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Xiaomi has just presented the Mi 11 Lite, but we have been with it for a few days and we tell you our impressions and first contact below, where we see that it is a phone that can be in a no-man’s-land compared to the rest of the company’s mobiles. China, but it has a very important ‘hook’ to enter the market.
Xiaomi continues to flood the market with new devices and yesterday announced four members, if we do not have special versions or 4G / 5G versions of the Mi 11 family. When we analyze the Mi 11 we find a very round phone, but it was clear that not He was going to be alone for a long time and we already have the Mi 11 Lite in our hands.
It is the little brother that shares that premium appearance with materials such as glass or a screen that takes advantage of the front very well without resorting to curved edges, but that stands out for its thickness and weight of the most contained, being the terminal ‘Mi ‘lightest and thinnest to date.
We have been with the Mi 11 Lite for a few days and we tell you our impressions in this contact that helps you get to know the terminal until we spend more days with it and we tell you everything in the analysis. And yes, it is a surprising mobile, but in some respects it may fall short.
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite | |
|---|---|
| Screen | 6.55 “AMOLED panel | 2,400 x 1,080 pixels | HDR10 + compatibility | Flat panel | 90 Hz refresh and 240 Hz sampling |
| Processor | Snapdragon 732G in 4G version |
| RAM | 8 GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 128 GB |
| Main chambers | 64 Mpx f / 1.8 main | 8 Mpx f / 2.2 wide angle | 5 Mpx f / 2.4 telemacro |
| Frontal camera | 20 Mpx |
| Drums | 4,250 mAh | 33 W load | Charger in the box |
| Operating system | Android 11 + MIUI 12 |
| Dimensions and weight | 160.53 x 75.73 x 6.81 mm | 156 grams |
| Price | From 299 euros |
A spectacular thickness of less than 7 mm of MI 11 Lite that takes its toll on the battery
Xiaomi has been polishing the design of its devices more and more, especially when it comes to the high-end. However, and although with the Mi 10 Lite they made a leap in terms of quality of materials, when holding it in hand, the feeling was that we were facing a cheaper mobile and that it made concessions to compete against the Redmi and Realme.
It seems that they have changed the strategy and yes, the price is very competitive and, although there are concessions in terms of battery and processor, the Chinese company has opted for a differentiating design for this Lite model.
It is a mobile that surprises from unboxing, since we immediately notice that the thickness and weight are well below what we usually have in hand. In fact, when you consider its size of 160.5 mm high and 75.7 mm wide, the 156 grams of weight is more impressive.
That translates into a really comfortable mobile in the pocket and, in addition, the thickness also stands out thanks to its 6.8 mm if we do not count the camera module. It is really impressive and, in fact, the thinnest mobile that we have analyzed in a long time.
The front part has a screen that occupies 85.3% of the front , the hole in the upper left part (with a diameter greater than that seen in the Redmi Note 10 Pro or in the Mi 11) and frames that are almost symmetrical and very contained: 1.88 mm at the sides and at the top and 2.75 mm at the chin.
It is a very good feeling from the front and the screen is flat, but if we turn the terminal we have a camera module that borrows the design of the Mi 11 (so almost all the Mi 11 are recognizable by the camera module, not like the Mi 10) and a flat glass finish that is shiny in our target color … and certainly dirty.
Traces stay easily, very easily, but hey, we have a silicone case in the box that protects and prevents us from storing the phone so much.
The button panel is on the right side, with the capacitive fingerprint sensor and at the bottom we have one of the speakers, the USB-C, a microphone and the SIM module that is DualSIM or 4G SIM + microSD. At the top we only have an infrared emitter and the left side is totally clear.
With such a thin thickness, the affected one is the battery. We have 4,250 mAh in our hands that can fall short in the day-to-day life of a very demanding user, especially if we use 90 Hz.
There are different energy saving modes and actions that we can do to increase autonomy, such as activating night mode or setting the refreshment to 60 Hz, but it gives us the feeling that it is going to fall short.
We must do more tests, but in the synthetic test with maximum brightness we have a range of 6 hours 46 minutes. It is true that the brightness is high, but it is still a fairly modest figure.
Charging is done with the 33W charger included in the box and I honestly thought it would charge in less time.
In the first load tests, the results are 50% load in 26 minutes and 100% load in 65 minutes. It is still an hour and a little bit, but considering that we have 4,250 mAh, I thought we would go below 60 minutes.
