While the Pro duo has big ambitions, the Redmi Note 11 and Note 11S will try to win your heart by being smaller, lighter and cheaper. Even so, they share some features with the Pros and with each other.
With a 6.43” AMOLED display, these two are a few millimeters
shorter and narrower, over 20g lighter too. They still enjoy 1080p+ resolution
(20:9) and a high refresh rate – only 90Hz, but it’s still an upgrade over the
Note 10 and 10S from last year. The touch sampling rate is double that (180Hz)
and Xiaomi managed to boost the typical brightness to 700 nits (up from 450
nits). The Gorilla Glass 3 protection and IP53 rating (splash resistance) are
the same.
The camera is a much larger upgrade. The Redmi Note 11S gets
the same 108MP ISOCELL HM2 as the Pros – a 1/1.53” sensor with 0.7 µm pixels
and 9-in-1 binning (for 2.1 µm pixels). That's quite a jump up from the 64MP 1/1.97"
sensor of the 10S. The regular Note 11 gets a 50 MP sensor instead. Both pack a
118° ultrawide camera with 8MP sensor, a 2MP macro cam and a 2MP depth sensor.
The Redmi Note 11S has the same 108 MP main and 8 MP ultra
wide cameras as the Pro modelsThe Redmi Note 11S has the same 108MP main and
8MP ultrawide cameras as the Pro modelsThe Redmi Note 11 gets a 50 MP main
camera insteadThe Redmi Note 11 gets a 50MP main camera instead
The chipsets are sequels to the ones from last year – the
S-model gets the Helio G96 (instead of G95), the vanilla has a Snapdragon 680
(instead of 678). The G96 is fabbed on an old 12nm process, but has relatively
new Cortex-A76 cores (two of them). Well, “new” in relation to the Cortex-A73
based cores (four of them) in the Snapdragon. Instead of performance, the
Snapdragon has its eyes set on efficiency – it’s fabbed on a modern 6nm
process.
MIUI 13 based on Android 11 will come pre-installed. The
Redmi Note 11 starts at 4/64 GB and tops out at 6/128 GB, the Note 11S starts
at 6/64 GB and tops out at 8/128 GB. Unlike the Pros, however, these have
dedicated spots for microSD cards on the dual-SIM tray.
Both phones have side-mounted fingerprint readers and can
also use their front cameras for biometric unlock – 16MP for the S-phone and
13MP for the other one. These have IR blasters and (in some regions) NFC, plus
dual speakers and 3.5mm headphone jacks.
The Note 11 and 11S are powered by 5,000 mAh batteries, the
same capacity as last year’s models. However, Xiaomi managed to optimize the
33W fast charging, so now 100% is reached in 58 minutes (the Note 10 needed 74
minutes).
The Redmi Note 11 and Note 11S will become available later
this month in a limited "early bird" deal, wide availability is
coming next month. The Redmi Note 11 will start at US$ 180 for the 4/64 GB model
and will go up to US$ 230 for the top 6/128 GB model. The Redmi Note 11S will
start at US$ 250 (6/64 GB) and go up to US$ 300 (8/128 GB).
But those prices can be lower, if you catch the worm - the
early bird prices will be available only on AliExpress and only on January 28
and 29. They drop the Note 11 prices by US$ 20 for the 4/64 GB and 4/128 GB models
and US$ 30 for the top 6/128 GB model. As for the Note 11S, only the 6/64 GB
version is getting a discount to the tune of $20.
