The Xiaomi Mi 11 was the starting point for the Xiaomi Mi 11 series . It turned out to be an incredibly fast cell phone with a really strong display for 750 euros.
For smaller budgets there is the Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite , the Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G or the Xiaomi Mi 11i . But the absolute head of the family is the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra with special camera equipment and an additional display on the back. It’s the first Xiaomi with serious IP certification, set to shake up the smartphone leaderboard. In fact, the Mi 11 Ultra leaves all androids behind (for now).
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra Specs
Display
- 120Hz AMOLED
- Quad-curved
- Extra 1.1in rear display
The camera bump is a large part of the sheer size of the Mi 11 Ultra, but the display has its part to play too – though in fact it is the exact same size as on the regular Mi 11 at 6.81in.
It’s a similar display in other respects too, also offering a 120Hz refresh rate, AMOLED tech, and a high QHD+ resolution – though it’s actually brighter, with 1700 nits peak brightness, and boasts Dolby Vision support in addition to other HDR tech.
Specs & performance
- Snapdragon 888
- Up to 12GB RAM
- Up to 512GB storage
You’d be worried if a phone with ‘Ultra’ in the name didn’t include top internal specs, but naturally the Mi 11 Ultra delivers the goods.
The flagship Snapdragon 888 chipset – only recently surpassed by the new 888+ – lies at the phone’s heart, and Xiaomi has combined it with a choice of 8 or 12GB of RAM, and 256 or 512GB of storage. That’s more than enough on both counts, and even the lower tiers should be satisfactory to most.
Camera
- Large 50Mp main sensor
- 48Mp 5x periscope zoom
- 20Mp selfie camera
The Mi 11 Ultra may excel almost everywhere, but ultimately it’s a phone that’s really about the camera. Luckily it excels here too.
The main sensor is a showstopper. At 50Mp it’s not the highest resolution camera out there, but the 1/1.12in sensor is one of the largest in a phone right now. That means it’s capable of capturing more light and delivering richer colour, superior dynamic range, and improved lowlight photos.
Battery & charging
- Large 5000mAh battery
- 67W wired & wireless charging
- 88% charge in 30 minutes
The Mi 11 Ultra comes with a slightly larger battery compared to the Mi 11. Instead of 4,600 milliampere hours (mAh), it is 5,000 mAh. This has an effect: while the Mi 11 only lasts 7:25 hours with intensive use, the Ultra still lasts 8:38 hours. It’s good”. “Very good” would be around 10 hours.
This would have given the Mi 11 Ultra the sole top spot in the list of the best and the first very good overall rating ever. It gets top notch when it comes to charging: the Mi 11 charges very quickly via cable with up to 55 watts. According to the manufacturer, the Mi 11 Ultra has 67 watts – even wirelessly! 44 minutes was enough for a full charge.
After 15 minutes, the battery was almost half charged again. The top loading speed values from KabelmeisterSo the OnePlus 9 and the wireless charging speed king, the OnePlus 9 Pro, wobble.
If you don’t know what to do with the energy left in the battery, you can also use the Mi 11 Ultra as a power bank and charge other devices with up to 10 watts (reverse charging).
Software
- MIUI 12 on Android 11
- No commitment to future Android updates
Xiaomi ships the Mi 11 Ultra running MIUI 12 on top of Google’s Android 11 operating system, although it can already be upgraded to the newer MIUI 12.5.
It’s likely to receive the update to Android 12 later this year but frustratingly Xiaomi still doesn’t promise any specific number of Android updates beyond that. An upgrade to Android 13 next year is likely, but not guaranteed – another knock compared to promises from Samsung and some other rivals for three years of Android version updates.
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra Review: Conclusion
We already know the outstanding speed and the strong display from the Mi 11. The Ultra is (fortunately) not bigger, but it comes with a thick telephoto lens, better photo quality, longer endurance and, for the first time, an IP certification, whose Missing the Mi 11 still cost a lot of points in the test. The additional display invites you to play, although the possibilities are quite limited.
You can also live out the play instinct through the numerous photo and film effects. The so-called “ceramic back” is unfortunately only smooth. All in all, the Mi 11 Ultra is not only one of the best Xiaomi cell phones , but is no less than the best Android smartphone to date.
(Image Sources: Xiaomi)
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra Specifications
| Release Status | Release 2021, Apr | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Octa-core (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 680) | |
| Chipset | Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm) | |
| GPU | Adreno 660 | |
| RAM & Storage | 12GB RAM, 256GB ROM | |
| External Storage | No | |
| OS | Android 11, MIUI 12.5 | |
| Battery | Li-Po 5000 mAh, non-removable battery Fast charging 67W, 100% in 36 min (advertised) Fast wireless charging 67W, 100% in 39 min (advertised) Reverse wireless charging 10W Quick Charge 4+ Power Delivery 3.0 | |
| Screen | ||
| Display size | 6.81 inches, 112.0 cm2 (~91.4% screen-to-body ratio) 1440 x 3200 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~515 ppi density) | |
| Display type | AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 900 nits, 1700 nits (peak) | |
| Features | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus | |
| Body | ||
| Dimension | 164.3 x 74.6 x 8.4 mm | |
| Weight | 234 g (8.25 oz) | |
| Body Type | Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), ceramic back, aluminum frame IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins) | |
| Colors | Ceramic White, Ceramic Black | |
| Connectivity | ||
| SIM | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
| Data Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A, 5G | |
| Wifi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot | |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Infrared | Yes | |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go | |
| Sensors | ||
| Sensors | Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, color spectrum | |
| GPS | Yes, with tri-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC | |
| Radio | No | |
| Camera & Video | ||
| Rear Camera | Triple: 50 MP, f/2.0, 24mm (wide), 1/1.12″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Laser AF, OIS + 48 MP, f/4.1, 120mm (periscope telephoto), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom + 48 MP, f/2.2, 12mm, 128˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF | |
| Front Camera | 20 MP, f/2.2, 27mm (wide), 1/3.4″, 0.8µm | |
| Video | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR10+ rec. Selfie: 1080p@30/60fps, 720p@120fps, gyro-EIS | |
| Features | Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama, 1.1” AMOLED selfie display Selfie: HDR, panorama | |
| Audio | ||
| Loud Speaker | Yes, with stereo speakers | |
| Sound Jack | No 24-bit/192kHz audio Tuned by Harman Kardon | |
| Radio | No | |
