Xiaomi’s €1,200 Galaxy S21 Ultra rival

Xiaomi launched the Mi 11 back in December. A global launch followed in January of this year. While the company didn’t offer a Mi 11 Pro on either launch, it has just announced two premium Mi 11 series phones.

These aren’t the only additions to today’s Mi 11 family, as Xiaomi also offered the Mi 11i and Mi 11 Lite series. Here’s what you should know about the new additions to the Mi 11 family.

Mi 11 Ultra

The Mi 11 Ultra (see above) is the top-end model here and follows in the footsteps of last year’s Mi 10 Ultra. True to the leaks, the new phone features a 1.1-inch OLED screen on the back. This screen is used for selfie previews so you can shoot with the ultra-wide and standard cameras. The screen also offers functions that are always available and displays notifications. In addition, there is a super power saving mode that allows you to only use the rear display.

A rear window isn’t the only notable design decision, as the ceramic phone is IP68 rated for the first time in Xiaomi’s portfolio. It’s a long overdue addition to Xiaomi phones, but we’re excited to see the company finally offering this feature.

Otherwise, you get a Snapdragon 888 SoC, a 6.81-inch 120 Hz QHD + OLED screen with Gorilla Glass Victus and Dolby Vision, speakers tuned for Harman Kardon, and a 5,000 mAh battery. As soon as the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra runs out of juice, you can use wired charging with 67 W and wireless charging with 67 W. This will charge the battery in just 36 minutes. You can also charge other devices with 10W reverse wireless charging.

Read more: The best phones with wireless charging in 2021

The Ultra device also offers warmth in the camera category and has a well-rounded triple rear camera setup. A Samsung GN2 sensor with 50 MP takes over the main tasks of the camera. It has 1.4 micron pixels and a 1 / 1.12 inch sensor size. The company adds that the main camera features Dual Pixel Pro autofocus technology, OIS and a new night mode algorithm. You also get a 48-megapixel ultra-wide snapper (IMX586, 128-degree field of view, macro mode, PDAF) and a 48-megapixel periscope lens (IMX586, 5x optical, 10x hybrid, 120x digital zoom , 8-K image, OIS). Selfies are processed by a 20-megapixel camera in a left-aligned hole cutout.

Interestingly, Xiaomi says that thanks to the “Multi Cam” feature, you can record with multiple cameras at the same time and choose the cameras you want to record with. It also revives an early Android feature that lets you record videos using two different Mi 11 Ultra phones.

Overall, it’s clear that Xiaomi is targeting phones like the iPhone 12 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and OnePlus 9 Pro with this new device.

Mi 11 Pro

Would you like something better than the Mi 11 but not the Mi 11 Ultra? This is where the new Mi 11 Pro comes in and serves as a kind of middle child in the Mi 11 family.

The phone has some familiar core specs, namely the Snapdragon 888 SoC and a 6.67-inch QHD + OLED screen, but you still get some ultra-extras. This includes protection class IP68, wired and wireless charging with 67 W (wireless charging with 10 W reverse) and a 5,000 mAh battery. Similar to the Mi 11 Ultra, you get a full charge in 36 minutes.

The Pro version of Xiaomi also offers a 50-megapixel main camera (GN2), a 13-megapixel ultra-wide sensor (123-degree field of view) and a 5x 8-megapixel periscope camera. The latter two cameras are theoretically a downgrade of the 48-megapixel ultra-wide shooter and the periscope lens of the Ultra. Strangely enough, Xiaomi also advertises slow-motion video recordings at 1,920 frames per second on the Pro and Ultra phones. A clip played at the event suggests that it may be an interpolated video rather than a native quality of 1,920 frames per second.

Wed 11i

We’ve already seen the Poco F3 launch as the Redmi K40 with a renamed name, but this isn’t the only K40 series phone to get the renaming. Xiaomi also unveiled the Mi 11i today, and it’s practically a Redmi K40 Pro Plus with a new name.

