Xiaomi 11T Pro review: Punchy performer

(Pocket-lint) - If you've been pursuing Xiaomi for immoderate clip past you'll spot that the 11T Pro, reviewed here, is absent of 1 tiny yet important thing: there's nary 'Mi' prefixed to the merchandise name. It's each alteration for the company's branding successful the second fractional of 2021 onwards, then, with this sub-flagship the archetypal planetary merchandise to transportation the caller naming convention.

Well, we accidental 'sub-flagship', but that's lone by positioning wrong the company's handset line-up. In presumption of specification the Xiaomi 11T Pro is beauteous overmuch a beast throughout, delivering a top-tier processor (Qualcomm Snapdragon 888), a fast-refresh surface (120Hz OLED), and a 108-megapixel main camera arsenic portion of its triple rear setup.

Indeed, we sometimes wonderment wherefore Xiaomi pours truthful overmuch into its upper-echelon flagship devices when, connected insubstantial astatine least, the T bid comes up trumps and undercuts its ain brethren - each for a chopped of the price. So is it the cleanable affordable phone, oregon are determination definite misgivings that clasp it backmost from being better?

Design & Display

• 6.7-inch OLED panel, 1080 x 2400 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 1000 nits highest brightness
• Build: Gorilla Glass Victus front, aluminium frame, solid rear
• Finishes: Meteorite Gray, Moonlight White, Celestial Blue
• Side-mounted fingerprint scanner (in powerfulness button)
• Dimensions: 164.1 x 76.9 x 8.8mm / Weight: 204g

It's worthy pointing retired that the 11T Pro arrives alongside the 'standard' 11T. The 2 handsets are mighty similar, though, with the precise aforesaid surface and carnal design. It's lone truly the processor that shifts betwixt the pair, which successful the Pro means the summation of 8K video camera and HDR10+ precocious dynamic scope features.

• Xiaomi 11T vs 11T Pro: What's the difference?

Whichever of the 2 handsets you spell for the surface is an accomplished portion of OLED, delivering a ample 6.7-inch diagonal scale, ample solution and, arsenic is the flavour for 2021, a accelerated refresh complaint of up to 120Hz.

It's a level screen, truthful there's nary distortion of colour aberration to its edges (like you tin get with curved displays), there's tons of brightness to present punchy images, portion the assortment of colour options wrong the settings - you tin person the handset auto-adjust based connected ambient airy colour, portion choosing your preset penchant for vividness - makes for a sheet that you'll beryllium capable to get beauteous overmuch cleanable for your preferences.

The lone mishap we've had with the surface is, for a wholly chartless crushed - we've been precise benignant to this handset, honorable - that the beforehand sheet has already scratched aft a not peculiarly extended usage period. Which is an other astonishment fixed it's Gorilla Glass Victus, besides known arsenic the champion user telephone extortion you tin bargain close now. Hum.

As the surface is level and lone the rear has a subtle curve to marque for a much ergonomic hold, however, the 11T Pro feels alternatively chunky. This is simply a large handset, not lone arsenic a effect of its screen, but besides the large-scale artillery capableness within. It's not unwieldy, but it's hardly delicate either.

Thankfully the rear cameras enclosure doesn't protrude respective 100 miles (yes, we're exaggerating) - akin to what you'll find connected the Mi 11 Ultra. The 11T Pro keeps things looking overmuch neater, though the borderline of that camera protrusion isn't peculiarly robust and has scuffed wrong a week of use.

The rear plan is seemingly a solid panel, according to the specification, but looks and feels alternatively plasticky. It's precise fond of fingerprints, too, portion the subtle horizontal texture - which looks arsenic if it's trying to emulate a metallic decorativeness - lone truly adds to this 'fake' look. At slightest determination are nary gigantic logos brandished connected the rear, Xiaomi alternatively keeping things neat and tidy.

As for logging in, there's a fingerprint scanner positioned wrong the powerfulness fastener to the side. It's responsive, well-positioned, and not having an in-screen enactment hasn't affected our enjoyment of usage astatine all.

Performance & Battery

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 platform
  • 128GB storage, 8GB RAM minimum
• 5,000mAh artillery capacity, 120W fast-charging
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, 5G

Having utilized the 11T Pro for a afloat week and there's nary doubting this is 1 almighty phone. No surprise, really, fixed the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor astatine its bosom (the 'non-Pro' exemplary opts for MediaTek Dimensity 1200 instead, successful lawsuit you're interested). It besides indispensable beryllium said that it sounds alternatively great, those Harman Kardon tuned stereo speakers delivering well-projected and wide audio that person made our South Park: Phone Destroyer conflict sessions that overmuch much fun.

When it comes to navigation, connectivity, moving apps and games there's thing to clasp you back. Well, caveat: truthful agelong arsenic the app settings are individually tweaked to licence them to tally much freely than the default settings permit.

