Introduction
The entire Redmi Note 11 lineup is already available for purchase, and they all share a brand new dual-glass design, similar camera experience, improved battery charging, the latest MIUI 13, among other things. Today, we are going to meet one of the most anticipated among the new Redmi quartet - the Redmi Note 11 Pro.
We already reviewed the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G, which has a different, 5G-capable chipset, but other than that, everything else stays the same. Naturally, the Redmi Note 11 Pro will be cheaper than its 5G counterpart, which makes it a more interesting offer.
So, the Redmi Note 11 Pro has a new cool-looking dual-glass design with a flat frame, flat panels, and IP53 splash proofing. It employs the same 6.67-inch 120Hz Super AMOLED that was introduced with the previous Redmi Note 10 Pro model. And it seems to be packing the same rear camera setup, too, with a 108MP primary shooter, an 8MP ultrawide, a 2MP macro, and a 2MP depth sensor. Oops, correction, it seems the macro has been demoted from a premium 5MP AF telemacro to a basic 2MP with a fixed focus.
The new Redmi Note 11 Pro runs on the Helio G96 chipset, not the fastest in the mid-range, but we will see how it fares against the competition.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro brings a ton of fan-favorite features like stereo speakers, a microSD expansion, FM radio, a 3.5mm jack, there is NFC and even an IR blaster. Like most of the Notes, this one is also powered by a large 5,000mAh battery, and its charging has been improved from 33W on the Note 10 Pro to 67W on this new Note 11 Pro. Nice!
Let's take a closer look at the Redmi Note 11 Pro specs sheet.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro specs at a glance:
- Body: 164.2x76.1x8.1mm, 202g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), glass back; IP53, dust and splash protection.
- Display: 6.67" Super AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10, 700 nits, 1200 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 395ppi.
- Chipset: Mediatek Helio G96 (12 nm): Octa-core (2x2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G57 MC2.
- Memory: 64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.2; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
- OS/Software: Android 11, MIUI 13.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 108 MP, f/1.9, 26mm, 1/1.52", 0.7µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 118˚; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.4, (wide).
- Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 67W, 51% in 15 min (advertised), Power Delivery 3.0, Quick Charge 3+.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); Infrared port; 3.5mm jack.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro seems like a good sequel, though there is one big question mark - the Helio G96 chipset. It seems like a weaker SoC compared to the Note 10 Pro's Snapdragon 732G chip, and furthermore, it's not capable of 4K video capturing.
With that being said, let's go and unpack this thing and put it through its paces.
Unboxing the Redmi Note 11 Pro
The Redmi Note 11 Pro arrives within a white paper box. The retail bundle offers a 67W power adapter, a 6A-rated USB cable, and a transparent protective case.
Interestingly, the Note 11 Pro has no protective film on its screen, like it was with older models, but you will find one within the box. It's always good to have basic protection out of the box, but given how challenging it sometimes is to apply these flawlessly by yourself, we would have preferred this to have been done in the factory.
Design, build quality, handling
Have we seen this Redmi Note 11 Pro already? This dark gray flat panel, this cool flat frame, and the rectangular camera setup on the back?
We sure have! The Redmi Note 11 Pro has an identical design, shape, and footprint as the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. And it also shares a lot of similarities with the Note 11 and Note 11S.
Redmi Note 11, Redmi Note 11 5G, Redmi Note 11 Pro and Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
Xiaomi has opted for a shared design across the new Redmi Note 11 series, and we are quite fine with that. You just get the phone with the most relevant specs for you and keep the stylish looks no matter what.
At the opposite side, it's a tough job to tell the Notes apart as they all feature large 1080p screens with tiny punch holes. You can spice things up with different UI themes, thanks to MIUI, though.
Redmi Note 11, Redmi Note 11 5G, Redmi Note 11 Pro and Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
So, the Redmi Note 11 Pro has a flat Gorilla Glass 5 panel at the front and a flat tempered glass on its back. The rear glass has an eye-catchy matte finish, which is quite pleasant on touch and makes for a far less smudgy experience.
The frame is also flat, with a matte finish, made of sturdy plastic. It has the same paint as the rear panel and makes for some strong grip when handling the Redmi Note 11 Pro.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro is IP53-rated for dust and splash protection. It has rubber insulation around the SIM slot and will endure light rain and tiny splashes, but submerging it or talking in heavy rain is probably out of the question.
Let's take a closer look at the Note 11 Pro now.
The 6.67-inch Samsung-made AMOLED panel occupies most of the front. It seems quite bright and contrasty, while its perforation is one of the smallest we've seen lately.
The 16MP selfie camera is within the punch hole. Meanwhile, above the screen, there is this barely noticeable grille that hides the earpiece.
Xiaomi has put a proper speaker on top of the Redmi Note 11 Pro, and it has two outlets for the sound - one on top of the phone and one at the front, just above the screen. This means that the grille above the display hides a proper speaker underneath, symmetrical to the other one at the bottom.
The display's bezels are quite reasonable in size, and the chin is not that thick as on cheaper phones with LCD screens.
The new design on the back is what makes the Redmi Note 11 Pro, as well as the other Redmi Note 11 phones, easily recognizable. It now features a flat tempered glass with a matte finish.
