The Xiaomi Mi 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 are cutting-edge Android telephones. They supply high-end tech for much less cash, and a smartphone expertise not that far faraway from £1000-phones in lots of respects.
If you need probably the most options and the best high quality construct you can get to your cash, purchase the Xiaomi Mi 11. It looks like an actual fanatic telephone, has a extra fascinating processor, and is healthier worth when you break it down.
(*11*), it isn’t the only option for everybody. The Samsung Galaxy S21 is a a lot smaller telephone, excellent if you’re uninterested in smartphones that bulge out of pockets. Its digicam is a bit more versatile too.
Still uncertain? Read on for a full breakdown of every telephone’s finest options.
Samsung has revealed its new foldable telephones, learn our first-look Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 evaluation and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 evaluation.
Jump to:
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: key variations at a look
The Xiaomi Mi 11 has a a lot bigger, higher-resolution display screen
Samsung’s ultra-wide and selfie cameras are higher
The Xiaomi depends on its very high-res major digicam for zoom photographs whereas the S21 has a devoted zoom lens
We choose the Xiaomi Mi 11’s Snapdragon processor to the S21’s Exynos one
The Galaxy S21 is a a lot smaller telephone
The development of the Xiaomi Mi 11 is higher-end, utilizing curved glass on back and front
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: intimately
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: specs and options
These telephones might have way more costly “extremely” siblings for the customer prepared to spend mountains of money on their subsequent telephone, however there’s no energy or efficiency sacrifice concerned right here.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a Samsung Exynos 2100 CPU, similar to the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Xiaomi’s Mi 11 has the Snapdragon 888, arguably the perfect Android processor out there on the time of the telephone’s launch.
Which is healthier? We have to provide this one to Xiaomi. While Samsung’s Exynos processors improved fairly dramatically this yr, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon line remains to be forward for gaming efficiency and effectivity.
Right now we don’t assume you’ll discover the distinction all that a lot. The Samsung Galaxy S21 and Xiaomi Mi 11 will nonetheless deal with right this moment’s Android video games simply nice, however a little bit additional juice might attraction if you have a tendency to carry onto your telephones for so long as you can earlier than upgrading.
Samsung Galaxy S21 colors
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: value and storage
The official costs for these telephones are fairly comparable. But if we go by what you can get them for at their producers’ on-line shops, the Xiaomi Mi 11 is a bit cheaper.
It prices £649 with 128GB storage, or £699 with 256GB storage.
You’ll pay £769 for the 128GB Galaxy S21 direct from Samsung, or £819 for the 256GB model.
That mentioned, the value disparity disappears if you broaden your search. At the time of writing, the Samsung Galaxy S21 is out there for £649 (128GB model) from Amazon.
So, if value is your major determined, it is perhaps a troublesome one for the reason that Xiaomi Mi 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 price roughly the identical quantity.
Skip to view the pay month-to-month costs
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: battery life
Neither of those telephones is the plain selection if you need two-day battery life. Samsung and Xiaomi each produce longer-lasting telephones, just like the Galaxy S21+ and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro.
The day-to-day expertise shall be fairly comparable in each. Have a heavy day of YouTube-ing, or a protracted commute throughout which you play a recreation? The Samsung Galaxy S21 and Xiaomi Mi 11 might have a top-up if you plan on going out within the night and can use your telephone to take heed to a podcast on the best way house.
They will final a full day for most individuals, however don’t fairly have that ultra-reliable longevity we worth so extremely. Why? The Samsung Galaxy S21 is kind of a small telephone, and has a just-ok 4000mAh dimension battery to match. Similarly, the 4600mAh battery of the Mi 11 isn’t enormous contemplating its very massive, very high-res display screen. Xiaomi seemingly needed to lower down capability barely to maintain the telephone skinny and slick-looking.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 has the benefit for real-world use, as a result of its charging could be very quick certainly. It comes with a 55W charger that may take the Mi 11 from 0% to full cost in beneath and hour.
Samsung’s Galaxy S21 doesn’t include a charger in any respect, and solely helps 25W charging. If you don’t have a 25W Samsung charger mendacity round at house, you’ll have to purchase one to get the most effective recharge pace.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 additionally has very good wi-fi charging pace. At 50W, it really works at twice the speed Samsung manages utilizing a cable. It’s an eye-opener. Still, Qi wi-fi charging pads and stands that highly effective can price £70 or extra, so we’d most likely advise sticking to a very good previous wired charger.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 does help wi-fi charging, however solely at a price of 15W. You can get a dock with that form of energy for beneath £15 on-line, so it’d make a pleasant accent to your work desk.
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: digicam
The Xiaomi Mi 11’s digicam would possibly make your eyes come out if you don’t comply with telephone tech too carefully. It has a 108MP major digicam, which sounds much more spectacular than the Samsung Galaxy S21’s 12MP digicam.
(*11*), after contemplating every bit of the digicam puzzle, of which there are numerous lately, we expect the Samsung Galaxy S21’s array is barely higher. It’s largely about flexibility.
Samsung Galaxy S21 digicam
The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a greater ultra-wide digicam than the Xiaomi Mi 11, a greater selfie digicam and a greater zoom. It makes use of a 64-megapixel sensor with a 1.1x lens for zoom photographs: hardly worthy of a wildlife photographer. But it then crops into this digicam’s view to supply extra detailed photographs than the usual 12-megapixel digicam.
When you use the Samsung Galaxy S21 you at all times really feel there’s an entire bunch of helpful choices at your fingertips, which lets you get extra artistic with how you shoot photographs. It additionally scores a win on the picture high quality entrance.
