I bought a Redmi Note 8T in late 2020 for £145 and it was a good deal and I was happy with the phone, so I was looking to get a newer one for around £200-240.
The Redmi Note 11 Pro seems to be a joke/scam, along with the entire Redmi range. A Snapdragon 695 for £319? It’s barely faster than the Note 10 Pro (SD 732G). Surprise—you won’t find the Note 10 Pro in stock because everyone would buy that instead. Another thing to note is that the chinese version of the Note 10 Pro has a Dimensity 1100 for only £170, with all the caveats.
The pricing vs performance of the Redmi Note 12, Xiaomi 12 Lite, and the entire Redmi 11 range are bizarre.
One of the only decent options was a OnePlus Nord 2 5G (Dimensity 1200) for £275.
I ended up buying an Oppo Reno8 5G on sale for £250 which has a Dimensity 1300 which [destroys the Note 11 Pro](https://nanoreview.net/en/soc-compare/qualcomm-snapdragon-695-vs-mediatek-dimensity-1300).
Almost 3 years after the Note 8T, Xiaomi should have a Dimensity 1100-1300 range of phones for ~£250 to compete, but they’ve failed to provide any valid options.
True, the Note series lost its usp from Note 11 iteration. I’ve used Note 3, 4, 7 pro, 10s and all of them were all round balanced phones within budget. Was looking forward to get Note 12 pro but its not value for money in that price range, went for Poco F4 instead.
Redmi note 12 turbo is coming
It looks like it will be £500+ or something.
The Poco range seems better value but I noticed they’ve also hidden the Poco F3 5G from sale which would be a good buy to this day.
F3 was from nearly 2 years ago. It’s no longer sold officially. We currently have the Poco F4 and in a few months we will have the F5
You should check the price once more.
FYI the lowest price with 8+256 is CNY2,000.
Only phone in the redmi note 11 series is the pro plus model that seams to justify its price, even the note 12 series seems over rated
Xiaomi made is path frome scratch to the top with low priced but average phones.
But now, its has prices like iPhone, people will turn to another brand like before, low prices is what everyone wants.
Tecno and Inifinix are now the new king of budget phones. The specs and pricing of their phones are what Xiaomi/Poco used to be 2-3 years ago. Though Im not sure if Tecno and Infinix are widely available in your country,
Phones in china are always cheaper then outside
What do you think about the Redmi Note 12 Turbo?
I have the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G which came in at under 200€ with a Watch S1 bundled (using points/vouchers on the Mi Store app during a sale). To be honest, I can’t fault that for value.
I find that, with Xiaomi, you have to plan and you have to play their sales and promos. Then everything is cheap as chips.
There is a leak where the redmi note 12 pro 4g is going to be, a rebrand of redmi note 10 pro
All the models they have are with G85 or or G99 chips, they suck
I don’t recommend Xiaomi phones anymore. There are a lot of cases that their phones needs cpu reballing. Maybe their phones overheat so much when gaming.
Infinix is kinda dodgy with their software. They still have a lot of rough edges to polish up.
That’s true but based on the other brands with the same price range Tecno and Infinix offer phones with 6/8 ram and 128/256 storage while others only offer 4/6 ram and 64/128 at a more expensive price. As for the camera and software its a hit or miss.
Its the same with Xiaomi and Poco too though when they were still on the level that Tecno and Infinix are on now
With Samsung A you get the water seals/protection.
Plus decent cameras and AMOLED, of which at a similar price point you likely get the later with Xiaomi too.
I don’t like what seem to be but maybe aren’t bugs in the Xiaomi software then again that they offer like two alternative users on the phone for instance is cool. Maybe others do to though? Haven’t thought about that.
The only good budget phone company is Motorola by now
Motorola is much better, has a similar price tag on older models, better CPU, and doesn’t have malware in their software
It’ll probably be the Poco F5 in Europe and if the price of 12 Pro+ is anything to go by, you might as well just buy a OnePlus 11 / Pixel 7 pro. I hope I’m wrong though.
It’s more of an insurance, you might not even use it at all, but when the moment comes you’ll be glad you had it.
I’m back to Samsung. I paid the same for a A52s 5G as I did for my Redmi Note 9 / Poco X3 back then.
Nah, other then CPU, this is way lower then Note 12 Pro (+).
Yes but they are not 2-3x more.
I went
Mi5
Mi6
Mix 1 / Mix 2
Poco F3
.. but after that their pricing went very poor in my region (australia)
And the poco F4 was a disappointment..
