Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra review

MIUI 12 with Android 11

The Mi 11 Ultra runs on Android 11 with MIUI 12 on top - a bunch of updates arrived after we got the phone, ultimately bringing the version we reviewed to 12.0.6.0. The MIUI 12 launcher has been around for a while, and even if it uses a newer Android 11 base, you can't really tell that as it skins everything thoroughly.

The Mi 11 Ultra supports an Always-on display, and it can be truly always on, or set to show up according to a schedule, or only show for 10s after you summon it. A ton of AOD themes are available, with further customization in many of them so you can make it your own. The Always-on display also supports breathing light - the curved edges of the display will flash with colors upon new notifications.

Always-on display

The Ultra's rear display has similar functionality, only limited by its diminutive size. Themes are available for this one as well, it can show time and notifications, or even a motivational quote, and you can wake it with a double-tap. This one has a timeout, so it can't be kept on all the time.

Of course, its usefulness rests on the assumption that you're one of those people who leave their phones lying face down, a practice we don't wholeheartedly support.

Rear screen settings

Back to the main display - you unlock the Mi 11 Ultra using the under-display fingerprint scanner. The reader is easy to set up, we found it fast and reliable - since it's likely the same hardware as on the Mi 11, where we weren't all that impressed, it could be a matter of this being a different reviewer. This particular one comes from an ultrasonic daily driver, so he also appreciates the Mi 11 Ultra's ability to lower the brightness of its optical sensor in low ambient light conditions, so you don't get a blinding spot of white at night.

Naturally, 2D Face Unlock is available too, but it is far less secure than the fingerprint option.

Security options

The homescreens are business as usual - they are populated with shortcuts, folders, and widgets. The leftmost pane, if enabled, is Google's Discover.

MIUI 12 offers an app drawer, and it automatically organizes your apps into categories. The first is All, meaning it contains all apps and it's followed by Communication, Entertainment, Photography, Tools, News and Reading, Shopping, and Games. You can edit these categories or even disable them altogether.

You can also disable the app drawer entirely if that's not your thing.

Homescreen • Folder view • Discover • Settings • App drawer

The high-end phones running on MIUI 12 support a feature called Super Wallpapers. It's a type of dynamic wallpaper that zooms each time you pass a certain screen. While not something groundbreaking, it does provide a very coherent visual experience that is a feast for the eyes and, in the meantime - connects the parts of MIUI in a subtle yet striking way.

There are four Super Wallpapers available, and you get a choice of Home (Earth), The Red Planet (Mars), Faraway rings (Saturn), and Geometry.

Super Wallpapers

Another interesting feature is the Notification shade split into Notification Center and Control Center. Indeed, this is precisely what the iPhones do, and you even summon them in the same fashion - pull down from the left part of the screen for the Notification Center, pull down from the right for the Control Center.

If you are not fond of this new split - you can disable the Control Center, and the shade will revert to its normal looks and operation.

One thing worth noting - we couldn't find Notification history anywhere after digging through this build of MIUI. It's a native Android 11 feature, so it should be somewhere, right?

Notification options

The default task switcher has not changed much. It shows all of your recent apps in two columns. Tap and hold on a card for the split-screen shortcut, or just swipe it left or right to close it. There is a new Floating Windows button on top, a new option offered by MIUI 12. You can put a compatible app in a floating state, but you only have one floating window at a time.

We also appreciate a fairly recent addition to MIUI - the ability to set a classic horizontally scrollable task switcher with a rolodex of vertical cards. We can think of at least one reviewer here who's quoted the MIUI two-column task switcher as a dealbreaker for using Xiaomi phones.

Task Switcher options

Themes are a huge part of MIUI, and they are available on MIUI 12, too. You can download new ones from the Themes store, and they can change wallpapers, ringtones, system icons, and even the always-on display style.

Themes

Xiaomi enhanced MIUI 12 with a couple of additional privacy options. Now, when sharing stuff, like photos and videos, you can opt to remove location info and/or other metadata (incl. device info) and thus protect your privacy better. It will ask you the first time you choose to share stuff, but the setting is there in the menu if you change your mind afterwards.

MIUI also offers a Security app. It can scan your phone for malware, manage your blacklist, manage or restrict your data usage, configure battery behavior, and free up some RAM. It can also manage the permissions of your installed apps, allows you to define the battery behavior of selected apps, and applies restrictions only to the apps you choose.

Proprietary Gallery, Music, and Video player are included, and in some regions, the music and video apps may include paid streaming options. Mi Remote for the IR blaster is available, too.

