Redmi Note 11S, Redmi Note 11 review: More of the same but slightly better?

The Redmi Note 10S was the first Xiaomi phone to ship with MIUI 12.5 out of the box in India. It is only befitting that its successor, the Redmi Note 11S, is—one of—the first to boot MIUI 13. The new update brings improved performance and algorithms to better manage system resources, enhanced privacy, and multitasking, plus a slight revamp in design with an upgraded font, new live wallpapers, and widgets.

Aside from rocking the latest in software—in a way—the Redmi Note 11S gets you a new chip, faster display, and a more powerful primary camera. The design is getting a rehash, too. The Redmi Note 11, launched alongside, is virtually the same phone with a watered-down chip and main camera. In the broader scheme of things, though, the Redmi Note 11S and Redmi Note 11 are more of the same—like their predecessors— but slightly better which is to say, they’re still good value for money on paper and otherwise.

Design, build quality and display

The Redmi Note started its journey with plastic, moved to metal, and then glass, a gradual step-up in build materials—and fit and finish—giving buyers a good taste of premium design at not-so-premium prices, while putting every other rival brand on notice. Over the last few generations, though, Xiaomi has slowly reverted back to using plastic in these phones but in a way that was hard to notice. Unless you really had these phones in your hand and were probing for it, there was no way of telling. The premium-ness remained intact.

The Redmi Note 11S goes in a completely different direction. It is unapologetically plastic and makes no effort to hide it. Visually—and even ergonomically—it can’t hold a candle to the Redmi Note 10S. Even the Redmi Note 11T, which is technically part of the same Redmi Note 11 series, looks, and feels superior.  

Xiaomi has tweaked the design. Compared to previous models, the Redmi Note 11S has a flat frame and significantly lesser curves, somewhat like the iPhone 12 and 13. The Note 11S has a two-stage camera assembly—and expectedly a bigger bump—because it houses a large sensor while the Note 11’s module sits relatively flush. The backplate is soft to the touch. The sides, also, are all matte.

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One thing that Xiaomi does well, is making these phones super slim and light despite there being a sizeable battery inside, plus, staple hardware bonuses like dual speakers, headphone jack, and a handy IR blaster. The Note 11S and Note 11, both, come in at 179g and 8.09mm. Xiaomi is also the only brand to offer an official IP-rating at this price. Both phones are IP53-rated which makes them resistant to dust and splashes of water.

Biometrics are handled by a side-mounted fingerprint reader. It is fast and accurate, mostly.

The 6.43-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display might appear to be same as last year, but there’s one big change. It is faster. The panel supports up to 90Hz refresh rate. It’s not adaptive or anything—at least on paper—like the Redmi Note 11T but that’s not to say it’s locked at 90Hz at all times. Apps like YouTube that do not support high refresh rate natively, are still rendered at 60Hz. The interface can, also, toggle from 60Hz-90Hz from time to time, perhaps to save battery life. But those are exceptions rather than the rule. The important thing is the phone(s) offer high refresh rate (90Hz in this case) support for most games including Alto’s Odyssey.

The display here can get nice and bright, up to 1000 nits, though there is no HDR support like the Redmi Note 10 Pro/Pro Max. Colours are nice and vibrant, too, and viewing angles spot-on. There is Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and a tiny hole-punch cutout that’s largely unobtrusive. Xiaomi for some reason limits “always-on” functionality to 10 seconds.

Performance, battery life and cameras

Core hardware is where things get really interesting. The Redmi Note 11S and Redmi Note 11, though they seem like they pack newer chips, are actually a downgrade in terms of overall performance.

The Redmi Note 11 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680. Contrary to how the naming scheme would have you believe, the SD680 is, in fact, an enhanced version of the SD662 (and not the SD678 seen inside the Note 10). The SD680 has a less powerful CPU (4 Cortex-A73 performance cores @2.4GHz, 4 Cortex-A53 efficiency cores @1.8GHz) and GPU (Adreno 610) compared to the SD678 (2 Cortex-A76 performance cores @2.2GHz, 6 Cortex-A55 efficiency cores @1.8GHz, Adreno 612). The SD678 has a faster X12 LTE modem, too. The only benefit of the SD680 worth mentioning—in this case—is that it is built on a more efficient 6nm process.

