The Ultra battle begins: Xiaomi announces Mi 11 Ultra to take on the Galaxy S21 Ultra
If you were hoping for Xiaomi to release a true competitor to the Galaxy S21 Ultra and OnePlus 9 Pro, you’re in luck. The Mi 11 Ultra has been announced and has all of the specs and features that are sure to make this one of the best Android phones for the next year or so.
The handset sports a 6.81-inch AMOLED display with a 3200 x 1400 resolution, along with an adaptive refresh rate ranging from 30Hz and going all the way up to 120Hz. Xiaomi’s new display also includes a 480Hz touch sampling rate, making it quite an impressive option for those who love to play mobile games. This display is also rated for Dolby Vision and HDR+ while featuring Xiaomi’s Sunlight mode 3.0 and Reading mode 3.0.
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra | |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 6.81-inch |
| Resolution | 3200 x 1440 |
| Density | 515 ppi |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 |
| RAM | 12 GB |
| Storage | 256 GB |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh |
| OS | Android 11 |
| Rear camera | Triple cameras: 50MP, OIS, f/1.95, 1.4 μm (main) 48MP, f/2.2, 0.8 μm (ultra-wide) 48MP, OIS, 5x / 10x / 120x zoom, f/4.1(monochrome) |
| Rear Camera Display | 1.1-inch AMOLED, 126 x 294 |
| Front camera | 20MP, Fixed focus, f/2.2, 0.8 μm |
| Bluetooth | v5.2 |
| NFC | Yes |
| Dimensions | 164.3 x 74.6 x 8.38mm |
| Weight | 234g |
| Water Resistance | IP68 |
| Wireless Charging | Yes |
| Special features | 67W Wired Turbo Charging, 67W turbo wireless charging, 10W reverse wireless charging, in-display fingerprint sensor, Dual Stereo Speakers, |
As you would expect for a 2021 flagship, the Snapdragon 888 provides the brains of the operation, with an abundance of RAM at 12GB and 256GB of storage. Considering that the Mi 11 was the first device launched with the SD888, it comes as no surprise to see Qualcomm’s flagship chip inside of Xiaomi’s new flagship smartphone. The SD888 has proven to be quite capable of handling just about everything you can throw at it, and Xiaomi has even introduced a new “three-phase” cooling system to ensure that the Mi 11 Ultra doesn’t overheat.
It’s good that you’ll find built-in features to prevent overheating because you’re going to be using this phone for quite a lot of different tasks. This brings us to the all-new camera system. Headlined by a 50MP wide-angle camera, this sensor features a sensor size of 1/1.12″, providing a wide dynamic range along with being able to take much better pictures in low-light conditions. From there, you’ll find a 48MP periscope lens, which provides up to 120x AI super zoom, along with 5x optical zoom. Then, the final camera features a 48MP sensor and is an ultra-wide camera with a 128-degree field of view.
In addition to the triple camera array and flash, that’s not all you’ll find on the back of the Mi 11 Ultra. For the first time, there’s an all-new mini display on the right side of the phone, measuring at 1.1-inches. This display offers an Always On Display, capable of showing you all of your notifications as they arrive, even if the Mi 11 Ultra is placed face-down on a table. And if you want to try and take selfies with the vastly-superior rear cameras, you can use this tiny display to help line up the shot perfectly.
Although it seems that smartphones are largely “capped” when it comes to battery size, company’s have been innovating in other ways to make sure your phones last throughout the day and beyond. After seeing the OnePlus 9 Pro and its Warp Charge 65T wired charging, paired with 50W fast wireless charging, Xiaomi is stepping things up a notch. The Mi 11 Ultra is capable of charging at 67W speeds when using a wire, along with the same 67W speeds when charging wirelessly. This will get you from 0% to 100% in less than 40 minutes, which is quite impressive and really exciting. Xiaomi even threw in 10W reverse wireless charging if you need to help someone else charge their phones or if you need to charge your wireless earbuds.