Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G is supposed to be the cheapest and least impressive model in this year’s Mi 11 series. It doesn’t have a powerful camera or a top-notch screen. But I think it still has some highlights that are unique to the model. For these rare highlights, I think there are still many people who will pay for it. 

Before I start the review I want to make one thing clear. The Mi 11 Lite in this review is the 5G-enabled Chinese version, not the 4G-only global version. 

Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G Review: Design

Its appearance at first glance is almost identical to that of the Mi 11. It has the same lens module design, the same logo position. But the details are different. For example, the back panel has become flat, the power button has integrated fingerprint recognition, and the “108MP” on the lens is gone.

In terms of design alone, it is very ordinary. But its biggest highlight is its weight and thickness control. 159g weight and 6.81mm thickness is very rare for a 5G phone. And this is also the lightest and thinnest 5G phone we’ve tested.

The weight of this phone plus an egg is only as much as a Mi 11 Pro. And most importantly, although the frame is still plastic, the back panel is still made of AG frosted glass. It feels much better than a phone that is entirely made of plastic. At least it won’t feel so cheap. Although the Mi 11 Lite 5G design is very ordinary, I am willing to give it a high rating for this extreme weight and thickness control.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G Review: Display

The front of the Mi 11 Lite 5G features a 6.55-inch 90Hz 1080p screen with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support. The bottom bezel width is well controlled, and the screen is a bit like the iPhone 11 with four equal widths. And this straight screen is made of flexible AMOLED, so theoretically the look and feel should be good.

But Mi 11 Lite 5G’s comes in two types of displays in the market. Basically, the pixels are arranged in two different configurations. One variant features a screen with Diamond-like pixels, while the other has RGB Delta pixels. Unfortunately, the RGB Delta pixels screen when compared to the diamond-like pixel’s screen has worse font clarity, and the font edge has a color edge problem. The unit we have features a screen with RGB Delta pixels, so the screen quality is low compared to the other variant that comes at the same price. And if you look at the phone’s screen from the side, the problem of the color cast is obvious. But if you’re lucky and get a version with diamond-like pixels of the screen, I believe the screen can still score a passing grade. But the RGB Delta pixels version is obviously a failing grade.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G Review: Performance and Gaming

The second highlight of the Mi 11 Lite 5G is the new Snapdragon 780G processor. The performance of the new 5nm Snapdragon mid-range processor is as follows: AnTuTu Benchmark runs at 537788, 3Dmark at 3121, Geekbench 5 single-core at 805, and multi-core at 2937. Compared to MTK’s Dimensity 1200, it is still a bit worse.

The gaming test also confirms this view. PUBG seems to exert no significant pressure on the mid-range chip, running at almost full frame rate with HDR Graphics Extreme frame rate.

However, Genshin Impact had an average frame rate of 37.96fps, which was a rather mediocre experience.

Brightridge was even worse, with an average of less than 30fps.

The one thing that performed better was the temperature control. The maximum temperature reached was only 50 degrees Celsius, and the chip wasn’t down-clocked during gaming. The screen brightness wasn’t forced down either. Overall, the Mi 11 Lite 5G is only suitable for light gaming users.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G Review: Camera

The camera on the Mi 11 Lite 5G is a budget camera. The three cameras consist of a 64mp main camera, an 8mp ultra-wide lens, and a 5mp telephoto macro lens.

Main Camera

The color style of the main camera is on the high contrast side. The contrast is higher than the realme GT Neo. Some scenes will look sharper, but the dynamic range is not as good. The probability of automatic HDR triggering is not high, but even if HDR is manually turned on, the dynamic range improvement is not much. When taking photos, be careful not to choose a scene that’s extremely bright. 

The Two times zoom sharpening is too heavy, the line will appear jagged. The performance at night is similar to that of the day, with the high contrast ratio causing the night scene to look a little underexposed. But the highlights are well controlled. The highlights are further depressed in night mode, and the exposure can be slightly improved in extreme darkness. But when there is plenty of light, lowering the highlights will make your eyes uncomfortable. Unless the light is very weak, it is not recommended to use night mode to take pictures.

Ultra-Wide Camera

The performance of the ultra-wide-angle lens is almost the same as the main camera, the main difference is that the hardware limitations lead to more serious underexposure of night photos. Check out a few groups of sample photos to get an idea.

Macro

The macro lens is the same as the one on the Redmi K40. I believe you are already very familiar with the strength of this telephoto macro lens. It can take some good close-up photos that the main camera and ultra-wide lens can’t take.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G Review: Battery Life & Charging

The box is still without the charger and charging cable. The charger and charging cable are still separately included. 33w charging power is also the standard configuration for the Xiaomi family of mid-range phones.

In 10 minutes it charged to 24%, after half an hour it got to 57%, and for full charge it needed 64 minutes. Generally speaking, the battery capacity of thin and light phones is not very large. It is shocking that Xiaomi still managed to put a 4250mAh battery into it, knowing that this is a 159g phone.

In our test, the phone consumed 6% for half-hour of Tiktok and 5% for half-hour of 1080P video. Two mainstream games “PUBG” and “Genshin Impact” consumed 9% and 16%, respectively. The high-load game “Brightridge” consumed 10%. This battery life level is now comparable to many 4500mAh phones. This battery on such a light phone should be its third highlight in this review.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G Review: Verdict

To conclude, the Mi 11 Lite 5G is not a traditional Xiaomi phone. It doesn’t have strong hardware, and it isn’t priced very low either. In terms of hardware configuration, it doesn’t even give you as much value as the Redmi K40, which is cheaper.

But in the 5G era, it offers one of the few options for users who like to use light and thin phones. In fact, I would recommend you to go to an offline store and get your hands on this phone. Then you’ll understand its significance in Xiaomi’s lineup.