With Huawei out of the Android market for a while now, Xiaomi has quickly stepped up and filled the market with smartphones and tablets that are increasingly interesting. The latest smartphone in the Xiaomi 11 range, the Xiaomi 11T, is a mid-range phone with promising specs, set to debut at a competitive price compared to the likes of Samsung A52 and OnePlus Nord 2 5G. In this review, we’ll put the Xiaomi 11T through its paces and see if it’s as good in reality as it is on paper:

Xiaomi 11T: Who is it good for?

This smartphone is a very good choice if you:

• Want a great phone, but can’t afford the price of a flagship device
• Frequently listen to music on your device’s speakers
• Want your smartphone to have a long battery life
• Need super high-speed charging
• Appreciate a smartphone with high performance in games
• Don’t mind using a heavy, but also large smartphone

Pros and cons

There are many things we love about the Xiaomi 11T:

• The AMOLED screen is bright, with good contrast, HDR10+ support, and the option to run at a refresh rate of up to 120Hz
• The integrated stereo speakers are excellent, rivaling some Bluetooth speakers both in volume and audio quality
• The battery life is enough for two days of normal use, and the device charges in roughly 40 minutes
• The main camera is good, with excellent noise suppression in low light
• Dust and water resistance (IP53 certification) will prolong the life of the device
• The performance is near flagship levels

There are also some downsides to consider:

• At 203g (7.16 oz), the device is very heavy
• The back of the smartphone is a dust and fingerprint magnet
• There is quite a lot of bloatware, and the included apps are also relatively intrusive
• The wide-angle and the selfie cameras are mediocre, and the lack of optical zoom or stabilization on the primary camera is a disappointment
• The position of the fingerprint sensor, combined with the size of the device, makes it hard to use by left-handed people

Verdict

The Xiaomi 11T is an excellent all-rounder that we enjoyed testing. The screen is brilliant, the sound is one of the best we’ve heard on a smartphone, and the 5000 mAh battery gets you two days of moderate use. The performance of its MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G chipset is just shy of the top of the range and more than sufficient for a truly fluid Android experience, both in normal use and in heavy gaming. Xiaomi 11T doesn’t get too hot, whether you play games for hours or record your favorite event. We recommend it to anyone who wants an excellent smartphone at a reasonable price, and doesn’t mind its size and weight.

Unboxing the Xiaomi 11T

The Xiaomi 11T comes in a plain, white, box, just like most of the Xiaomi range. The dents in the box are due to our local shipping company’s traditional parcel-throwing competition (valid throughout the year). The only specs visible at first glance are the number of Megapixels of the camera and the 5G connectivity.

The box Xiaomi 11T comes in

The package contains the smartphone, the charger, a USB-C cable, a transparent silicon case, the SIM ejection tool, and the manuals. Since the phone has no audio jack, there is no headset included.

The package contains the smartphone, the charger, the cable and the manuals

The relatively large charger is rated at 67W, a step down from the Xiaomi 11T Pro, which has a charger rated for 120W! However, as we’ll see later, the charging times are excellent nonetheless.

Design and build quality

The Xiaomi 11T is a large phone, with 6.46 inches (164.1 mm) in length, 3.03 inches (76.9 mm) in width, and a thickness of 0.35 inches (8.8 mm). Compared to the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, which has similar hardware, the Xiaomi 11T is not only larger, but also heavier, weighing in at a hefty 7.16 oz (203g). The weight can be justified, though, by the presence of a 5000 mAh battery, compared to the 4500 mAh of the OnePlus Nord 2 5G.

Looking at the front of the smartphone, we can see the selfie camera placed centrally. The tiny speaker grille is barely visible between the screen and the frame, just above the camera. The screen is covered with Gorilla Glass Victus, and for extra protection, the phone has a pre-applied screen protector.

The front of the Xiaomi 11T

The back of the smartphone is glass-coated, with a brushed metal look. While the phone is guaranteed to retain smudges and fingerprints, it is also easy to clean. The camera cluster protrudes about 1 mm (0.04 inches) from the back, with the three-LED flash and one of the microphones right next to them. Finally, we have the Xiaomi logo and a reminder that the smartphone has 5G capabilities.

