Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: which one to buy?
The Xiaomi Mi 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 are cutting-edge Android phones. They offer high-end technology for less money and a smartphone experience not far removed from £1,000 phones in many ways.
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If you want the most features and the highest quality build you can get for your money, buy the Xiaomi Mi 11. It looks like a real enthusiast phone, has a more desirable processor and is better value -price when you break it down.
However, it's not the best choice for everyone. The Samsung Galaxy S21 is a much smaller phone, perfect if you're tired of smartphones sticking out of pockets. Its camera is also a bit more versatile.
Still not sure? Read on for a full breakdown of each phone's best features.
Jump to:
Main differences at a glance
Specifications and features
Price and storage
Battery life
Camera
Display
5G capacity and connectivity
Design
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: which one to buy?
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: the main differences at a glance
The Xiaomi Mi 11 has a much larger, higher-resolution display
Samsung's ultra-wide and selfie cameras are better
The Xiaomi relies on its very high resolution main camera for zoom images while the S21 has a dedicated zoom lens
We prefer the Snapdragon processor of the Xiaomi Mi 11 to that of Exynos of the S21
The Galaxy S21 is a much smaller phone
The build of the Xiaomi Mi 11 is premium, using curved glass on the front and back
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: in detail
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: specs and features
These phones may have much more expensive “ultra” siblings for the buyer willing to splash mountains of cash on their next phone, but there's no sacrifice in power or performance involved here.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a Samsung Exynos 2100 processor, as does the
Galaxy S21 Ultra
Xiaomi's Mi 11 is powered by the Snapdragon 888, arguably the best Android processor available at the time of the phone's launch.
Which is better? We have to give this one to Xiaomi. While Samsung's Exynos processors have improved dramatically this year, Qualcomm's Snapdragon lineup is still ahead for gaming performance and efficiency.
Right now, we don't think you'll notice the difference as much. The Samsung Galaxy S21 and the Xiaomi Mi 11 will still handle today's Android games just fine, but a little extra juice might please you if you tend to keep your phones as long as possible before upgrading.
Samsung Galaxy S21 colors
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: price and storage
The official prices of these phones are quite similar. But if we go by what you can get from their manufacturers' online stores, the Xiaomi Mi 11 is a bit cheaper.
It costs £649 with 128GB of storage, or £699 with 256GB of storage.
You'll pay £769 for the 128GB Galaxy S21 direct from Samsung, or £819 for the 256GB version.
That said, the price disparity disappears if you broaden your search. At the time of writing, the Samsung Galaxy S21 is available for £649 (128GB version) on Amazon.
So, if price is your main decision, it might be difficult since the Xiaomi Mi 11 and the Samsung Galaxy S21 cost about the same amount.
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Xiaomi Mi 11 vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: autonomy
Neither of these phones are the obvious choice if you want two-day battery life. Both Samsung and Xiaomi produce more durable phones, like the Galaxy S21+ and the
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
.
The day-to-day experience will be quite similar in both. Got a long day on YouTube or a long commute where you're playing a game? The Samsung Galaxy S21 and Xiaomi Mi 11 may need a recharge if you plan to go out at night and use your phone to listen to a podcast on the way home.
They'll last a full day for most people, but don't quite have that super-reliable longevity we've come to love. Why? Likewise, the Mi 11's 4600mAh battery isn't huge considering its super-large super-high-resolution display. Xiaomi probably had to cut the capacity down a bit to keep the phone slim and sleek.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 has the advantage of being used in the real world because its charging is indeed very fast. It comes with a 55W charger which will take the Mi 11 from 0% to a full charge less of one hour.
Samsung Galaxy S21 does not come with a charger at all and only supports 25W charging. If you don't have a 25W Samsung charger at home, you will need to purchase one to get the best performance. recharge speed.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 also has superb wireless charging speeds. At 50W, it works twice as fast as Samsung uses a cable. That's a revelation. Still, such powerful Qi wireless charging pads and stands can cost £70 or more, so we'd probably advise sticking to a good old wired charger.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 does support wireless charging, but only at 15W speeds You can get a docking station with that kind of power for under £15 online which could be a nice accessory for your office.
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: camera
The Xiaomi Mi 11's camera can make your eyes stand out if you don't follow the phone's technology too closely. It has a 108 MP main camera, which looks a lot more impressive than the 12 MP camera Samsung Galaxy S21.
However, after looking at every piece of the camera puzzle, of which there are plenty these days, we think the Samsung Galaxy S21's matrix is slightly better. It's mostly a matter of flexibility.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a better ultra-wide camera than the Xiaomi Mi 11, a better selfie camera and a better zoom. It uses a 64-megapixel sensor with a 1.1x lens for zoom shots: at barely worthy of a wildlife photographer. But it then crops into this camera's view to produce more detailed images than the standard 12-megapixel camera.
When using the Samsung Galaxy S21, you always feel like there's a whole bunch of useful options at your fingertips, allowing you to be more creative in the way you shoot. also scores a victory on the image quality front.
