So Xiaomi has just released not one but FOUR of the Redmi Note 11 Series! But in this video, I will be giving you my first impressions and the unboxing of the Redmi Note 11S first, which shares a lot of tech that the Pro model has, including the massive 108-megapixel camera, so let’s find out what else is in here.

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Unboxing

Starting from the unboxing, the box comes in white, with the Mi logo on top, the visuals of the phone in the middle and Redmi Note 11S below.

Opening the box, there is a smaller box which has:

• the SIM ejector pin on the outside
• the manuals
• the soft clear phone case

Underneath, you will find the phone itself.

Next, there is the USB-A to USB-C cable, and the 33-watts fast charging brick.

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Build & Design

Next, let’s jump into the design and build quality of the phone. In typical Redmi fashion, the build quality doesn’t disappoint as even though it is a mid-range smartphone, it honestly didn’t feel like it.

The phone’s finish at the back was a matte finish and as cliche as it sounds, it did feel good in the hands, especially since the phone has a flat frame and flat level ends all around, so it does grip very well on the hands too.

And the phone is also IP53 splash-proof rated as well.

While this review unit that I have in the Graphite Gray color finish, it is also available in Twilight Blue and Pearl White, which kind of reminded me of the Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE based on the pictures, but let’s see how it is if and when I get my hands on that variant, as this Pearl White is exclusive for the Note 11S.

As for the phone’s design, the phone has a stylish squared camera array, very “Redmi-like” with a vertical camera arrangement, where the camera bump is a medium-sized one, so expect the phone to wobble when you place it flat on a surface.

Then looking in front, the screen is a flat-screen display as how a mid-range smartphone usually is and the camera hole punch is in the middle.

Then looking at the ports and buttons, other than the USB-C down below, there is one of the dual speaker grilles over there.

On the right, there is the power button, which is also a fingerprint sensor, and the volume rockers over there.

On the left, there is the SIM and micro SD card slot that can support up to 1 Terabyte of storage, which was nice to know since smartphone companies are now slowly getting rid of micro SD Card slot expansions, so good job Redmi!

Then on top, there is the IR Blaster, the other speaker grille and a headphones jack, nice!

So overall, I’d give the phone a B+ for the phone’s build, as I felt that Redmi did a good job on this particular category.

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Display

Now looking at the display, the phone has a 6.43-inch AMOLED FHD+ DotDisplay.

Upon turning on the phone’s screen, the screen did look great, and pretty bright as well as it has a peak brightness up to 1000 nits.

The display refresh rate goes up to 90 hertz, which was nice, and since it is an AMOLED display, there is the Always-on Display feature as well.

And during my first impressions, watching YouTube and playing back Netflix on the phone was really pleasant and I was also very pleased with the overall color reproduction as the phone is also DCI-P3 color gamut.

And what’s extra sweet is that it is not only Widevine L1 Full HD playback and it also has the SGS Eye Care Display Certification as well.

So as for the phone’s screen, I’d give this an A- because I love how Redmi has dedicated itself to go with an AMOLED display instead of cheaping out and giving us an IPS LCD Display instead.

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Cameras

Now in terms of the camera:

• the main rear camera is a massive 108-megapixel lens,
• an 8-megapixel ultrawide-angle lens,
• a 2-megapixel macro camera,
• a 2-megapixel depth camera lens,
• front camera with a 16-megapixel f 2.2 camera

Based on my quick test shots, the front camera’s pictures were great too both for the regular and the portrait selfie as well with a very good edge detection.

Then all the rear lenses also looked really nice with sharp details even at 2x zoom, which of course I am looking to test the camera out further and try out all the camera modes during my full review, so subscribe to Adam Lobo TV in case you haven’t done so.

As for the video, the rear camera maxes out at 1080p on 30 frames per second and it is the same for the front camera.

Image Stabilization for the front and the rear was really good, and the video quality for the rear lens was excellent in catching high exposed shots.

Check out my YouTube video for the video recording sample.

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Specs

Next, looking at the specs of the device, it comes with the MediaTek Helio G96 Chipset, which was interesting because the Note 11 and the 11 Pro have a Snapdragon chipset instead, the Snapdragon 695 for the Note 11 Pro and Snapdragon 680 for the Note 11.

According to Xiaomi, this G96 chipset will give better overall performance especially for gaming and image processing as well, so let’s see how this chipset performs when I use it daily.

And the variant that I have is the 8 gigabytes of RAM and 128 gigabytes of storage, where there is also 6 gigabytes RAM variant which can go up to 128 gigabyte storage as well.

Then as for battery, the phone has 5000 milliamps of battery, and the phone has fast charging up to 33-watts with MMT Technology so it charges 26% more than a traditional 33-watts charging where the charger comes inside of the box, which I shall see how it performs during my further daily usage.

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Software

In terms of software, the phone comes pre-installed with the new MIUI 13 on top of Android 11. Thank God! But expect more performance improvements rather than visuals as of now.

There is the visual introduction of Side Bar…

…and all other are performance-based features, as Xiaomi mentions about having:

• 60% storage efficiency through their new Liquid Storage

• Atomised Memory for 40% increased of background process efficiency

• Focus Algorithms for faster processing speeds; and

• Smart Balance, which gives 10% more battery life than the previous iterations of MIUI

BUT it is still a 12 nm process chipset though…

But as for now I shall see how the current software performs on this Redmi Note 11S, as so far it has been great during my first impressions.

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Price & Availability

So as of the recording of this video, Xiaomi has mentioned that the global price will be at USD 249, which is super crazy! And there was no official price for the phone that has been announced yet here in Malaysia, so stay tuned for that, where I will either update at the pinned comment below on the pricing or let you guys know in my full video review.

So guys, with this, do let me know what you guys would like to know specifically about the Redmi Note 11S in the comment section below, and either I will reply to your comments directly down there or I might be answering them when I do a full video review on the phone.