Should you’re obsessive about telephone specs and are on the lookout for the very best mixture of parts you will get with out spending an enormous quantity, likelihood is you have spent a while trying up Xiaomi’s Redmi Observe and Redmi Observe Professional fashions. The corporate made its mark in India by promoting low-cost telephones, however the Redmi Observe sequence has at all times been about aspiration whereas remaining reasonably priced. Whether or not it is a greater display screen, extra highly effective processor, increased battery capability, higher cameras, or simply extra RAM and storage you are after, Xiaomi is aware of methods to play this sport.
Nonetheless, we’re at some extent when it is powerful for firms to maintain pushing the envelope – there’s solely a lot that may be stuffed right into a telephone, and costs hold rising. The brand new Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G is priced starting above Rs. 20,000 which pushes it into new territory. Do consumers merely have to simply accept that issues are actually dearer, or is that this now a telephone that is meant for a unique viewers? Maintain studying to search out out if the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G is best for you.
Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G value in India
The base variant of the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and is priced at Rs. 20,999. You may step as much as 8GB of RAM with the identical 128GB of storage for Rs. 22,999, and it’ll value Rs. 24,999 if you need 8GB of RAM with 256GB of storage. At that degree, you’d even have decisions such because the OnePlus Nord CE 2 (Review), Realme 9 Pro+ 5G (Review), and iQoo Z5 (Review).
Xiaomi additionally sells the lower-end Redmi Note 11 Pro, which lacks 5G and has a barely weaker SoC however is almost similar when it comes to show, battery, charging, and software program specs. This mannequin is priced at Rs. 17,999 with 6GB of RAM and Rs. 19,999 with 8GB of RAM. Each choices have 128GB of storage.
Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G design
As I acknowledged in my first impressions, the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ is fairly plain-looking. Aside from the end of the rear panel, which we’ll get to in a second, there’s little or no design aptitude to talk of. The strains and angles are all quite simple, which is a pity since final yr’s Redmi Note 10 Pro Max (Review) had extra of a person feel and appear. The 2-step digital camera module on the rear is the one factor that stands out, design-wise, however sadly it makes the telephone rock back and forth when positioned face-up on a flat floor.
The entrance of the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ is all black, apart from the distinguished clear digital camera lens on the high with its silver ring. Usually, that is one thing I discover distracting however it’s the solely method to inform which method is up at a look.
The Mirage Blue end catches gentle and divulges patterns that appear like the floor of a pool of water
This telephone is obtainable in three colors – Phantom White, Stealth Black, and Mirage Blue. The previous two are comparatively plain-looking, however the latter, which is what I’ve for this evaluate, is extraordinarily eye-catching. You may see diagonal intersecting “waves” that in fact catch the sunshine once you transfer this telephone round. That notion of movement, together with the impact of depth that you simply get with such a end, makes it appears as if you are water on the floor of a pool. The steel body can also be an identical pale blue. Even after seeing dozens of telephones with gradient and sample finishes through the years, this appears to be like recent. Nonetheless, it is not for everybody.
On the high of the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ you may discover a 3.5mm audio socket, a grille for the earpiece speaker, and an infrared emitter that can be utilized to regulate home equipment. The ability button with its built-in fingerprint sensor and the amount buttons are on the fitting, all inside attain. The hybrid dual-SIM tray, USB Kind-C port, and first speaker are on the underside, leaving the left facet clean.
I might have most well-liked extra rounded sides or edges since this telephone is not the simplest to carry and use. It is snug in opposition to the ear however when you have smaller arms you would possibly discover it a bit awkward in on a regular basis use. The 202g weight and eight.12mm thickness are each barely above common. Xiaomi says it has used Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and “frosted glass” on the rear. This telephone is “IP53 examined” which is technically not the identical as saying it has an official IP53 score, however nonetheless supplies some reassurance. My unit got here with a display screen protector already adhered, and a semi-rigid clear plastic case within the field.
The Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G has a 3.5mm audio jack, IR emitter, and speaker cutouts on the highest
Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G specs
Holding in thoughts that the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G prices significantly greater than its predecessors, I am anticipating specs that may compete with what you may discover within the sub-Rs. 25,000 market. It is also attention-grabbing that there is a pretty costly 256GB storage possibility – sometimes not one thing you’d anticipate value-conscious consumers to splash out on when you can as an alternative channel that cash in direction of a extra highly effective telephone.
For that motive, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC might want to go up in opposition to the likes of the MediaTek Dimensity 900 which is discovered within the OnePlus Nord CE2 and the Dimensity 920 which powers the Realme 9 Professional+ 5G and Xiaomi 11i 5G. We can also’t neglect the Snapdragon 778G within the iQoo Z5. All these telephones value about as a lot as the upper variants of the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G.