Photos from the Samsung Galaxy S21 tend to have significantly better dynamic range than those from the Xiaomi Mi 11. This means you'll see less blown-out highlights, where the brighter parts become panels of white, and more detail in the highlights. darker places. Dynamic range is one of the most important aspects of photography, arguably more important than detail in phone cameras.
Xiaomi Mi 11 Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S21's win is marginal though, and the Xiaomi Mi 11's cameras are excellent. Normal 1x zoom images will sometimes be more detailed than Samsung's, which is handy if you think you want to zoom in on vacation pictures to put on. on a wall. And he has an unusual secret weapon: a telemacro camera.
This is a camera for close-up photography with a zoom-style lens designed to let you focus on subjects incredibly close to you. It's primarily used for nature photography. We've come across some one for the first time in the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro, and it's great fun to play with. Although its resolution is only 5MP, it's enough to bring out the details that the average camera does. a phone couldn't. Heck, it can see things our eyes can't.
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: display
Here's where we get to the part that reveals why the Samsung Galaxy S21 and the Xiaomi Mi 11 aren't so similar, if you forget their prices are neck and neck.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 has a very large screen of 6.81 inches. The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a relatively small screen of 6.2 inches.
We'll cover the benefits of "going small" in the design section of this comparison. But in a pure screen-to-screen battle, Xiaomi wins.
The Xiaomi Mi 11's large display is a great canvas for gaming and video streaming, and the technology used is really quite amazing for the price. It's a 3200 x 1440 pixel ultra-high resolution display, and it still looks very crisp despite the large screen area.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a lower resolution - a 2400 x 1080 pixel panel - although it still looks sharp despite its small size. This one is all about the size.
They also share several impressive elements. The Xiaomi MI 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 have OLED panels, which have bright pixels for effectively infinite contrast. Samsung's display arm likely produced both of these screens.
They have a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, for incredibly smooth scrolling, and extremely high brightness for good visibility on sunny days.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 is a step up, but the size is the only difference anyone will notice.
Samsung Galaxy S21
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: 5G capability and connectivity
Do these phones have 5G? Of course they do. We'd be hard-pressed to recommend such expensive phones to UK buyers if they didn't have 5G at this stage.
In other senses, however, they're more limited than some of the much cheaper 4G phones we love and still recommend in 2021. Neither let you plug in a pair of wired headphones without using a USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter.
You can't insert a microSD card, so consider how much storage you'll need before deciding between the respective 128GB or 256GB versions.
However, these are standard products for high-end phones in 2021, and the Xiaomi Mi 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 both have advanced wireless standards such as Wi-Fi 6. You may have it. be encountered if you've recently upgraded your home internet router. It's faster and works more efficiently if your home internet is cluttered with stacks of devices.
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Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: design
If we were to remove all questions of personal preference from this comparison, the Xiaomi Mi 11 would win this "design" section. It has a stunning curved glass back and a luxurious curved glass front, where Samsung uses plastic on the back of the Galaxy S21 in order to save money.
This can pick up scuff marks more easily and doesn't feel as expensive.
However, this category is much more complicated than that. We are fans of the styling of Samsung's S21 series phones. They are distinctive and eye-catching, styled in a way that looks like it was made for the cover of a glossy magazine. The look of the Xiaomi MI 11 may seem like a very expensive phone, but it's more anonymous and could be confused with phones further down Xiaomi's (admittedly excellent) Android range.
Xiaomi wins for build quality. Samsung wins for style. Ultimately, you'll have to decide which size phone is right for you.
The Galaxy S21 is 12.6mm shorter and 3.4mm narrower than the Xiaomi Mi 11. It may not seem like much, but it means these two belong to totally different size classes. The Samsung is a small phone, the Xiaomi Mi 11 a great one.
Of course, the Xiaomi isn't as brick-like as the tech-packed Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. It's actually relatively small for a 6.81-inch-screen phone thanks to its tiny bezels. .But some readers may prefer to live with a smaller phone like the Galaxy S21.
It doesn't require finger gymnastics and will slip into pockets more easily. Plus, it makes misguided social media scrolling in bed less likely to end with the phone falling flat on your face.
Best Xiaomi Phones
Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: which one to buy?
If the question here is which phone gets you the most bang for your buck, the Xiaomi Mi 11 is the winner. more expensive and a slightly better processor.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 isn't far behind, however. It's also sleeker, easier to handle, and the camera array is a bit more versatile thanks to its higher-quality ultra-wide and selfie cameras. A dedicated zoom camera allows also to take 3x and 5x photos.
Buy the Xiaomi Mi 11:
Amazon
Vodafone
|from £33 per month and £29 upfront
Three
|from £40 per month and £19 upfront
Xiaomi Mi 11 Deals
Buy the Samsung Galaxy S21:
Amazon
Samsung
Vodafone
|from £33 per month and £29 upfront
EE
|from £47 per month and £100 upfront
O2
|from £44.21 per month and £30 upfront (includes
DisneyPlus
subscription)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Deals
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Still comparing? Don't miss our
OnePlus vs Samsung Galaxy S21
comparison or our
iPhone 12 vs. Samsung Galaxy S21
to guide.