The four-camera setup is here, of course, but it's less of an eyesore, especially on this graphite model. The camera island is a two-step detail that juts out of the back. The upper level features the 108MP primary shooter, while the lower deck has the ultrawide, the macro and the depth cameras, along with the LED flash.
Because of the camera island, the Redmi Note 11 Pro wobbles a lot if used on a desk without case. If this wobbling is annoying, you can always snap the bundled case, and it will flatten out the back.
The top of the Redmi Note 11 Pro houses the speaker grille, the 3.5mm jack, the IR blaster and one of the microphones.
The other (primary) microphone is at the bottom, together with the USB-C port, the other speaker grille, and the SIM/microSD card tray.
There is nothing on the left side of the Redmi Note 11 Pro.
The volume and power keys are on the right. The power/lock key is also home to the fingerprint scanner. Its sensor is always on, blazing-fast and with incredibly good accuracy.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro is a smartphone with a solid, no-nonsense build and even some splash protection - a real beauty in its simplicity. It provides enough grip to be handled without a case, and it fits well in hand.
Thanks to its slim profile and balanced weight, the Redmi Note 11 Pro won't be an issue for most jeans pockets. And thanks to its matte finish, it is not prone to fingerprints, and that's a sight for sore eyes!
At the end of the day, we are happy with the new Redmi design and we like Xiaomi's new direction. The flat panels and frame, as well as the stylish colors and finish, make the Redmi Note 11 Pro feel comfortable and look modern. That's all that's needed really.
Display
The Redmi Note 11 Pro, just like the Note 11 Pro 5G, borrows its AMOLED panel from the Note 10 Pro. It's a 6.67-inch Samsung-made AMOLED screen of extended Full HD resolution and 120Hz refresh rate support. It comes with Gorilla Glass 5 protection and has an impressively tiny punch-hole around the top.
The OLED panel is flat, and its exact resolution is 1,080 x 2,400 pixels or 395ppi - up to par with the competition. It supports a 120Hz refresh rate and DCI-P3 color space. There is no official mention of HDR10 video support.
The first order of business is our traditional display measurements, and they turned out to be identical to the Note 11 Pro 5G's, which was to be expected as the screens are identical.
The Note 11 Pro's display has a typical maximum brightness of 470 nits, but it can be much brighter when the automatic sunlight boost kicks in - about 750 nits. These numbers match, or even exceed Xiaomi's official specs.
Finally, the minimum brightness at point white we measured was just 2.4 nits - the same as on the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 470 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 746 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 470 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 746 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 457 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 725 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 433 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 613 | ∞ | |
| 0.288 | 461 | 1601:1 | |
| 0.385 | 567 | 1473:1 | |
| 0 | 454 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 627 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 458 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 657 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 383 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 800 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 466 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 650 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 393 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 814 | ∞ | |
| 0.301 | 429 | 1425:1 | |
| 0.38 | 537 | 1413:1 | |
Color accuracy
The Redmi Note 11 Pro's display, just like the Redmi Note 10 Pro and Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G, supports DCI-P3 wide color space. The display's settings offer three different color models - Vivid (default, DCI-P3), Saturated (DCI-P3 with saturation boost), and Standard (sRGB). You can tweak the color temperature for each mode.
The default Vivid option is tuned to reproduce DCI-P3 faithfully, and we found it to be fairly accurate, excluding the slightly bluish-white and gray colors. Standard, on the other hand, has a perfect accuracy to sRGB, including the white and gray hues.
Refresh rate
The Redmi Note 11 Pro display supports 60Hz (Standard) and 120Hz (Maximum) refresh rates; both are static options. The default 120Hz option always uses 120Hz and reverts to 60Hz only for video playback and across apps that cannot support higher than 60Hz.
The GPU of the Redmi Note 11 Pro is rather weak, and even if high refresh gaming is theoretically possible, we doubt you will be able to run games at higher than 60fps even on lower graphics settings.
Streaming
The Redmi Note 11 Pro has Widevine L1 DRM support out of the box, and it can stream Full HD content from all popular video services. There is no HDR10 video support on the phone HDR video streaming is out of the question.
Battery life
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro, like many of the previous Note models, is powered by a large 5,000mAh battery. The phone employs the Helio G96 chipset by MediaTek, which is built on a 12nm manufacturing process compared to the 6nm Snapdragon 695 5G chip inside the Note 11 Pro 5G model. We still expect good battery scores, just not as good as the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G's.
So, the Redmi Note 11 Pro indeed posted a rather good endurance rating of 100 hours, 15 hours less than the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G and Redmi Note 10 Pro.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro sure aced the talk time test, and did good on the on-screen tests, but not as good as the 5G model - it scored 2 hours less on the web and nearly 6 hours less on video playback.
All test results shown are achieved under the highest screen refresh rate mode. You can adjust the endurance rating formula manually so it matches better your own usage in our all-time battery test results chart where you can also find all phones we've tested.