The Notes app has been enhanced with even more Task checklists and subtask options.

Gallery • Privacy Settings • Security • Music • Video • Mi Remote

Synthetic benchmarks

The Mi 11 Ultra features the Snapdragon 888 chipset, the go-to silicon for a flagship in 2021. Manufactured on a 5nm process, Qualcomm's latest high-end effort has an octa-core CPU in a 1+3+4 configuration (25% performance increase over last year's), a powerful GPU (35% YoY bump), latest-gen AI engine and a built-in 5G-capable modem (yay).

Storage options on the Mi 11 Ultra are 256GB or 512GB (UFS 3.1) with the 'base' version being available with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM, while the 512GB variant is 12GB only. We have the 12GB/256GB version for review.

Our benchmarking revealed fairly conservative tuning on the Ultra compared to overachieving SD888 units we've accumulated in the meantime like the OnePlus 9 Pro and the vivo X60 Pro+. However, the Mi 11 Ultra's numbers are for the most part, well in line with the Mi 11 proper. We only spotted a pronounced difference in the multi-core test of the CPU-centric GeekBench, where the Ultra posted close to 10% lower scores than the non-Ultra, and an unusually low result for an SD888. On the other hand, the single-core test gives the Ultra the upper hand against its stablemate and also puts it at the head of the pack.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  3749
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  3710
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  3636
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  3518
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  3489
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  3316
• Asus Zenfone 7 Pro
  3302
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  3294
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
  3248
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  3244
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  3191
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  2603

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  1143
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  1126
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  1126
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  1110
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  1109
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  1107
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  1085
• Asus Zenfone 7 Pro
  996
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  988
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  926
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
  901
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  880

There's a small difference between the Mi 11s in Antutu 8 as well, the vanilla ahead of the Ultra here. The Mi 11 Ultra does manage to outscore the Find X3 Pro and the Galaxy S21 Ultra, in Exynos and Snapdragon trim alike. The OnePlus 9 Pro's figure is virtually the same as the Mi's.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  734811
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  708216
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  691055
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  688720
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  668722
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  657273
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  657150
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  656467
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
  638497
• Asus Zenfone 7 Pro
  602934
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  571312
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  508760

In GFXBench, the Mi 11 Ultra posts average results for its hardware in offscreen testing. In onscreen runs, the 1440p display resolution means you'd get about half the fps numbers on the Mi 11s than on 1080p handsets with the SD888, but as the high-res competition goes, the Mi 11 Ultra is on par - they're all really tightly packed.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Asus ROG Phone 5
  122
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  119
• vivo X60 Pro+
  119
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  116
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  113
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  111
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  109
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  107
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  94
• Asus Zenfone 7 Pro
  90
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
  86
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  80

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  105
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  103
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  86
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
  78
• Asus Zenfone 7 Pro
  78
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  76
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  60
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  58
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  58
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  57
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  57
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  55

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Asus ROG Phone 5
  71
• vivo X60 Pro+
  71
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  70
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  70
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  69
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  67
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  66
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  64
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  57
• Asus Zenfone 7 Pro
  54
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
  51
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  50

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  62
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  59
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  51
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
  46
• Asus Zenfone 7 Pro
  46
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  42
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  36
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  34
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  33
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  33
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  33
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  33

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  44
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  43
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  34
• Asus Zenfone 7 Pro
  31
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
  30
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  27
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  25
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  25
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  24
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  23
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  20

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo X60 Pro+
  43
• Asus ROG Phone 5
  40
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  34
• Asus Zenfone 7 Pro
  31
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G
  31
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
  30
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  24
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  24
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  23
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  23
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  22

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Asus ROG Phone 5
  32
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  31
• vivo X60 Pro+
  31
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  29
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  28
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  28
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  25
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  23

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Asus ROG Phone 5
  28
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  28
• vivo X60 Pro+
  28
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  27
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  26
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  25
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  25
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  22

Tightly packed even better describes the results in 3DMark Wild life.

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Asus ROG Phone 5
  5744
• OnePlus 9 Pro
  5701
• vivo X60 Pro+
  5695
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
  5691
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  5676
• Xiaomi Mi 11
  5673
• Oppo Find X3 Pro
  5653
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  5547
• Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
  4194

The Mi 11 Ultra recorded predictably high numbers in our benchmark testing, with an uncharacteristic hiccup under multi-core CPU load.

The phone does heat up significantly under sustained load, but we didn't observe notable thermal throttling and decreased performance after several Antutu runs, so you should be good.