Xiaomi Mi 11X hands-on review

Competition

The main competition to the Mi 11X in India would likely be from the OnePlus 9R, another India-specific device. Both phones have very similar specifications but also have their differences. The OnePlus 9R has an aluminum frame, while the Mi 11X has a plastic frame. The 9R has a better-performing camera overall, even though it might not seem that way on paper. The 9R also supports faster charging.

Perhaps the biggest advantage that the OnePlus phone has is OxygenOS, which is still one of the best Android skins out there. It's far less quirky than MIUI, has a much more standard design that fits within the Android guidelines, less bloatware, and fewer unnecessary features and content stores. And while neither is particularly well-known for fast software updates, OnePlus has a slightly better track record.

On the downside, the OnePlus 9R is significantly more expensive, and the same price as the Mi 11X Pro, which has a more powerful chipset and better camera than both the Mi 11X and the 9R. So while the OnePlus 9R may seem better overall, Xiaomi has OnePlus cornered in terms of sheer value for money. However, if you have your mind set on OxygenOS - and we can't blame you for that - then the OnePlus 9R will still make sense even at the higher price.

Verdict

The Mi 11X is a very well-priced smartphone, and that is its biggest asset. On paper, the phone is very well equipped but the execution of some of the features leaves something to be desired. However, the pricing helps mitigate some of that pain, making the Mi 11X worth buying even considering the issues at play.

Also, most of the issues we had with the phone seem like something that could be fixed with software updates. A lot of them were just bugs, while others, such as the less-than-stellar camera performance, can potentially be improved. There are no deal breakers here, and as such, it's a phone that's very easy to recommend.

In fact, we'd go as far as to say that you probably don't even need to bother with the Pro model unless you really want that higher-quality main camera on the back. But the main camera isn't even all that bad on the Mi 11X and the more problematic ultra-wide camera remains the same on either model. Also, you are not really going to notice the difference between the Snapdragon 888 vs the 870, so don't even try to justify it as something worth upgrading for.

Overall, the Mi 11X is a pretty great offering from Xiaomi. It comes in at a price, which would be the upper bound for a lot of smartphone buyers, and offers a premium smartphone experience that belies the price tag. This makes it one of the best value propositions on the market right now.

Pros

• Excellent 120Hz AMOLED display
• Great performance
• Good speaker quality
• Good daylight image and video quality from the main camera
• Good macro camera
• Reasonably fast charging

Cons

• Buggy software
• Display cannot sustain max brightness for long
• Mediocre ultra-wide camera
• Weak haptics
• MIUI 12 phones in India are full of bloatware