I have since swapped to a samsung s21.. and have been happy
Don’t think I will go back to xiaomi
This is the exact reason why I am currently sitting in a Xiaomi service center getting my note 10 pro fixed coz that phone was amazing for the price. And the service center fixed my back panel and camera in less than an hour (both physical damages btw)
I was initially waiting for the redmi note 11, but since it was costing way above what the note series category, i went with the xiaomi 11t pro. A sd 888 for a little more price. I am happy with it as i dont play games for longer durations. But its also true that motorola is making way better phones now, i just hope they also improve their service centres.
Motorola is worse than ximi when it comes to updates and g53 is a downgrade, the other phones they’re doing this year seem trash too
Actually, no. The edge series is their flagship and the 30 pro is actually quite cheap for the specs. Lacking updates are a thing, but unlocking the bootloader is very easy on Motorola, and you can get OTA updates on LineageOS. This year they’re gonna come out with the edge 40 and it looks very promising
Half the A series uses JN1 as camera sensor or 48MP 1/2in. Redmi does better at cameras. Not to mention lower end A series having 5MP ultrawide
Honestly, they’re still good value if you wait a little bit before buying.
Their phones launch at high prices, but unlike the established high end brands, they fall really quick. The Xiaomi 12 launched at 800€ if I’m not mistaken, but I got it less than a year after launch for 470€ lol, which is a good deal imo.
30 pro was released last year. Look at phones like g53, they’re trash.
A waterproof phone is still better protected against sea water and the like than a normal one. And it’s also nice to be able to take a shower or bath with the phone nearby without needing to worry about any damage. Doesn’t matter if you forget it in the rain either. It’s just peace of mind.
And so what? It’s still their latest flagship. The g53 is a very low budget phone. I did mention the upcoming edge 40? The specs were leaked and it looks amazing. The g53 costs 250$. It is no wonder that it’s bad compared to 500$+ phones! It’s still one of the best and one of the few in that price range
The Redmi Note 10 pro is still a good option. I got it for £129 on sales on Amazon last year. Around the same period, Xiaomi was selling the same note 10 pro for about £145. Periodically Xiaomi does sales for their devices.
To be honest, xiaomi doesn’t have those amazing deals anymore. If i had to buy a phone now, I’d buy a pixel 6a. The best deal for the price.
How are their cammeras?
Yeah that’s why I bought Redmi note 10 pro instead of 11 pro
X3 still king
bruv the pro plus model in china is literally 200$ cheaper than global, should not even look at china prices lmao
I live in the Philippines. In selling platform Shopee I recently bought a Redmi Note 11 4/64 for 5000 ph. Peso, that’s 92 us $. Very nice amoled screen, and good battery time.
As a gift for a kid i also bought a Redmi 9C 3/64 for just under 4000 peso, that’s around 74 us dollar.
Budget phones for sure, but you don’t hear me complaining about the price.
Agreed. Switched from Xiaomi to Motorola. No regrets
Me too! Went from a Motorola G6 play, to a Redmi note 9 pro, and back to a Motorola edge 20 pro!
MKBHD said you either die a hero or live long enough to be the villain, a batman chirp. Don’t be loyal to the brand, focus on the product man.
The last time I bought a phone brand new in the box was the Huweai P30 Lite which was around £280-£300 price point i think.
Since then all devices I have bought “used” and has served me well.
For example I got the Honor 9x pro phantom purple for £95 (256GB storage, 6GB ram) , various chromebooks/laptops from £56 to £130.
These days I’m thinking if I should just replace the screen on my phone rather than buy another one. I mostly got it for the lack of front camera and hideous hole punched screens.
What? The g53 is literally worse than its predecessor (g52).
So true, I actually thought about posting something similar just the other day.
I bought my Mi8 Lite 3.5 years ago for 160 euros, brand new. Before that, I had the redmi 4x and the original Note 4g.
I’m a 3-4 year per phone guy, and I’m looking at Xiaomi for an upgrade this year and thinking wtf.
I’m probably gonna buy a pixel 6a.
I would like to stay with Xiaomi and I can afford their prices and much more, but I’m not paying 300+ eur for a phone that comes with Android 12, bunch of bloatware, ads, and will maybe go to Android 14. For up to 250 euros I’m okay with those compromises, but 300+ is serious teritory.
I won’t even mention the hardware nerfs as the OP already said the most. They even started removing SD card support.
I’ve been recommending Xiaomi for years, most of my family and friends used them, but that’s gonna change.
