Redmi 11 Prime 5G First Impressions: Unlocking 5G at an Affordable Price

Xiaomi has launched two new budget smartphones under the Redmi 11 Prime series – Redmi 11 Prime 4G and Redmi 11 Prime 5G. The latter is the first smartphone in the Prime series to come with 5G network support. The 11 Prime 5G is also currently Redmi's most affordable 5G smartphone to date. With 5G rollout around the corner in India, Redmi is hoping to target the customer base that wants to experience the next-generation network without having to spend a lot.

The Redmi 11 Prime 5G comes with typical budget 5G smartphone hardware. The company has launched its new 5G smartphone with two storage options. The base variant offers 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage and is priced at Rs 13,999. Those who want the 6GB RAM option can get it for Rs 15,999. This particular variant offers 128GB of internal storage. With a Rs. 1,000 discount on ICICI Bank credit and debit card transactions, the Redmi 11 Prime 5G gets even more affordable starting at Rs 12,999.

Redmi 11 Prime 5G in its Meadow Green colour

Now that the price is out of the way, let's look at what the Redmi 11 Prime 5G has to offer. I have used the phone only for a few hours and my first impressions of it is that the phone looks good. I have the Meadow Green colour variant here, which surely looks refreshing. Xiaomi has recently launched many Redmi phones in shades of blue and white and the addition of this green colour variant does look good. The textured back also has a matte finish, which helps keep fingerprint smudges at bay. If you are not a fan, you can choose between the Chrome Silver or Thunder Black options.

The body is made completely out of plastic, which is quite common for phones in this price range. Continuing the trend that we see in most phones launched in 2022, the Redmi 11 Prime 5G has a flat frame design. The rear panel though, is curved, which makes it easy to hold. The power button doubles as a fingerprint scanner and is located below the volume buttons on the right edge. You also get a USB Type-C port and a single speaker at the bottom edge. For those who want to connect their wired earphones, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top. Redmi is also offering a dedicated microSD card slot, which can be found in the dual-SIM slot on the left edge.

Redmi 11 Prime 5G features a plastic frame

The phone is slightly on the heavier side at 200g and is also fairly thick at 8.9mm. Redmi has added a silicone protective case in the box. You also get a 22.5W fast charger and a USB Type-A to USB Type-C charging cable. The phone, however, supports 18W fast charging only.

The front of the Redmi 11 Prime 5G features a 6.58-inch IPS LCD display. At 400 nits, the screen is not among the brightest out there but I did not experience any issues while using it indoors. There is a waterdrop notch at the top of the display but it is the thick chin at the bottom that is a lot more noticeable. There is a single speaker setup though, which takes away from the multimedia experience. Xiaomi has added a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top of the screen for added protection against accidental scratches and drops.

The Redmi 11 Prime 5G also comes with a 90Hz AdaptiveSync Display. This means that the screen will automatically switch between 50, 60 and 90Hz, depending on the on-screen content.

The Redmi 11 Prime 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC, which aims at offering an affordable 5G experience. Xiaomi also states that the Redmi 11 Prime 5G supports seven 5G bands. Also, both SIM slots support 5G, which means that you can have 5G services enabled on your two SIM cards. We will share more details about the phone's day-to-day performance in our Redmi 11 Prime 5G review.

Moving to the cameras, the Redmi 11 Prime 5G has a dual-camera setup on the back. The phone has a 50-megapixel main camera with an f/1.8 aperture, along with a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, there is an 8-megapixel front camera inside the waterdrop notch.

Redmi 11 Prime 5G runs Android 12-based MIUI 13 out of the box

In terms of software, the Redmi 11 Prime 5G runs Android 12-based MIUI 13 out of the box. MIUI is known to be feature-rich but is also infamous for the bloatware that comes along with it. Users can uninstall most of the third-party apps. Since it is a budget offering, we do not expect the Redmi 11 Prime 5G to get multiple software updates in the future, but maybe Xioami will surprise us. We hope that the phone gets at least Android 13 in the coming months. Xiaomi has not announced any details about the software support.

The Redmi 11 Prime 5G finds itself in the crowded budget smartphone segment, which includes the likes of the Moto G32, Moto G42, Realme 9i 5G, Infinix Note 12, etc. While some of these phones are targeted at offering better value-for-money hardware with a 4G processor, others, such as the Redmi 11 Prime 5G aims to offer a 5G experience at an affordable price. We will test the phone to see if the Redmi 11 Prime 5G is the best 5G smartphone under Rs 15,000 to buy in India. Stay tuned for the full review coming soon on Gadgets 360.