It’s all about offering more for less! That era was different when we had to settle for less while going for a budget smartphone. In this decade, smartphones under Rs. 15,000 can offer you an AMOLED screen, 50MP camera and even the 5G network. And Infinix Note 11 is another addition to the list of these recent budget smartphones which makes the headlines due to several reasons: an AMOLED display! A 50MP rear camera! , and a 5000mAh battery -- all at a starting price of Rs. 12,499. To know how it performs in real life, I have used it for the past few weeks and this is what I have found.
It’s all minimalist at the back! And personally, I love it this way. The Note 11 comes in three colour options - celestial snow, glacier green, and graphite black, amongst which I got the latter one. It literally looks like the dusty graphite coated back while giving it a matte finish. Despite the minimalist design on the rear, Infinix tried to play around with the cameras.
Without disturbing much of its matte look body, the triple camera setup sits atop a rectangular module with a huge 50MP lens accompanying other two lenses. That’s all at the back! On the front, it features a dew-drop notch selfie camera. Overall, it is a fancy design but I expected more from Infinix, given its track record of producing some striking phones in the past. Moreover, at 184.5 grams in weight, the Infinix Note 11 fits comfortably in hand despite its flat edges.
Amongst all the features of the Infinix Note 11, the spotlight falls on its display! Doesn't it seem like a blessing to get an AMOLED screen under Rs. 15,000 these days? Infinix’s 6.7-inches display with its bezel-less look fosters bright and vibrant colours. Even under the bright sun, it adjusts the screen brightness such that it becomes easy to use the phone for basic purposes like reading, checking messages, or accessing call logs. Due to the absence of Widevine L1 support, I couldn’t play full HD content on Netflix and Amazon Prime, but the vibrant colours almost made up for it. On the whole, the Note 11 impresses with a nice display.
For someone moving from an Asus Zenfone Max 2, which relies on the ancient Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset and Android 8.1 OS, the Infinix Note 11 seems like a whole new boost in terms of performance. Powered by MediaTek Helio G88 processor and coupled with 4GB of RAM, the Note 11 performed well without any struggle to do the basic tasks such as browsing the internet, checking emails, using social media and stuff which we usually do daily. Even while gaming, I could play titles such as Call of Duty: Mobile, BGMI, PUBG: New State, and Asphalt 8 without any lag. After 30 minutes of continuous playtime of BGMI, one end of the smartphone heated up. That means the dedicated gamers who even play more than an hour will have to deal with the hot device!
The OS experience is also kind of a mixed bag. The phone boots with XOS based on Android 11, which brings its own unique UI along with annoying in-built apps that keep sending you the notification until and unless you set them off. Besides that, in my opinion, I liked the UI of the smartphone – easy to handle with multiple options. Why? It segregates the notification bar (via sliding down from the left corner) from the quick settings menu (comes down from the right corner). Simple and sorted!
For sound, the Infinix Note 11 features a 3.5mm audio jack and dual speakers, which makes the audio quality worth playing within a room area. I have used the phone with the 4G network of Vodafone, which made the calling experience as well as internet connectivity trouble-free. For security purposes, it provides a face recognition feature and fingerprint sensor-enabled in the unlock button, which is too quick to deal with. I mean really really quick!
Starting from morning alarms to office calls, browsing, playing games, and ending with late-night social media scrolling or binge-watching, the Note 11 usually survived all of my activities throughout the day on a single charge with around 7-8 hours of screen time. Even on moderate usage of around 3-4 hours a day, the 5000mAh battery of the Note 11 didn't ask for the energy to refill for two days.
After draining my phone battery up to 15 percent, it took around 1.5 hours to get its energy refilled with its 33W charger. The charging can even raise the energy bar from 15 percent to 30 percent within 10 minutes of quick charge, enough to use for 1.5-2 hours.
While keeping in mind the price of the smartphone, one shouldn’t expect excellent photography output from pocket-friendly phones. Still, I would say that the 50MP camera along with its 2MP depth sensor and an undefined AI sensor, performed moderately okay. In daylight, pictures came out bright and rich in colours, quite usable to upload on the social media feeds. While its Portrait mode didn't meet my expectations as it doesn't define the edges well, even though, while keeping the focus on an object or a person, one can get the decent bokeh effect. For indoor photography, the camera performs as per the expectations; depending on the light available in the room, it captures noise-free shots.
Even the 16MP selfie camera performed decently well while taking selfie shots in daylight. But in cloudy conditions or dim light, the camera struggled to take selfies. While zooming in, anyone can witness the pixelated image. Though, you can get a clear selfie shot in the night… but with the flash! The photography in the night with Infinix Note 11 will surely test your stillness, as it will make you wait for around 5-6 seconds to get a blur-free lit photo, but that’s what has been the case with night-mode since years, isn’t it!? What is the plus point of the Note 11's camera is the add-on of the beautification mode with manual adjustments, which I personally loved!
Looking at its camera for recording a video, it allows recording either in 720p, 1080p, or 2K. In normal mode, it seems shaky in a moving shot, but with ‘Ultra-steady’ mode, I was able to record quite a stable video for a moving shot. Interestingly, it comes with the pre-existing shot-video feature to let you record a video within 15 seconds, with or without the filters (yes, I meant Infinix's own Snapchat-like filters!).
The Infinix Note 11 takes multiple features on its plate and serves the taste of almost everything! Looking at it collectively, at a cost of Rs. 12,499, the Note 11's strength includes its long battery life, the vibrant AMOLED display, a fancy design, and a decent set of cameras. The XOS interface is, however, not to everyone's taste and Infinix does not clarify the situation on software updates. Additionally, the Helio G88 still leaves room for performance improvements, even if you aren't gaming always.
That said, the Infinix Note 11 is a commendable smartphone for the price it sells. Compared with its arch rival, i.e., the Moto G31, it certainly edges in the specs game, and fares better with its larger display and a superior design. Motorola's software is cleaner though. The Redmi Note 10 Prime at this price offers better battery life but the rest of the package pales out in comparison. However, the Realme 8i at ₹500 extra offers a much better chipset and more polished user interface.
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