You can buy a bloody Samsung that’s a better bang for the buck than any Xiaomi, and will be supported longer (A52s for example). Samsung offers better value than Xiaomi, never thought I’d say that.
most phones have ingress protection even if not rated. I used to take videos underwater with my mi 11 lite all the time, same with my mi 8 lite and many not rated phones before that
I went from a Xiaomi Mi10T because the mic broke and there is no way to fixing it without changing the main board and it’s not even sure to a A52s.
Technically a power downgrade in the processor, but I did not noticed it.
Glad I switched, Camera is 1000 times better, screen is amazing, and Samsung software is much better than Xiaomi.
A52s is a great phone! I paid far less for it than for my previous Mi 10T.
You can wash the phone. and use it under rain without worrying. I wouldn’t use it under sea or pool water anyway these are the only 2 scenarios I would need water protection and water protection covers them
Yes, but it is less expensive on release than it was on release. Also, why do you compare the absolute cheapest of the phones against each other? Compare the good ones! Once you go down on the price enough, you get diminishing returns. The market for sub-300$ phones is practically dead by this point and Motorola is the only name brand that has any sort of reputation still in it.
Indeed. I know POCO is not xiaomi but, the Poco X3 Pro is still a beast after more than 2 years, better than any low/middle and even high end Xiaomi phones. POCO X4 and X5 are a dissappointment.
Which are pieces of shit compared to F3
After my Note 4, A2 Lite and Mi9 Lite I went for a Pixel 6a + a iPhone SE Trade in (-200 EUR lol, the iphone se was 35 EUR used). Now that’s a budget phone for ~190 EUR, Xiaomi really let down their low tier customers. First by ditching android one and then by re-releasing the same phone in 20 different variants so you have to specifically know what config you want.
I wish… microbiologically speaking, your phone is the most filtyh object you own. but since my phone is not waterproof i can not put it directly into water and i have to use wet wipes regularly. its better than nothing but i wish i could soak it in water.
I have the Xiaomi 11T which supposedly have a 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM2 1/1.52″ sensor, which should be the same as on the 11T Pro. However combined with the Dimensity 1200 Ultra SoC rather than Snapdragon 870. DxOmark rank it lower than the 11T Pro and to me the pictures and videos look bad.
I like how the Samsung A-photos look and possibly also the OnePlus Nord/CE/whatever don’t really remember.
When I had gotten the phone the alternative then was the Realme GT Neo (?) and I guess the Samsung A52/A73/A52s. The Realme had better camera performance I think also better SoC? And a lower price. Didn’t intend to keep the 11T just needed a phone for the camera right then but it ended up in my possesssion.
I so far haven’t really used the ultrawide and macro since they shot crappier photos still, though of course when necessary that would make them the only option.
So what?
I live in Örebro Sweden. It would had typically been rain here but otherwise tap water and possibly lake Hjälmaren water.
There’s rain. And bathrooms. Maybe laying the phone on the sink or kitchen sink.
Having one with water seals would be being careful. As it would help protect it.
But sure you stay in a safe space with your glass toy.
I thought the Samsung Note 4 was supposed to have water protection or whatever and I didn’t cared all that much and it ended up being dipped a bit in the tub … Not the best ;D
I haven’t broken it but that’s the same, in this case covered with Invictus and the silicon or whatever case. Neither makes it bullet proof but more likely to survive.
I get water on it if nothing else because rain is a thing and I also get it on the front glass as using the phone while it’s raining is a thing.
we need the next company to fill the hole left by Xiaomi in the budget phone area
I’ve moved to Oppo for this exact reason.
But europe really adds extra 100 dollars everytime i see their prices. Just like is f4 gt. Like a f4 gt here was $650 at launch. While on europe it was $750+
it’s actually not that bad. again, always keep in mind the price when looking at it.
Need solid 2-3 weeks of research before buying a xiaomi, they have so many models and so many corners cut that we have to avoid.
going for a pixel or iphone for a higher price seems like worth it now
We got three years warranty in all devices in the UE. You gotta pay for the service.
After my mi 11T pro I decided to switch to samsung. Not that the phone was bad hardware wise, but the os has become absolute trash. I don’t want to hard reset my phone every couple months just for it to not be laggy or crash.
The F4 is very similar though, while boosting the camera and charging speed
So happy with it. Super snappy, microSD, headphone jack, AMOLED display, IP67, monthly updates.
Sadly it appears the A53 was not as good, even the recently released A54 barely surpassing the A52s performance. Apparently we were not supposed to get as much bang for our buck with the A52s.
Yep, I went with the A52s because of the worse Exynos chips on A53.
