The Xiaomi Mi 11 Review: A Gorgeous Screen and Design
by Andrei Frumusanu on March 10, 2021 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Xiaomi
- Snapdragon 888
- Mi 11
Display Measurement
The display of the Mi 11 is a highlight of the device. A 1440p, 120Hz AMOLED panel is a major step-up in Xiaomi’s device line-up, and is a definitive improvement over past year implementations in the mainline Mi series.
The panel is of a similar generation we’ve seen in last year’s Galaxy S20 series as well as on the OnePlus 8 Pro – more similar to the latter unit as Xiaomi allows 1440p at 120Hz simultaneously. What’s lacking for the device, is any kind of variable refresh rate mechanism, no software based coarse VRR as on the base S21 series, neither a more advanced hardware one as on the S21 Ultra.
Edit March 12th: The Mi 11 does have a coarse software-based refresh rate switching mechanism, however it does not function below 110 nits screen brightness (around 70% on the brightness slider).
In terms of screen calibration and controls, Xiaomi gets top marks here as the company offers various different default operating modes which offer fine-tuning of the colour temperature, as well as offering an advanced fully custom mode where you can fully control the screen calibration from hue, saturations and even gamma controls. Generally speaking, you are able to set up the display of the Mi 11 however you like it the most, and I applaud such levels of customisation.
What we’re testing today is the “Original colour” mode at its default settings, which is supposed to be a calibrated target to sRGB and P3 standards.
We move on to the display calibration and fundamental display measurements of the Xiaomi Mi 11 screen. As always, we thank X-Rite and SpecraCal, as our measurements are performed with an X-Rite i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer, with the exception of black levels which are measured with an i1Display Pro colorimeter. Data is collected and examined using Portrait Display's CalMAN software.
In terms of brightness, the Mi 11 is a top performer. At 850 nits peak full screen white brightness when in auto-brightness and under brightly lit ambient light, the screen only falls behind the newer S21 Ultra which has a superior emitter technology. Under manual brightness, the phone lands in at 487 nits, which is in line with what we’ve seen in the Mi 10 Pro last year.
In the greyscale performance, the Mi 11 is quite a bit off the mark in two aspects. First of all, the reds are quite dominant as average colour temperature lands in at 6314K, and whites land in also reddish at 6241K, below an ideal 6505K target for pure daylight white. This gives the Mi 11 a colour dETIP of 2.19.
The more offending discrepancy however is in the gamma, where the Mi 11 apparently targets a 2.3 figure, measuring in at 2.31 average. This is higher than a typical 2.2 calibration, and it means that tones will appear slightly darker than they should be, possibly giving content a little more contrast than what they’re meant to be displayed at. This regresses the overall dEITP to 5.45.
In the saturations, we’re seeing generally good performance in most colours except for the reds and the magentas, which are oversaturated and too dominant, again similar to the too warm colour temperature in the greyscale values.
Finally, in the GretagMacbeth patches of commonly found tones such as skin tones, the Mi 11 does averagely. It’s not a total disaster, but we’re seeing the too dark luminance due to the higher gamma, as well as oversaturation in the reds. Both aspects end up with the Mi 11 getting an dEITP of only 5.04.
Generally, the screen of the Mi 11 is still excellent when it comes to its fundamentals – fantastic brightness, contrast, resolution and of course that 120Hz refresh rate. The colour calibration isn’t the best, but it’s still adequate enough, and at least Xiaomi gives you extensive controls to adjust the screen to your liking. At least at this price point, the Mi 11 is able to compete extremely well with just the fundamental characteristics of the display, even if it’s not the most advanced or accurate panel out there.
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asmian - Thursday, March 11, 2021 - link
What rubbish. I don't know why you're determined to attack me, rather than the original poster. I'm in no glass house, and no hypocrite, because I'm not going around attacking others based just on their nationality. Nor am I myopic to systemic faults, but calling a Tory government "fascist" (as you said elsewhere) is just leftist name-calling, not helpful politics. And it's patently untrue and ridiculous hyperbole when there are real fascist governments oppressing women actively in eastern Europe right now, within the EU.When someone calls an entire country "Nazis" then that can't go unchallenged. It's no hypocrisy to point out that making comments about an entire modern country based on the past actions of individuals, or the state (in a "democracy" that was able to be voted for by substantially less than half of the population at the time), is offensive. I wasn't defending those actions, so there was no "worthless defence". I just don't subscribe to the popular PC theory that every current citizen should feel guilty for actions in the past they weren't responsible for, which you obviously do, since you're so angry about it. And I know quite enough NOT to be lectured by some random internet knowitall who does nothing but troll every thread here as if it's their private blog.
Martin84a - Thursday, March 11, 2021 - link
Just a small observation. On one hand you say "hey, don't judge Britons based on the actions of our ancestors", but at the same time you say "hey, our ancestors fought the real fascist in World War 2." If you don't feel shame based on your ancestors actions, you shouldn't feel pride either. It's not like you took part in their actions.You can't have it both way mate. If you aren't connected to what someone in the past did, then you should feel shame for what they did. But you shouldn't feel the need to
hbsource - Wednesday, March 10, 2021 - link
Not sure Americans should be throwing insults around about killing Indians.Wereweeb - Wednesday, March 10, 2021 - link
I'm not americanBedfordTim - Wednesday, March 10, 2021 - link
Assuming you are talking about the Bengal famine, you seem to have forgotten about the assorted natural disasters that just happened to occur at the same time, the bombing of Calcutta which disrupted the rice market, and the loss of imports from Burma. Deaths through famine and misadministration do not equate to deaths in concentration camps.quorm - Wednesday, March 10, 2021 - link
I apologize for contributing to the derail.You're seriously saying that they are responsible for the deaths of millions, but because of the manner in which they died, its not so bad? Pretty sure the victims wouldn't feel the same way.
RSAUser - Thursday, March 11, 2021 - link
Pretty sure he just said you can't say they're directly responsible for it.Spunjji - Thursday, March 11, 2021 - link
They sure do look similar when the man in charge at the time saw those deaths as a moral good. Oh no, those "beastly people with a beastly religion" are dying, how sad, better keep forcibly expropriating the goods they need to survive.Nobody's "forgetting" any of what you mentioned, it's just not particularly relevant to discussion. It's like saying that Stalin didn't kill most of the dissidents who died under his regime, he just sent them off to places where they died from exposure and starvation. Go Stalin!
Spunjji - Thursday, March 11, 2021 - link
There are plenty of neo-Nazis here, and every single one of them voted Brexit. Not everyone who voted Brexit was a neo-Nazi, of course - they just voted for a magical unicorn *alongside* the neo-Nazis, spurred on by far-right voices in the popular press.hbsource - Thursday, March 11, 2021 - link
Bear in mind that I say this as someone who voted remain. If you blame 'the popular press' for Brexit then you misunderstand British politics.You have got it the opposite way around to reality. Which is a big reason why the left in this country has not won a general election since 2005.
People do buy The Sun and then decide to vote for right wing parties. The Sun pitches itself to right wing voters in order to sell newspapers.
If you think that without the right wing press then everyone would vote Labour, get ready for more decades without a left of centre government.