The Redmi Note 11S, on the other hand, has the Helio G96 which has the exact same CPU (2 Cortex-A76 cores @2.05GHz, 6 Cortex-A55 cores @2GHz) as the Helio G95 (seen inside the Note 10S) but a downgraded GPU (Mali-G57 MC2 versus Mali-G76 MC4). The only benefit of the Helio G96 that Xiaomi is making use of is the support for a 108MP camera sensor and even that is limited to 1080p@30fps. Oddly enough, the Note 10s could do 4K@30fps.

Also Read | Redmi Note 11T 5G review: Good looks, great battery life

Strictly on the basis of these specs, it’s obvious that benchmark scores would favour the Note 10S and Note 10, and that is indeed the case. The Note 11S and Note 11 are not, by any means, slow or less capable phones, but the choice of hardware is surely surprising, especially in the case of the Note 11S. Not only is it beaten by its own sibling, the Redmi Note 10 Pro (currently listed at Rs 17,999 for 6GB/128GB), there’s a whole deluge of more powerful phones like the Vivo T1 now available at around the same price point.

Battery life has never been a concern for Xiaomi phones and the Redmi Note 11S and Note 11—both with 5,000mAh battery—do not disappoint, either. Even the most demanding users will be able to get a day’s worth usage, even more, sometimes. There is 33W fast charging available, with a compliant charger in the box.

The Note 11S and Note 11, both, come with a quad camera setup with a different primary sensor. While the Note 11S has a 108MP Samsung HM2 sensor behind an f/1.9 aperture lens, the Note 11 has a 50MP unspecified sensor behind an f/1.8 lens. The rest of the package includes an 8MP ultrawide, 2MP depth, and another 2MP macro—same as the Note 10S/Note 10.

There is no denying that the Note 11S takes better photos (than the Note 11) but not by a very long margin. Basic colour science and tuning are pretty similar, which is to say, both phones tend to boost colours slightly. The Note 11S is able to squeeze out wee bit more detail when lighting is good, but all in all, these are decent camera phones with fairly satisfactory dynamic range and little to no metering issues. Low light photos could be better, but night mode is fairly on-point to give you brighter, little more well exposed photos that should suffice for social media.

The ultrawide-angle camera (in both phones) takes softer photos even when there is lots of light, and colours lack consistency with the main camera(s). Portraits come out nice and detailed with decent subject separation, in good as well as tricky light. The macro camera is a mere spec filler, and pales in comparison to the 5MP “supermacro” seen in the Redmi Note 10 Pro.

The 16MP front camera in the Note 11S captures good-enough selfies in good light but quality goes for a complete toss as intensity of light goes down. The Note 11 has a 13MP selfie camera, that performs on very similar lines.

Redmi Note 11S, Redmi Note 11 | Should you buy

The Note 11S starts at Rs 16,499 for a version with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. The phone also comes in 6GB/128GB and 8GB/128GB configurations for Rs 17,499 and Rs 18,499, respectively. The pricing is mostly in line with global markets, but we feel Xiaomi could have priced it slightly lower in India. This is because unlike the Note 10S, the Note 11S does not make a very compelling case for itself especially when the Redmi Note 10 Pro offers way more value at just Rs 500 more (6GB/12GB).

The Note 11, meanwhile, starts at Rs 13,499 for a version with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The phone also comes in 6GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB configurations for Rs 14,499 and Rs 15,999, respectively. The Note 11 is a relatively safer bet—and one that is more value for money—as a no-frills phone that does everything right, mostly, without any noticeable compromise.

The smartphone market isn’t what it used to be when the Redmi Note began its journey. Today, more and more brands have started to catch up. There’s Realme on one end, matching Xiaomi in specs. There is Vivo on the other end also giving you the very latest in software—Android 12. Motorola is getting more and more aggressive each day with phones like the Moto G71 giving you a fine mix of hardware and stock, ad-free software. Competition has never been stronger.

It’s probably the first time that Xiaomi has seemed little out of place in a segment that it created. There is nothing wrong with the Note 11S and Note 11, per se, but they lack the magic of their predecessors, the very phones that made Xiaomi a household name in India. Hopefully, the follow-up devices—Redmi Note 11 Pro series—will bring back some of that magic. Stay tuned.

Also Read | Redmi Note 10S review: Software, not hardware is what makes this phone ‘special’

Pros	Cons
Sleek and light	Boring design
Good display	Underpowered chips
Dependable performance	Android 11
Good primary camera	Note 11S could be priced better
Great battery life