Tried & Tested: Xiaomi Mi 11 5G Smartphone Review

It’s likely that when it comes to choosing a new smartphone that you instantly look at Samsung or apple. There’s no doubt that these are the 2 biggest brands in the west, but in other parts of the world, there are some other pretty big names who take a large share of the market.

One such brand is Xiaomi and with the recent launch of their latest flagship device, the Xiaomi Mi 11 I thought that it was the perfect time to take a look at what they offer.

I managed to get my hands on the frosty blue version of the Xiaomi Mi 11 and on first look, it appeared to a sturdy, well-built device. The finish is slightly iridescent, which may or may not be your bag. Personally, I prefer a solid black mart phone myself but I can see how this design would appeal to lots of people.

In the hand, it’s 6.8 inches long which if you’re used to Apple devices may seem a little long but if you’re from the android family then it’s more typical of what you would be accustomed to.

This phone is packed with tech and features but if you’re anything like me, you just want to know how the basics work and how good they are. The battery, the camera, the screen etc. The good news is that in all of these areas the Mi 11 is worthy of the ‘flagship’ title.

I like my screen display set to the brightest and this is a known battery drain, on the day I was road-testing the Xiaomi Mi 11, I kept it on full and it lasted well even though I was also heavily using the camera. The screen is sharp, bright and the colours really pop. That goes for the images taken with the camera too, they are brighter and somewhat clearer than those taken on my iPhone. I’d say the image quality is on a par with the more recent Samsung devices.

I was really impressed to see that the Mi 11 comes with the Harmon Kardon integrated sound system. They are one of the most prestigious audio brands so this partnership alone is a sign of quality for me. It’s rare that I play music on loudspeaker on my smartphones but while browsing social media and listening to various clips the quality was clear.

As this was my first exposure to Xiaomi, I’m not at liberty to say how it compares to their other devices in their line-up but it certainly stacks up next to the ‘big’ players that I’m used to. Xiaomi are not available in all countries just yet but if you’re in one where they are, you won’t go wrong by snapping up the Mi 11 as your next smartphone.

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