The “problem” is that we have a very linear load up to almost 90% and, once it reaches that figure, it starts to slow down, we imagine that as a battery control measure to take care of it a little.
AMOLED panel at 90Hz in flat format and stereo sound in MI 11 Lite
The screen of the Mi 11 Lite is not surprising when we have seen phones like the Redmi Note 10 Pro that already have that AMOLED panel at 120 Hz, but that is not why it is a bad screen, at all.
We have a flat screen that has a resolution of 2,400 x 1,080 pixels and that, in addition, is AMOLED, and a good panel from Samsung, in fact. It has vibrant colors, Always-on Display mode and I was surprised by the brightness level of 1297 Lux maximum in high brightness mode in our tests.
It will be seen perfectly in broad daylight, and that is a very important point. The viewing angles are also good, although from 45º we have found that the screen is tinted with a warmer tone and has a refreshment of 90 Hz.
It is not the 120 Hz of the Redmi or the ‘standard’ Mi 11, but there are two important points in this. The first is that 90 Hz already represents a significant jump in browsing experience compared to 60 Hz, something that is noticeable in the scroll in apps and games.
The second point is that with 120 Hz, the mobile would consume much more battery and, as we have said, there is not enough, precisely … so I think that balance between 4,250 mAh, a screen with a good level of brightness and those 90 Hz.
In the field of sound, the truth is that it is a mobile that surprises both for its high volume and for its forcefulness with the bass.
It does not squeak when we turn up the volume, it has bass that attracts attention if we take into account the small thickness of the mobile and, although the lower speaker is somewhat more powerful than the upper one, the truth is that the stereo sensation is very successful.
To watch series, YouTube videos and play games, the truth is that we are facing a very good mobile in terms of multimedia thanks to both the sound and the good screen.
A Snapdragon 732G in its 4G version that meets on a day-to-day basis in MI 11 Lite
Inside we see a proposal that we already had in the Redmi Note 10 Pro and that shows that Xiaomi’s strategy with this Mi 11 Lite and Poco’s with its new terminals is totally different.
While Poco bets on the raw power in its new X3 Pro and F3, Xiaomi invests more in design and finishes this time, but that does not mean that we have a ‘stone’ inside. As SoC is the Snapdragon 732G, a system more than solvent on a day-to-day basis, but that does not make a leap compared to what we already had in the Xiaomi mid-range.
It is accompanied by 8 GB of RAM in our model and this is the result of the synthetic tests:
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite | Redmi Note 10 Pro | LITTLE X3 NFC | Realme 7 Pro | Oppo Reno 2 | Motorola Moto G 5G Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | SD 732G | SD 732G | SD 732G | SD 720G | SD 730G | SD 765 |
| AnTuTu | 280,008 | 290,775 | 284,403 | 287,836 | 264,032 | 303,413 |
| PC Mark | 8,548 | 8,186 | 8,225 | 7,883 | 7,351 | 8,269 |
We have only been able to pass AnTuTu and PC Mark because in the latest devices from the Chinese house we have had problems with other conventional tests such as Geekbench or 3D Mark. We will see if in the analysis of the Mi 11 Lite they let us install some more, but as we always say, they are still numbers and what matters is the performance on a day-to-day basis.
That in the 4G version, of course, since the 5G version, somewhat more expensive, has the Snapdragon 780G, a new chip that seems much more exciting than the one we have in hand at the moment.
Of course, in everyday applications such as social networks, mail and games, the SD732G continues to perform wonderfully. Thermal dissipation is one of the strengths of the mobile, curiously despite its size, and I have only had performance problems in games like Genshin Impact and Fortnite, two of the most demanding.
The memory speed is not on par with that of its older brother and, in fact, it looks like the same 128 GB module that the Poco X3 NFC and the Redmi Note 10 Pro mounts.
