The company’s main numbered range of Xiaomi smartphones is where it showcases its latest tech and features. However, the T line is often the place where the real action happens.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 was launched six months ago. The 11T Pro has many of the same features as that premium phone, but is more affordable.
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This is the entire point of the Mi T Family. However, while the Mi10T Pro was an interesting counterpoint to the Mi10 and Mi10 Pro, it’s impressive enough that the 11T Pro will tempt buyers away form the standard Mi 11.
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It features almost the exact same camera array, the identical chipset, a larger battery, and faster charging speed than the Mi 11. Although the screen is slightly smaller than the Mi 11, the viewing area is almost the same because the edges of the display are flat (not curving like the Mi 11), and the charging speed is faster.
The fastest charging feature we have mentioned is the 120W fast charging using the in-box charger. This is twice the speed of the 55W charge on the Mi 11 and more than doubles the Samsung Galaxy S21’s 25W, or the iPhone 12_’s 15W. It takes less than 15 minutes to charge the phone at this speed.
(Image credit: Future)
These features were also present in the Mi 11 but are more impressive due to their lower price. For example, the Snapdragon 888 chipset is most common in premium phones. However, some handsets also have it. It provides plenty of processing power for gaming and other tasks.
It does in theory, but there is a problem with the overheating of the 888. This issue can occur if the chipset is pushed too hard, which can cause it to heat up and reduce its performance until it cools off.
The Xiaomi 11T Pro’s minor drawbacks are not limited to this. Another issue is the fingerprint-stretching material on its rear. Our review unit was as impressionist-painted as a smartphone within a matter of minutes after we started using it.
People with smaller hands may have trouble reaching the side buttons of the phone as it is quite chunky.
During our testing, the Xiaomi 11T Pro was overall very impressed. It is easily one of the most beautiful Xiaomi phones. However, it will not be the flagship Mi 11T Pro, since the Pro version is much cheaper and has fewer downgrades.
Price and availability of Xiaomi 11T Pro
(Image credit: Future)
Pre-orders for the Xiaomi 11T Pro are open now through the week. The release date of the Xiaomi 11T Pro is October 1. This is slightly earlier than the nonpro’s October 7 release date.
The price of the phone is approximately $830, AU$1,130. This includes 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. For double storage, it goes up to PS699 (about 970, AU$1,320). Although we have prices for the UK only, it is likely that the phone will be available in Australia.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 costs PS749 / AU$1,099 (roughly 1,040) for the first storage size and PS799 / AU$1,139 for the latter. This makes it a more affordable device in the regions where we have prices.
The Xiaomi 11T is the real competitor. Its main disadvantages over the standard phone include slower charging and a weaker chipset. The lower price of the Xiaomi 11T, which retails for just PS499 (around $690, AU$940), more than compensates for its reduced specs.
Design
Although the Xiaomi 11T Pro may not be the most visually striking smartphone on the market, it is the T line of the company.
(Image credit: Future)
It’s quite large, and may not be comfortable to use. We found it a bit too large for our needs.
The fingerprint scanner is located on the right edge, just in reach of us. However, it might prove difficult for others to use. It is incredibly responsive and allowed us to unlock our phone with just a tap of the thumb.
We found the sensor to be a bit sensitive at times. For example, when holding the phone in one’s hand while running or walking, even a small brush of our thumb would activate the scanner. This meant that the phone could often be unlocked when we weren’t ready. Although we can’t mark phones down for having too many great features, it’s worth noting.
The volume rocker is located just above the fingerprint scanner. Although the handset is equipped with a USB-C port, it does not have a 3.5mm headphone socket. This means that wired audio enthusiasts will need to purchase an adaptor.
The camera bump on the back of the Mi 10T Pro is a nice addition. It was noticeable like a mountain range on 2020 phones, but it is much smaller on the 11T Pro. It is a fingerprint magnet, so holding the phone for too long will cause the plastic to become smudged and marks.
