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Redmi’s Note 11 global launch comes with a few big surprises

If you’ve been tracking the journey of the Redmi Note 11 series for the past few months, chances are you already know that these devices have been on sale in China for quite some time now. We also know pretty much everything there is to know about its hardware. But it turns out that Redmi could still spring a few surprises at the launch event since there are rumored to be some big difference between the Chinese model and the global model.

Hours after Xiaomi took to its social media platforms to confirm the January 26 launch date for the global Redmi Note 11 series, the good folks over at TechInsider released images of the Redmi Note 11 Pro, the top-end variant of the product lineup. The images seem to indicate that the global edition of the Redmi Note 11 will be somewhat different-looking from its China-only sibling. And if we are to believe the specs mentioned alongside the product shots, the changes may trickle over to the hardware as well.

Here is the list of changes that the global variant of the Redmi Note 11 Pro appears to have over the existing Chinese variant.

  • The camera array looks markedly different, with the positions of the lenses completely changed. The global edition seems to get a primary lens at the top, followed by two vertically stacked lenses. The Chinese model retains the position of the primary lens, but the two other lenses are positioned next to each other instead of being stacked vertically. The same goes for the A.I. logo and the LED flash module.
  • There seems to be a slight change in the battery capacity on the global variant of the Redmi Note 11 Pro with the capacity going down slightly — from 5160mAh to 5000mAh.
  • The global edition of the Redmi Note 11 Pro is likely to get a midrange Qualcomm Snapdragon chip (likely the Snapdragon 695 or the Snapdragon 750G). The Chinese variant, however, uses the MediaTek Dimensity 920 chip.
  • The color options that will be on offer also look completely different. The global variant appears to get four color options, while users in China can buy the phone in five color options.
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The Chinese variants of the Redmi Note 11 series debuted in October 2021 in China and consisted of three models: The Redmi Note 11 (separate 4G and 5G models), Redmi Note 11 Pro, and the Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus.

Interestingly, the Redmi Note 11 series also saw a limited launch in India, where the company launched a single device called the Redmi Note 11T — which was basically a rebranded version of the Chinese variant of the Redmi Note 11. Xiaomi’s sub-rand Poco launched the same device as the Poco M4 Pro 5G in Europe.

The global launch of the Redmi Note 11 lineup will see these devices officially arrive in Europe, Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand, among other countries. But, surprisingly, one of Xiaomi’s most important markets — India — seems to be missing from the list, and Redmi fans in that country will have to stay content with the Redmi Note 11T for the time being.

Rahul Srinivas
Rahul is a smartphone buff turned tech journalist who has been tinkering with all things mobile since the early 2000s. He has…
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