Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi Note 11 series today and it is crowned by two Pro models – just don’t confuse them with the Redmi Note 11 Pro phones for China. The two global models are quite similar, they mainly differ in the choice of chipset, which decides whether they offer 5G or 4G connectivity.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G picks the Snapdragon 695, a 6nm sequel to the 690. It is paired with 6GB or 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 64GB or 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage. Note that both phones have hybrid card trays, meaning you can put in a microSD card instead of a second SIM card.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro (4G) gets the Helio G96 chip instead. It is fabbed on an older 12nm node and its two Cortex-A76 CPU cores are a couple of generations behind the Snapdragon (with two A78-derived Kryos). Also, its Mali-G57 MC2 GPU is no match for the Adreno 619. At least both models are on par in terms of software - both will launch with MIUI 13 based on Android 11.
Chipsets (and connectivity) aside, the two phones share almost everything else. This includes the 6.67” AMOLED display with 1080p+ resolution (20:9), 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate. The display supports the DCI-P3 wide color gamut and has a typical brightness of 700 nits (1,200 nits peak). It is guarded by Gorilla Glass 5 while the rest of the phone is rated IP53 for dust and splash resistance.
6.67" AMOLED displays with 1080p+ resolution (20:9) and 120Hz refresh rate, Gorilla Glass 5The main camera on the back uses the 108MP ISOCELL HM2 sensor, 1/1.52” in size with 0.7µm pixels and support for 9-in-1 binning (2.1µm). This sensor supports zooming up to 3x natively, which comes in handy as there is no dedicated lens. There is an 8MP ultrawide camera (118°) and a 2MP macro camera. The 4G phone also gets a 2MP depth sensor, but that's not much to brag about.
There is a 16MP selfie camera punch holed into the AMOLED display. As for the fingerprint reader, Xiaomi opted to mount it on the side. Other items of interest on the sides are a 3.5mm headphone jack and dual speakers.
Both models are powered by 5,000 mAh batteries, which support 67W fast charging. They can go from zero to over 50% in just 15 minutes. The charger is included in the box, as is a USB-C cable. Additional connectivity includes NFC, an IR blaster, Wi-Fi 5 (ac) and Bluetooth 5.1.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G in Graphite Gray, Polar White and Atlantic Blue
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro in Graphite Gray, Polar White and Star Blue (note the difference)
The Redmi Note 11 Pro and Note 11 Pro 5G will become available in February. The Pro model will start at $300 for the 6/64 GB model and go up to $350 for the 8/128 GB option. The Pro 5G phone starts at $330 (6/64 GB) and goes up to $380 ($8/128 GB).
Pricing info: Redmi Note 11 Pro • Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
For a quick comparison with last year’s models, there was no Note 10 Pro 5G, but the Redmi Note 10 Pro has a Snapdragon 732G chipset, a similar 6.7” 120Hz AMOLED (though with only 450 nits of typical brightness), roughly the same camera setup and a 5,020mAh battery with 33W charging. The Note 10 5G was a proper downgrade in terms of display (6.5” 90Hz LCD), camera (48MP main, no ultra wide) and battery (5,000 mAh but only 18W charging).
This year the Redmi Note series won’t make you pick between a nice screen/camera and performance/connectivity. And if you’re worried about the pricing, check out the two non-Pro models.