Charging speed
The upgraded 67W Mi Fast Charging since the Redmi Note 10 Pro is a truly welcome change and makes the whole charging experience feel flagship-like. Redmi Note 10 Pro maxed out at 33W charging, which is still plenty fast, but 67W is one of those upgrades a sequel needs.
We tested the Note 11 Pro with the bundled 67W power adapter, and the charging times are outstanding. It takes the battery from 0% to 45% in merely 15 minutes, while 30 minutes will give you a 78% battery charge.
30min charging test (from 0%)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
78% - Realme 9 Pro+
77% - Poco X3 GT
75% - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
74% - Motorola Edge 20
68% - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
65% - Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
53% - Realme 9 Pro
52% - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
50% - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
39% - Samsung Galaxy A32
25%
A full charge requires just 48 minutes on the 67W charger, which is incredibly fast for a lower mid-range smartphone.
Time to full charge (from 0%)
Lower is better
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
0:45h - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
0:48h - Poco X3 GT
0:48h - Realme 9 Pro+
0:49h - Motorola Edge 20
1:01h - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
1:13h - Realme 9 Pro
1:14h - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
1:21h - Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
1:28h - Samsung Galaxy A32
2:19h
There is no wireless charging on the Redmi Note 11 Pro. There is no reverse wired charging available either.
Speakers - loudness and quality
The Redmi Note 11 Pro has two symmetrically placed speakers, just like the 5G model. They sit behind grills on the top and bottom sides. Of course, the speaker above the screen has two outlets - one front-facing and one top-firing.
While the top speaker, which also acts as an earpiece, is slightly quieter than the bottom one, the sound is incredibly balanced and rich when listening and/or watching media in either portrait or landscape orientation. So, kudos to Xiaomi for tuning the two pieces rather great.
So, the Redmi Note 11 Pro scored a Very Good mark on our loudness test, just like the Note 11 Pro 5G and the Note 10 Pro.
The sound quality is nearly identical to the Redmi Note 10 Pro, but not as good as the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. While the 5G model offered an improved thump in the lows, we find it lacking in the vanilla version. Still, we can hear good mid and high tones, and there is some minor bass available, so we'd say the audio quality is somewhere between Good and Very Good.
There is no Dolby Atmos enhancement on the Redmi Note 11 Pro, as opposed to the 5G version.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Android 11 with MIUI 13
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro, like the rest of the Redmi Note 11 quartet, boots Android 11 with the most current MIUI 13 version. Most of the new MIUI features are under the hood, though they should make for a smoother, smarter, and more secure experience.
This version of MIUI 13 is based on Android 11, and it does not include any of the Android 12 features like the revamped widgets and their new widget page in the app drawer. There is no advanced Privacy Dashboard either with options like a protected clipboard, approximate location, updated Face Unlock algorithm. The updated File Manager and Clock app with Bedtime mode are nowhere to be found either.
Other notable missing features on Android 11 + MIUI 13 combo are the improved one-handed mode (iOS-style), and the improved camera app with zero shutter lag and motion photos.
Finally, the new live wallpapers showing microscopic stuff like how vitamin C and citric acid crystallize, as part of the Beauty of Science collaboration, are not available on the Redmi Note 11 series just yet.
Still, Xiaomi claims that MIUI has been reworked completely, even if you cannot tell that by the interface and its design alone - it looks and feels just like MIUI 12. But the new version reportedly focuses on much better resource distribution and should handle processor, RAM and storage usage better and smarter.
For example, MIUI 13 is supposed to keep track of the current use of the processor and RAM and suspend any currently unnecessary tasks to free resources and offer more fluid performance. Xiaomi promises a background process efficiency increase of up to 40% compared to the previous version.
Liquid storage is what sounds really cool and relevant for modern smartphones. Xiaomi says that in most phones, the storage performance is halved in 36 months due to inefficient storage management. And this is where MIUI 13 comes - it offers 60% better defragmentation efficiency than MIUI 12 and different competitors. So, the storage performance drop in 36 months should be merely 5%. This sounds impressive, so here is hoping this feature lives up to the hype.
The final optimization done within MIUI's core is power management - the new version's optimization should lead to a 10% drop in the power consumption compared to MIUI 12's.
There is also an improved Smart Sidebar for even more fluid multi-tasking with pop-up apps. And the privacy has been improved with a number of features, some of which unique.
And now, let's take a closer look at MIUI 13 on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro supports an Always-on display - unfortunately, it can never be always on. It can only appear for 10s after a tap. At least, there are a lot of AOD themes you can choose from. A few of those can also be customized.
Always-on display
Breathing light is called Notification effect in MIUI 13. It can work with or without Always-on Display. Basically, that's a fancier version of the notification LED that uses the edges of the display - they flash with colors upon new notifications.
One more thing, you can choose the lockscreen clock style, too.
Notification light • Notification light • Notification light • Lockscreen clock style
You unlock the screen via the side-mounted fingerprint scanner. The reader is easy to set up, blazing-fast, and the accuracy is superb. You can set the unlock method to Touch or Press - the Press will spare you accidental misreads of your palm (that eventually lead to PIN input) if you are using the phone without a case. A 2D Face Unlock is available, too, but it is far less secure than the fingerprint option.
