Redmi Note 11 launch live blog: Xiaomi’s new cheap phones debut today
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Here we go – we’re diving into details on the phone.
Surprisingly, there’s a Note 11 Pro Plus, with 120W fast charging like on the Xiaomi 11T Pro. Based on past performance, this might not get a global launch, at least not under the Pro Plus name.
Since Redmi is now giving a history of its Redmi Note phones, I’m going to do the same.
Pictured above is the first Note phone I tested (if I remember right), the Note 8 Pro, back from when the brand wasn’t nearly as big in my country as it is now.
That phone definitely didn’t have JBL-tuned speakers, a 108MP camera or a powerful mid-range processor, as we’re expecting the Note 11 devices to get.
We’ve just seen an image of the Xiaomi Redmi campus, and it looks more like a Caribbean holiday resort than a work space.
Is that a lake in the middle? TechRadar HQ doesn’t have a lake in the middle (well, sometimes when I do a tea run and drop the tray it does, but that doesn’t really count).
This is just more talk about the company, and not about the new phones. We’ve seen people from the brand talk for half an hour before at other events, before showing off tech, so if you want to check your texts now is the time.
And here’s the pre-amble we warned about: Xiaomi is just discussing its brand and history at the moment.
People who watch these Xiaomi events a lot might recognize that piano music in the background, and it’s because the company has used it many times before. It sounds rather Minecraft-esque.
And it begins!
Five minutes to go until the event starts, and all the quirky trailers for Redmi and Xiaomi products have stopped. Now’s when you need to quickly make a cup of coffee and a sandwich before the real event begins…
… wait, I knew I forgot to brew somthing!
As per most tech events, we’ll likely see quite a pre-amble before the phones and wearables are shown off, as the company discusses its history and its place in the mobile market. So if you still need to make a coffee, you’ll have time.
We’re seeing some people tap dancing on Redmi Note 10 Pro phones now. Why? No idea.
Well, slightly we have an idea: it’s to show how protective Corning Gorilla Glass Victus is.
There’s an advert playing for the Redmi K40 Gaming Edition, which never got a global launch. In particular, we’re seeing a Bruce Lee version of the phone which is yellow with a black stripe, and it’s certainly got a striking appearance.
This is just one of many handsets from Redmi which doesn’t launch outside China, but we’re not expecting the Redmi Note 11 to be like that.
The video playing right now is just showing off various Redmi products, including its laptop and other phones. We even got a mention of Xiaomi’s CyberDog (pictured above) crossing a street.
It’s always surprising how big of a product ecosystem these Chinese tech brands have in their home country, that never launch outside the country. I’d love to have a fully-kitted out smart home. I’d also like to own a home at all…
Half an hour before the event properly kicks off, the Redmi live stream has kicked off. You can find it via the Weibo live stream function by clicking here.
As we said, this is a China-only event, so the speech and videos played won’t exactly be in English. However lots of the features will be easy to understand – a big outline of a phone with the text ‘2340 x 1080’ will obviously refer to resolution, for example.
Plus, we’ve covered enough of these events to work out what’s going on, even though we don’t speak Chinese (and barely speak English before our fifth coffee). So keep on this live blog for the important information.
It sounds like some other devices are launching alongside the Redmi Note 11, and a successor to the Redmi Watch is expected to be one of them.
The original Redmi Watch was a super-affordable smartwatch with barebones specs and a square body, with a few key health and fitness features. We’d expect the successor to add some new tools and improve the specs.
We know this will be called the Redmi Watch 2, because Xiaomi itself confirmed it. The design looks similar, but there might be a bigger battery, sturdier build or changed strap material.
One hour left until the Redmi Note 11 launch kicks off – time to get ready!
One intriguing leak we’ve heard for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 series, is that both phones could come with MediaTek chipsets, instead of Snapdragon which previous Redmi devices have used.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips are used in most Android phones, but MediaTek is quickly growing in popularity, with more and more budget and mid-range devices getting its Helio or Dimensity processors.
Apparently the Redmi Note 11 will get the Dimensity 810 and the Pro will get 920, both mid-range chips. It’s worth noting, though, that other details included in this leak contradicted the aforementioned 108MP snapper rumor, so it might not be correct.
Something else we’ve heard about the Redmi Note 11 series is its camera spec: according to a leak, at least one of the phones will have a 108MP camera.
That’s not totally surprising, since the Note 10 Pro (pictured above) had one, but it shows Xiaomi is sticking with this super-high-res camera specs.
So it’s very likely the Note 11 Pro will have a 108MP snapper, but maybe the Note 11 will, as other brands are putting this sensor on cheaper and cheaper phones too.
Despite the fact they haven’t launched yet, we’ve already heard quite a bit about the new Redmi Note 11 phones.
Take, for instance, their designs: Xiaomi has been teasing these phones for a few days solid, sharing plenty of snaps of the phones. So we know they’ll have iPhone-like flat edges, though similar appearances in other regards to previous Redmi Note phones.
The version of the device we’ve been shown is green, though there will likely be many more hues available.
There’s still a bit of time to go until the Redmi Note 11 launch event kicks off, so you’ve got time to make a cup of coffee or six. Get ready for the event by checking out what we thought of the previous Redmi devices:
In our Redmi Note 10 Pro review we heaped praise on the phone, particularly its speakers, screen and long-lasting battery. Our big problem was that it didn’t have 5G, despite high specs across the board elsewhere.
We also tested the Redmi Note 10 5G, which as the name suggests did indeed have 5G. Our review was a little more mixed, praising its 5G connectivity, long-lasting battery life and classy design, but its limited camera array, iffy screen quality and mediocre performance left a lot to be desired.
TechRadar’s Indian bureau also tested the Redmi Note 10 and Note 10 Pro Max, giving both high scores for similar reasons. We were impressed by the display and battery life of both, with the low cost of both phones making it easy to appreciate them, though the cameras weren’t always as impressive.
Refresh 2021-10-28T11:11:49.589Z (Image credit: Redmi) Here we go – we’re diving into details on the phone. Surprisingly, there’s a Note 11 Pro Plus, with 120W fast charging like on the Xiaomi 11T Pro. Based on past performance, this might not get a global launch, at least not under the Pro…
