The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is a typical midrange smartphone. One with many strengths, but also some weaknesses that betray necessary cutbacks. Because with a suggested retail price of 369 euros, the device is very affordable, especially because it is falling in price. In this Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G review you can read about the pluses and minuses.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
Price € 369,-
Colour Grey, White, Blue
OS Android 11
Screen 6.67 inch OLED (2400 x 1080, 120 Hz)
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 695
RAM 6 or 8 GB
Storage 128 GB (expandable)
Battery 5,000 mAh
Camera 108.8 and 2 megapixels, 16 (front)
Connectivity 5G, 4G, Bluetooth 5.1, WiFi 5, GPS, NFC
Format 16.4 x 7.6 x 0.81cm
Weight 202 grams
Other dualsim, infrared sensor
Website www.mi.com/eu 7.5 Score 75 
- Pros
- Design
- good screen
- Many features
- Long battery life and fast charging
- Negatives
- Old software
- Less good cameras
- Higher suggested retail price
Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 11 series is extensive and very similar in naming. Because I am testing the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G, but there is also a Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G for sale. It is slightly more expensive and has better specifications. If you want to spend less, Xiaomi also sells a Redmi Note 11 Pro, Redmi Note 11S and Redmi Note 11. In short: the choice is huge. Time to review the mid-priced Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G.
Design
The design of the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is well put together. The smartphone feels luxurious with its glass housing and attracts fewer fingerprints due to the matte finish. It is nice that the design carries an IP53 certification, which means that the phone can withstand a rain shower. Due to the large 6.67-inch screen, the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is a hefty smartphone that is difficult to operate with one hand. The weight of 202 grams is usual for this type of device. The camera lenses protrude a bit on the back, so that the smartphone does not lie flat on the table. A cover – included – solves this shortcoming.
The smartphone is quite complete in terms of functions. It has a 3.5mm audio port to connect earbuds, an infrared sensor to control your television and powerful stereo speakers. Also present are an NFC chip for contactless pins in shops and a USB-C port that charges the battery. A fast and accurate fingerprint scanner is placed in the power button on the right side.
Screen
The 6.67-inch screen also leaves a good impression. The size should suit you, but the quality of the display is convincing. The image looks sharp thanks to the Full-HD resolution and the OLED panel delivers vibrant colors and really shows black as black. Thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate, the image comes across smoothly. In this price segment, a 120Hz OLED screen is not yet common, so the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G takes a plus in this area compared to some competitors with a 90Hz screen or an LCD display.
The screen can also be nice and bright and only has a small hole in the top center for the selfie camera.
Specifications
The specifications of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G are very reminiscent of the competition. For example, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor used is well-known in this price segment. In terms of speed, it is fine, although the graphics processing power is not impressive. Sufficient for popular games, but no more than that. The storage memory measures 128 GB – common in this price range. You can increase the memory with a Micro SD card. Xiaomi will soon also sell the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G with 64 GB of memory, but given the limited price difference, we recommend the more future-proof 128 GB version.
As the name implies, the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is suitable for 5G internet. Nice, but for now 5G is not faster or better than 4G in any other way. That will only change at the end of 2023 (!) when the crucial 3.5 GHz frequency becomes available. Then 5G will be a lot faster. Good to know if you are wondering what the added value of 5G is. In any case, this smartphone is ready and that is nice.
Battery life and charging
Also nice about the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is its long battery life. The built-in and non-removable battery with a capacity of 5,000 mAh lasts almost a day and a half with my regular use. If you take it easy, you can use it for two days. Especially if you switch the refresh rate of the screen back from 120 Hz to 60 Hz – you can do that in the settings.
Charging is very fast. Xiaomi supplies a USB-C cable and a 67-watt adapter. It lifts an empty battery to almost fifty percent in fifteen minutes. Fully charging the battery takes 45 minutes. There are few midrange smartphones that charge so quickly. It is nice that Xiaomi supplies the phone with a charger. Competitors such as Samsung now only plug in a USB-C cable with their smartphone to save the environment. A good thought that does mean that you have to arrange a suitable adapter yourself.
Cameras
The cameras of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G are less impressive in this review – and other reviews. The 108-megapixel main camera and 8-megapixel wide-angle camera are identical to those of last year’s Redmi Note 10 Pro and perform just as well in practice. That is, the photos look great, especially during the day. The zoom function in the camera app enlarges the image software and is therefore not very good. Below you see from left to right the normal camera, the wide-angle camera and the 2x zoom function.
It is striking that the Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G has fewer cameras than its predecessor. For example, the depth sensor of the Redmi Note 10 Pro has been omitted this time, so that the smartphone relies purely on smart software to blur the background. And the excellent 5 megapixel macro camera of the Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G is completely absent. That’s too bad. If you take a photo of a flower up close, it is best to do it from a distance. If you get too close, the camera will take a blurry photo. It is also remarkable that camera functions such as filming in 4K resolution are missing.
The selfie camera – 16 megapixels – is of excellent quality without standing out. The lighting in the background can be a bit too bright, but for a midrange smartphone there is nothing to complain about.
Software and Update Policy
What I do want to complain about is the software. Unfortunately, I do that more often with Xiaomi smartphones. What bothers me on the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is first of all the choice for Android 11 instead of Android 12. Many competing smartphones come neatly with version 12 from 2021, where Xiaomi opts for the Android version from 2020. An update is coming, but at the end of my test period (end of April 2022) it is not there yet.
So you miss new Android functions and – that’s my second complaint – you get fewer updates than devices with the latest software. Because Xiaomi certainly promises two version updates, but one of them (to Android 12) is only logical. Only the Android 13 update remains as a real update. Some competitors can also count on Android 14. That Xiaomi guarantees regular security updates for three years is again common. In this price segment, however, you can also buy a Samsung Galaxy A33 with five years of security updates.
Finally, what bothers me about Xiaomi’s software is the MIUI shell. It looks visually very busy and delivers all kinds of commercial apps without being asked. Fortunately, you can remove them, but I prefer to decide whether I install them at all.
It is also annoying that when setting up the smartphone, Xiaomi presents all additional settings that are out for additional information from you. Think of forwarding user data and showing personalized advertisements. If you disable those personalized ads, you may still encounter – general – ads in the software. It’s a shame, especially because you can’t buy them off once.
Conclusion: Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G?
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G is a smartphone with a solid design, a very good screen and usual, complete specifications. The battery life and fast charging are also impressive. I am less positive about the possibilities of the cameras and the old software that comes across as intrusive. The update policy could also be better, especially compared to brands such as Samsung, Oppo and Nokia.
Bottom line, the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G offers a complete total package with a few points of interest. The suggested retail price of 369 euros is therefore just a few tens too high. Good news is therefore that the smartphone is rapidly becoming cheaper.
At the time of writing, you can find it at many online stores for tens of euros less than the recommended retail price. And for that price, I can definitely recommend the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. Interesting alternatives are the Samsung Galaxy A33 and other devices in our buying guide for smartphones between 300 and 400 euros.
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