With many brands of smartphones being launched in the Kenyan market nowadays, it can be daunting to pick a smartphone that ticks all the boxes. After using the Redmi Note 11 Pro for about two weeks, I am ready to share with you my experience with the phone, and whether you should buy it or pass on to the next smartphone.

The Redmi Note 11 Pro was launched in the Kenyan market early this year with the promise of better tidings than its predecessor Redmi Note 10 Pro.

Display

I have the phone in the graphite grey (black) color. You can also find the device in Polar White (white) and Star Blue (blue) color variances.

At first sight, the phone looks a bit chunky (though I have considerably small hands) but quite classy if you’re into simplicity.  Generally, it’s a good size and a good fit for most users as they tend to use their phones to work, play and scroll through social media. The 6.67” AMOLED Display, 90hz LCD Screen with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels produces great contrast, and good viewing angles making it enjoyable to work with and watch your favorite series/YouTube videos.

Good thing the phone comes cased with Gorilla Glass 5 for added protection against scratches and shattering and a plastic cover as it easily picks up fingerprint smudges.

When it comes to sound and voice quality, the phone is quite good thanks to the bottom-facing speaker and earpiece at the top bezel.  It is good to note that in a busy and loud environment, the noise suppression works quite well.

The power button on the side is integrated with the fingerprint scanner. It has been fast and reliable in our testing. The SIM card tray which also doubles as a microSD card slot is located at the bottom.

Performance

The Redmi Note 11 Pro uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor. When it comes to performance, the phone is quite good and switching through apps is seemingly smooth. The refresh rate of 120 Hz makes handling nice and smooth. The browsing experience and playing games was also smooth thanks to its its Mediatek Helio G96.

It only supports display resolutions up to 1080p, and 1080p/60 is the maximum supported video playback resolution. Just a little lagging is experienced when switching through heavy apps.

Well, I noticed something while using the phone; the issue of bloatware. This is an issue that i have encountered mostly with Tecno and Infinix phones; something I didn’t encounter with Huawei and Nokia phones. While using the phone, some of the pre-installed apps would send unwarranted notifications and ad like notifications. To somehow address this, you can uninstall or disable notifications for some of the apps that you are not using.

Camera

The phone comes with a triple camera setup on the back featuring the main 108MP camera, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a 2MP macro camera. This is one of the features I was looking forward to testing, and let me just admit that I had mixed feelings about the camera. Why? The 108 MP main camera does a decent job during the day in optimal lighting conditions. However, at night, the picture quality is not the best. On the other hand, the selfie camera is actually very good during the day and at night.

But you have an option to use the AI camera mode. Of course the photos will look less natural but it enhances them with some great effects especially on the color and tone. This would be great for scenes like sunsets.

I also tried the 8 MP ultra-wide-angle camera which did a good job.

Videos with the main, ultra-wide-angle and selfie cameras are electronically stabilized, but are limited to Full HD quality and 30 FPS. There’s no 4K video, which was available in the Note 10 Pro, alongside a 1080p/60 mode, which is also absent here.

Another con about the camera is the way it’s located on the phone. It protrudes almost 4 mm from the back cover, making the phone to be unstable on surfaces. This makes it susceptible to damage or breakage.

Battery Life

The Redmi Note 11 Pro come with a 5000mh battery and supports a 67W fast charging. From my testing, the device charged from empty to full charge in less than an hour with 50% being achieved in about 20 minutes. If you use the device lightly, the battery can last for about two days before it gets to 15%. However, if you are a heavy user, the phone lasts about 10 hours.

The impressive LiquidCool technology on the Redmi Note 11 Pro uses a heat pipe and graphite sheets to regulate battery temperature while fast charging.

Storage

The Redmi Note 11 Pro comes in three variants. The 6+64 GB variant, the 6+128GB variant, and the 8+128GB. The internal storage can be expanded via microSD card, which can be up to 1 TB in size.

Should you buy the Redmi Note 11 Pro?

With the different variants and price points, the Redmi Note 11 Pro is generally a great buy. The phone has a nice and smooth finish, a good size with OLED screen, a great battery with fast charging capabilities, smooth performance, and good quality speakers.

However, if camera is your priority feature for a smartphone, then this would not be a good buy. The Redmi Note 11 Pro is also limited to 1080p at 30 frames per second, which is not very ideal.

This Redmi Note 11 Pro is available in most official Xiaomi branded retail stores countrywide and other online stores.  The phone is retailing at Ksh 29,999/- for the 6+64GB variant, Ksh 33,499/- for the 6+128GB  while the 8+128GB variant retails at Ksh.34,999/-. 

In the box

We did the unboxing and the Redmi Note 11 Pro comes with a 67-watt power adapter, a USB cable (type C), a SIM tool, a protective case, and a quick-start guide. Note that it does not come with other accessories like earphones.

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