The back of the Xiaomi 11T

Moving on to the sides, the left edge of the phone is completely devoid of any features, while the right side houses the volume rocker and the power button. The fingerprint sensor is integrated in the power button, a very accessible placement… unless you’re left-handed.

All the buttons are situated on the right side

On the top side, you can find the infrared emitter, one of the microphones, and a speaker.

The top of the phone, with a speaker, a mic and an IR blaster

The bottom houses the other speaker, the SIM tray, the charging port, and another microphone. Because the microphone is so close to the SIM tray, you can easily insert the SIM tray ejection tool in the mic hole by mistake, but the mic is protected and cannot be damaged in this way.

The bottom part of the Xiaomi 11T is pretty crowded

The Xiaomi 11T is available in three colors: Meteorite gray (the device in this test), Moonlight White, and Celestial Blue. You can see them in the picture below:

The colors available at launch for the Xiaomi 11T

Thanks to its rounded edges and a thickness of just 0.35 inches (8.8 mm), the Xiaomi feels smaller than it is, but the design can only do so much to hide its size. The materials are good-looking and pleasant to touch, and while the glass back is slippery (especially when you place the phone on cloth surfaces), the painted aluminum frame compensates with a good grip.

The Xiaomi 11T is a good-looking smartphone, albeit very similar in design with other devices from the Xiaomi line-up.

Hardware specifications

The Xiaomi 11T is equipped with an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI System on a Chip with support for 5G mobile networks and a Mali-G77 MC9 graphics chip. The smartphone has 8GB of RAM, and 128 GB or 256 GB of storage space. We tested the 128GB variant.

The Xiaomi 11T specs

The operating system occupies around 14 GB, with other files occupying another 8 GB. There is no card slot, so if you’re an app and video hoarder (like I am), you might run into storage space issues down the line. There is dual SIM support, although this will vary depending on the region.

The dual SIM tray of the Xiaomi 11T

The AMOLED screen is identical to the one fitted on its more expensive brother, the Xiaomi 11T Pro. It has a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, and a 395 ppi density. More importantly, it is capable of reproducing 1 billion colors at up to 120 Hz refresh rate, with HDR10+ support and an advertised maximum brightness of 1000 nits.

The screen fitted on the Xiaomi 11T is excellent

Complementing the amazing screen, the smartphone has two stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support.

If you’re wondering about its photo/video capabilities, Xiaomi 11T has three cameras on the back:

• The main camera has a Samsung 108 MP sensor, with an f/1.8, 26mm wide lens. It has a pixel size of 0.7µm and it uses phase-detection autofocus (PDAF).
• The second camera uses a 8MP sensor and a f/2.2 ultrawide fixed focus lens.
• The phone also has a 5MP macro camera with a 50mm f/2.4 lens and autofocus.

The selfie camera on the front has 16 MP and sits behind a f/2.5 wide lens with fixed focus.

The smartphone can record 4K videos at 30 fps, 1080p videos at 30 and 60 fps, and 720p videos at 30 fps. The slow-motion videos are filmed in 720p format.

The camera cluster on the back of the Xiaomi 11T

The touchscreen records finger movements at a blazingly fast 480 Hz (it updates the position of the finger 480 times in a second, or once every roughly 2 milliseconds!). This is especially useful in high precision apps or high speed games.

The non-removable battery is rated at 5000 mAh and charges very quickly with the provided 67W charger: Xiaomi advertises a 2% to 100% charge in 36 minutes.

It only takes 36 minutes to fully charge the Xiaomi 11T with the included charger

Connectivity is brilliant: the Xiaomi 11T has Wi-Fi 6 support, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, and NFC. The smartphone also has an infrared port. Beside the fingerprint sensor situated in the power button, the phone also has an accelerometer, a gyro, a proximity sensor, and a compass.

For a complete list of technical specifications, visit this webpage: Xiaomi 11T - Xiaomi Global Official.

Now let’s get down and dirty and see how the smartphone performs, how good the cameras are, and evaluate the overall usability. All this, on the second page of our review.