A few days ago, I received Redmi Note 11 phone from the great people Xiaomi Kenyan team. Though I have been following their development both Global stage and in Kenya, this is the first time I have used the Xiaomi phone for an extended time. When they first came to Kenya, I bought one of their smartphones which I used for a single day, then gave it to my brother who was in school at the time.
To that extent, I had an open mind when I received the phone and my subsequent use in the last few days. From what I have seen and observed, I now see some of the reasons why Xiaomi as a brand has been able to achieve its extraordinary growth within a very short time. In June 2021, global smartphone sales marked a big tipping point. Xiaomi, with 17.1 percent market share sales, surpassed both Samsung and Apple and became the number-ranked smartphone brand in the world for the first time according to Counterpoint Research.
It is amazing that Xiaomi achieved all that without entering the biggest smartphone market in the world, USA. Xiaomi strategy is a smart one, they have simply decided to concentrate in countries like China, India, and Africa. In the process, they sorted out some issues that are unique to the developing markets such as the battery life, the pricing vs the specifications of the phones.
Battery Life
Of all the features of the Redmi Note 11, I think the battery is one of its unique selling points. I have come across many phones which supposedly have great battery life but immediately you install apps and start using them, they do not come close even to a third of the advertised battery life. During the launch of the Redmi Note 11, the Xiaomi representative talked about how you do not need to carry the charger everywhere for the Redmi Note 11 series. Having heard that before from different vendors, I was not convinced about it. So when I received the phone, it was among the things that I wanted to put to test.
My first test, after fully charging the phone was to actively take the videos. I was lucky that I was invited to a friend’s graduation thanksgiving celebration. The friend graduated a few weeks ago and yes we had church service and a party thereafter. That gave me a perfect chance to take as many long videos as possible using the phone. The test by Xiaomi lab indicated that with video the battery will last for 22 hours, 43 hours for calls, and 215 hours for music. Well, our Thanksgiving celebration lasted for 6 hours and the battery charge indications moved from 100% to 75%. From my calculation, that means with active video recording, the battery would last 24 hours. Meanwhile, with normal use, the battery lasted 82 hours 41 minutes. I am still intrigued by this and I will continue to put the phone to more active use in order to see if it maintain the same. But this is very good and the fact that you go three days without charging the phones is just perfect for those in upcountry as well as for traveling.
Technically the device comes with a massive 5000mAh battery, which explains among other things why the battery lasts that long. In terms of the charging, it charges to 100% in around an hour with 33W Pro fast charging enabled by Redmi Note’s new MMT technology.
Price
As you might realize as we go on, I have started with the aspects that fall under the Xiaomi unique strategy which has enabled them to be very successful. And one of them is the pricing of the phones. Xiaomi has made phones for every price segment within the market. The company designed different devices with specific feature trade-offs based on the needs of each market segment. You can also see it on the sub brads in each segment where you have Note series for high end and POCO for mid-range and Redmi for the low end. To demonstrate this look at the Redmi Note 11 Series phones which were launched in the Kenyan market recently.
Under the Redmi Note 11, there are three versions each a certain feature trade-off. The one I have is 4GB RAM + 128GB internal storage with a recommended price of Ksh. 22,499. And there are two other versions
-4GB+64GB: Ksh. 19,999
-6GB+128GB: Ksh. 23,999
Then you have Redmi Note 11S with the following versions
-6GB+64GB: Ksh. 22,999
6GB+128GB: Ksh. 27,999
-8GB+128GB: Ksh. 29,999
Last and not least on this is Redmi Note 11 Pro with the following versions
-6GB+64GB: Ksh. 29,999
-6GB+128GB: Ksh. 33,499
-8GB+128GB: Ksh. 34,999
As you see from the above this is the real product differentiation based on the pricing.
Performance
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G (nm) chipset. We have mentioned that the version I have is backed by 4GB RAM and internal storage of 128GB. But it does not stop there, it got a separate slot for microSD memory cards up to 1TB. What all these mean, is that the phone can handle any form of multi-tasking. On top of that, it has sufficient storage space for images and videos. With the current world of WhatsApp videos and images being sent every single second, having enough storage space is now a key requirement for many consumers. You do not want to be sitting all the time wondering which images to delete from your phone.
Camera
As people around the world become more visuals, the competition among the phone companies to be the best in the camera sector is at its peak at the moment. At the same phone, cameras have become the main selling point for most phones. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 has not been left behind. It has a powerful 50MP quad-camera system. At the rear, the quad-camera setup feature a 50 MP primary camera, 8 MP ultra wide camera with an f/2.4 aperture, a 2MP macro camera with an f/2.4 aperture, and another 2 MP known as depth camera according to Xiaomi.
The front or what I call a selfie camera is a 13 MP with an f2.4 aperture. Believe me, if you are among those who are selfie-obsessed kind of person, then you are well covered here
Design
There is not much to write about the designs of smartphones these days because they are all sort of look-alike or the same. Apart from those who try things like a curve or flipping kind of design all the phones have the same design, to be honest. You might get one of two things to talk about but for someone like me who is all about functionalities and less about beauty, it is the last thing I look at when I come across any smartphone. Anyway, the new Redmi Note 11 features a flat frame design with a minimalist style. At 6.4 inches Redmi note 11 is reasonably compact and fits on the hand nicely. the Camera setup at the back looks awesome It weighs 179g and is 8.09mm thick.
AMOLED DotDisplay
With a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of up to 360Hz, Redmi Note 11 series enhances your screen experience with smoother animations and lag-free transitions, while also registering more precise finger touches. With a screen size of 6.67-inch and 6.43-inch, the series is equipped with an FHD+ AMOLED DotDisplay featuring DCI-P3 wide color gamut, providing more vibrant colors and details, while also reaching as much as 1200 nits to ensure the screen’s clarity even in bright daylight.
The beautiful display is packed into a trendy flat-edge body design. Plus, with dual super linear speakers located at the top and bottom of the phone, Redmi Note 11 series offers a complete entertainment experience with immersive stereo sound for gaming or watching videos.
Conclusions
At the given price range, this is an awesome phone. Buy it if you can
