The Xiaomi Mi 11X was launched in India last week and it went on sale earlier this week. The smartphone packs a 120Hz AMOLED display, the Snapdragon 870 processor, a 48 triple-camera setup at the rear, and a 4,520mAh battery. The Mi 11X undoubtedly looks spectacular on the paper, especially for its starting price of Rs 29,999. However, the specifications of the device tell only half the story. In our Mi 11X review, we discovered plenty of strongholds as well as a bunch of caveats of the device. If you are planning on getting the Mi 11X, here are the positive and negative points of the smartphone that you should keep in mind.
Also read: OnePlus 9R review: back to the flagship killer roots
3 reasons to buy Mi 11X
1. Performance
According to our in-house reviewer, Prateek Pandey, the Mi 11X “performs like a champ” and the Snapdragon 870 processor ensures that the phone doesn’t run into any hiccups even under heavy loads. In our review, we found that the Mi 11X was blisteringly fast when it comes to app launch times. Thanks to the 8GB RAM capacity and the memory optimization, the phone could hold over half a dozen apps in the memory. It also handled graphics-intensive games at their max graphics settings with ease. If you are looking for an affordable smartphone with a flagship-grade performance, the Mi 11X won’t disappoint you.
2. Display
The Mi 11X comes with a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display sourced from Samsung. It has a 120Hz refresh rate, which offers a smooth scrolling experience. The 1,300 nits peak brightness is not only plenty for viewing the display comfortably under direct sunlight but it also offers a great HDR experience. We also found that the screen of the Mi 11X exhibits vibrant colors. Moreover, the tiny, center-mounted punch-hole on the display creates very little obstruction on the screen for an immersive viewing experience. Oh, by the way, the display also has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
3. Design
While buying a smartphone, people usually overlook the design aspect of the device. But it is one of the main things to consider as you hold your smartphone all day long. Well, you’ll be happy to know that the Mi 11X is among the most comfortable flagships to hold in hand, thanks to its ergonomic design and a weight of just 198 grams. That being said, it is still far from comfortable for one-handed usage. According to our reviewer, the Mi 11X looks and feels premium too. However, he suggests people avoid the Cosmic Black color variant of the Mi 11X as it attracts a lot of fingerprints.
3 reasons not to buy Mi 11X
1. Cameras
Imaging is one of the most important aspects of a smartphone. While the Mi 11X offers a decent image quality with its rear camera setup, it lacks behind the competitors such as the OnePlus 9R. The smartphone has a 48MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 5MP macro sensor.
In our review, we found that the images taken with the 48MP primary camera lack detail when you zoom in on the pictures. These images also suffer from noise and the highlight clipping issue. The dynamic range isn’t up to the mark either. The 8MP ultrawide camera has a similar story. The ultrawide images lack details in the corners. Plus, the color temperature of the ultrawide images was way off compared to that of the images taken with the primary camera. The macro sensor takes decent closeups but nothing to brag about.
However, not every camera on the Mi 11X is disappointing. There is some good news for selfie lovers. According to our reviewer, the Mi 11X clicks “good quality images from the front camera with accurate skin tones, good bokeh cutout around the subject’s face and oodles of details.“
2. Software
The Mi 11X comes loaded with the Android 11 operating system and it has MIUI 12 customization on top. While the software offers a plethora of useful features over stock Android such as Game Turbo, Floating Windows, a built-in screen recorder, and Second Space, the phone also packs a ton of bloatware. This isn’t the case with Mi 11X’s direct competitor, the OnePlus 9R. That phone has a bloatware-free UI. That being said, you can uninstall the bloatware on the Mi 11X manually.
3. Storage
With each new day, we store more images, videos, and apps on our smartphones. For that, we need an ample amount of storage. Now, the Mi 11X comes with 128GB storage. It might suffice the majority of the audience. However, there are some people who require more storage capacity. And there is some bad news for them. They can neither get the Mi 11X in 256GB storage variant nor does it have an expandable storage option. Although the Mi 11X is a great smartphone for the price, the limited storage could be a deal-breaker for some.
