Redmi Note 11 Pro+ Review: LCD Never Becomes a Slave!

The Redmi Note 11T Pro series was launched on May 24, with a very simple core selling point: top-notch LCD, Dimensity 8100, starting at 1699 yuan. After replacing the 2K screen with a 1080P LCD, it becomes the new gatekeeper under 2000 yuan.

Appearance & Accessories & Feel

The familiar 120W original fast charger, MDY-12-ED.

The accessories of the Redmi Note 11T Pro are more thoughtfully designed than those of the K50, with its silicone case featuring a built-in USB dust plug. This is much rarer than a headphone jack (considering outdoor usage?). Additionally, the factory film has a normal round hole punch instead of the water drop style like the K50, Surprise!

Redmi Note 11 Pro+, Redmi Note 11T Pro+ (Redmi’s product names are really long), Redmi K50, K50 Gaming Edition ↑

Redmi Note 11 Pro+, Redmi Note 11T Pro+, Redmi K50 ↑

(LCD cannot be flexible, cannot use COP packaging, so the chin width cannot be compared to OLED anymore)

The Redmi Note 11T Pro+ has a straight-edge plastic middle frame, slightly curved plastic, but has a metal + CNC camera matrix. It should be undisputed that its appearance is better than the Redmi K50.

The middle frame does not have the high-gloss decorative strips like the previous generation and K50, it is simple and clean, with no visible seam lines, showing significant improvement. The plastic back cover is relatively thin, which is more noticeable on the right side of the camera, leading to noticeable resonance during loudspeaker playback. The SIM card slot and side fingerprint button indicate that the craftsmanship is average, but at this price point, IP53, a very advanced headphone jack, dual speakers, and NFC are all included, so we can’t ask for much more.

The screen is slightly elongated, with a resolution of 2460×1080, aspect ratio 20.5:9. Combined with the thickness of the chin, it makes the body appear longer. The width of the body is better controlled than other products in the Redmi family, slightly offsetting the discomfort of the straight-edge frame.

0809 X-axis motor vibration performance is slightly below expectations, feeling a bit loose.
As the saying goes, unless it’s Sony, the experience of side-mounted fingerprint sensors is actually better than those poorly positioned optical sensors.
1012+1216 dual speakers, although there is a significant difference in volume between the upper and lower speakers, the sound quality of the speakers themselves is noticeably better than the standard at this price point; many flagships may not even use such speakers (of course, the main reason is that they simply cannot fit).

MIUI 13 system is not much to say, thanks to the Dimensity 8100 + 144Hz screen, daily usage is relatively smooth. The system part of the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ is particularly commendable as it was finally tuned before release; there was no OTA a week before launch, only one version was OTA after the sale began, and the update log was “improved system stability and smoothness,” which is a long-awaited situation.

Screen: LCD Never Becomes a Slave!

The original color mode of the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ has an sRGB color accuracy ↑

The Redmi Note 11T Pro+ features a 6.6-inch 144Hz Huaxing Optoelectronics LCD, factory calibrated, ΔE≈0.44, with 7-speed variable refresh rates of 30/48/50/60/90/120/144Hz (system options are 60/90/144Hz) and a Gorilla Glass cover, with a default touch sampling rate of 144Hz, and some apps supporting 270Hz.

It is rumored that the Pro+ uses Huaxing screens, while the Pro early on should also be Huaxing, but later may have Tianma screens. However, there will be no major differences between different suppliers.

This is the only competitive LCD screen in China after the K30S, and it is the first LCD to receive DisplayMate A+ certification. The maximum brightness approaches 600 nits, which, while not as good as OLED at the same price point, is still at the upper level for LCDs. The color accuracy in both vivid and original modes is top-notch, even the vibrant mode is still acceptable, giving a voice to LCDs that have long been discriminated against by OLEDs.

