Content
- Xiaomi Mi 11
- Jokes from Samsung, which corporations should avoid so as not to disgrace
- Conclusion: 2021
Xiaomi Mi 11
The lack of trade shows has changed the entire landscape of new product launches. Manufacturers no longer wait for specific dates. The number of online events in 2020, in my opinion, has exceeded every imaginable limit.
The next year will not be easy. This year, many have overhauled their electronics and are not going to spend money in 2021, while the financial situation of people is not easy.
Xiaomi unveiled its new flagship Mi 11 on December 28 in China. And they immediately opened a pre-order, but the smartphone will go on sale only on January 8th. Thus, Xiaomi will be able to snatch a little New Year sales (although the Chinese do not celebrate the New Year), but the main goal is for Mi 11 to receive a medal as the first smartphone on Snapdragon 888. Probably in the near future we will see Pro and Lite versions. And now they did not talk about them in order to have news feeds in stock.
We’ll see new Galaxy from Samsung very soon, but for now let’s look at the Mi 11 as the first flagship of 2021.
TECH SPECS
- Processor: Qualcomm® Snapdragon ™ 888 (5nm), Octa-core (1 × 2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3 × 2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4 × 1.80 GHz Kryo 680), Adreno 660 GPU graphics, 6th generation Qualcomm® AI engine, 5G modem X60
- Operating system: Android 11, shell MIUI 12.5
- Memory: 8/12 GB LPDDR5 3200 MHz / 128/256 GB UFS 3.1, no memory card slot
- Screen: 6.81 inches, AMOLED, 1 billion colors, resolution 1440 x 3200 pixels, aspect ratio 20: 9, dot density 515 ppi, 120 Hz, 480 Hz touch frequency, brightness 900 nits, peak brightness 1500 nits, HDR 10+, color accuracy JNCD≈0.38, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
- Battery: 4mAh, 600W fast wired charging, 55W wireless charging, 50W reverse charging, Quick Charge 10+
- Main camera:
- 108 MP, f / 1.9, 26mm (wide), 1 / 1.33 ″, 0.8μm, PDAF, OIS
- 13 MP, f / 2.4, 123 ° (ultra wide angle), 1 / 3.06 ″, 1.12μm
- 5 MP, f / 2.4, (macro), 1 / 5.0 ″, 1.12μm
- Запись видео 8K@24/30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240/480fps; gyro-EIS
- Front camera:
- 20 MP, 27mm (wide), 1 / 3.4 ″, 0.8μm
- Video recording 1080p @ 30fps, 720p @ 120fps
- SIM card: 2 Nano-SIM
- Network and data transmission: GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, dual band A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS, NavIC, NFC, infrared, USB Type-C 2.0
- Sensors: fingerprint scanner (under the screen), accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, compass
- Sound: SOUND BY Harman Kardon stereo speakers
- Other: no radio, no water protection, does not support memory cards
- Materials: glass (Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and Gorilla Glass 7 (?) On the back) and aluminum, there are versions with eco-leather
- Dimensions: 164.3 x 74.6 x 8.1 mm, weight 196 g (leather version 2 g heavier and 0.5 mm thicker)
About chipset
There are several important points in Xiaomi Mi 11 that are worth paying attention to.
First, the new Snapdragon 888 chipset, which, as the name suggests, should be a success in China.
The Snapdragon 888 is an attempt to move Apple as it seems to have accumulated fatigue that Apple’s chipsets are being celebrated and an Android response was needed. Apple chipsets were discussed in a separate issue. I will quote:
Apple, developing chipsets for itself, approached the issue of increasing productivity rationally. The A13 Bionic chipset was made specifically for the iPhone. This is a custom solution. Accordingly, Apple can afford to allocate more space for the high-performance parts of the chipset. And it is quite logical that a processor with a larger area can perform more operations in one cycle.
Apple also allocated more cache to its chipsets. For example, if you look at the Snapdragon 865, the A77 core has a 2 KB L512 cache. While Apple has 4096 KB. Apple’s L1 cache is also larger – 128 KB versus 64 KB. This allows processors to perform operations faster, saving the time competitors wasted “running” to RAM.
It’s terribly interesting to see the Snapdragon 888’s behavior live. Thanks to the process technology, it should increase energy efficiency, so that in everyday life, the smartphone should live longer. However, what will happen in energy-intensive tasks (for example, in games)? Will the new flagships warm up and discharge faster than the current ones?
