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It could be worse. Phones at this level often do not have software stabilization at 4K, making the entire mode of limited value. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G at least stabilizes footage at 1080p. But having a frame rate cap of 30fps rather than 60fps feels like an insult. It’s not a super-cheap phone, and has “Pro” in its name. Such titles never meant much of anything removed from the context of their own ranges, but c’mon Xiaomi.
The Redmi Note 11S is the fifth Note 11 model we are reviewing, and just when we thought our review series was finally complete, we received its 5G-enabled sibling as well. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 clearly is not a perfect fit for this phone, even if its raw CPU and GPU power are perfectly okay. The power button on the side is also a fingerprint scanner. It has been fast and reliable in our testing: no complaints here.B1 (2100) , B2 (1900) , B3 (1800) , B4 (1700/2100 AWS 1) , B5 (850) , B7 (2600) , B8 (900) , B20 (800) , B28b (700) , B28a (700) , B38 (TDD 2600) , B40 (TDD 2300) , B41 (TDD 2500) Xiaomi's Redmi phones have been dominating the entry-level and mid-range segments for some time now and the Redmi Note 11 is yet another model that is ideal for shoppers that want a competent device at a bargainous price. First of all, it comes with an impressive AMOLED display with 1000 nits of peak brightness and 1080 x 2400 pixels. Quality displays like this are getting more widespread as the tech gets cheaper, but it's still difficult to find these at this price segment. It doesn't support HDR, sadly, but the refresh rate is a smooth 90 Hz, which is yet another surprise on the display front. Splash Protection and Slender Design We don’t see this effect in the Xiaomi 11T Pro, which uses the same Samsung HM2 sensor. The ISP may be to blame. This is the image signal processor, which is part of the Snapdragon 695 chipset. Its Spectra 346T ISP is weaker than the MI 11T Pro’s and, more notably, the Spectra 350 of the Redmi Note 10 Pro — even though it has a triple ISP to the last-gen phone’s dual ISP. The Redmi Note 11S employs this year's Xiaomi mid-range camera combo with a 108MP primary, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro cams, plus a 2MP depth sensor. The front camera is a 16MP shooter, and all cameras (except for the macro) support 1080p video capturing.
The 16-megapixel selfie camera captured decent photos during the day, however I noticed quite a bit of oversharpening when using Portrait mode for the same frame. Selfies taken indoors were decent provided there was good ambient lighting, but outdoors at night, the quality was quite weak. First of all, the display is absolutely stunning. The phone's 6.67-inch AMOLED screen, which has a 120Hz refresh rate, is an eye-pleasing treat for those who use it to browse social media or stream their favorite shows. The screen is bright enough to be used outside in direct sunlight, and the colors are vivid. This phone is powered by the MediaTek Helio G96 SoC, which is decently powerful but not the most efficient since it's built on an older 12nm fabrication process. The Redmi Note 11S supports dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5, and all the basic satellite navigation systems. It also has a 5,000mAh battery, which should be enough to last a full day on one charge, at the very least.
In typical fashion, the speaker above the screen is less bassy than the one on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G’s bottom, but there is not a huge volume disparity here. That can make the sound seem lopsided in other phones. Shooting at the full 108-megapixel resolution under good light on the Redmi Note 11S results in much better image quality The Redmi Note 11S can record videoat only up to 1080p, with stabilisation, however the quality was strictly average even when shooting in broad daylight. In low light, the quality was really poor and not up to the mark for a phone in this segment. Verdict Fortnite plays at up to 30fps with reasonable solidity, apart from the usual drop as fresh assets are loaded. However, you can only run it at medium settings, meaning it just doesn’t look quite as good as it does on a more powerful phone.
The Redmi Note 11S offers enough grunt to handle basic apps and games well. Certain apps in MIUI 13, such as GetApps, can be spammy.Videos looked good on the phone's display but the stereo sound wasn't well balanced as the bottom speaker sounded a lot clearer than the earpiece.Battery life was thankfully pretty good. The 5,000mAh battery easily offeredan entire day's worth of runtime, even with heavy use.The 108-megapixel camera is this phone's main selling point. It can capture good photos if you're shooting at the native resolution during the day, but otherwise it's strictly average, as are the rest of the sensors.
User reviews
The Redmi Note 11S offers enough grunt to handle basic apps and games well. Certain apps in MIUI 13, such as GetApps, can be spammy. There's a capacitive fingerprint sensor in the power button, which worked well in my experience. Thanks to the AMOLED panel, you can take advantage of a sort of always-on display feature. This could have been more useful, but it only stays active for 10 seconds at a time — so it isn't actually ‘always on'. Camera quality was the standout part of the Redmi Note 10 Pro. The Redmi Note 11 Pro is a substantial downgrade in some respects, without getting rid of the most important part: decent primary camera hardware. The main 108-megapixel camera on the Redmi Note 11S uses the Samsung HM2 sensor. It captures 12-megapixel pixel-binned photos by default, but you can take photos at the native 108-megapixel resolution too. Under bright sunlight, this camera managed good detailbut colours in photos tended to look wildly exaggerated, withthe AI feature on or off. The optional Pro Colour mode boosted vibrance even further, making photos look very artificial. Shooting at the full 108-megapixel resolution offered much better detail, but more importantly, colours were better controlled and objects looked a lot more natural in my tests. For even less cash, the Poco X3 Pro also trashes the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. However, in person it’s not too bad.
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