That's 1 of the irks of Xiaomi's MIUI software, present successful mentation 12.5, which is dormant acceptable connected limiting applications truthful that they don't person imperishable permissions to tally - which has successful assorted iterations of the bundle caused important delays with notifications, for example, and different quirks. Unusually, however, we've had nary specified circumstantial notification bothers successful this peculiar setup, truthful here's hoping the latest bundle mentation has that nether control.

But MIUI does present its stock of peculiarities. Wallpaper Carousel, for example, is simply a bizarre premix of pictures and quotes that's perpetually changing and we rapidly had to power that off. The swipe-down enactment from the apical of the show besides has a dual enactment - it's divided near and close for notifications and settings respectively - which astir Android users volition conscionable find irritating. None of which is excessively bothersome that you can't accommodate to it, excavation successful the settings, and get things setup arsenic you delight though.

A batch of that bundle intent is to support devices moving arsenic agelong arsenic possible; to beryllium kinder to the battery. The 11T Pro does reasonably good connected this front, but it's not arsenic long-lasting arsenic its predecessors - which fixed the 5,000mAh full artillery capableness is simply a spot of a surprise. That said, getting done a azygous time of moderate-to-heavy usage is nary occupation astatine each - we've been getting 15 hours of usage successful and person 20 per cent remaining connected emblematic workdays.

We fishy this is down to the powerfulness available: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 means gaming is simply a breeze, the 120Hz surface tin beryllium enactment to maximum usage arsenic and erstwhile needed, and that tin make a small other vigor arsenic a effect - but we've not recovered the 11T Pro to overheat by immoderate means.

Besides, the charging is crazy-fast acknowledgment to 120W support, meaning you tin top-up the artillery successful nether 20 minutes. Yes, from dormant to full. That's achievable successful portion due to the fact that the artillery is really divided into 2 cells (at 2,500mAh each), which assists the HyperCharge strategy successful achieving its mind-boggling speeds. If you're adjacent a partition socket, therefore, you'll ne'er person artillery anxiety.

Cameras

• Triple rear cameras:
  
  • Main (26mm): 108-megapixel, f/1.8 aperture, 0.7µm pixel size, signifier detection autofocus (PDAF)
  • Wide-angle (13mm): 8MP, f/2.2, 1.12µm
  • Telemacro (50mm): 5MP, f/2.4, 1.12µm
• Selfie camera: 16MP, f/2.5 1.0µm

One happening we've noticed erstwhile reviewing sub-flagship handsets successful series - it's been a spot of a happening successful 2021, arsenic this marketplace is other competitory - is that galore manufacturers gloss implicit the cameras, providing excessive lenses that present mean results.

Not truthful with this Xiaomi. The 11T Pro's rear setup mightiness deficiency a due zoom lens, but we tin unrecorded with that fixed the prime from the main camera. Even the telemacro - a 2x zoom for close-up shooting - is (at 5MP) a measurement supra galore of the lower-resolution afterthoughts that you'll find successful overmuch of the competition.

The cardinal portion of the puzzle, however, is the prime of the main camera. This is 108-megapixels all-in, but the strategy produces a azygous pixel successful an representation from 9 of the 'pixels' connected the camera sensor - a spot of clever processing tin get greater light, colour and sharpness accusation by comparing each of these sites for the last image.

It sounds similar immoderate benignant of magic, but it works truly well: the 11T Pro delivers crisp results that'll enactment galore bog-standard mid-range devices to shame, portion its results successful dim done to low-light conditions are exceptional too. The camera app tin use processing to truly propulsion item and vulnerability retired of different darker sections successful an representation too.

It's a shame that there's nary optical stabilisation connected the main lens, however, due to the fact that holding it dependable - particularly erstwhile shooting Night Mode shots wherever aggregate exposures are taken - would beryllium made easier. Can't person it all, though, we suppose.

The wide-angle sensor successful the 11T Pro is the aforesaid arsenic you'll find successful the Mi 11 Lite 5G, delivering an 8-megapixel solution - truthful it can't present the aforesaid fidelity arsenic the main camera by immoderate means, and displays immoderate blur to the edges arsenic is communal from an ultra-wide lens. Still, there's applicable usage from a sensor specified arsenic this, truthful it's a affirmative to person it connected committee alternatively than not - it's a batch much utile than a extent sensor, for example.

We similar that the 11T Pro's camera setup isn't trying to oversell itself. It feels benignant of humble successful that respect - because, surely from the main lens, results are impressive. Some of the bells and whistles you tin find further up the emblematic flagship scope bash deficiency - optical stabilisation, a zoom lens, high-resolution wide-angle - but fixed the equilibrium of terms to show this is inactive a bully innings.

Writing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 29 September 2021.