MOBILE PHONES Xiaomi recently held its global launch event of the Mi 11, sporting the new Snapdragon 888 chip, a large 120 Hz WQHD OLED screen and other flagship specs. With the international pricing now finally revealed, is it worth buying?
Since the phone has been out in China since last December (of 2020), the Chinese tech giant didn't unveil anything too spectacular in terms of specs regarding the device at the launch event for the rest of the world. Neither did they mention any new phones, like the accompanying Pro and Lite models that are expected to follow alongside the standard Mi 11. They did, however, announce whether or not a charger will come in the box, as well as a price target for the European market.
Watch the launch event of the Xiaomi Mi 11 in its entirety in the video above.
Pricing
We'll start with the pricing. In China, the different Mi 11 models launched at the following price points:
CNY 3,999 (roughly €513) for the base 8GB + 128GB storage variant,
CNY 4,299 (roughly €552) for the 8GB + 256GB version, and
CNY 4,699 (roughly €603) for the top 12GB + 256GB variant.
Significant price premium internationally
The price Xiaomi announced globally at the event was quite a bit higher, though, starting at €749 for the 8 GB + 128 GB base model, which is almost a 50% markup from the asking price of €513 for its Chinese counterpart. Kind of crazy, really, but on the international market, Xiaomi is clearly benchmarking against Apple's and Samsung's heavy hitters around €1,000, which still gives them a significant advantage price-wise. Given the steep starting price of €749, we can probably expect the two higher variants going for well over €800. I would guess perhaps €799 for the 8GB+256GB and €849 for the higher 12GB RAM variant.
The charger situation
The Mi 11 shipped with no charger in the box in China. However, Xiaomi offered it for free with every purchase to those opted for one. That of course begs the question of how they will address the global market regarding the chargers.
Xiaomi's international president, Shou Zi Chew, mentioned during the global launch event that the company will unfortunately not include an 18-watt charger, since most of us already have a bunch of those laying around.
But PSYCH! They are including the appropriate 55-watt Gallium Nitride (GaN) charger instead, to take advantage of the faster charging the phone supports, right off the bat. (My Realme X50 Pro of last year already came with a 65-watt GaN charger included, but fair attempt impressing me, Xiaomi.)
The inclusion of a charger is very welcome news of course and a great relief to know that you will be all set if you happen to pick up one of these phones. But in all honesty, this is really the only decent way to do it. Clearly, everyone wants to follow Apple's greedy shenanigans, and start selling chargers separately these days. But if a phone is made to take advantage of new, specialised charging technology, and that is an actual selling point of it, it's just plain greedy to expect customers to make an additional purchase just so they can charge their phones properly. And given the significant price increase from the Chinese Mi 11, it would be kind of upsetting if we were denied that as well.
Worth buying?
If you lust the bleeding edge in terms of hard specs and performance, the Mi 11 could indeed be high on your list of candidates, especially here in Europe, where Samsung obstinately pushes its underwhelming Exynos chipsets on us, rather than the superior Snapdragon variants it blesses the US with.
The main attractions of the device are 1) the Snapdragon 888 chip the Mi 11 has onboard, and right now there aren't many other options available internationally, especially not at that price. Attraction number 2) being that 120 Hz, 1440p OLED screen. If you find those things are worth upgrading over, the Mi 11 might just be the phone for you!
Some reasons why you perhaps shouldn't
Camera downgraded from Mi 10?
I personally find the Mi 11 a pretty lazy upgrade, to be completely honest. Apart from the new Snapdragon 888 chipset, courtesy of Qualcomm, the Mi 11 has very little to get excited about, comparing it to the company's previous iteration. Xiaomi spent a lot of time praising the Mi 11's cameras, but they are still the same as what's already in the Mi 10.
The older Mi 10 and Mi 10T (as well as the Mi Note 10) models actually offer a wider aperture main 108 MP lens, at f/1.7, compared to the Mi 11's at f/1.9. So the older models are in fact better optically, which might be most notable in low light scenarios, as the larger aperture lets more light in. Any improvements you may (or may not) see with the Mi 11 comes from the newer post-processing done by the Snapdragon 888 chip, rather than from the cameras themselves.
When Frankie Tech on YouTube compared the Mi 11's camera to that in the Mi 10T Pro, he actually came to the conclusion that the Mi 10T Pro performed better in most cases. Also worth keeping in mind.
