Following so much rumors and speculation, Xiaomi has finally unveiled its global Redmi Note 11 series. The Chinese manufacturer introduced four smartphones in total, and they also are slightly different from the Redmi Note 11 series launched in its home country. The lineup includes Redmi Note 11, Note 11S, Note 11 Pro and Note 11 Pro 5G.
While the Pro duo has big ambitions, the Redmi Note 11 and Note 11S can also win your heart because it’s smaller, lighter and cheaper. Even so, they share some features with the Pros and with each other.
With a 6.43” AMOLED display, The Note 11 and 11S 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.
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Redmi Note 11S
The Redmi Note 11S comes with a much better camera setup. It has 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.
It is powered by the Helio G96 which is fabbed on an old 12nm process, but has relatively new Cortex-A76 cores. The Note 11S starts at 6/64 GB and tops out at 8/128 GB. Unlike the Pros, however, it has a dedicated spot for a microSD card on the dual-SIM tray. MIUI 13 based on Android 11 will come pre-installed.
The handset has a side-mounted fingerprint reader and can also use its 16 MP front camera for biometric unlock. It features IR blasters and (in some regions) NFC, plus dual speakers and 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Note 11S is fueled by 5,000 mAh batteries, the same capacity as last year’s model. However, Xiaomi managed to optimize the 33W fast charging, so now 100% is reached in 58 minutes (the Note 10 needed 74 minutes).
Redmi Note 11S Specifcations
Network Properties
- 2G bands: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2
- 3G bands: HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100
- 4G bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41
- Speed: HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (CA)
Launch
- Announced: 2022, January 26
- Status: Exp. release 2022, January
Design
- Dimensions: 159.9 x 73.9 x 8.1 mm (6.30 x 2.91 x 0.32 in)
- Weight: 179 g (6.31 oz)
- Colors: Graphite Gray, Pearl White, Twilight Blue
- SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
- IP53, dust and splash protection
Display
- Type: AMOLED, 90Hz, 700 nits, 1000 nits (peak)
- Size: 6.43 inches, 99.8 cm2 (~84.5% screen-to-body ratio)
- Resolution: 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~409 ppi density)
- Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Operating System
- Android 11, MIUI 13
Hardware
- Chipset: Mediatek Helio G96 (12 nm)
- CPU: Octa-core (2×2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
- GPU: Mali-G57 MC2
- Storage: 64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM
- Memory Card slot: microSDXC (dedicated slot)
- UFS 2.2
Cameras
- Main Camera: Quad
- 108 MP, f/1.9, 26mm (wide), 1/1.52″, 0.7µm, dual pixel PDAF
- 8 MP, f/2.2, 118˚ (ultrawide)
- 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
- 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
- Features: LED flash, HDR, panorama
- Video: 1080p@30fps
- Selfie Camera: Single – 16 MP, f/2.4, (wide)
- Video: 1080p@30fps
Multimedia
- Radio:
- Loudspeaker: Yes, with stereo speakers
- Audio 3.5mm jack: Yes
- 24-bit/192kHz audio
Connectivity
- WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
- Bluetooth: 5.0, A2DP, LE
- GPS: Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
- NFC: Yes (market/region dependent)
- Infrared port: Yes
- USB: USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go
Features
- Sensors: Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Battery
- Battery Type and Capacity: Li-Po 5000 mAh, non-removable
- Charging: Fast charging 33W, 100% in 58 min (advertised)
- Power Delivery 3.0
- Quick Charge 3+
Redmi Note 11S Price and Availability
The handset will be available later this month in a limited “early bird” deal, wide availability is coming next month. It will start at $250 (6/64 GB) and go up to $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. The price is dropped by $20 for the the 6/64 GB version.