Biometrics
The homescreens are business as usual - they are populated with shortcuts, folders, and widgets. The leftmost pane, if enabled, is Google's Discover.
MIUI 13
MIUI 13 offers an app drawer, and it automatically organizes your apps into categories. The first is All, meaning it contains all apps. Then follow Communication, Entertainment, Photography, Tools, New, and Business. You can edit these categories or even disable them altogether.
You can disable the app drawer entirely if that's not your thing.
App drawer
Just like in MIUI 12, MIUI 13 offers an independent Notification shade and Control Center. You summon them like on the iPhones - 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 iPhone-ish split - you can disable the Control Center, and the shade will revert to its normal looks and operation.
Notifications • Toggles • Settings
The task switcher is familiar, too, if you've ever used a Xiaomi. It shows all of your recent apps in two columns. Tap-and-hold on any card for the split-screen and pop-up shortcuts (where available), or just swipe it left or right to close it.
There is a Floating Windows button on top of everything. You can put a compatible app in a floating state, but you only have one floating window at a time.
Task switcher • Task Switcher • Task switcher • Split screen • Floating window • Floating window
Themes have always been a huge part of MIUI, and they are available on MIUI 13, 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
MIUI comes with its proprietary multimedia apps - Gallery, Music, Mi Video (with streaming options), FM radio. There is also an MIUI File Manager. And, of course, a Mi Remote app that uses the integrated IR blaster.
Gallery • Music • Video • FM Radio • File Manager • Mi Remote
Protective Mark is a cool feature within the Gallery. It adds a text of your choosing across an entire photo as a watermark. Handy for when you are taking a photo of your ID to share with someone.
Protective watermark
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, define the battery behavior of selected apps, and apply restrictions only to certain apps.
Security
And speaking of memory, MIUI 13 offers a Memory Extension option that's active by default (you can disable it if you like). It reserves 3GB of internal storage that serves as RAM extension. Less important memory blocks should come here.
RAM Extension
The Smart Sidebar is quite familiar - a small visible mark on the edge of the screen that expands into a menu anytime you swipe on it. You launch apps in pop-up windows from here. Of course, you can customize the actions for this menu. If you are within a multimedia app (like YouTube, Mi Video, Gallery, etc.), you will get the Video toolbox next to the shortcuts - it contains shortcuts for Screenshot, Record screen, Cast, Sound settings and Play Video with the screen off. And, oh yes, the last one works on YouTube, no Premium subscription needed!
Smart Sidebar • Smart Sidebar • Pop-up apps • Video toolbox • Sound settings
Other interesting MIUI 13 improvements you may not notice at first include a better screenshot editor, a brand-new battery page with performance mode, and an option for the camera app to shoot videos with the screen turned off.
When you take a screenshot, you will notice a modern-looking interface with brushes, erasers, text and selection tools, among others.
The Battery page offers power-saving modes. Here, you can also check the battery temperature. Note that some phones have an optional Performance Mode, but it is not available on the Redmi Note 11 Pro.
Finally, even if not new per se, the Camera app offers an option to Shoot with screen off. If you toggle this feature on, the screen will be turned off after three minutes of inactivity.
Camera options • Screenshot editor • Battery page and options
Some MIUI ROMs include ads in the default apps, it is a well-known thing. On our review units, the Redmi Note 11 Pro doesn't have any ads (they were disabled by default), but the Redmi Note 11, the Redmi Note 11S and the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G version do come with baked-in ad "recommendations".
If your Redmi Note 11 model comes with ads, you can disable those even if it's a bit tedious to do it because you have to do it for every system app that has them. For example, if you are annoyed by the app scanner's ads, just hit the settings gear, and disable recommendations. Ads in the File Manager - Settings->About should do it. Themes - go to Settings and disable Recommendations. It's not ideal, sure, but at least you can get rid of them all.
Ads • Ads • Disable ads • Disable ads
MIUI 13 has a lot of under-the-hood improvements that promise a smoother and faster experience right now, as well as for the next couple of years due to many optimizations. The interface is pretty much MIUI 12 with a couple of tweaks here and there. So, if you didn't expect a groundbreaking redesign, you will feel right at home with MIUI 13. We don't expect Android 12 to change that either.
Performance and benchmarks
The Redmi Note 11 Pro employs the Helio G96 chipset by MediaTek, a baffling step back from the Snapdragon 732G within the Redmi Note 10 Pro. It is fabricated on the 12nm FinFET manufacturing process from TSMC. The Helio G96 has the usual octa-core CPU with two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.05GHz and six energy-efficient Corext-A55 cores working at 2.0GHz.
The Helio G96 chip features a dual-core Mali-G57 GPU. Unlike the previous G9x chips, here we have a dual-core configuration instead of quad-core, which is somewhat disappointing. It does support a 120Hz refresh rate, but it's another thing if it will be able to reach 120fps in games (spoiler alert, you cannot).
Finally, the Redmi Note 11 Pro is available in three configurations, both with LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage - 6GB RAM + 64GB, 6GB RAM + 128GB, and 8GB RAM + 128GB (our review unit).
We ran the usual benchmarks, and the scores are in.
