Mi 11 Vs Mi 10t Pro

Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro: affordable flagship takes on flagship killer

(Prototype credit: TechRadar / Xiaomi)

Xiaomi has made quite an impression in recent years for its ability to turn in flagship-level phones for less money than its rivals.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 is the most recent example, offer a level of functioning, display quality, and design excellence that makes you look twice at the price. Just and then, the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro impressed us just as much a mere handful of months prior - and for an fifty-fifty cheaper toll to boot.

Then which Xiaomi Mi telephone is ameliorate? Which would represent the smarter buy if you were shopping for a new telephone today?

Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro price and availability

When y'all release as many phones as Xiaomi does in a calendar year, things can get a little congested.

The Xiaomi Mi xi was start announced in China on December 28, 2020. That was just three months after the September xxx annunciation of the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro.

The Mi 11 received a global launch in February 2021, while the Mi 10T Pro hit the United kingdom in November 2020. As you tin can come across, in that location's very little between these phones when it comes to length of time on the marketplace.

In terms of pricing, the Xiaomi Mi 11 starts from £749 / AU$1,099 (around $1,057) for the 128GB model, while a 256GB model is bachelor for £799 (around $1,128). The Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro launched at a cost of £599 (roughly $780, AU$1,100), which makes it £200 cheaper even before you accept discounts into consideration.

Neither of these phones is beingness sold in the US, though, and so American readers will have to go through an importer if yous're intent on ownership 1.

Blueprint

Both phones take drinking glass to the forepart and rear, sandwiching an aluminum body. However, the Xiaomi Mi 11 is the sleeker, more curvaceous, more overtly 'premium' telephone of the 2.

At 164.3 x 74.6mm, the Mi 11'southward footprint is a little smaller than the 165.1 ten 76.4mm Mi 10T Pro. Just the big divergence hither is thickness and weight - the Mi xi is just viii.1mm thin and 196g, while the Mi 10T Pro is pretty hefty at 9.3mm and 218g.

The Mi 11 besides has a more unique design, with a pleasant rounded-foursquare camera module that sets information technology apart from the crowd. The Mi 10T Pro has a rather more workmanlike appearance, with a chunky camera module that "looks like a cyclops staring dorsum at you," according to our reviewer.

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro — (Prototype credit: Future)

There'southward a different approach to biometric authentication here too. While the Mi 11 has an in-display arrangement more than unremarkably seen in flagship phones, the Mi 10T Pro goes with a side-mounted solution. We actually adopt the Mi 10T Pro on this 1, as the Mi 11 sensor proves a lilliputian unreliable.

Some other interesting blueprint difference, which leads united states of america neatly into the next section, is the shape of the display. While the cheaper Mi 10T Pro goes for a dead flat screen, the Mi 11 curves off at the edges. Like we said, it's the more premium-looking phone of the two.

Display

The Xiaomi Mi 11'due south screen is one of the best on the market. It's a half dozen.81-inch OLED beauty, with a 1440 x 3200 (QHD+) resolution.

Conversely, the Mi 10T Pro is a six.67-inch LCD brandish with a FHD+ resolution. It's simply less vibrant every bit a upshot, with grayer blacks and less accurate colors. It also doesn't get anywhere well-nigh as brilliant (650 nits vs 1500 nits, if you're wondering).

The Mi 10T Pro display hits dorsum when information technology comes to refresh rate, somewhat surprisingly. While the Mi xi can manage 120Hz at the same time as hitting that QHD resolution, the Mi 10T Pro goes correct upwardly to 144Hz.

Outside of a few gaming smartphones, such a fluid refresh rate is practically unheard of. Its practical application is quite limited, though you'll never have zoomed through your social media feeds quite so quickly.

Before you hardcore gamers slap down your coin on a new Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, consider the thing of touch sampling rates. At 480Hz the Xiaomi Mi 11 screen obliterates its older blood brother on 180Hz for sheer responsiveness.

In short, while the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro has that stand-out refresh rate, we'd take the Xiaomi Mi 11'due south more balanced display offering any day of the week.

Cameras

These two phones are surprisingly different considering their shared make and like vintage. Just the ane area of potential hardware asset sharing would appear to exist the cameras.

Both phones are led by 108MP 1/ane.33" Samsung paradigm sensors, though delve a little deeper and you'll notice that they're non identical. The Xiaomi Mi 11 uses a newer Samsung ISOCELL HM3 sensor, which is the same sensor used in the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and is technically more advanced than the Samsung ISOCELL HMX sensor used by the Mi 10T Pro.

