Redmi has played its cards right with the much-awaited Redmi Note 11, which sets the benchmark for a category of phones that most end up using. Like always, the under-Rs 15,000 category is a tough one to crack but the company always deals a winning formula — give the phone focus rather than make it do too many tricks. Most of us end up using a phone to watch films or listen to music, browse through social media and use the same selection of e-commerce apps. It’s not necessary to get a premium device to make these things happen.
Multimedia champ
With people returning to office and commutes getting longer, we will be spending a few hours watching films on the phone once again. It helps to have a 6.43 FHD+ AMOLED display (1000 nits peak brightness), which means colours pop, viewing angles are fantastic and streaming for long hours is enjoyable. On top of that, Redmi has given 90Hz display refresh rate, making scrolling extremely smooth even under 15K.
The other part of the multimedia experience is audio. There is plenty of boom and bass here because of the stereo speaker set up with a dedicated second speaker doing the job, meaning you will get crystal clear audio.
Good audio quality will also help the gaming experience on the phone but only to a certain degree because the chipset here is Snapdragon 680, which is based on 6nm processor. It is a more efficient processor from what we had on Note 10… in a few ways. It’s power efficient which ensures less battery drainage, offers better camera performance, and supports for 90Hz refresh on the display.
Pixel power
An efficient chipset means more control over the camera, which here has 50MP on the main, 8MP ultra wide and 2MP each of macro and portrait. Despite being a budget phone, photographs are far better than what you get on even some mid-range devices. We are talking about photos taken under broad daylight. Night photography may not be the best but it’s acceptable. A couple of quibbles. First, video is restricted to 1080p on the main camera. Second, the macro shooter is nothing to write home about.
Should you buy it?
There are a few more things to keep in mind while choosing the phone. First, there is MIUI 13 out of the box but it is based on Android 11. It could have been Android 12. Second, it’s a 5,000mAh battery with a 33W power brick in the box, so you can juice up the phone in 60-odd minutes. Third, there’s no 5G. You will probably have this phone for one and a half years. By the time 5G rolls out properly to all corners of the country, a phone upgrade will be in order. So this 4G phone is still a good buy. In fact, if you are looking for premium multimedia experience at down-to-earth pricing, Redmi Note 11 is just right.
At a glance
The main snapper captures pictures that are sharp enough for social media
Device: Redmi Note 11
Price: 4GB + 64GB, 6GB + 64GB and 6GB + 128GB for Rs 13,499, Rs 14,499 and Rs 15,999, respectively
High notes
• AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate
• Excellent audio output
• Power efficient
Muffled notes
• Android 11 out of the box
• Video recording is restricted to 1080p on the main camera