The processor performance is the same as on the Redmi Note 10 Pro, according to Geekbench tests, so there is no improvement here. It is also slower than the Note 11 Pro 5G model, and the Realme 9 Pro+ Dimensity 920 processor that is the same as within the Chinese Redmi Note 11 Pro.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
2801 - Realme 9 Pro+
2335 - Poco X3 GT
2310 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
2063 - Realme 9 Pro
2020 - Realme 8i
1886 - Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
1820 - Realme 8 5G
1784 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
1780 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
1729 - Realme 8
1690 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
1673 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
1599 - Realme 9i
1581 - Samsung Galaxy A52
1577 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
1576 - Samsung Galaxy A32
1277
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Realme 9 Pro+
814 - Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
771 - Realme 9 Pro
694 - Poco X3 GT
693 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
688 - Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
636 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
569 - Realme 8 5G
569 - Realme 8i
539 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
534 - Realme 8
533 - Samsung Galaxy A52
525 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
511 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
505 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
502 - Realme 9i
384 - Samsung Galaxy A32
361
The GPU scores, while adequate for a lower mid-range smartphone, are subpar. Most of the competitors offer better graphics thanks to newer and more powerful chipsets. Worse, the GPU performance is weaker than on the previous Note 10 Pro model.
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Poco X3 GT
38 - Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
28 - Realme 9 Pro+
27 - Realme 8
18 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
17 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
16 - Realme 9 Pro
16 - Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
16 - Samsung Galaxy A52
15 - Realme 8 5G
13 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
12 - Realme 8i
11 - Samsung Galaxy A32
8.1 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
7.9 - Realme 9i
7.3
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Poco X3 GT
68 - Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
49 - Realme 9 Pro+
41 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
34 - Realme 9 Pro
29 - Realme 8
29 - Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
28 - Samsung Galaxy A52
26 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
22 - Realme 8 5G
22 - Realme 8i
22 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
15 - Realme 9i
14 - Samsung Galaxy A32
13
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Poco X3 GT
3991 - Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
2491 - Realme 9 Pro+
2296 - Realme 8
1486 - Realme 9 Pro
1211 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
1204 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
1185 - Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
1107 - Realme 8 5G
1104 - Realme 8i
1102 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
1101 - Samsung Galaxy A52
1040 - Samsung Galaxy A32
686 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
482 - Realme 9i
452
Finally, and quite expectedly, the AnTuTu tests put the Redmi Note 11 Pro scores around the bottom of the chart and show worsened performance since the Redmi Note 10 Pro.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Poco X3 GT
506800 - Realme 9 Pro+
495096 - Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
429675 - Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
334981 - Realme 8 5G
302059 - Realme 8
298328 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
295442 - Realme 8i
293507 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
288914 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
261309 - Samsung Galaxy A52
261282 - Realme 9i
229368 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
226561 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
218788 - Samsung Galaxy A32
174332
AnTuTu 9
Higher is better
- Poco X3 GT
578505 - Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
506432 - Realme 9 Pro+
416031 - Realme 9 Pro
401894 - Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
386474 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
382902 - Realme 8 5G
361505 - Realme 8
357488 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
330909 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
319093 - Realme 8i
308544 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
222125
And before we call it a day, we ran our usual CPU and GPU stress tests. The processor performance under peak load turned out quite weird, and it managed to drop as low as 69% and then go as high as 100% on various occasions. Meanwhile, the GPU stability is 99.6%, an excellent one.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro never gets hot, warm even, and its shell remains at room temperature no matter what's happening.
CPU Throttle • GPU stress test
The Redmi Note 11 Pro provides mostly smooth UI performance, though the 120fps weren't always solid when some background task, notification, or other process intervenes. Some minor lag/stutter could happen when there is too much scrolling or swiping.
Theoretical high refresh gaming is possible, but in real life, you will need to make quite a few tweaks for a smooth gaming experience, meaning lowering graphics quality and/or resolution.
At the end of the day, the Redmi Note 11 Pro offers a good overall experience even if gaming is not its strong side. But being slower than the Redmi Note 10 Pro, and most of the competition, and sold at somewhat higher than expected price, is not working in favor of the new Redmi Note, on the contrary. And that's a shame.
The usual quad-camera on the back
The Redmi Note 11 Pro has your typical mid-range four-camera setup on the back. There is a high-res 108MP primary, an 8MP ultrawide, a 2MP macro, and a 2MP depth camera. A single LED flash is also around this quarter, while a single 16MP sits within the screen's perforation and takes care of your selfies.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro camera arrangement is a mixture of the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G.
The primary camera is the same across all three - it uses a 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM2 1/1.52" sensor with 0.7µm pixels and 24mm f/1.9 lens. The color filter is Nona-Bayer, meaning 9 sensor pixels are combined into one 2.1*µm, and the output resolution is 12MP. PDAF is available. Night Mode is available, too.
The ultrawide camera relies on an 8MP Sony IMX355 sensor behind a 16mm f/2.2 lens. Some units may come with an 8MP OmniVision OV8856 sensor instead of Sony's IMX355. Either way, the focus is fixed at infinity. Oddly, there is Night Mode here, unlike on the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G's ultrawide cam.
