Redmi Note 11S review. How is the ability to install a "100 million pixel camera" on a low-priced machine

　Is this really $249?

　Xiaomi's model "Redmi Note 11S" was provided in advance by the international PR agency Zbanx, so I will review it.

　The display is a 6.43-inch FHD+ organic EL. Punch hole in the upper center of the screen.　Thick lower bezel. The bottom has a microphone hole, a USB Type-C terminal, and a speaker.　There is a 3.5mm earphone jack on the top. There are multiple holes next to it. So rich stereo speakers?

　When I actually listened to music, the sound quality was reasonably good considering the $249. Better than the cheap models out there. I'm worried about the feeling that the treble stings only a little. Very good for watching videos. At the highest volume, the treble may crack a little depending on the thing.

　If you listen carefully, it's definitely stereo, but the sound from one side is faint and bad. The top speaker is just the receiver speaker. There is no problem with listening to people's voices on the phone, but singing voices are not good enough. The delicate melody of the piano that sounds in the background tends to be lost. There may be some people who are a little worried about stereo. However, there are monaural models before stereo in the low-end range.

　The bottom speaker tends to be better than the top, even on high-end machines, but this machine makes the difference more. People who are used to watching movies on high-end machines will be concerned, but if you watch YouTube videos normally or watch videos on TikTok etc. with the vertical screen, you will be concerned about the left and right balance and difference in sound. I don't think there are many things that will happen.

　I only use high-end machines, but recently I've been buying low-end machines as well. As for the model I'm using now, the OPPO A55s has a slightly inferior sound, and the upper speaker is even lower and less balanced than the Redmi Note 11S. And arrows We has a bad sound quality and sounds like muffled sound, and it is completely out of the question with a monaural speaker. As a model in the $145 range, I feel that the Redmi Note 11S is still doing well.

　Performance is about 300,000 AnTuTu points. Performance that can be seen if you give up light games and moderate titles if you give up image quality settings and comfort. Enough horsepower to run 90Hz/FHD+. Twitter scrolling is also decent. Personally, I'm used to terminals with 120Hz or higher, and it's disgusting that 60Hz terminals, whether low-end models or high-end models, look jerky. I think this is a part that only users who are accustomed to high-powered mobile OS devices with a lot of animation and scrolling can understand. It is an impression that even such a high-end supremacist author can compromise.

　What surprised me a little was the scroll inertia. The behavior when scrolling, such as the setting menu part of MIUI13, is like iOS and AQUOS.

　Also, in MIUI 13, flicking the left side of the status bar down changes the notification area, and flicking the right side of the status bar down changes it to various toggle switches. I understand that this is more rational, but I felt that it would take time to get used to it.

　The camera is equipped with Samsung Isocell HM2 with 108 million pixels with a 1/1.52 type sensor like the higher Note 11 Pro series.

　100 million pixel camera in a low-priced machine! ? That is probably the biggest topic of this machine. It is convenient to cut out using 100 million pixel mode.

　It is a point that can be appreciated that the telephoto has been eliminated in exchange for the 100 million pixel installation and the price has been lowered, instead of "load everything". This kind of addition and subtraction should be appreciated. I think it would be better to have a cheaper and lighter lens without macro and depth of field, but as long as consumers do not lose the recognition that "the more lenses the better," it is a cheap and useless lens. may continue to be installed. Shot with Redmi Note 11S macro. Smartphone macro with poor image quality and easy shadow of the main unit. Recently, some high-end models have put emphasis on macro, but low-end models still have dead weight. I understand that today's smartphones are not monocular except for special cases such as AQUOS R6, but it is not enough to increase the number soon.

Well, I compared shooting in normal mode and 108MP mode　with a 108 million pixel camera .　After all, the details are completely different when compared. Precise, isn't it? Moire is just showing up.　I think it's amazing that you can shoot without worrying about camera shake.