You get a 6.67-inch full-HD+ (1080×2400) AMOLED show with a 120Hz most refresh price. Peak brightness is rated at 1200 nits however there is no point out of HDR assist. Xiaomi additionally claims DCI-P3 color gamut protection. There’s an All the time-on Show function which is disabled by default however solely stays seen for 10 seconds when the display screen is tapped, which contradicts its identify.
The battery has a 5000mAh capability, and this telephone helps 67W charging when the charger within the field is used. Different options price noting are this telephone’s stereo audio system, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, and assist for seven 5G bands.
Software program is a bit dated – the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G ships with MIUI 13 but it surely’s working on Android 11. An replace to Android 12 needs to be launched quickly. My evaluate unit had the February 2022 safety replace which is sweet. MIUI has a great deal of customisation potential beginning with an elective app drawer, navigation gestures or further shortcuts in case you keep on with buttons, icon dimension and format management, and tweaks for the Recents app menu.
The double-sided tray allows you to use both a second Nano-SIM or a microSD card
Very similar to on iOS, swiping down from the fitting of the digital camera gap reveals fast toggles whereas swiping down from the left reveals notifications. There is a system-wide search function and a widget display screen to the left of the primary homescreen. Within the Settings app, you may discover controls for extra options resembling Lite mode, Second House for privateness, floating home windows, and a floating shortcut sidebar.
Sadly, among the default apps such because the GetApps retailer and MX participant present advert notifications with out having even been opened. The widgets are additionally stuffed with promotional content material, and Look reveals sponsored content material in addition to adverts in your lock display screen in case you do not disable it. A number of apps together with Fb, LinkedIn, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, and Mi Credit score are preloaded, and the UI reveals “right now’s suggestions” and extra icons that make it appear as if customers have to obtain much more apps. Xiaomi has prior to now stated that it could cut back muddle and make its UI lighter, and so I really feel somewhat disillusioned with what I skilled on the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G.
Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G efficiency
At this level we do not anticipate that any smartphone, even within the funds section, will wrestle with working on a regular basis apps. The Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G can deal with such duties simply and I had no hassle multitasking with a number of massive video games and apps open within the background. Xiaomi despatched the center variant, with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, for this evaluate. The show refresh price is about to 60Hz by default, and since MIUI has lots of animations, there was a noticeable enchancment in UI responsiveness after I switched to 120Hz.
The fingerprint sensor was fast and straightforward to make use of. Face recognition was additionally handy, however I used to be stunned to see a warning throughout the setup course of that it may be defeated by a photograph of the person in addition to “objects with an analogous look”. That is regarding, however a photograph of my face on one other telephone’s display screen didn’t work to unlock the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G even after a number of makes an attempt.
The embedded entrance digital camera has a distracting shiny ring round it
I discovered the show readable beneath daylight. It is fairly crisp and colors are vibrant, although some would possibly discover movies a bit oversaturated. The reflective ring across the entrance digital camera is definitely distracting. You get WideVine L1 DRM certification so HD playback ought to work in supported apps. The stereo audio system are comparatively effectively balanced and sound is kind of loud. Voices come via clearly when watching movies, however music sounded a bit harsh and compressed.
When it comes to benchmark scores, efficiency was fairly stable. AnTuTu confirmed a rating of 365,861 and Geekbench 5’s single-core and multi-core outcomes had been 688 and 1,903 respectively. These are a bit decrease than what the OnePlus Nord CE 2 managed, and fairly a bit behind the Realme 9 Professional+ 5G and iQoo Z5. The story was the identical for graphics exams –GFXBench’s T-rex scene ran at 82fps however the Automotive Chase scene solely mananaged 17fps. 3DMark Wild Life produced a rating of 1,211.
Gaming was pretty nice, although the higher rear of the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G did get a bit heat after about quarter-hour. Asphalt 9: Legends ran with none hassle, and Battlegrounds Cellular India additionally ran effectively on the HD high quality setting and Excessive body price. This needs to be greater than sufficient for most individuals, however once more, does not fairly match as much as the very best within the section.
The Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G did do effectively when it comes to battery life. With informal on a regular basis use, I nonetheless had a couple of 30 p.c cost left at night time. Our HD video loop check ran for 15 hours, 8 minutes. Utilizing the provided charger with the telephone powered down, I used to be capable of go from zero to 36 p.c in quarter-hour and 66 p.c in half-hour. It took simply over 50 minutes to get to one hundred pc. Xiaomi claims a 51 p.c cost in quarter-hour which is a giant distinction, however what I noticed was nonetheless fairly good.
The telephone does get uncomfortably heat whereas charging although, and you will want to hold the very cumbersome 67W charger in addition to Xiaomi’s personal cable in all places to reap the benefits of this charging pace on the go, once you’re most definitely to want it. I used to be capable of cost a MacBook Air utilizing this charger, which was handy.
