Xiaomi is hosting a Black Friday sale on its official website during which a number of Xiaomi and Redmi products will be available with discounts. The Black Friday sale from Xiaomi will be live between November 23 and November 30. One deal that instantly caught our eye (and must have got your attention too) is a nearly Rs 5,500 discount on the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G. The smartphone was launched in India late September at a starting price of Rs 26,999 for the base variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
The interested buyers can now get up to Rs 5,500 off on the phone. This includes a Rs 2,500 instant discount if the purchase is made using ICICI Bank Credit Cards and EMI. The deal is limited to Xiaomi's official website - mi.com. The offers are also applicable on the 8GB RAM variant of the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G. Yet, this is not the best deal. Instead, you should go for the Mi 11X which is available for just Rs 1,000 more.
Don't get me wrong. The Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G ticks almost every box you expect a mid-range device to. The phone looks very similar to the Mi 11 Lite 4G variant which was launched in India. It also comes in the same colour variants - Tuscany Coral, Vinyl Black, and Jazz Blue. Only Xiaomi has added a new Diamond Dazzle colour. The phone is lightweight and slim as Xiaomi promises. It comes with a 6.55-inch 10-bit AMOLED display with full HD+ resolution and an aspect ratio of 20:9.
The panel supports up to 90Hz refresh rate and a touch sampling rate of 240Hz. One of the reasons why I would ask you to seriously consider the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G is its display. The phone features the best screen in this segment. Xiaomi has given support for Dolby Vision on Netflix and the smartphone is also HDR 10+ certified. The triple rear camera system includes a 64-megapixel primary sensor, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide shooter and a 5-megapixel telemacro shooter. The Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE comes with a 20-megapixel selfie camera sensor at the front.
We found the camera performance satisfactory as well. In fact, you can read more about it in India Today Tech's review of the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G. You can also check out the image samples there.
There are only two major issues with the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G - a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC and a 4,250mAh battery. Again, the first can still be passed but battery backup can be a concern for many. Xiaomi's Mi 11X addresses both these issues for the same price, while offering a lot of other features.
Mi 11X packs a more powerful and reliable Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC. The chipset is one of the most powerful processors of this year and certainly the most efficient one. It features a 120Hz display and packs a 4,520mAh battery with 33W fast-charging support. A decent pair of stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos and High-Res audio support, and IP53 for dust and water resistance complete this affordable flagship.
Now, the choice is yours. If you want a slim and lightweight smartphone, then go for the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G. Otherwise, the Mi 11X offers better value in this segment.