wireless charging.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 has a 4-curve design with AG coating which the company claims to make it more ergonomic and easier to handle. The flagship has also been given a sleeker design coming in at only 8.06mm thick and weighing only 169g. In addition to this, the Mi 11 comes with a 2K AMOLED display with 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and 480Hz touch sampling. The panel comes with E4 OLED technology which allows Xiaomi to fine tune the colour accuracy with a ΔE value of about 0.4. The display employs the latest Gorilla Glass Victus when it comes to shatter- and scratch-proofing.
It’s All in the Details from Camera setup to Content Immersion
The Mi 11 comes with a brand-new triple camera setup which Xiaomi claims brings all the features you need to get great video and pictures. The setup comes with a large 1/1.3” 108-megapixel main sensor paired with a 13-megapixel ultrawide sensor and a 5-megapixel telemacro sensor. While it may seem like Xiaomi has opted to not have optical zoom on the Mi 11, their inclusion of a telemacro lens allows users to get some optical zoom while also enabling the camera to capture the finer details.
MIUI 12.5, which debuts on the Mi 11, focuses on immersion with features that help make the user experience more immersive than ever before. One of these features is a huge improvement to the haptic engine of the Mi 11. The enhancement allows users to experience more discerning features when it is utilized. Xiaomi touted the many different surfaces the engine can emulate during their presentation. In addition, the company has also added touch sensors which detect how the phone is being held to prevent unwanted screen rotations. Xiaomi is also upping the ante when it comes to sound with a partnership with Harman/Kardon. The Mi 11 comes with stereo speakers calibrated by Harman/Kardon for a more immersive sound experience.
Pricing & Availability
The Mi 11 is available in three colours: Blue, Black, and white. There are also two special Eco Leather editions available in Khaki and Mist Purple. It goes on sale in China starting on January 1, 2020 with prices starting at CN¥3,999 for the 8GB+128GB configuration. The Mi 11 doesn’t come with a wall wart in the box. However, Xiaomi is making a bundled deal available with a 55W GaN charger for the same price (for now). The bundle is originally valued at CN¥4,098.
| Configuration | Price (CN¥) | Price (USD$) | Price (MYR) |
| 8GB RAM + 128GB Storage | 3,999 | 611.83 | 2,478.25 |
| 8GB RAM + 256GB Storage | 4,299 | 657.32 | 2,664.17 |
| 12GB RAM + 256GB Storage | 4,699 | 718.48 | 2,911.59 |
The Mi 11 is also available in an extremely limited edition made with Scodix Crystal and signed by CEO, Lei Jun which will be available during a special live stream on TikTok (known in China as DouYin).
Official Specifications
| Specifications | Xiaomi Mi 11 |
| Display | 6.81-inch AMOLED 1 billion colours 2K Resolution 1440×3200 pixels (515 ppi) 5000000:1 contrast ratio 500nit brightness 120Hz dynamic refresh rate 480 Hz touch sampling rate HDR10+ DCI-P3 MEMC Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Software | MIUI 12.5 based on Android 11 |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 (5nm) Octa-core: 1x Cortex X1 (2.4GHz) 3x Cortex A78 (2.4GHz) 4x Cortex A55 (1.8GHz) Hexagon 780 AI Engine |
| GPU | Adreno 660 |
| Memory | RAM: 8GB, 12GB (LPDDR5) Storage: 128GB, 256GB (UFS3.1) |
| Rear Camera | Main: 108-megapixel 1/1.3” sensor size f/1.9 aperture 0.8µm pixel size 13-megapixel Super Wide Angle 123° viewing angle f/2.4 aperture 5-megapixel telemacro f/2.4 aperture |
| Seflie Camera | 20-megapixel 1/3.4” 0.8µm |
| Connectivity | 5G (mmWave & Sub6) Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/b/ac/ax (WiFi 6) Bluetooth 5.2 USB C (v2.0) |
| Battery | 4600mAh 55W Fast Charging 50W Wireless Fast Charging 10W Reverse Wireless Charging USB-C PD 3.0 Quick Charge 4+ |
| Misc | Under Display Fingerprint Sensor (optical) AptX HD AptX Adaptive Accelerometer Gyro Proximity Sensor Compass |
| Colors | Black, White, Blue Eco Leather Edition: Khaki, Mist Purple Limited Special Edition: Scodix Crystal |
| Price | [8GB+128GB] CN¥3,999 (USD$611.83/MYR2,478.25) [8GB+256GB] CN¥4,299 (USD$657.32/MYR2,664.17) [12GB+256GB] CN¥4,699 (USD$718.48/MYR2,911.59) |