The Samsung Galaxy S21’s pictures are likely to exhibit noticeably higher dynamic vary than the Xiaomi Mi 11’s. That means you’ll see fewer blown highlights, the place the brightest components turn out to be panes of white, and extra particulars within the darkest spots. Dynamic vary is likely one of the most essential facets of images, arguably extra essential than element in telephone cameras.
Xiaomi Mi 11 digicam
The Samsung Galaxy S21’s win is a marginal one, although, and the Xiaomi Mi 11’s cameras are glorious. Normal 1x zoom photographs will generally be extra detailed than Samsung’s, helpful if you assume you would possibly need to blow up vacation photographs to placed on a wall. And it has an uncommon secret weapon: a telemacro digicam.
This is a digicam for close-up images with a zoom-style lens designed to let you concentrate on topics extremely close to to you. It’s largely used for nature images. We first got here throughout one in every of these within the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro, and it’s a whole lot of enjoyable to mess around with. While its decision is simply 5MP, it’s sufficient to convey out element the common telephone digicam couldn’t. Heck, it might probably see issues our eyes can’t.
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: show
Here’s the place we get to the half that reveals why the Samsung Galaxy S21 and Xiaomi Mi 11 aren’t all that comparable, if you overlook that their costs are neck and neck.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 has a really massive 6.81-inch display screen. The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a comparatively small 6.2-inch display screen.
We’ll cowl the advantages of “going small” within the design part of this comparability. But in a pure display screen vs display screen battle, Xiaomi wins.
The Xiaomi Mi 11’s massive show is a good canvas for video games and streamed video, and the tech used is actually fairly beautiful for the value. It’s an ultra-high decision 3200 x 1440 pixel show, and nonetheless appears pin-sharp regardless of the massive display screen space.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a lower-resolution – 2400 x 1080 pixel panel – though it nonetheless appears sharp regardless of being small. This one’s all about dimension.
They additionally share a number of spectacular parts. The Xiaomi MI 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 have OLED panels, which have light-up pixels for successfully infinite distinction. Samsung’s show arm almost definitely produced each of those screens.
They have a most refresh price of 120Hz, for extremely easy scrolling, and very excessive brightness for good visibility on sunny days.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 is a step up, however dimension is the one distinction everybody will discover.
Samsung Galaxy S21
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: 5G functionality and Connectivity
Do these telephones have 5G? Of course they do. We’d discover it arduous to suggest telephones this costly to UK patrons if they didn’t have 5G at this level.
In different senses, although, they’re extra restricted than a few of the less expensive 4G telephones we nonetheless like and suggest in 2021. Neither lets you plug in a pair of wired headphones with out utilizing a USB-C to three.5mm socket adapter.
You can’t slot a microSD card in, so have a take into consideration how a lot storage you’ll want earlier than selecting between the respective 128GB or 256GB variations.
This is customary stuff for high-end telephones in 2021, although, and the Xiaomi Mi 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 each have superior wi-fi requirements like Wi-Fi 6. You might have come throughout this if you upgraded your property web router lately. It’s sooner, and works extra successfully if your property web is congested with stacks of units.
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: design
If we have been to take away all questions of non-public desire from this comparability, the Xiaomi Mi 11 would win this “design” part. It has an awesome curved glass again and an opulent curved glass entrance, the place Samsung makes use of plastic on the Galaxy S21’s again as a way to avoid wasting cash.
This might choose up scuffs extra simply, and doesn’t really feel fairly as costly.
(*11*), this class is much more sophisticated than that. We are followers of the model of Samsung’s S21-series telephones. They are distinctive and attention-grabbing, stylised in a method that appears made for the quilt of a shiny journal. The Xiaomi MI 11’s look might seem to be that of a really costly telephone, however it’s extra nameless, and could possibly be confused for telephones decrease down in Xiaomi’s (admittedly glorious) Android line-up.
Xiaomi wins for high quality of development. Samsung wins for model. Ultimately, you’ll need to resolve which dimension of telephone fits you finest.
The Galaxy S21 is 12.6mm shorter and three.4mm narrower than the Xiaomi Mi 11. That might not sound like lots, however means these two belong in completely totally different dimension courses. The Samsung is a small telephone, the Xiaomi Mi 11 a big one.
Sure, the Xiaomi isn’t fairly as brick-like because the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, a tech-packed powerhouse. It’s truly comparatively small for a 6.81-inch display screen telephone due to its tiny show borders. But some readers might choose to stay with a smaller telephone just like the Galaxy S21.
It doesn’t ask for finger gymnastics and can match into pockets extra simply. Plus, it makes ill-advised scrolling by means of social media whereas in mattress much less more likely to finish with the telephone falling flat in your face.
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: which should you purchase?
If the query right here is which telephone will get you probably the most to your cash, the Xiaomi Mi 11 is the winner. It has an even bigger, higher-resolution display screen, construct high quality we’d often affiliate with an much more costly telephone, and a barely higher processor.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 isn’t far behind, although. It can also be extra trendy, simpler to deal with and the digicam array is a little more versatile due to its higher-quality ultra-wide and selfie cameras. A devoted zoom digicam helps with 3x and 5x photographs too.
Buy the Xiaomi Mi 11:
Amazon
Vodafone | from £33 a month and £29 upfront
Three | from £40 a month and £19 upfront
Buy the Samsung Galaxy S21:
Still evaluating? Don’t miss our OnePlus vs Samsung Galaxy S21 comparability or our iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 information.