　To be honest, you don't need 100 million pixels to take pictures with your smartphone and view them on your smartphone. However, it is not necessary to deny all possibilities. From the point of view of the content creator, it is helpful to have the option of shooting in high resolution for the time being and cropping the necessary parts . Also, from the point of view of image processing, it is better to obtain the amount of information at a higher resolution than if there is no information, or even if it is a little dirty.

　However, we cannot avoid the problem of how well it matches the actual product and how it is used in everyday use. The size of the sensor cannot be increased to fit the size of a smartphone, and the amount of light that can be captured by each pixel is reduced. This time, although there are clouds in the upper part, the sun is positioned and the conditions are a little worse than the direct light. In the 108MP mode of this 108-megapixel camera, the dark areas are terrible because high resolution is prioritized. Tree leaves are crushed.

　Regardless of the color and background of the apartment building, if the leaves are crushed to this extent, it will be difficult to raise the details later with image quality processing. HDR should work even at 108MP, but in order to take good shots without camera shake while packing 100 million pixels into this small sensor size, the shutter speed was shortened very severely before compositing. This may be the result of having to increase the ISO sensitivity. If there is a sensor size suitable for 100 million pixels, a camera system, and high-end image quality processing, I think there is a possibility that better results can be obtained. This is the limit of "100 million pixels in the low price range".

　Also, the file size is around 20MB per image. It is also important to note that the more you shoot, the more the storage will be compressed. It's nice to be able to dream of 100 million pixels with a cheap machine, but it may be difficult to use it regularly.

　However, the first machine Mi Note 10 with 100 million pixels, which costs about $433, has a poor camera operation and it takes 4 seconds to save 100 million pixels . It wasn't very useful to be honest. On the other hand, Redmi Note 11S is 1-2 seconds . Even if this is not suitable for shooting moving objects, there is still room for use in appropriate situations. For a model in the $145 range, it does a pretty good job.

　There is no doubt that 100 million pixels is overkill for many people at the moment. However, when compared to high-end smartphones with well-balanced cameras aiming for pixel pitch, the detail is obvious, and there are some parts that seem to be close to the details of dedicated full-size sensors.

　It would be a mistake to affirm 100 million pixels, saying, "The higher the number of pixels, the better."

　The smaller the pixel pitch and the higher the number of pixels, the less light can be captured. On the other hand, countermeasures are taken to prevent camera shake, which in theory is more likely to occur in high-pixel devices. In the high-pixel operation mode, in scenes where dynamic range is required, high-sensitivity noise in dark places is felt as mentioned above, but it is an unavoidable point because it is a trade-off with image stabilization.

　In low-light scenes such as night scenes and indoors, pixel binning is used to treat 9 pixels as 1 pixel to compensate for the lack of light. The night view is an impression that can be taken reasonably well. I can feel the skillfulness of binning and Xiaomi's camera processing because I can shoot a night scene with plenty of light without camera shake.

　In addition, there were scenes where the quality deteriorated in night scenes with less light and low illumination with higher models, but it is excellent for a model in this price range. Arrows We was also seen to be unstable even in night scenes with a moderate amount of light.

　The camera shake correction is effective as it is in video shooting. The recording performance is just a low-priced model. There is no sudden movement when zooming in or out, and the movement is smooth and slow.

　You can also take pictures of delicious rice.

　Although it supports 33W fast charging and has a battery capacity of 5000mAh, I think it's well kept in this thinness and lightness. This would not have been possible with Xiaomi a while ago.

　Impression that it has been well put together even though it is in the $145 range. It's weak point is that it's not waterproof (IP53 dustproof and dustproof) and not 5G compatible, but if you don't need it, I think it's a pretty good model.

　Docomo and au platinum bands are not supported. For those who plan to travel abroad or foreigners visiting Japan, as this machine cannot be confirmed for technical suitability. We believe that the Redmi Note 11 series is likely to be introduced in Japan as well, and we hope that it will be of some help.