Xiaomi Mi 11: the first smartphone with the new Snapdragon 888 processor

Xiaomi has decided to play in advance, kicking off 2021 smartphone season. The Chinese company has in fact anticipated the launch of the much awaited Xiaomi Mi 11, presented live during a streaming event, a few days before the end of 2020. 

The biggest novelty concerns the integration of the high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor with 5G chip to support the latest generation networks. Xiaomi Mi 11 is in fact the first smartphone in the world using the new Arm Cortex X1 core. The SoC Snapdragon 888, along with the Snapdragon X60, will be the core of the main top of the range smartphones coming out next year.

The smartphone comes with a 6.81 inches AMOLED screen slightly curved on the sides and a QHD+ resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels. The refresh rate is 120Hz, while the screen touch rate is 480Hz. It supports the hdr10+, thanks to the maximum brightness levels of the panel which touch 1,500 nits (on average it reaches 900 nits). The screen is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus, one of the toughest glass cover on the market.

As for the photographic sector, the main camera has a 108 MP sensor, with an f/1.85 lens, accompanied by a 13 MP secondary camera with a 123° wide-angle lens and f/2.4 aperture. On the back there is also a 5 MP macro camera, again with an f/2.4 aperture and a 50 mm focal length. The 20 MP front camera is instead located in a hole on the top of the display. For videos, Xiaomi has developed a new night mode, which uses artificial intelligence. The system allows the phone to see like humans and to amplify the brightness of the shot up to five times.

The hardware is 8 or 12 GB of LPDDR5 3200 MHz RAM, while the storage space can be 128 or 256 GB in UFS.3.1 format. The battery promises excellent autonomy, given the 4600 mAh capacity. It can be recharged both with a 50W wireless system and by cable, with a power of 55W. However, the charger is not included in the package, but it can be purchased separately at a cost of about 15 dollars. Like Apple, the Chinese company justified the choice saying that is was to respect the environment.

At the moment the smartphone will only arrive on the Chinese market, but it will certainly make its entrance also on the European market, where the presentation is expected to take place in the first months of 2021.