The macro camera packs a 2MP GalaxyCore GC02M1 sensor behind an f/2.4 lens. The focus is fixed at about 4cm away.
The fourth and final camera on the back is a 2MP OmniVision OV02B1 depth sensor.
The selfie camera utilizes a 16MP SK Hynix Hi-1634Q 1/3" sensor with 1.0µm pixels and Quad-Bayer filter. This one has f/2.4 lens, and the focus is fixed.
Camera app
The camera app is a rather straightforward implementation, though it does have its quirks. First, basic operation for changing modes works with side swipes (on the black bezel!), and you can also tap on the modes you can see to switch to those directly. Up and down swipes don't work for switching between the front and rear cameras; only the toggle next to the shutter release does that.
You can add, remove, and rearrange modes in the main rolodex by going to the More tab and navigating to the edit button, and you can access that from the settings menu as well. The unused modes will still be in that More tab, but you can switch to a (less intuitive) pull-out pane that's summoned from a line next to the shutter release.
The hamburger menu at the far end is where you'll find additional options, including the Super Macro mode (why here and not a mode in the rolodex?), plus the icon to access the settings. Next to that hamburger menu, you have a flash mode switch, an HDR switch, an AI toggle, shortcut to Google Lens, and a magic wand with beauty effects and filters.
On the near end, you have the camera zoom switch that operates in one of two fashions. The first one is simply tapping on one of the three dots that represent the ultra-wide, primary, and 2x digital options. Or you can tap on the active magnification and slide sideways to reveal even more zoom levels - 2x and 10x, plus a slider for intermediate magnifications.
Camera app
There's a nicely capable Pro mode, where you can tweak the shooting parameters yourself. You can use the primary, the ultrawide and even the macro cameras here. You get to pick one of 4 white balance presets or dial in the light temperature with a slider, there's a manual focusing slider (with peaking as an option, particularly useful for the macro), and shutter speed (1/4000s to 30s/15s/0.25s for main/ultrawide/macro) and ISO control with range depending on which camera you're using. A tiny live histogram is available, and a toggle for zebras can be found in the hamburger menu.
As expected, there's a host of extra modes, including Long Exposure with its own set of different presets - moving crowd, neon trails, oil painting, light painting, starry sky, and star trails.
Night mode is available for the main and the ultrawide cameras. There is no Auto Night mode as on previous Xiaomi models.
Photo quality
The 12MP default photos from the main camera are good for this class. They offer plenty of resolved detail, the white balance is spot-on, and the colors are accurate. The noise is kept nicely low, while the dynamic range is high but not over the top, and that's why the contrast across the photos is just right.
The images are noticeably over-sharpened, though, something that was handled incredibly well on the previous Note 10 Pro model.
Still, these photos are much better than the ones we got from the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G with its identical 108MP camera. It seems the processing is different on the two Redmi Note 11 Pro models, and the 4G version has the better one.
Main camera, 12MP
There is a 2x zoom shortcut on the viewfinder, but it does not offer lossless zoom. The digital zoom has no special processing whatsoever, it does a simple crop and upscale, and the photos have poor detail. That is if you pixel peep them, of course.
The 2x mode is not without uses cases, as it provides an easier way of zooming instead of doing it yourself within the Gallery's image editor. And since all social networks and IMs clients will downsize the photos, nobody will probably notice the digital zoom anyway.
Main cam 2x zoom, 12MP
There is a 108MP mode, and it saves good high-resolution photos instead of basic upscales. The samples we took offer a good amount of resolved detail, balanced sharpness, and accurate colors. The dynamic range and contrast are as good as on the default images.
Various artefacts are noticeable across the photos, and obviously, the per-pixel detail isn't what you can expect from real 108MP photos. But there is a very good use for these 108MP images.
Main camera, 108MP
First, if you crop their center and then resize it to 12MP, you will get much better 2x zoom. In fact, this is what lossless zoom could have looked on the Note 11 Pro, if it had the processing power to make it on the go - which it doesn't, obviously.
12MP 2x zoom via crop and resize from 108MP
Or you can manually resize the 108MP photos down to 12MP; you'd get outstanding results because they are less processed. There is more detail in these images than on the default ones, there is no excessive sharpening, and overall, they look much more natural and truer to life.
While the 108MP mode is a clever way to bypass the image processing, one photo occupies about 20MB or more and then you will need to resize each one of these manually.
180MP-to-12MP resize
The 8MP ultrawide photos are alright for this class, though we've seen better. The center of the images is sharp enough and with a good amount of resolved detail (for this type of cameras), while the distortion correction around the corners comes at the price of added softness. The noise is handled mostly well, too.
But while the detail will do fine for most, the images suffer from abusive HDR processing, which leads to low contrast and yet the dynamic range wasn't improved in a meaningful way (highlights are still blown, while shadows look unnatural). The colors are washed out occasionally.
Ultrawide camera, 8MP
The 2MP macro camera offers acceptable closeup photos. They are not that sharp, but the resolved detail will do for Instagram and similar social networks. The colors are punchy, the contrast is good, and the noise levels are low most of the time.
