Price, release date, specs, and all the rumors so far

Update: December 25, 2020 (12:30 AM ET): We’ve updated the Mi 11 rumor hub below with details about a night mode for video recording and some information regarding the display of the phone. Read on for all the latest.

Original article: November 30, 2020 (1:03 AM ET): Xiaomi‘s numbered Mi series phones represent the best the company has to offer in terms of software and hardware. The flagships often undercut the competition in the value for money department and bring premium specs to the table at the same time, making them some of the most exciting phones in the market. The Xiaomi Mi 11 will be the Chinese manufacturer’s first big launch for the coming year and it’s already making headlines thanks to various leaks and rumors.

So without further ado, here are all the rumors and leaks regarding the Xiaomi Mi 11 price, release date, and everything we know so far.

Xiaomi Mi 11 series: Name and release date

Xiaomi has already confirmed that the upcoming flagship series will carry the Mi 11 moniker. The company hasn’t disclosed the names of the phones in the lineup but rumor has it that it’ll launch Xiaomi Mi 11 and Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro models.

Last year, Xiaomi also launched an Ultra model in the Mi 10 series along with more budget options in the form of the Mi 10T devices. We expect the company to follow suit in 2021 but we might have to wait longer to get these versions in the Mi 11 series.

As far as the release date of the Xiaomi Mi 11 series is concerned, the phone maker is speeding things up this time around. It’ll unveil the Mi 11 series in China on December 28. Xiaomi has already confirmed to Android Authority that the Mi 11 will be the first smartphone to be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 processor. This means that it’ll beat Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series to the punch, at least in China.

Even though Xiaomi might be planning to debut the new flagships before the close of 2020, we expect they’ll only become available widely sometime in January.

Design

These days the first thing to leak about flagship phones is their renders. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen any such leaks for the Xiaomi Mi 11 or Mi 11 Pro so far. That said, an alleged poster of the Mi 11 (see above) was spotted doing the rounds on Chinese social media platform Weibo. It shows a device with a blue body and a square rear camera module, unlike what we saw on any of the Mi 10 series phones.

A matching phone was also spotted in hands-on images recently. According to a Russian outlet, the alleged live images of the Mi 11 were captured on the sets of an ad shoot for the phone.

Once again, the photos show a sky blue colored handset with a square camera module at the back. Given that the poster and the leaked images are pretty similar, this may be what the Mi 11 looks like in real life. However, we can’t vouch for any of these sources so take these design leaks with a generous helping of salt.

Specs and features

Once again, none of the usual credible tipsters we rely on have outed the Mi 11 series specs. That’s not to say that we haven’t seen tidbits leak here and there.

First of all, Xiaomi has confirmed that the Mi 11 (and most likely the Mi 11 Pro) will feature the Snapdragon 888 processor. That alone should give the series 5G capabilities in all markets as unlike the Snapdragon 865, the new chip comes with an integrated 5G modem.

Also read: All the upcoming Snapdragon 888 phones

Elsewhere, the Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro are tipped to come with 4,780mAh and 4,970mAh batteries, respectively. A 3C certification spotted by leaker Digital Chat Station points to a charger capable of 11V at 5A for an output of 55W. That’s not as fast as the Mi 10 Ultra’s 120W charging, but more than the Mi 10’s 30W charging and Mi 10 Pro’s 50W speed.

We also expect Xiaomi to include a 120Hz OLED display on the Mi 11 series just because fast refresh rates have become a norm on Android flagships these days and Xiaomi did have the same on the Mi 10 Ultra. An in-display fingerprint sensor is also likely to be present.

Xiaomi says that the display is the best one the company has ever made. According to Co-Founder Lei Jun, it might be the most expensive smartphone screen in the industry. Tipster Digital Chat Station claims that it’ll be covered in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, just like the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

In the imaging department, the Xiaomi Mi 11 will come with a night mode for video recording. The company showed off a sample video taken from the phone using the new mode and it appears to significantly improve low-light shooting. You can read more about it here.

Xiaomi has also confirmed that the phone will feature Wi-Fi 6 capabilities and improved LPDDR5 RAM support.

Xiaomi Mi 11 price and release date

There’s no word on the prices of the Mi 11 series phones but we expect them to cost somewhere in the range of $700 to $1,000 depending on the model.

There’s no Snapdragon 888 phone in the market yet so it’s hard to put a finger on just how much the new processor affects the cost of phones. So our estimate above is based on the launch prices of the Mi 10 series and the prices of current Snapdragon 865 flagships.

See also: These are the best Xiaomi phones you can buy

As mentioned before, we think Xiaomi will only make the Mi 11 series available globally sometime in January, but the company could prove us wrong.

So with everything you’ve just read, what do you make of the Mi 11 series? We know there isn’t much to go on, but are you excited for the new Xiaomi flagships?

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