The weaknesses of this LCD are contrast and brightness decay at large angles. Under a brightness test of 100 nits, the contrast is 1078:1, and at maximum brightness, it is 1123:1, which does not even reach the 1500:1 level. The reflection of the Gorilla Glass is also quite noticeable, and the brightness drop at large angles is much faster than OLED. But regardless of how weak the viewing angle, brightness, and contrast of LCDs are, it is the only glory of LCDs this year:

Standard RGB arrangement, precise!!! Full DC dimming, comfortable!!! LCD Never Becomes a Slave!!!

Performance

The Dimensity 8100, nothing much to say, it’s the dark horse of the year with the highest energy efficiency among Android SoCs. It has significantly raised the cost-performance ratio of many mid-range phones by itself; it is truly a turnaround for the company. It offers extremely balanced and sweet performance output, with both CPU and GPU capable of sustained high performance without causing low-temperature burns.

The GPU performance of the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ is good, while the CPU is normal; the writing performance of the Hynix flash memory is slightly weak, but the read and write performance still easily surpasses Qualcomm’s lineup.

Genshin Impact frame rate test ↑

The performance scheduling of the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ for daily use and gaming is conservative; Xiaomi’s thermal control + plastic body means that even running 3DMark does not reach a hot level, with a temperature of 22 degrees, and a stability of only 68.5% in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test at 200 nits. Also due to Xiaomi’s thermal control, as of the deadline on May 25, Genshin Impact is still running at a reduced resolution of 540P, and it is locked at 50 frames. Come on! (breaking voice).

With such a conservative setting, the Dimensity 8100 struggles to heat up. At room temperature of 23 degrees, the highest quality 60 frames in Genshin Impact (actually locked at 50 frames, 540P) averaged 48.9 frames, maintaining a frequency of large cores at 1.8G and small cores at 1.5G, with an average power consumption of 4.05W and a maximum temperature of only 40.4 degrees. There is still potential; wait for the cool tech enthusiasts to rescue it.

Photography

Compared to the K50’s IMX582 with OIS, the Redmi Note 11T Pro+, although with higher pixels, lacks OIS, and the GW1 itself is relatively weak; the main camera hardware is actually a 50-50 split:

Front camera 1600W, OV16A1, 1μm, 1/3.06″, F2.45 (same as Redmi Note 10 Pro and K40 Gaming Edition);
Main camera is the old friend Samsung GW1, 6400W, 1/1.72″, 0.8μm, F1.89;
Ultra-wide angle 800W, S5K4H7, 1.12μm, 1/4″, F2.2 (same as K50 series);
200W macro, OV02B10, 1/5″ (same as iQOO Neo5).

This time the competitors are the K50 Gaming Edition and the Redmi K50 ↑

Ultra-wide angle 1, global and central zoom comparison

Ultra-wide angle 2, global and central zoom comparison

Ultra-wide angle 3, global and central zoom comparison

Ultra-wide angle 4, global and central zoom comparison

“2x zoom” global and central zoom. Both are 6400W pixels, but the Redmi Note 11T Pro+’s GW1 is not a match for the K50 Gaming Edition’s IMX686, and there is hardly a substantial detail difference compared to the IMX582 of the K50, which has significant sharpening.

The K50 has 1200W imaging, while the other two have 1600W imaging ↑

Main camera comparison 1, panorama and central zoom ↑

Main camera comparison 2

Main camera comparison 3, panorama and central zoom ↑

Main camera comparison 4, panorama and central zoom ↑

Main camera comparison 6, panorama and central zoom ↑

Main camera comparison 7, panorama and central zoom ↑

The ultra-wide angle of the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ has a more aggressive algorithm than the K50, but it actually hinders performance in low light, clearly distinguishing it from the K50 Gaming Edition with Qualcomm’s platform + real photography algorithm (after all, the price difference is there).

The multi-frame synthesis of the main camera of the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ is also noticeably more aggressive than that of the K50, but this time it has practical effects, and combined with its pixel advantage, in many scenarios, the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ will be slightly better. The Redmi Note 11T Pro+ suffers mainly from the lack of OIS, resulting in a significantly lower yield rate for night scenes and “2x zoom” shots compared to the K50. In terms of scanning codes, the K50 is still superior.