It takes time to get used to the fixed focus, and it's still not guaranteed you will get a sharp photo with accurate focus. We are missing the telemacro camera from the Note 10 Pro and its autofocus quite dearly.
Macro camera, 2MP
The Redmi Note 11 Pro shoots great portrait photos - the subjects are proficiently separated from the background, well exposed and detailed. The contrast and colors are great. The simulated blur looks nice, and we did like it.
Portraits, 12MP
The selfies from the 16MP camera are likable even if not that detailed - the colors are accurate, the contrast is great, the noise is low, and the subject is well exposed.
The resolved detail is not impressive as this is a Quad-Bayer camera, but instead of 4MP photos, it saves 16MP ones. But these do look nice on the phone's display, as well as when posted on social networks, which is plenty enough for its purposes.
Selfies, 16MP
Portrait selfies are available, too. The separation is so-so - your subject should be fine if their haircut is not that complex. There is a noticeable drop in the sharpness here, but other than that - the background blur is convincing, and if needed - you can use this mode to mask your surroundings.
Portrait selfies, 16MP
The 12MP low-light photos from the main camera are good for the class, though we've surely seen better. The detail in those is enough, even if some was smeared by the noise reduction. The color saturation is good, the contrast is high, and the exposure does a good job of taking a true-to-life photo.
We still feel these could have benefitted from better processing aimed at more sharpness and less smearing.
Sometimes, the Auto HDR, or the lack of it, may lead to an incredibly noise photo like the first one from the batch below.
Main camera, 12MP
Night Mode is available for the main camera, and we suggest using it at night. It is a conservative one that cleans noise better, prevents blown highlights, and reveals more detail in some shadows. It saves sharper images, too, though the sharpening may get a bit excessive at times.
Still, the Night Mode photos offer better color saturation and exposure, and with being also clearer of noise, we do suggest using this mode occasionally. It takes a second or two to shoot, so it's not much trouble.
Main cam Night Mode, 12MP
The low-light photos from the ultrawide camera are barely usable. We can see what's on them, and the colors are preserved well, but the noise reduction often smears most of the detail and leaves one nig smudgy mess.
Ultrawide camera, 8MP
Unlike the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G, the 4G model does offer Night Mode for the ultrawide camera. And if for whatever reason you want to use this camera at night, it is a must-use feature.
The Night Mode on the ultrawide camera helps for better exposure and hence - brighter photos. The color saturation stays true to life, there is noticeably more detail, and the photos are much sharper. The noise is handled way better here, and it won't get in the way. Finally, the dynamic range gets a boost with no clipped highlights and more detail in some shadows.
Sure, these photos are still noisy and soft, but they are way better than the default ones and very much usable.
Ultrawide cam Night Mode, 8MP
And here are photos of our usual posters taken with the Redmi Note 11 Pro. You can see how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.
Redmi Note 11 Pro against the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Realme 9 Pro+ in our Photo compare tool
Video quality
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro supports up to 1080p@30fps video capturing with its primary, ultrawide and selfie cameras. The 2MP macro camera is limited to 720p@30fps.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro and its Snapdragon 732G chipset offered 4K video capturing, while the Helio G96 has no support for such resolution and the new model sure feels like a big downgrade. And while some of our readers doubt the necessity of 4K video capturing on phones with 1080p screens - our experience shows that 4K videos look much better when shown at 1080p resolution, be it on the phone, tablets, PCs, TVs. Meanwhile, the 1080p clips are not always that good, and they look even worse when shown at full resolution.
Electronic stabilization is available across all cameras, except for the macro; it is always on and does a good job at stabilizing the picture when necessary.
The video bitrate is about 20Mbps, while audio is recorded in stereo at 192kbps bitrate.
The 1080p videos from the main camera are good - the resolved detail is enough, and we observed good sharpness. We liked the colors, the contrast is high, while the dynamic range is enough and not over the top.
The 1080p low-light videos are okay, too, but not that impressive. The detail is adequate, the colors are well preserved, and the noise isn't ruining the video. The dynamic range is rather low, and the footage is dark, but if needed - the camera will do an acceptable job at night.
We liked the videos coming from the ultrawide camera. These present enough detail for such type of camera, realistic colors and incredibly high dynamic range. The contrast is average, but that's because of the boosted dynamic range. For this class and this type of camera, we are happy with what we got.
Finally, here is the Redmi Note 11 Pro in our video tool so you can make your own comparisons.
Redmi Note 11 Pro against the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Realme 9 Pro+ in our Video compare tool
The competition
The Redmi Note 11 Pro turned out to be a good all-around mid-range phone with an attractive design, powerful stereo speakers, long-lasting battery life, speedy charging, and dependable cameras on both sides. The performance, while adequate, is somewhat subpar for its class. And with all that said, let's explore the competition.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro launch price is €300-€330 for the 6GB/64GB model, €350 for the 6GB/128GB, and the limited 8GB/128GB model should retail at €370-€380. Not the most welcoming bunch, we'll admit that.
The Realme 9 Pro costs the same as the Redmi Note 11 Pro. While it uses a 120Hz LCD screen instead of an OLED, it relies on the more powerful Snapdragon 695 5G chipset and offers much better battery life. Its interface also feels snappier, and the photo quality is somewhat more balanced.
