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Redmi 11 Prime 5G review: Experience cheap 5G but at what cost?


The Redmi 11 Prime 5G is currently the company’s most affordable 5G smartphone in India, which Xiaomi claims is an all-round 5G smartphone. The budget smartphone is in a crowded segment, facing competition from the likes of iQoo, Vivo, Realme, Motorola, etc. Redmi 11 Prime 5G has MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC, which is a popular choice between brands launching 5G smartphones in the division. The phone also supports seven 5G bands, which is enough to cover all telecom circles in India.

The Redmi 11 Prime 5G also has a strong battery, a full-HD+ display, and a dual camera setup on the back. With all that on offer, is it the best 5G smartphone under Rs. 15,000 in India? We find out.

Redmi 11 Prime 5G price in India

Xiaomi launched the 4G and 5G versions of Redmi 11 Prime in India, in which, the 5G version is the more expensive product of the two. The 5G variant is available in two storage options. Its 4GB RAM + 64GB storage configuration is priced at Rs 13,999, while the 6GB RAM + 128GB variant is available for Rs 15,999. The 5G smartphone comes in Meadow Green, Chrome Silver and Thunder Black color options.

Redmi 11 Prime 5G design

Redmi 11 Prime 5G follows the smartphone trend of 2022 with a flat frame design. The back of the phone curves towards the edges to ensure it sits comfortably in the hand. Xiaomi has used plastic for the back and bezel, which is common in smartphones in this price range. That being said, the rear panel feels good to hold, thanks to the textured design. Xiaomi sent us the 6GB RAM variant of the Redmi 11 Prime 5G in Meadow Blue, which seems to be the hero color of all three.

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Redmi 11 Prime 5G comes with a polycarbonate back

The left side of the phone has a SIM tray with two slots for nano-SIM cards and a third slot for a microSD card. On the right side, you have the power and volume buttons. The buttons are quite impressive but a bit recessed for my liking. You also get a 3.5mm headphone jack next to the IR blaster on the top edge. The USB Type-C port and single speaker grille are on the bottom edge.

The screen is protected by quite tall Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with 6.58 inches and offers a 90Hz refresh rate. The screen has a full-HD+ resolution and Widevine L1 certification, which means users can watch HD content on Netflix, Prime Video, etc. One downside of this screen compared to some phones in the market segment is using IPS LCD versus AMOLED.

Colors are not vibrant and the screen brightness of Redmi 11 Prime 5G maxes out at 400 nits. While the screen is bright for indoor use, I prefer to use the phone at full brightness for outdoor use. This may not bother some but the phone has a waterdrop notch for the front camera, which looks old.

The Redmi 11 Prime 5G is a bit heavier at 200g and is also quite thick at 8.9mm. Xiaomi has added a silicone protective case in the box. You also get a 22.5W fast charger and a USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable. However, the phone only supports 18W fast charging.

Redmi 11 Prime 5G specifications and software

The Redmi 11 Prime 5G has a 7nm MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC and supports seven 5G bands in India. The phone has dual 5G, Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 802.11 ac. There is no IP rating but the phone comes with ingress protection around the SIM tray to provide some basic protection against water and dust.

The phone also packs a 5000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support. Like all recent Xiaomi phones, the Redmi 11 Prime 5G runs on MIUI 13 based on Android 12, which is quite feature-rich but at the same time bulky. Along with some first-party apps from Xiaomi, MIUI 13 on Redmi 11 Prime 5G comes pre-installed with many third-party apps, such as Moj, Snapchat, Zilli, Spotify, etc. You can choose to uninstall them these applications if desired.

redmi 11 prime 5g 7 Redmi 11 Prime 5G
Xiaomi hasn’t promised any long-term software update details for the Redmi 11 Prime 5G, but we expect the company to at least roll out Android 13 to it.

Redmi 11 Prime 5G performance and battery life

The Redmi 11 Prime 5G, with its MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC, is a good performer. Daily tasks, such as scrolling through social networks, browsing the web, etc., work well. However, if you’re someone who wants great gaming performance at this price point, this might disappoint you. While games like Asphalt 9 Legends, Call of Duty: Mobile run quite well at basic settings, we noticed some flickering errors during gameplay. The phone scored 521 and 1757 points in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests. In AnTuTu, the phone scored 3,376,683 points.

Overall, the phone offers good battery life. The 5000mAh battery easily lasted for a day and a half with moderate to light usage. In our battery loop test, the Redmi 11 Prime 5G ran for 16 hours and 53 minutes, which is pretty good. With the included charger, the phone takes about two hours to fully charge, since the battery runs out.

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Redmi 11 Prime 5G equipped with 7nm MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC

Redmi 11 Prime 5G has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which helps to authenticate and unlock the phone quickly. Despite having a 3.5mm headphone jack, Redmi doesn’t offer a pair of wired headphones in the box. The device also features a single speaker setup, which is quite loud. However, we would have preferred the dual speaker setup.

Redmi 11 Prime 5G Camera

There is a dual camera setup on the back of the Redmi 11 Prime 5G. The phone has a 50-megapixel main camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor, but no ultra-wide camera. For selfies, there’s an 8-megapixel front camera.

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Redmi 11 Prime 5G has a dual camera setup

The main camera is good enough in situations with a good amount of light. Photos usually have neutral colors and good details. However, in difficult situations with backlit subjects or in low light, camera performance is below average and dynamic range is weak.

Shot with the main camera of Redmi 11 Prime 5G

There is a Night mode but I don’t find it very effective. In terms of video, the device supports up to 1080p video recording at 30fps for the front and rear cameras. Videos shot in daylight with the main camera have neutral colors but lack proper stabilization. In low light, noise can be seen.

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Sample shot in night mode on Redmi 11 Prime 5G

Selfies provide enough detail in daylight but the software messes up skin tones, making faces look whiter while adding some pink. Portrait mode for the front camera does a great job of blurring precise areas of the background.

Portrait mode on Redmi 11 Prime 5G

Front camera sample shot on Redmi 11 Prime 5G

Identify

Redmi 11 Prime 5G is a good performance package for under Rs. 15,000. The highlight of the phone is that it offers 5G support with 7 bands, along with a good processor for everyday tasks. With a tall display and good battery life, the Redmi 11 Prime 5G will appeal to those who love to watch video content on their phones. We would have liked to see a brighter AMOLED display with a standard refresh rate, rather than what is being used. If you can stretch your budget by Rs. 500, Redmi Note 11S (Review) with a 90Hz AMOLED display for a better multimedia experience.

The Redmi 11 Prime’s camera isn’t the best either. You may want to check out phones like Moto G32 or even Redmi’s own Note 11, both are 4G-only phones. If you want 5G network support at this price point, you’ll have to compromise a bit in some areas. There are also iQoo Z6 Lite 5G (The first look), a new performance-focused budget 5G smartphone with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC is well worth considering.


Buying an affordable 5G smartphone today usually means paying a “5G tax”. What does that mean for people who want access to 5G networks as soon as they launch? Find out about this week’s episode. Orbits are available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcast.



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