| Memory performance | Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite | Redmi Note 10 Pro | Redmi Note 9 Pro | Little X3 | Oppo Reno 4Z | Realme 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sequential write | 211.26 MB / s | 209.29 MB / s | 102.88 MB / s | 200.24 MB / s | 157.41 MB / s | 145.95 MB / s |
| Sequential reading | 416.95 MB / s | 415.19 MB / s | 420.32 MB / s | 495.76 MB / s | 488.54 MB / s | 233.69 MB / s |
| Random write | 16.79 MB / s | 19.38 MB / s | 19.29 MB / s | 14.73 MB / s | 23.50 MB / s | 17, 19 MB / s |
| Random read | 16.66 MB / s | 17.25 MB / s | 14.06 MB / s | 19.03 MB / s | 15.51 MB / s | 14.89 MB / s |
| Copy speed in memory | 4.93 GB / s | 4.83 GB / s | 4.75 GB / s | 4.76 GB / s | 6.10 GB / s | 4.9 GB / s |
Now, the problem in the last Xiaomi that we have analyzed was not so much in the hardware as in the software. MIUI 12 has been little optimized in the latest Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco phones and that is something that takes its toll on a day-to-day basis.
Within the applications they go very well, but the system was noticeable with some delay in some actions. We have to wait for the analysis, since we will have the opportunity to test everything more thoroughly, but the truth is that the MIUI 12.0.3 that we have in hand this time goes somewhat faster, or so I have noticed.about:blank
It may be that having other phones with this SoC and this version of the system has made Xiaomi work a little more on optimization, or it may simply be that they have polished more MIUI 12, but the truth is that it is my impression in this shot of Contact.
Regarding unlocking, we have a photo unlock that is very fast, as well as a fingerprint unlock on the side that is immediate.
Unlock by photo can be configured to go to the main screen of the mobile automatically or leave the swipe gesture and yes, it needs ambient light to work, but it is very, very fast.
Recycling a curious telemacro with cameras that stand out outdoors
The camera module is identical to that of the Mi 11 and, in fact, we have the same three sensors, albeit changing the megapixels. This is not the most important thing, since yes, the 108 Mpx is fine on certain occasions, but with 64 Mpx, and with much less, spectacular photographs can be taken in auto mode, which is the one we end up using.
Since the sensor is smaller, the lenses are too, and the main camera module doesn’t stand out from the rest, which is good news and helps maintain that discreet thickness.
If we go to the detail of each lens, we have a telemacro that continues to surprise me. It is the same telemacro of the Mi 11 and Redmi Note 10 Pro, which translates into a 2x 5 megapixel with f / 2.4 aperture that has a very limited maximum focus distance and that allows you to capture, in good light, images of the more interesting:
Something that I love about telemacro is the depth of field so attractive that it ‘draws’, something spectacular if we go out to take pictures of flowers.
If we go to the main one, we have those 64 megapixels in the sensor with a sensor that is not the largest on the market, 1 / 1.97 “and with a pixel size that is not very generous, 0.7 microns. The aperture is f / 1.8 and the lens is made up of six lenses.
The photographs, in good light, have seemed very good to me, with a good color range and outdoors, the truth is that the highlights and shadows behave very well in automatic mode. Indoors and at night … things change.
The noise is not too obvious to the naked eye , but you do notice more washed out colors and textures that are not pleasant.
More testing needs to be done, of course, but we weren’t thrilled with the result at night due to those more blurred textures.
The wide angle, for its part, is 8 megapixels f / 2.2 and is the classic that we usually find in these devices, but I am happy to see that, it seems, the mobile has chromatic aberration correction in the software and, although there is some effect on tap, it’s not much of a stretch.
Looking at the analysis of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite we will show you more examples, videos and photos with the front, but for now this is a good example of what we can do with this triplet of cameras.
A design that shines in your hands and a large screen to consume content
Competitors come out in the mid-range from large groups such as BBK, but Xiaomi continues with its strategy of offering a terminal for each user.
It is true that POCO and Redmi are “external”, but in practice they are from the Xiaomi family and if we count the X3 Pro, the Redmi Note 10 Pro and this Mi 11 Lite, we have mobiles that are alike in many things and that arrive to share price, practically, but that are for very different users.
The question is … what do you want for less than 300 euros? If it’s power, the Poco X3 Pro is for you. If it’s a spectacular screen, the Redmi Note 10 Pro and if you want a groundbreaking design, that’s where the mi 11 Lite comes in.
It is a mobile with a very good panel and good performance and it seems that MIUI 12, finally, has put the batteries in optimization, but the true strength of the terminal is a design that attracts attention. If what you are looking for is a large screen, but you want a finite mobile that weighs little, this is for you.
We will see in the complete analysis how we can handle the week with the 4,250 mAh and how the cameras behave in more situations, but of course, it is a mobile that enters through the eyes and that is very comfortable in the hands.