Another difference, this time ostensibly in favor of the Mi 10T Pro, is the latter's uses a wider f/1.7 aperture compared to the f/1.nine Mi 11. This means it can permit more lite in to hitting that sensor, though the benefits of this aren't e'er then articulate-cut.

Besides this, both phones have underwhelming 13MP f/2.iv ultra-wide sensors with unusually wide 123-degree fields of view, as well as 5MP macro cameras. They even accept similar 20MP selfie cameras.

If you're hawkeye-eyed, you'll accept spotted that neither phone has a telephoto lens. That's way more than forgivable in the Mi 10T Pro, which costs a off-white corporeality less.

Both phones take crisp, balanced shots, utilizing Xiaomi'due south AI image processing smarts and pixel-binning techniques. Cheers to OIS, both can remain relatively steady for Dark shots.

OIS will also do good video capture. Talking of which, both phones tin manage 8K video at 30fps or 4K video at 60fps.

All in all, neither of these phones actually stands out for its camera offering, only both offer pretty skillful results in most conditions. Nosotros'd maybe give the Mi 11 the edge for its more avant-garde main sensor, but y'all might await more of an reward given the price premium.

Specs and performance

While they were merely released a couple of months apart, the Xiaomi Mi 11 is a whole generation alee when it comes to operation.

The newer, more expensive telephone pack a Snapdragon 888 SoC from Qualcomm. This is the 2021 replacement for the Snapdragon 865 establish in the Mi 10T Pro.

You lot'll get 8GB or 12GB of RAM with the Mi eleven, whereas the Mi 10T Pro but offers 8GB.

In the CPU-focused Geekbench 5, a multi-core score of 3569 for the Mi 11 pips the Mi 10T Pro by effectually 200 to 300 points, so it'south not a seismic divergence. In general usage, you probably won't even be able to spot the difference. Whatsoever contrast you do pick up on volition probably come down to that differing display technology.

When it comes to storage, both phones come up in both 128GB and 256GB guises. Neither offers a microSD slot.

While both phones pack stereo speakers, only the Mi 11 benefits from the expertise of audio specialist Harman Kardon. Information technology sounds better as a outcome.

In terms of software, both phones lean on Xiaomi'southward MIUI, with its garish icons, its busy menus, and information technology's excessive bloatware. It'south a lot better than it used to be, merely if yous prioritize clean and considered software over all else, neither of these phones is for you lot.

Battery life

The Xiaomi Mi 11 runs on a 4600 mAh battery, while the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro packs a much larger 5,000 mAh cell. So that explains why the latter is such a mesomorphic monkey.

Our reviewer constitute that the Xiaomi Mi 11 would burn through its charge in brusk fourth dimension, only managing to last through a full mean solar day if they kept their usage to the minimum. It's not terrible by the standard of modern flagship phones, but information technology's too far from the best.

Xiaomi's brute forcefulness approach with the Mi 10T Pro actually pays off, equally information technology lasts noticeably longer than the Mi eleven. Some of that advantage can be pinned to the 10T Pro'south smaller, dimmer and less sharp display as well.

Any the reason behind it, we were unable to exhaust the Mi 10T Pro's battery in a 24-hour interval, no matter how much gaming, photography or video or music streaming we did. It's impressive stuff.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 wins some points back when it comes to recharging. Its rapid 55W wired charger, which is supplied in the box, will get you lot from 0 to 100% in effectually half an hour. By contrast, the Mi 10T Pro'due south 33W charger will take closer to an hr.

Elsewhere, the Mi 11 supports fast 50W wireless charging, while the Mi 10T Pro doesn't support wireless charging at all.

Takeaway

Nosotros awarded both of these phones ix out of 10 in their respective reviews, and these were issued just a few months autonomously. They're both really expert handsets, quite obviously.

Thanks to the divergence in pricing, picking a winner isn't straightforward. They're pond in slightly different waters, with the Xiaomi Mi 11 undercutting true flagship phones like the OnePlus ix Pro, and the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro taking on about-flagships similar the OnePlus 8T.

Subconscious in that final point is the reason we feel able to option a articulate winner, nonetheless. The Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro is operating a whole hardware generation backside the Xiaomi Mi 11 - in terms of power, design, and (despite initial appearances) camera tech. Meanwhile the Mi 11's display is simply streets alee.

If you tin find the Mi 10T Pro for a bargain toll, it's even so a vivid phone. Only the Mi 11 is flat out better in most of the means that matter, and its newer processor means it'll remain relevant for longer too.