Graphics performance is 35% faster than the previous generation, and AI performance is up 73%.
Here, by the way, just right to feel sad. Unfortunately, the smartphone market is different from the PC market. On the latter, having bought a powerful desktop or laptop, you can always find games, applications and tasks that will allow you to load your computer to the fullest.
In the case of Android, relatively speaking, I can play Call of Duty Mobile on Vsmart Joy 4, which is on the top flagship. At the same time, due to the small screens, the picture quality will not be strikingly striking. This is one of the problems of the Android market. Low-end devices occupy 90% of the market, so developers, and Google in the first place, are forced to focus on them. How prettier Android would be if, when creating it, the developers believed that all smartphones have Snapdragon 888 with powerful graphics and a processor for artificial intelligence. Accordingly, smartphones continue to use AI to a greater extent for photo and video tasks.
About cameras
I don’t know yet how the Xiaomi Mi 11 shoots, but I already like the approach of the engineers. Let’s be honest, despite the abundance of lenses in a smartphone, we still use one photomodule. Sometimes a second module is needed to help the algorithm make a beautiful portrait. Well, a wide-angle lens is sometimes useful. Although often in terms of quality, it is significantly inferior to the main photo module.
Probably multiple lens systems help sell. The buyer makes a logical conclusion that the more lenses, the better the shooting quality. Google Pixel and Nokia 9 PureView (each in its own style) refuted this myth.
Xiaomi Mi 11 has only 3 lenses:
- 108 MP, f / 1.9, 26mm (wide), 1 / 1.33 ″, 0.8μm, PDAF, OIS
- 13 MP, f / 2.4, 123 ° (ultra wide angle), 1 / 3.06 ″, 1.12μm
- 5 MP, f / 2.4, (macro), 1 / 5.0 ″, 1.12μm
Please note that the camera is neat. This is not the mountain range typical of the 2020 flagships. I’m not a fan of 108MP modules. Yes, they capture more detail, work better with color, and shoot at night, but they wash out at the edges. And for shooting text, they are even less suitable. And even artificial intelligence with a document photographing mode is unable to hide the cloudiness of the picture. Well, maybe a new AI that’s 75% more powerful will do it.
The smartphone supports 55W fast charging. Here on the test was a Dell XPS 13, so it has a 45W adapter. 55W is 43 minutes from 0 to 100%. However, what interests me more is 50W fast wireless charging. 53 minutes from 0 to 100%. Of course, I saw the video, but I really want to watch it live, touch it, how it is when the smartphone is wirelessly charging so quickly. For some reason, it seems to me that there should be swirls and crackling lightning around, as at the moment when the Terminator from the future arrives. And how hot does the smartphone get?
News of the day: Xiaomi Mi 11 will be sold without charging included. However, Xiaomi decided that they would give out a 65 W GaN adapter to everyone free of charge (I will come for a test today, I will do the material!). This is the solution for China. I wonder how it will be in the rest of the world.
Xiaomi, of course, has done very elegantly. Applause! Both the trend was supported and the negative was avoided. But I had to sacrifice a little the current profits for the sake of the image. The next time the smartphone is out of charge, buyers will sort of get used to it.
MIUI 12.5
Why 12.5 and not 13? This was not explained at the presentation, but it is probably a matter of superstition. In some buildings, the 13th floor is skipped, but here it is just an operating system.
From the stage, Xiaomi, talking about the operating system, boasted that:
- MIUI 12.5 is smoother than iOS.
- The firmware has fewer pre-installed applications than Apple or Huawei (the presentation was Chinese, and Samsung lost the Chinese market long ago, so they did not remember about this brand).
- The core of the shell was rewritten, and now it needs 20% less memory and 25% less energy.
- A cool new wallpaper featuring the Chinese mountains known as the Four Sisters Mountain or Four Sisters Mountain. The trick of the wallpaper is that it will change depending on the user’s weather.
Xiaomi Mi 11 at a price of 45 to 53 thousand rubles turned out to be an interesting smartphone. Apparently, there won’t even be ads in the shell. It is very pleasant to watch how Xiaomi is getting stronger, turning, as they say, into a real A-brand with its unique positioning and market niche.