Display
(Image credit: Future)
The screen of the Xiaomi 11T Pro’s screen may be one of the biggest differences to the Mi 11. It’s not bad but it was one of the key selling points of the Mi 11. While it appears that Xiaomi is now focusing on the camera for the 11T Pro, it is clear that it isn’t the best. However, the screen is perfectly functional.
It is a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel. This is slightly smaller than the 6.81 inch display on the Mi 11. However, unlike that phone, the 11T Pro’s screen does not curve at the edges. The punch-hole for front-facing cameras is located at the top of the screen.
This resolution is standard for all phones, but the Mi 11 phones have 3200×1440 pixels. While 1080p will do most tasks, streaming and gaming services generally use that resolution. We never felt the need to have more pixels.
It also features a fast 120Hz refresh speed, which matches the Mi 11, but falls short of the Mi 10T series’ 144Hz. However, it’s not difficult to overlook this downgrade when you consider how few apps can use 144Hz screens. This is the Mi 11T Pro’s display theme – you can live with downgrades.
Cameras
(Image credit: Future)
The 11T Pro’s array of cameras is very similar to the Xiaomi Mi 11’s. It has the same main camera, 108MP, and 5MP telemacro snapper, but the ultra-wide and selfie cameras have lower resolutions, at 8MP and 16MP, respectively.
The f/1.75.108MP main camera performs similarly to that of the Mi 11. It takes excellent-looking photos in well-lit conditions with great contrast, bold colors, and lots of detail. This camera uses pixel binning by default. It is a process where the pixels or photosites on the sensor are combined to make fewer but larger pixels. This creates 27MP pictures.
You can also switch to a high resolution mode, which uses all 108MP of the sensor’s memory. However, this mode captures less color information per pixel and gives you more freedom for editing.
The 11T Pro is more noticeable in low-light situations. There’s some noise when taking pictures. However, the pixel binning helps to reduce that.
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A selfie taken in standard Photo mode (Image credit: Future)
A selfie taken in Portrait mode (Image credit: Future)
The ultra-wide camera is next, with an aperture of f/2.2 and 8MP resolution. It can sometimes look a little grainy due to the low-resolution sensor, but it’s not noticeable unless it’s obvious. The colors were similar to the photos we took with our main camera. However, there were occasional overexposure issues.
The standard Mi 11 has the f/2.4 5MP Telemacro Camera, which is also a great camera for macro and close-up shots. No other phone manufacturer has such a macro snapper like Xiaomi’s.
It is easy to use and quick to focus. You can also capture small details and textures that you might not otherwise be able to see. It was great fun to capture close-up shots of food and plants, even though this was six months ago with the Mi 11.
We were pleased with the selfies we took on the Xiaomi 11T Pro. The fact that the snapper was lower-res than some rivals doesn’t matter since 16MP is enough.
(Image credit: Future)
Portraits have eye-catching contrast. It seems that highlights and shadows are adjusted on these photos to make the subject standout more. These photos show that background blur (or ‘bokeh) did a great job of separating subjects and backgrounds. However, it can sometimes blur the edges of the bodies.
Selfie portraits are great, but images taken with the main camera’s Portrait Mode look amazing. The tweaks to images are subtle and hard for people to notice (unless they compare Portrait and Photo mode snaps side by side), but they make the subject stand apart from the background a little more.
According to Xiaomi’s marketing, videography features the 11T Pro’s camera capabilities. You have the option to record video at up to 8K resolution, 60fps, or both, but not both simultaneously. There are also a variety of additional modes such as letterboxing and macro video.
Xiaomi has distinguished itself from its competitors by offering a variety of extra camera tools for video and still photography.
We couldn’t find any new features on the 11T Pro unlike most other Xiaomi phones. However, software updates often bring new tools to the devices.Performance and specifications
The Xiaomi 11T Pro uses the Snapdragon 888 chipet. While it isn’t the most powerful Android processor, there was a Plus version available shortly before. However, the Snapdragon 888 chipet should make the phone very responsive and great for gaming.
