Xiaomi made headlines for its Xiaomi 12 flagship lineup, but the company's forte has always been mid-range phones. It has consistently nailed the "bang for your buck" formula with its low-cost devices, providing powerful internals and versatile cameras at attainable prices. We've seen as much with its most recent Redmi launches, including the Redmi 10 (both of them, anyway) and the Note 11 lineup. But if 5G connectivity is something you need in your life, Xiaomi has just unveiled three new 5G devices for international markets — the Redmi 10 5G, the Note 11S 5G, and the Note 11 Pro+ 5G.

They have less in common with their 4G counterparts than what the name would suggest, but other than being confusing, that's not necessarily a bad thing — and definitely not at these prices.

Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G

Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G-05

Let's begin with what is possibly the best performing handset in the lineup. Following a China launch, the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G (yes, that's a mouthful) is one of the costliest smartphones in the Redmi Note lineup, but based on its specifications, it might be well worth it, starting with its two biggest selling points — its picture-taking capabilities and its charging speeds.

The phone comes equipped with a 108MP primary shooter. A Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor is handling camera duties here — it's not the first time a Xiaomi phone uses it, and probably won't be the last, but while it might not be as good as the HM3 in the Galaxy S22 Ultra, that device is also more than twice as expensive. The phone has dual native ISO, and in the auxiliary sensor department, we're served with an 8MP ultra-wide with a 120-degree field-of-view and a 2MP macro camera.

In terms of battery capacity, we get a 4,500 mAh cell, which isn't the best given that we've seen phones in this price bracket with larger batteries. However, the fact that we have 120W charging more than makes up for that. It's the first Redmi phone with this ultra-fast juice-up tech, as it had only made its way to Xiaomi's flagship range until now. According to the company, the phone's battery can be fully charged in 15 minutes. By comparison, the standard Redmi Note 11 Pro gets 67W charging at most, so this is nearly twice as fast.

Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G-10

As for other specs, the phone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 920 SoC with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. In the display department, we're getting a 120Hz 6.67-inch AMOLED 2400x1080 Full HD+ screen with a 360Hz touch sampling rate, which is about as decent as it gets for a Xiaomi mid-ranger — and pretty good for a budget device in general. The display can also get fairly bright, at peak brightness of 1,200 nits, and is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. It also has a headphone jack — all three devices announced today have one. You'd think that's a rather commonplace thing in this range, but they're getting scarce these days even in the midrange space, so we're counting our blessings here.

Finally, the phone ships with Android 11 and MIUI 12.5 — one would expect Android 12 and MIUI 13 heading into the second quarter of 2022, but hey, not everything can be perfect. Not even the recently announced Xiaomi 12 lineup is fully updated to Android 12, with the Xiaomi 12X served with Android 11, so we can only hope an update for these phones to come sooner or later.

The device will be available in three different colorways: Graphite Gray, Star Blue, and Forest Green.

Redmi Note 11S 5G

Redmi Note 11S 5G-08

If you don't need something as powerful as the Note 11 Pro+ 5G, perhaps the Note 11S 5G is the better option for you. It sits in the middle tier of today's announcements, but it's no slouch by any means.

If you've been keeping tabs on Xiaomi's recent announcements, this specific phone might look a little familiar to you. It's essentially a rebranded Poco M4 Pro 5G. It's also what was launched in China as the standard Redmi Note 11.

The Redmi Note 11S 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 810 processor manufactured in an efficient 6nm process and comes with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It has a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display with a 90Hz adaptive refresh rate, a 240Hz touch sampling rate, and a 2400x1080 Full HD+ resolution. Unlike the Note 11 Pro+ 5G, this one is actually powered by the newer MIUI 13, although it's still based on Android 11. You win some, you lose some.

Redmi Note 11S 5G-10

This phone isn't as powerful as the higher-end model in terms of charging speeds and cameras. The phone has 33W fast charging (strangely marketed as "33W Pro"), which should allow you to charge its battery from 0% to 100% in less than an hour. To its credit, it does have a larger battery — a 5,000 mAh cell provides the power here, and when combined with its efficient 6nm SoC, this phone should get you through the day and beyond.

Camera needs are served by a 50MP main sensor, coupled with an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro, while the 13MP front camera will make sure your selfies are as crisp as you need them.

The device will be available in three different colorways — Midnight Black, Twilight Blue, and Star Blue.

Redmi 10 5G

Redmi 10 5G-13

Finally, we get to the lowest-end device in today's announcements — the Redmi 10 5G. It has very little to do with the Redmi 10 that was recently announced, and in fact, you might actually mistake it for an Oppo/Realme/OnePlus device at a first glance.

This device takes a different approach to its design than the other two phones we saw today, with a prominent dual camera module colored the same as the rest of the back. It looks similar to phones like the Realme 9i and the OnePlus Nord CE 2, all while drawing inspiration from the Xiaomi 12 series, hinting at deeper design changes in future Redmi phones.

Of course, it's also the company's cheapest 5G phone to date. This is possible thanks to the budget MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset and its 6.58 IPS LCD display that goes with an old-fashioned teardrop notch. It features a 90Hz adaptive refresh rate and offers a resolution of 2408x1080. It has up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and in a surprising turn of events, it's the only one out of the three phones to run Android 12 out of the box — with MIUI 13 on top, of course.

Redmi 10 5G-15

Its cameras are definitely not as versatile as the ones on the other phones. Its main sensor is still 50MP and should be able to produce great pictures for its price point, but we have neither an ultra-wide nor a macro lens this time around — instead, the only auxiliary sensor is a 2MP depth unit. Going over to the front, the camera inside that notch is an average-at-best 5MP sensor.

There's a big 5,000 mAh battery that should provide plenty of juice throughout your day, and for charging, you can do up to 18W — not the best or the fastest, but it should charge up your phone in a pinch.

The device comes in three different color options — Graphite Gray, Chrome Silver, and Aurora Green.

Availability

The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G will go on sale on April 6th and will start at €399 for the 6GB+128GB model, with the 8GB+256GB version setting you back €449. Keep an eye out in the online Xiaomi store and retail locations next week if you want to get yourself one.

If the Redmi Note 11S 5G and the Redmi 10 5G are closer to what you're looking for, you'll have to wait a bit longer for those, as Xiaomi is expecting to launch those in June. The Note 11S 5G's 6GB+128GB variant will cost you €329, while the 10 5G's 4GB+64GB model will go for €229.