You get three rear cameras together with a 108-megapixel main digital camera
Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G cameras
Xiaomi has managed to one-up its competitors within the digital camera division, no less than with regards to specs. The Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G incorporates a 108-megapixel main rear digital camera with a Samsung HM2 sensor and f/1.9 aperture. This sensor was additionally used for the Redmi Observe 10 Professional Max final yr. There is not any optical picture stabilisation, and video recording solely goes as much as 1080p which is a shock.
There’s additionally an 8-megapixel ultra-wide digital camera and a 2-megapixel macro digital camera. Curiously, the lower-end Redmi Observe 11 Professional options an extra 2-megapixel depth sensor on the rear – this provides it a slight advertising benefit when it comes to numbers, however clearly Xiaomi felt that the dearer mannequin does not want this. Sadly, the 5-megapixel “telemacro” digital camera of final yr’s Redmi Observe 10 Professional sequence, which I used to be extremely impressed with, has been dropped. The entrance digital camera has a 16-megapixel decision and f/2.45 aperture.
Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G daytime picture samples (High: normal, backside: 108-megapixel 1:1 crop) (Faucet to see full dimension)
The digital camera app is pretty effectively organised, although there are a number of quirks resembling having a Macro toggle in a sub-menu fairly than implementing this as a mode with all of the others. Fortunately, photographs aren’t watermarked by default.
Photographs taken with the 108-megapixel digital camera are binned to a smart 4000×3000 decision by default, and that goes as much as 12,000×9000 pixels in case you override this manually. Downsampled photographs taken outside within the daytime exhibited barely crisper element and punchier colors than full-resolution counterparts, however the true worth of a 108-megapixel shot is that you may enlarge and crop them to simulate optical zoom with out shedding constancy. Both method, colors popped properly. Element was good in close-ups, however dropped a bit if topics had been at a slight distance.
Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G daytime picture samples (Faucet to see full dimension)
The ultra-wide digital camera did not seize very vibrant photographs, and there was noticeable warping of perspective. Daytime macros had been disappointing – final yr’s mannequin might seize genuinely usable and visually attention-grabbing macros, however we’re again to novelty worth for the sake of itemizing a number of cameras on the spec sheet with the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G. Portaits got here out effectively sufficient.
At night time, the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G’s foremost digital camera was nearly okay. Element was missing and photographs seemed murky and closely compressed until there was superb lighting close by. Evening Mode diminished shadows and barely improved element, however in some circumstances I noticed an exaggerated heat tone to photographs. 108-megapixel photographs did not enhance high quality a lot, and there was virtually no level attempting to make use of the ultra-wide-angle or macro cameras at night time. You may’t use Evening Mode with the ultra-wide digital camera or if the 108-megapixel mode is chosen.
Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G daytime picture samples (High: portrait, backside: macro) (Faucet to see full dimension)
Video was typically easy, but it surely’s stunning for a telephone on this section to not supply 4K recording and even 1080p 60fps in any respect. Daytime footage shot with the primary digital camera appeared to have a barely heat color tone however was typically sharp and easy. The ultra-wide digital camera took grainier footage and there was a major drop in high quality. You may truly document 720p video with the macro digital camera, although that is largely pointless.
Pores and skin smoothening is enabled by default once you change to the entrance digital camera. Selfies did have a synthetic high quality and element wasn’t nice. Portrait photographs had good depth separation. Entrance digital camera high quality did endure fairly a bit in low gentle, although.
Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G low-light picture samples (High: normal, center: Evening mode, backside: ultra-wide) (Faucet to see full dimension)
Verdict
The Redmi Observe sequence has been one in all Xiaomi’s best-selling offerings, however the firm has now pushed it into the next value section and so we will not simply take a look at the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G as a alternative for the Redmi Observe 10 Professional Max and the various widespread iterations which have come earlier than it. We do nonetheless have a number of fashions priced beneath this degree – there’s the 4G-only Redmi Observe 11 Professional, the Redmi Note 11S (Review), the Redmi Note 11T 5G (Review), and even the merely named Redmi Note 11, most of which overlap with one another. Older fashions proceed to be obtainable as effectively.
What the brand new Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G has in its favour are its show and audio system, battery life, charging pace, software program options, and on a regular basis efficiency. Yow will discover most of this stuff in cheaper telephones although, and so they do not justify its new excessive value. Even the bottom variant which prices Rs. 20,999 will face stiff competitors from its personal predecessor, the Redmi Observe 10 Professional Max, which has the identical main rear digital camera, a extra helpful macro digital camera, and lots of related options. The older mannequin is definitely weaker when it comes to SoC efficiency with regards to gaming, however in case you prioritise that, you will not be selecting the brand new one both.
General, the Redmi Observe 11 Professional+ 5G is ok for what it’s, but it surely is not a clear-cut section chief. If Xiaomi had gone all-out with both the SoC or the cameras, there might need been a selected area of interest for it. The OnePlus Nord CE2, Realme 9 Professional+ 5G, and iQoo Z5 are its most notable competitors – they do have barely increased beginning costs, however in case you’re spending this a lot, you must contemplate them.