But we'd suggest the 6GB/128GB Realme 9 Pro+, which costs about €50 over the 6GB/64GB Redmi Note 11 Pro or about €30 over the 6/128 model. It has a 90Hz AMOLED, runs on the much faster Dimensity 920 5G chipset, and comes with a superb 50MP primary camera with OIS that can do 4K videos. The Realme 9 Pro+ offers similar or even better battery life and equally fast charging. If we have to choose, we'd pay the extra €30 for the Realme 9 Pro+.
Then there is the outstanding Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G, which is an IP67 water-resistant smartphone with a 120Hz Super AMOLED, a much faster and gaming-capable Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset, and better four-camera setup with a 64MP OIS primary, a 12MP ultrawide, a 5MP macro and a 5MP depth sensor. The front camera is also of higher quality with a better 32MP sensor. The Galaxy A52s is inferior to the Redmi Note 11 Pro only in the charging department - 25W vs. 67W, but it costs as low as €320 - the same price as the Note 11 Pro. And this makes choosing the Galaxy a no-brainer.
The Motorola Edge 20 is another smartphone worthy of serious consideration. It has a faster 144Hz OLED screen, a more powerful Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset, a premium triple-camera with a 108MP primary, a 16MP ultrawide shooter, and an 8MP telephoto with OIS for 3x optical zoom. The Moto Edge 20 has inferior battery life and charging speed but offers a more powerful hardware and software package, and it costs as low as €300. Indeed, the Edge 20 seems like another good phone to get instead of the Redmi Note 11 Pro.
Realme 9 Pro • Realme 9 Pro+ • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G • Motorola Edge 20
Then there is Xiaomi's own Poco X4 Pro 5G, which is a rebranded Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G with a different design. Its 6GB/128GB version starts at €269, which is cheaper than the €300 early-bird price of the Note 11 Pro, and you get more powerful graphics and 5G connectivity.
The Poco M4 Pro is a cheaper version of the Redmi Note 11 Pro with a 90Hz display, a 64MP primary camera and 33W fast charging. For these lower specs, you will save yourself at least €100, and we'd take that deal in a heartbeat. The Helio G96 is not equipped to handle 120fps properly, and then the 108MP camera seems like an overkill.
And another Poco, the X3 GT, is cheaper at €290 and more powerful than the Redmi Note 11 Pro. It has a 6.6-inch 120Hz LCD screen with HDR10 support and employs the flagship-grade Dimensity 1100 5G chipset. It also features more RAM and more storage at that price. The rest - camera experience, speakers, battery life, charging speed - everything is exactly on the Redmi.
Finally, we see not a single reason why anyone should get the Redmi Note 11 Pro instead of the Redmi Note 10 Pro from the last year. It offers faster graphics and good gaming experience, better photo and video quality, and they come at a lower price starting at €250 for the 6GB/64GB model.
Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro 5G • Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro • Xiaomi Poco X3 GT • Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
Our verdict
The Redmi Note 11 Pro is a good smartphone positioned thoughtfully under the Note 11 Pro 5G. It was made for people who don't need the fastest connection in the world and can do without gaming. We are fond of its design, screen, speakers, battery life and especially, the charging speed.
Xiaomi has been consistent with its IP53-rated phones, and that's another thing that deserves praise - Realme still hasn't gotten there yet. The camera experience is solid, too, probably the best you can get within the entire Redmi Note 11 series.
Finally, MIUI 13 is one capable launcher with millions of fans around the world, which plays in the Redmi Note 11 Pro favor. The 3.5mm jack, the microSD expansion, the IR blaster, and the FM radio are of big help, too.
Unfortunately, the Redmi Note 11 Pro fails at two important aspects - delivering meaningful upgrades and pricing. The only upgrade over the Redmi Note 10 Pro is the faster charging, everything else feels like a solid downgrade. And then we have this phone priced quite unfavorably at launch, even with the early bird promotions.
We've seen Realme pushing sequels with lower-tier specs, but they often came with rather reasonable price tags. Unlike Xiaomi, which is giving us slower phones at higher prices.
At the end of the day, we can't blame Xiaomi for trying to refresh its signature Redmi Note series at times of unprecedented global crisis. The economy is not what it was two years ago, and phones, along with everything else, is going to be more expensive. So, it's not really the maker's fault for what's happening. But we think Xiaomi could have handled better these Redmi Note 11 Pro models, maybe postpone them and rethink their place in the market.
Long story short, until we see the Redmi Note 11 Pro at a discount, or until the older Xiaomi models are no longer available, we can't but think of the Redmi Note 11 Pro as unsellable.
Pros
- Excellent AMOLED screen, bright, accurate colors, 120Hz.
- Likable design, IP53-rated dual-glass body.
- Good battery life, splendidly fast charging.
- Loud stereo speakers.
- Dependable photo and quality.
- MIUI 13, 3.5mm jack, microSD, IR blaster, NFC, FM radio.
Cons
- Lackluster performance, UI may lag.
- No 4K video capturing.
- Downgraded performance since Note 10 Pro.
- Downgraded camera quality since Note 10 Pro.
- Expensive.
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