We say that this is only in theory. However, when the handset was put through the Geekbench 5 benchmark testing, it returned an oddly wide range of multicore scores. They ranged from a low 2787 to a high 3058. We generally see results in the range of 100 to 100. Not closer to 300 as here.
The 888-toting Mi 11 (and Mi 11U) both consistently hit more than 3500. The 11T Pro’s results were lower than any other Snapdragon 8888 phone that we have tested. Many older phones, such as the OnePlus 8 Pro and the Snapdragon 865-toting Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, beat it.
(Image credit: Future)
The aforementioned heating issues could be a major problem. The Snapdragon 888’s overheating issue is the most common complaint. It can heat up much faster than rival chips or older versions when it’s doing a heavy task. This was evident when using the Xiaomi 11T Pro to play games.
The scores dropped consistently when we ran the Geekbench tests one after another. However, even when the phone was cool, they still returned low scores. It could be that the heat of the phone was reducing its performance. This issue was also experienced with the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra. We feel like the company should improve its cooling systems.
Gaming felt quite snappy on Xiaomi 11T Pro. Even a Geekbench score 3000 bodes well for gaming. We also tested various titles and found that the phone could handle high graphics settings without any issues. While it is possible for overheating to occur in long gaming sessions, this did not affect performance.
(Image credit: Future)
Software
The 11T Pro, like all Xiaomi phones runs Android with MIUI, which is the company’s fork. The device ships with Android 11 as a default, but it will likely receive updates over the years.
MIUI is divisive and it’s not hard to see why. There are many pre-installed apps such as AliExpress, eBay, LinkedIn, and LinkedIn. It can also be quite buggy (we had an issue where it changed our wallpaper and always-on display from our selection back the defaults); its security feature scans new apps and will always show a large overlay when a new app has been installed.
These issues can be overlooked – you will have to see them all – but MIUI does have some positives that make up for the negatives.
You can toggle the iOS-style control center on the user interface. Instead of scrolling down to view the options icons and your notifications list like other Android phones, you can pull up from the top-left or top-right for options such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and mobile data. It’s difficult to return to the one-list on other Android phones once you get used to it.
(Image credit: Future)
The pre-packaged wallpapers in MIUI look amazing, especially the live wallpapers. There are many options to customize the display. MIUI offers a lot of customization options that can make your home screen feel more personal than other Android apps.
It seems like MIUI does certain things better than other Android overlays and other things worse. We tested the Xiaomi 11T Pro and it made this clear. While we were able to ignore the annoying aspects, we cannot be sure that everyone will.
Battery life
The Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro’s battery-life was one of its most impressive features. However, the 11T Pro clearly has followed the Mi 11 and its year-older sibling, the Mi 11. Because the battery life isn’t great.
This is surprising considering the phone’s 5,000mAh battery, which is quite large for a phone. The combination of the large display, high refresh rate and power-hungry chipset all take their toll on the battery. You can still turn some of these off if you wish.
(Image credit: Future)
We discovered that if we limit our usage, the phone can last one day without charging. By limiting our use, we mean asking questions like ‘does this game really interest me?’ and maybe I don’t need to take a picture of dinner things that some people will automatically say ‘no’ too.
For less intensive users, you should have a day between charges. However, if your phone is used a lot, the battery life might be limited.
The Xiaomi 11T Pro supports fast wired charging at 120W (if the charger is in-box). This is the fastest smartphone charging we have seen, excluding a few devices that were only available in certain regions.
According to Xiaomi, it takes just 17 minutes to charge the phone from empty to full with the included charger. We have confirmed this based on our own testing. This is a remarkable speed – the phone can be charged up to full in just 17 minutes.
You won’t find wireless or reverse wireless charging on the phone. This is likely due to the lower price.
