Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra hands-on review: First impression
The much-awaited Mi 11 Ultra finally made its debut on April 23 in India.
Xiaomi is offering the Mi 11 Ultra in two colours- ceramic black and ceramic white. However, there will only one configuration-12GB RAM and 256GB storage- for Rs Rs 69, 999, making one of the most expensive Mi phones to date.
But, considering the beefed hardware, which includes Qualcomm's latest and most powerful Snapdragon 888 octa-core chipset and top-notch camera system, the price seems appropriate.
Xiaomi has sent us a ceramic black Mi 11 Ultra model and here are my initial thoughts.
Design
Though it looks like the phone has a big screen to the eyes, it's really compact in terms of width. You can easily hold on to the phone, even though the ceramic finish is smooth. And, it is one of the heaviest mobile in the market, (234g, almost a quarter of Kg). The company has used premium building material and the camera on the back is the biggest I have seen on a phone to date.
The only qualm I have is that the device's ceramic finish on the back attracts a lot of dust.
On the front, it sports a 6.81-inch Quad HD+ (3200×1440p) AMOLED screen. It offers a peak brightness of 1700 nits, and supports HDR10 +, 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision, and an in-screen fingerprint screen.
The Mi 11 Ultra's display one of the brightest I have seen on a phone. It is such a pleasant experience to view content on this big screen and even under the direct sunlight, I had no trouble viewing content.
And, it is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus shield and comes with IP68 certification.
The interesting thing about the new Xiaomi phone is that the company has equipped a special functional screen beside the camera module on the back. It has a 1.1-inch always-on AMOLED display with 126 x 294p resolution and offers a peak brightness of 450 nits. This comes in handy to take a selfie with the rear-side primary camera.
The phone also comes with dual-SIM slots ( type: nano+nano) and an infrared sensor, as well.
Also, Xiaomi has incorporated a dual-speaker tuned with Harman Kardon that promises to offer outstanding audio clarity. With a strong hardware configuration, along with smart scenario detection, the device is capable of adapting to different environments and provide optimal audio performance for all types of content. The Mi 11 Ultra also gets users Hi-Res certification for audio.
Camera
The new Mi 11 Ultra houses a feature-rich triple camera module-- main 50MP (1/ 1.12-inch Samsung ISOCELL GN2 sensor, 1.4μm pixel size, f/1.95, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) + 48MP 128-degree ultra-wide-angle lens (Sony IMX586 sensor, f/2.2) + 48MP telephoto camera (Sony IMX586 sensor, OIS, f/4.1, 5x optical, 10x hybrid, up to 120x zoom) backed by an LED flash, dToF (direct Time-of-Flight) sensor, flicker sensor.
As far as video is concerned, it is capable of recording up to 8K at 24fps, 4K at 30fps/60fps, full HD 1080p at 30fps/60fps, boasts gyro-EIS (Electronics Image Stabilisation) for stable videos. It houses a 20MP front snapper with 0.8μm pixel size and f/2.2 aperture.
In the brief time, I have spent with the Mi 11 Ultra, the device has lived up to the hype of taking good pictures in the sunlight. As you can see in the sample shots, the photos retain a lot of details and the colour is a bit warmer, actually in a good way.
The ultra-wide-angle sample photos cover a lot of area in the frame and there is less tendency of the camera to bend structures closer to the end of the scene on both sides.
However, there are lots of features to be tested on the Mi 11 Ultra and we will bring it to you all our readers in the detailed review soon.
Processor configurations
Under-the-hood, the new Mi 11 Ultra boasts Snapdragon 888 octa-core chipset, Qualcomm's latest and most powerful silicon to date. It is a top-rated processor seen on a premium Android phone in the market.
It is backed by 6400Mhz 8GB/12GB LPPDDR5 RAM, 128GB/256GB/512GB (UFS 2.1) storage, and Android 11-based MIUI 12.5.
So far, the device has worked smoothly without any issues. The screen is fluid and the apps load faster and the camera too operates without any fuzz.
To power the mammoth screen, Xiaomi has equipped the Mi 11 Ultra with a 5,000mAh battery. It supports a 67W wired and wireless charging capability via a USB Type-C charger.
However, in India, due to certification issues, for now, the company is offering just 55W charging.
We will run the Mi 11 Ultra through its paces to test the device's capabilities and share our thoughts on the user experience soon.
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