Smartphone maker Xiaomi has kickstarted the new year with the launch of a couple of smartphones in India. The Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge and the Xiaomi 11i make their debut in the country today.
The successor to the Xiaomi 10i, this is the second set of Xiaomi-branded devices from Xiaomi after the company dropped the Mi moniker. The Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G was the first in the country to do so.
The Xiaomi 11i lineup consists of two devices – base variant Xiaomi 11i and Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge. Though both the devices share a similar spec sheet apart from the fact that the latter is of course the first phone in India to sport 120W fast charging and the Xiaomi 11i has a slightly larger battery pack.
Also, the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge seems to be the rebranded Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus while the Xiaomi 11i could be the rebadged Redmi Note 11 Pro – both these phones launched in China late last year.
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Xiaomi 11i and Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge price and availability
The Xiaomi 11i comes in a couple of variants 6GB/128GB and 8GB/128GBGB priced at Rs. 24,999 and Rs. 26,999, respectively. The company is offering an introductory discount of Rs. 1500 and SBI cardholders get an additional cashback of Rs. 2000, for a limited time period.
The Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge also comes in two variants 6GB/128GB and 8GB/128GB priced at Rs. 26,999 and Rs. 28,999, respectively. The company is offering an introductory discount of Rs. 1500 and SBI cardholders get an additional cashback of Rs. 2,500, for a limited time period.
The phones will come in Pacific Pearl, Stealth Black, Purple Mist, and Camo Green colourways and will be available on Xiaomi’s official online store, Mi Home and Mi Studios across the country. The phones will also be sold via Flipkart starting on January 12.
The 120W fast charger can also be bought separately for Rs. 3,999. The company hasn't yet announced the availability of this charger.
In terms of launch offers, existing Redmi Note users will be able to buy the phones with an additional exchange bonus of Rs. 4,000. Xiaomi has also collaborated with Flipkart and made the phones available under the Flipkart smart upgrade offer and users can purchase the phones at a 70 per cent price.
Xiaomi 11i and Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge specs and features
As mentioned above, both the phones are essentially the same apart from the fact that the HyperCharge variant comes with a 120W fast charging technology that can charge your phone from zero to brim in under 15 minutes while the stock variant comes with 67W fast charging – which on its own is blazingly fast.
Both the phones come with a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The company says that the display sport 1200 nits peak brightness which means using the phone in broad daylight will not be an issue. The display on the phone comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection.
In terms of optics, the phones come with a triple camera setup - with a Samsung HM2 sensor 108MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera with a 120-degree field of view and a 2MP macro sensor. For selfies and video calls, there is a 16MP front camera housed in a punch-hole cutout.
Under the hood, both the phones will have a 5G capable MediaTek Dimensity 920 SoC – it’s the same SoC that can be seen on the Vivo V23 that launched yesterday. Both the devices are available in two variants each - 6GB +128GB and 8GB+128GB onboard storage. The RAM on these phones is LPDDR4x and the onboard storage is of UFS2.2 and both the variants support storage expansion up to 1 TB via a Micro SD card.
The Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge draws power from a 4,500 mAh battery pack and while the Xiaomi 11i has a slightly bigger 5,160 mAh battery pack. The 11i HyperCharge can reach up to a maximum of 120W while the Xiaomi 11i supports 67W fast charging. The difference in charging time will be approximately 5-7 minutes at the most. The company will ship the 120W fast charger in the box.
That said, the 120W fast charging will be turned off by default on the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge and the users will have to turn it on in case they want to use the superfast charging. The company compared this to turning on the high-resolution image mode while clicking photos or shooting videos – as high-resolution mode might not be required all the time and it eats up more space as well.
Xiaomi also says that even after using the 120W fast charging the battery life will largely remain unaffected and it can retain up to 80 per cent charge even after 800 charging cycles. In terms of added protection, the company is saying that the devices have gone through 34 security checks, its fast-charge technology is certified by TUV Rheinland.
The phone also comes with 9 real-time temperature monitoring checks that ensure that the device doesn’t heat up while charging rapidly and the phones also have double overcharge protection as an added measure.
Other key specifications include a double vapour cooling chamber to keep the thermals in check, Bluetooth 5.2, WiFi, Dual 5G connectivity, IR blaster and JBM-powered dual speakers. The phone runs on MIUI 12.5 running on top of Andriod 11 out of the box and is slated to receive Android 12, soon.
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