That means you still get a 6.67-inch FHD + 120Hz OLED screen, Snapdragon 888 SoC, and a 4,520mAh battery with 33W cable charge. The phone also has a 108-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide snapper, and a 5-megapixel telephoto macro lens. A 20-megapixel camera is located in the center-lined hole opening of the phone.

The phone does not have Mi 11 Ultra and Pro features like IP68 and a telephoto or periscope camera. But you still get flagship power here as well as a high refresh rate OLED panel. You also get a side fingerprint scanner, an IR blaster and NFC.

Mi 11 Lite 4G and 5G

We have known for some time that Xiaomi plans to offer two Mi 11 Lite variants this year in the form of 4G and 5G options. The two phones share a number of features in common, namely a 6.81 mm thin design, a weight of 157 grams, a 6.55 inch FHD + 90 Hz OLED screen, a 4,250 mAh battery and a 33 W cable charge.

The two phones even offer the same triple rear camera setup and deliver a 64-megapixel main camera (0.7 micron pixels), an 8-megapixel ultra-wide snapper, and a 5-megapixel telephoto macro lens. Other common functions are stereo speakers, IR blaster, NFC (depending on the market), a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and MIUI 12 on Android 11.

The main difference between the phones lies in the chipset category as the Mi 11 Lite 5G is the first device to feature the Snapdragon 780G processor. Qualcomm’s new upper middle class 5G silicon has a 5 nm design, a high-performance octa-core design (4x Cortex-A78, 4x Cortex-A55) and an Adreno 642 GPU. The Mi 11 Lite 4G, on the other hand, has a Snapdragon 732G processor, which while still a solid chipset, is definitely less powerful than the 780G.

Other differences are the HDR support (HDR10 + for the 5G model versus HDR10 for the 4G variant), the selfie camera (20 MP versus 16 MP), Gorilla Glass (6 versus 5) and the Bluetooth / Wi-Fi -Support (Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi) 6 against Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 5).

Prices and availability of the Mi 11 range

Starting with the Mi 11 Ultra, Xiaomi confirmed that the phone will be available in an 8 GB / 256 GB variant for 5,999 yuan (~ $ 914 USD), a 12 GB / 256 GB model for 6,499 yuan (~ 990 USD), and a 12 GB / 512GB model will be available for 6,999 yuan (~ $ 1,067 USD). The phone is available in Ceramic Black and Ceramic White options. European users can purchase the only 12GB / 256GB variant for € 1,199.

Unfortunately, the Mi 11 Pro is only limited to China, where it’s priced at 4,999 yuan (~ $ 762) for the 8GB / 128GB variant, 5,299 yuan (~ $ 807) for the 8GB / 256GB option, and 5699 yuan (~ 868 USD) for the variant starts 12 GB / 256 GB model.

In the meantime, the Mi 11i will be available for € 649 for the 8GB / 128GB option and € 699 for the 8GB / 256GB model. Expect to find the phone in Cosmic Black, Celestial Silver, and Frosty White colors.

The Mi 11 Lite 5G costs 2,299 yuan (~ USD 350) for the 8 GB / 128 GB model in China and 2,599 yuan (~ 396 USD) for the 8 GB / 256 GB variant. European users pay 369 euros for the 6GB / 128GB option. The 5G variant is available in the colors truffle black, mint green and citrus yellow. Don’t you need 5G? Then you pay € 299 for the 6 GB / 64 GB Mi 11 Lite 4G. The 4G variant is available in the color options Boba Black, Bubblegum Blue and Peach Pink.

Xiaomi also announced an 80W wireless charging pad that allows you to charge in landscape or portrait mode. This wireless charger comes with a 120W charger and is priced at 499 yuan (~ $ 76). It also unveiled a 19-coil multi-coil wireless charging pad for 599 yuan (~ $ 91) that allows you to charge a device by placing it anywhere on the pad.