Xiaomi has announced their new flagship for 2021: the Mi 11. The Chinese variant of the phone sports a modified design and upgraded specs that give a good look at the kind of high-end features top Android phones will ship with in the coming year, according to AnandTech. There’s bound to be some changes to the European and global versions of the Mi 11, but for now this is an early peek into what’s likely to be 2021’s first major Android flagship.
The changes to the design of the Mi 11 in comparison to the Mi 10 appear minor. From the front, the display is slightly larger at 6.81-inches in comparison to the Mi 10’s 6.67-inch screen. That extra space seems to have come from shrinking the bezels of the device (always welcome), while increasing the height and maintaining the curved sides and hole-punch camera on the front.
What’s more exciting is the 3200×1440 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate on the new OLED display, two features that have fast become must-haves on modern flagships, though of course they’re sorely missed on the latest iPhones. In another notable difference, the Mi 11 will also feature an under-display fingerprint sensor.
The back of the Mi 11 holds the more visible changes. The iPhone X-esque vertical camera “pill” of the Mi 10 is gone, and in it’s place is a thin glass “layer cake.” The Mi 11 features three rear cameras: a 108 megapixel main sensor, a five megapixel telephoto, and a 13 megapixel ultra-wide. The Mi 11 also has faster 50W wireless charging (previously on the Mi 10 Pro) to pair with its 4600mAh battery.
Moving from the battery to the rest of the internals, the Mi 11 is powered by the Snapdragon 888 and offers either 8GB or 12GB of RAM. Storage starts at 128GB or 256GB, which is unfortunately still generous in the smartphone world. Like most new smartphones, the Mi 11 also has Wi-Fi 6 and support for 5G. Notably missing from the Mi 11 is a charging brick. The CEO of Xiaomi, Lei Jun, confirmed the Mi 11 will follow in Apple and (reportedly) Samsung’s footsteps in removing the charging brick from the box for environmental and cost-saving reasons.
The Chinese version of the Xiaomi Mi 11 is available for pre-order today, and will start shipping January 1st. The price for the entry level 8GB RAM/128GB of storage model is listed at ¥3999.00 (around $611). Details on the pricing and features of the other versions of the Mi 11 will come at a later date.