Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G Review - Xiaomi's new bang-for-buck all-rounder!

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is the top-of-the-line handset among the Redmi Note 11 series which was launched in the country in February 2022. 

Meet the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G

To recap, the smartphone features a slim body with curved edges. At the back, it has a gradient finish with a rectangular camera bump. It also features IP53 splash resistance.

Moreover, the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G sports a 6.67-inch 2.5D curved AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, AdaptiveSync tech (50/60/90Hz/120Hz), a 2400 x 1080 FHD+ resolution, DCI-P3 wide color gamut, 1200 nits peak brightness, and a 395 ppi pixel density. It also has a punch-hole cutout and Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

Under the hood, it has a 6nm 2.2GHz Snapdragon 695 octa-core processor, Adreno 619 GPU, up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128GB expandable storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 67W turbocharging.

After almost a month with the handset, we're now ready to share with you our experience with it.

Unboxing/Accessories

What's in the box?

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G arrived in the familiar Xiaomi box with the product render on top. Inside we find the smartphone, 67W power brick, USB-C to USB-A cable, SIM ejector tool, protective case, and paper documents.

There are no included 3.5mm earphones despite the slot presence in the handset.

Build Quality/Design

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G in Graphite Gray

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is built with a metal frame and front glass panel. It has a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection on top, too.

As expected, it has water splash resistance as it is IP53-rated. 

Note that the handset is available in three colors: Graphite Gray, Polar White, and Atlantic Blue. Out of the box, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is a minimalist and attractive flat smartphone with a precise finish. Gladly, we are loaned with the Graphite Gray colorway.

At the back, is the attention-grabber triple rear camera setup creating a large bump in the upper left corner with an LED flash. Under it is the small Redmi 5G logo.

Hybrid SIM tray

The back panel exudes an excellent appearance which makes the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G mistaken for a flagship smartphone. Its clean and flat surface is comfortable in the hand. Ironically, as a pro-protective case person, I'm personally okay to use this handset without the provided smartphone case.

High-quality build and excellent appearance!

On the front, we have a big 6.67-inch screen with super slim bezels around it with a thin chin. In addition, it has a DotDisplay—which we'll be talking about later on—with a punch-hole camera in the center.

Top & bottom

The earpiece is cleverly hidden on the top bezel making it "invisible" at first look.

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G has rounded corners. On top, we find the 3.5mm headphone jack slot, the first of the two stereo speakers, a microphone, and an IR blaster.

Meanwhile, the second stereo speaker, second microphone, USB-C charging port, and hybrid SIM tray are at the bottom of the handset. 

Left & right

The left is ~clean~ while we have a volume button and a power button that doubles as the fingerprint sensor on the right side.

The handset weighs 202 grams and measures 164.19 x 76.1 x 8.12 mm. Despite its weight, it feels light on the hands. Overall, the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is a high-quality manufactured phone and represents the Xiaomi brand very well.

Multimedia Experience

6.67-inch curved AMOLED DotDisplay screen

To recap, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G sports a 6.67-inch curved AMOLED DotDisplay screen with 120Hz refresh rate, AdaptiveSync tech (50/60/90Hz/120Hz), and FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution at 395 ppi.

Again, 120Hz refresh rate. This feature is rare for midrange smartphones and we have it in this handset. With a smoother scrolling of webpages and animations in apps, amazing brightness, vibrant colors, sharpness, and detail, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G's display is undeniably one of the best screens in this category.

Undeniably one of the best displays in its category!

The high-quality screen is very much enjoyable! Of course, it has 10 points of multitouch. Overall? We don't have any complaints about the display, only good words about it. 

120Hz refresh rate for this category!

Moving on to its audio, the dual stereo speakers are a gift from Xiaomi. It's loud, satisfying, and has unnoticeable distortions despite listening to the highest volume level.

It can fill up a medium-sized room or even a relatively large one.

It doesn't have included earphones in the package but using our own pair, we enjoyed listening, too, through it. 

The dual microphone, on the other hand, gave us clear calls and voice quality. Overall, we loved listening to our favorite songs on this handset and the pleasant microphone quality. 

Cameras

Triple rear camera

The triple camera setup on the back consists of the following: 108MP f/1.9 Samsung HM2 1/1.52-inch main sensor, 8MP f/2.2 118-degree ultra-wide-angle sensor, 2MP f/2.4 macro camera, and LED flash. 

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G's stock camera app has the following modes: pro, video, photo, portrait, night, 108M, short video, panorama, documents, slow motion, time-lapse, long exposure, and dual video.

The following settings can be accessed in the Pro mode: ISO (50-6400), Shutter speed (1/4000s to 15 seconds), White Balance, EV (+-4), and controls to switch between wide and ultrawide.

There's also easy access to 108MP in the Pro mode.

Rear Camera Samples

Daylight wide

Daylight

Daylight 2x

Daylight 10x

Daylight 2

Daylight 3

Portrait

Close up

During daylight, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G produces impressive photos. The images have great details, good dynamic range, and vibrant colors.

Even using the ultrawide mode, the photos came out good. Using the 10x zoom, of course, took an effect on the output, but it can be usable in some time.

Cameras are doing a splendid job!

The portrait mode puts an effect on the photos in a way that the colors differ from those taken in photo mode. In the sample photo, there's a part where the bokeh effect is kind of broken.

The soft edges are also evident.

Indoor wide

Indoor

Indoor 2x

Indoor 10x

Indoors, the photos are great as well. The brightness, colors, contrast, and sharpness were nice.