Furthermore, the Mi 11 still lacks a proper telephoto lens. While the 5 MP "telemacro" lens has a longer focal length, it can be used only for macro shots. Since its focus range is limited to 3-10 cm, the subject you're shooting needs to be very close to the camera. If you need a wider variety of lenses on your phone, the more photography-centred Mi Note 10 is still your best bet. Hopefully, that line of phones sees an update this year as well, but who knows.
Overheating and performance throttling
Also worth mentioning before taking the plunge and dropping €750+ on a Mi 11 is the overheating issues, that seem to be plagued by phones sporting the new Snapdragon 888 SoC under the hood. The same YouTuber performed a stress test with two Snapdragon 888 equipped phones; the Mi 11 and Vivo IQOO 7 (not yet released globally at the time of writing) and both overheated. He also compared it with and two other phones; the Mi 10T Pro sporting the Snapdragon 650 of last year, and the budget blower Redmi Note 9T. The Mi 11 clearly throttled its performance and dimmed the display to keep the heat in check. But it didn't stop it from still getting hottest of the phones tested.
In a similar test between the Mi 11 and the Samsung S21 Ultra, which is another Snapdragon 888 phone, both struggled with heat issues. Samsung's flagship throttled even than the Mi 11, though, in order to keep the temperature at a reasonable level.
Given the known heat issues with the new SD888, it might be a good reason to save some money and stick with one of the 2020 flagships that instead have the cooler running SD865 chipset onboard.
Mediocre battery life
As stated during the launch event, Xiaomi did what everyone else does and opted for a slim design with curved edges. Given that it's a 5G phone, running a pretty power-hungry SoC, plus a high-resolution, high refresh rate display, the Mi 11 would have benefitted from a beefier battery to match the power draw, even if it would have made the phone a millimetre or two thicker in my opinion.
Curved displays are also not ideal if you plan to slap a screen protector on it. But at least the Mi 11 comes equipped with the new Gorilla Glass Victus, which will hopefully save the screen from a few unfortunate bumps, drops and dings.
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| A battery drain test performed by YouTuber TechNick shows the Mi 11 draining faster than the four other phones in the test. Note, however, that the Mi 11 is the only one rocking the Snapdragon 888, which appears to get hotter and consume more power than the last generation. |
No under-display selfie camera
As someone who hated the notch, and even find for the smaller camera cutouts distracting, I'm really hoping to see flagship phones with invisible front-facing cameras hit the market big time this year. ZTE already managed to hide its camera underneath the display in last year's ZTE Axon 20, and that was in a midrange phone. So Xiaomi, Samsung and the others really need to step up their game in that department.
No headphone jack, nor expandable storage
Features that were expected in most smartphones just a few years ago, that have sadly become rare in flagship devices, including the Mi 11. With 128 and 256 GB of storage becoming the new standard, that SD card slot is becoming less of a necessity, though. What I miss the most these days is removable batteries, though. Remember those?
No official IP water resistance rating
While the Mi 11 lacks an official IP rating when it comes to water resistance, Xiaomi seems to have given it some sort of resistance. At least this Mi 11 below managed to survived a couple of drops in a bowl of water. Your mileage may vary though, so don't try this with your phone.
Bottom line
The asking price of €750 is a good deal if you compare it to the latest and greatest Samsungs and iPhones. But if you start compare the Mi 11 with last year's models, such as the Mi 10 and Mi 10T Pro, as well as other value offerings like the OnePlus 8T as well as Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, these are all selling at around €600. And given the minor upgrades the Mi 11 brings over last-gen, those might be more compelling to buy. If you factor in its overheating issues, then even more so. Especially if prices of older models begin to drop as new 2021 models start saturating the market, thus widening the gap price-wise.
Phones mentioned in this article
New flagships phones of 2021
Samsung S21 Ultra (US | UK | DE/EU)
Xiaomi Mi 11 - check for availability: US | UK | DE/EU
Vivo IQOO 7 - check for availability: US | UK | DE/EU
2020 flagships worth considering
Realme X50 Pro (US | UK | DE/EU)
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (US | UK | DE/EU)
Xiaomi Mi 10 (US | UK | DE/EU)
Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro (US | UK | DE/EU)
If the camera is your top priority
Google Pixel 4a (US | UK | DE/EU)
Google Pixel 5 (US | UK | DE/EU)
Huawei P40 Pro (US | UK | DE/EU)
Midrange/budget alternatives
OnePlus Nord (US | UK | DE/EU)
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC (US | UK | DE/EU)
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 (US | UK | DE/EU)
ZTE Axon 20 Pro (US | UK | DE/EU)
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