Battery Life & Charging & Heat

With a 4400mAh battery and at 200 nits brightness, after 30 minutes of playing “Peace Elite” (HDR high definition + extreme frame rate + anti-aliasing), 30 minutes of watching 1080P videos on Bilibili, 30 minutes of short videos on Weibo, and 30 minutes of surfing on Wi-Fi and 5G, a total of 2.5 hours of endurance testing, 77% battery remains. The performance is beyond expectations, making one look forward to the endurance of the 5080mAh battery of the 11T Pro. The Dimensity 8100 is impressive, and the 7-speed variable LCD is impressive!

Due to the use of the Surge P1, it has a single-cell 120W fast charging, but the heat dissipation is obviously inadequate (one of the drawbacks of the plastic back cover?). When charging at full speed, it generates a lot of heat, requiring a temperature of 18 degrees in the air conditioning room to achieve a full charge in 19 minutes. At this time, the peak power is 97.5W, maintained for only a few seconds. The first 4 minutes is mainly 80W, the longest is 70W and 65W, then drops to 57W and 40W.

If the room temperature is 23 degrees ↑, it will overheat and drop during the middle segment around 7 minutes, affecting the final duration, ultimately taking 23 minutes to fully charge.

Conclusion

The appearance of the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ is prettier than the K50, and the imaging quality of the main camera is even slightly better (but lacks OIS, resulting in a lower yield rate), although the craftsmanship details are average, the viewing angle of the screen is weak, the plastic back cover, and the average heat dissipation even affect the full-speed output of the 120W fast charging. But Redmi always offers just the right price, making it hard for us to ask for more. After all, even if we tell users that they can fix these small issues by paying more, the vast majority will probably choose to “forgive it” immediately.

Its price makes me appreciate the value of a plastic back cover that is not afraid of breaking and is cheaper to repair. In bright sunlight, the brightness of the LCD may strain the eyes a bit, but using it for a long time under the sun will not have the worry of burn-in. Coupled with the original case with a USB dust plug, in some ways, this is a phone designed with outdoor workers in mind.

Flagship displays a company’s technical strength, while entry-level models display a company’s conscience, and I have always believed this.

The Redmi Note 11T Pro+ has two very special aspects:

The 120W version is only 100 more than the regular version.The higher cost Surge P1, the platinum plating of the USB port related to fast charging, the high C-rate battery, and the 120W fast charger, even if calculated by materials, is quite conscientious (whether it is practical is another story);
Even if it reincarnated several times, I never expected that there would be no 12GB memory version? ？？？？K50 has a 2K screen protection, and a 12GB memory Redmi Note 11T Pro+ wouldn’t threaten the K50, it’s really puzzling.

The 11T Pro has 5080mAh + 67W, while the 11T Pro+ has 4400mAh + 120W. I personally recommend the former, it’s 100 cheaper, 67W is completely sufficient, and the 5080mAh battery is more practical. Also, for phones over 1500 yuan, don’t buy the 6GB memory version, this configuration can effectively accelerate the replacement cycle, which is not environmentally friendly.

Compared to the K50, the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ is 500 cheaper (of course, the price difference is not that large now), lacking the 2K screen, replaced with LCD, weaker heat dissipation, a slightly smaller battery.

Compared to competitors, the most competitive is the OnePlus Ace Racing Edition at 1999 yuan for the 8+256 version. The advantage of the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ is in camera, infrared, IP53, and better quality LCD, but with a slightly smaller battery. Although everyone uses it for scanning codes, the GW1 (0.8μm) of the Redmi Note 11T Pro+ is still slightly better than the OV64B (0.7μm) from the green factory.

It remains to be seen how many K30S users the Redmi Note 11T Pro series can draw away, but LCD is really about to become a slave. The positioning of phones equipped with LCD glory is getting lower and fewer. Now, every LCD phone unboxing seems to reveal the light of Buddha.

In today’s world where low-frequency PWM OLED is conquering, humanity is about to forget the warmth of LCD. As long as there are high-quality LCDs released, our title and conclusion will always be the eternal shout: LCD Never Becomes a Slave!

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