Low light

Night mode

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G takes beautiful photos, too, using night mode. We recommend using it as the auto mode takes photos with missing details and brightness. Note that the ultrawide is not present when using night mode.

Overall, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G's rear cameras are doing a splendid job.

Center punch-hole selfie camera

The 16MP front camera sits on the center punch-hole of the handset. It takes after the rear cameras' modes except for the pro, short video, slow motion, long exposure, documents, night, panorama, and 108MP.

It doesn't have a wide selfie though.

Selfie Camera Samples

Daylight selfie

Daylight portrait selfie

Personally, I always look pale, and Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G makes me look like it even more. Even in daylight, pale selfies come out of this handset. There are certain occasions when it gives you naturally-looking selfies, though.

Even without the beauty mode, the selfies look like they have it because of the default pale output. But looking closer, the selfies are detailed and sharp. We'd like to commend the portrait mode because the subject to background separation is beautiful and clean.

Indoor selfie

Indoor portrait selfie

Indoor selfies are natural-looking compared to those taken under daylight. The bokeh effect is clean as well.

We like indoor selfies better on this phone.

Low light selfie

Low light selfie with screen flash

In low light, the images look better when taken with the selfie flash. The selfies using the auto mode with some artificial light are okay but expect parts with missing details and brightness.

The images are softer as well but there are still ample details. 

We're satisfied with Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G's selfie camera. Be it outdoors, indoors, and in low light. 

However, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G only lets you shoot up to 1080p at 30 fps. It's a sad move from Xiaomi because 4K is becoming the standard. 

Performance

The benchmarks

Under the hood, we have the 6nm 2.2GHz Snapdragon 695 octa-core processor, Adreno 619 GPU, up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, and 128GB expandable storage.

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G benchmark scores:

1. AnTuTu - 333,210

2. Geekbench - 651 (single-core), 1,679 (multi-core)

3. 3DMark WildLife - 1,207 and average 7.20 fps

Given these benchmark scores, we knew the handset would be comfortable in gaming. By default, Genshin Impact's graphics quality is set to Low. According to the "Current Performance Load," this setting will give you a smooth experience. However, we experienced otherwise. 

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G default game settings

This setting didn't maximize the display features of the handset because the graphics were rather a little "pixelated."

However, some heating was evident while playing. We experienced the same while playing Call of Duty: Mobile. We suggest keeping the device-optimized in case you encounter an app crash.

Overall, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G does not slouch on casual gaming.

When it comes to security, the side-mounted fingerprint sensor and face unlock are both snappy and responsive. They're easy to set up and user-friendly.

Stellar battery life!

The 5,000mAh battery juices the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. In our usual PCMark Battery Test, it yielded 16 hours and 26 minutes. It's a nice score for an AMOLED screen with a high refresh rate.

Impressive battery life!

In real-life usage, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G lasts more than a day. It's a smartphone that will take the boredom out of you because you can do so much with it. What's better is that it only charges for less than an hour using the rare 67W in-box charger.

Battery settings

For connectivity, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G boasts WiFi 802.11ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), 5G NSA/SA, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.1, and GPS. The 5G connectivity was speedy and working fine.

Running the software department is the Android 11 skinned with MIUI 13. The new MIUI version brought improvement in terms of operability, security system, and stability. It also has a new user interface but it still feels familiar.

The system-wide light or dark mode is still there with new live wallpapers, font upgrades, among others.

If pesky pre-installed apps are a burden, we're happy to report that the ones that come with Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G are used by most users like us.

MIUI 13

All in all, we are satisfied and happy with the performance of the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. We didn't have issues during our time with it except for occasional heating.

Pros - Beautiful & minimalist build, immersive AMOLED display, 120Hz refresh rate, great cameras, loud stereo speakers, impressive performance, big battery, 3.5mm jack, 5G connectivity

Cons - selfie camera makes users look pale, occasional heating

Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G Specs

Display: 6.67-inch 2.5D curved AMOLED DotDisplay screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, AdaptiveSync tech (50/60/90Hz/120Hz), Corning Gorilla Glass 3, FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution at 395 ppi

CPU: 2.4GHz 6nm Snapdragon 695 octa-core processor

GPU: Adreno 619

RAM: 6GB/8GB LPDDR4X

ROM: 128GB UFS 2.2 expandable up to 1TB via microSD card slot

Back Camera: 108MP f/1.9 Samsung HM2 1/1.52-inch main sensor + 8MP f/2.2 118-degree ultra-wide-angle sensor + 2MP f/2.4 macro camera + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.4

Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 67W turbo charging

OS: Android 11 w/ MIUI 13

Connectivity: WiFi 802.11ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), 5G NSA/SA, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.1,  GPS, dual SIM (hybrid)

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic, pressure

Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, face unlock, IP53 water splash resistance, IR Blaster, stereo speakers, dual-mic, Z-axis linear motor, USB-C, Colors: Graphite Gray, Polar White, Atlantic Blue

Dimensions: 164.19 x 76.1 x 8.12 mm

Weight: 202 g

Price: PHP 15,999

Verdict

A bang-for-buck all-rounder!

The Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is an impressive all-rounder smartphone with bang-for-buck features. 

We love its excellent build, immersive display, and impressive performance. There may be setbacks like occasional heating and pale selfies, but this doesn't draw the handset away from being great.

If you're looking for a smartphone that can give more than what you pay for, Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G should top your list.

Do you agree with us?

Build/Design - 4.75

Multimedia Experience - 4.75

Cameras - 4.5

Performance - 4.5

Average - 4.62/5