Over the years I’ve had 3 different Xiaomi phones and initially they were all good, but I also noticed the OS just keeps getting worse. I switched to realme.
yup, I had a Xperia XZ back in the day that was waterproof but not rated either and I never had problems.
Afaik the rating costs money so some manufacturers avoid it despite the phone beeing waterproof.
Do you think steam is worse than water? I assume it’s the same, except it’s *very hot* steam.
I never had problems with it, I also wash the whole phone from time to time
The only problem I ever had was when I tried to take underwater-shots in the sea with my Note 9. Phone worked fine but the usb-c-port broke.
redmi note 10pro is an excellent budget phone
How is Samsung Android nowadays? I had a note years ago and i hated it. MIUI felt so much cleaner in comparison. I haven’t used a samsung phone in a while but recently got a Samsung tv which i also hate compared to stock Android/Google tv
That’s because you’re looking in the wrong places. The Poco F4 with the Snapdragon 870 was £279 on Amazon last week. Back in December you could get it for £279 with 2 Poco watches. Redmi phones generally aren’t good when it comes to performance, I think they’re marketed towards the camera but they have lots of subrands for no apparent reason. The Poco F series are where it’s at for budget and performance. The Poco F5 pro is rumoured to be based on the redmi k60 with a snapdragon 8+ gen 1, 2k display, 5500mAh battery etc. That would be a steal for £400 and under..
Not really, in some places the F4 despite being a very minimal upgrade is cheaper than the F3. Comes with 67w charging, OIS, actual proximity sensor etc
The Poco f3 is back on Xiaomis website for £279, it is however 2 years old if that is something you’re ok with
One UI is the best skin on Android. Way better than MIUI. Only bad thing is the pricing of their flagships. But the Xiaomi 13 Pro is more expensive than the iPhone 14 and S23 ultra in a lot places so there’s that
Nonsense it has to be the Poco F3/F4. Nowhere will you get 2 poco watches and a snapdragon 870 for £279.
Last time I used one the ui was garbage and it didn’t have a gallery app. If that’s still the case sod that
Poco X3 has motherboard issues. Poco F3/F4 are the best devices from Xiaomi.
Poco F4.
Should’ve went with Poco f3/f4. Poco devices>Redmi devices.
Poco watch on it’s own is £80. Back in December there was a deal for the Poco F4 (snapdragon 870) and 2 Poco watches for only £279. A complete steal.
The Poco X3 has motherboard issues. Thousands of units have died and Xiaomi did nothing about it lol just letting you know if it’s your daily driver.
What is the note 12 turbo? GPU and CPU are all that matters at that price point which are vastly better than the note 12 pro.
Yea that’s not the case anymore. You get stock AOSP with all the useful apps you ever need
Is it still using Google photos
It appers so.
Yeah,but you can install whatever app you need
Yeah i bought the shitty note 11 too and it was such a dissapointment i will never buy one again literally every other samsung is better heck even an old nokia had less problems than the newer xiaomis
It’s not the prices, it’s the price to performance. In the Android space, there doesn’t exist a better price to performance proposition than an iPhone. That’s insulting because we know how much Apple overcharges for their phones. It’s a spit in the face when you realize that a 2019 iPhone 11 will perform better than any $300 Android phone, and It’ll either have equal, or better software support.
Samsung isn’t the benchmark? They’re literally the Gucci of smartphones 🫥
Lol you comparing iphone 11, how much does it cost in 2019?
Maybe I should’ve elaborated further, I meant the used market. It cost $699 back in 2019, but even today at around $250 used or refurbished it’s still the best value phone. As in Android phones that are that same price on the used market get the floor wiped with them in almost every category. If we look at the new or the refurbished market though, the difference becomes even more apparent.
Why you think apple/iphone better when there is no more suport after 3years.
When android you get custom ROMs with better performance?
Wdym? iPhones get 6-7 major iOS updates, and then 3 years of security updates after. What better performance? There doesn’t exist an Android version better optimized than iOS.
I’m on the Poco f3 and miui has gotten worse after every update. Unlocking the bootloader is a joke in the UK, I had to create a new mi account with the region set to USA, and after that had to go through 2 luck based steps to unlock the bootloader. Took 3 weeks to finally get the thing done and after all that I couldn’t get TWRP to read my internal storage so I couldn’t flash a custom ROM no matter what I tried. Had to re-lock the bootloader and just accept miui sucks.
pro+ chiming in: such an amazing value. Couldn’t be happier.
it’s still true today, i have a not 9 , i watched note 13 perf… and it’s almost no difference why make aphone every year if it’s too have the same phone