Mi 11 is the first step. And despite all the technical characteristics, this is just a very good smartphone. Xiaomi has lifted the curtain in terms of looks and performance, but I want to see a Samsung product. Because Samsung, as a market leader, can’t just make a good phone. It is imperative to show wow innovation.
Jokes from Samsung, which corporations should avoid so as not to disgrace
Looking at how cleverly Xiaomi refused to charge, I would like to recall that, judging by the rumors, Samsung will also refuse charging. Although from the point of view of the image, they should have held on for a couple of years and then, as it were, under pressure from eco-activists, have already given up. And then, of course, it will be extremely ridiculous. At first they laughed at Apple, after a couple of months they themselves repeated the maneuver.
On the other hand, Samsung is no stranger. And, apparently, this does not affect sales. For example, here is a video already in 2015, where Samsung teases Apple for a non-removable battery.
And here is an advertisement ridiculing the abandonment of the 3.5 mm jack.
There was not enough time for a full-fledged video this time, but here is ridicule for refusing adapters.
So let’s see what happens.
It is absolutely clear that Samsung is doing this because it is trying to extract profit from the moment. As they say, nothing personal, just business. However, there is also the issue of respect, because nothing pisses people off like lies and hypocrisy. But let’s see what happens in January!
Conclusion: 2021
To be honest, perhaps for the first time I am looking into next year without optimism, since it is not clear what to expect. There is a feeling that the whole world is shaking. A vaccine for coronavirus was invented, but, firstly, the side effects are not clear, and secondly, a new strain has already appeared. So far, it is more contagious, then, apparently, a more fatal one will appear.
The coronavirus also affects the development of technology. When people are at home, they don’t need the ThinkPad X1 Fold with a flexible screen, or the Galaxy Fold, or the Mi 11 with great cameras and long battery life. What’s the difference? At home, sockets are always at hand.
Printing presses around the world churn out money, which, as you know, cannot end well. The United States, for example, issues $ 120 billion weekly.
Usually the beginning of the year was optimistic, as first a lot of interesting things at CES in Las Vegas, then MWC in Barcelona, which was also the biggest press tour of the year. In 2021, the MWC was postponed to the end of June. And not the fact that it will be possible to conduct.
Interestingly, most manufacturers haven’t changed their minds. And, apparently, they don’t know how to do it. For example, here’s the September ad for the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. Pandemic, second wave, commercial offers a smartphone for “flashy parties”.
The situation is similar with advertising for Xiaomi Mi 10T. People walk, hang out in companies in bars and restaurants, not a single masked person, not a single hint of social distance.
It is likely that 2021 will roll on the usual tracks, and if the vaccine works, then, you see, you will be lucky. Let’s get past. However, it is clear that COVID-19 is a warm-up, and it is only a matter of time before a new virus emerges. The same contagious, but more deadly.
According to tradition, it is necessary to summarize some results in the last issue of the outgoing year, flaunt achievements, and voice heroic plans for the future. Frankly speaking, there is almost no strength left for this. All of 2020 for me is a sheer hassle due to the diseases of family members and coronavirus restrictions, which seem to have been introduced not to prevent diseases, but to complicate life, when pharmacies do not have the necessary medicines and even funerals turn into bureaucratic red tape. 2021 will definitely not be better.
However, I really like the quote from the book “Shantaram”: if your fate does not make you laugh, then you did not understand the joke. An amazingly accurate and accurate observation. I remember how, while typing the last issue of Echo for 2019, in the intervals between typing, I purposefully threw pieces of bread at the pelicans, sitting on the embankment in Veracruz, and selflessly whining about the meaninglessness of travel in the modern world, when all the same experience can be obtained from the comfort of your home – from fruits and overseas cuisine to postcard views that can be displayed on the big screen. I did not appreciate freedom and carelessness.
2020 seemed to specifically show how wrong I was. And he did not gently click on the nose, but clearly explained how to the most sultry tanker.
In a selection of gadgets for November, I managed to complain about how tired all these churches and dull landscapes of the Moscow region are. Without waiting for a new portion of clarification, I immediately admit that I was wrong. And I will say that the churches are beautiful, and indeed, quoting Yesenin: “Oh, you, my Rus, my dear homeland, sweet rest in the silk of kupyrs!”
2021 is unlikely to be easy, and perhaps 2020 will still be remembered with nostalgia.
I wish everyone health and physical, moral, financial well-being and that everything you have was Orthodox!
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