Xiaomi 11T Selfie review: Accurate target exposure and low noise

The 11T is the middle child in Xiaomi’s latest smartphone range, nestled between the 11T Pro and 11T Lite 5G. Xiaomi’s T models are generally cheaper mid-range alternatives to their flagship Mi offerings and the 11T drops the high-end Snapdragon 888 chipset in favor of the MediaTek Dimensity 1200. It boasts a 6.67-inch AMOLED DotDisplay display, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and 67W fast charging there are still plenty of good-looking specs to get excited about anyway.

For selfie enthusiasts, the front camera uses a 16MP 1 / 3.06 ″ sensor with 1.0µm pixels. The front camera video can be captured with a maximum resolution of 1080p and 30 frames per second.

Let’s see how the Xiaomi 11T behaves in the SBMARK Selfie tests,

Main specifications of the front camera:

• 16 MP 1 / 3.06 ″ sensor with 1µm pixels
• f / 2.45-aperture
• 1080p / 720p at 30fps video (1080p / 30fps tested)

About SBMARK selfie tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone front camera reviews, SBMARK engineers capture and evaluate over 1500 test images and more than 2 hours of video in both controlled laboratory environments and indoor and outdoor natural scenes, using the default camera settings. This article aims to highlight the most important results of our tests. For more information on the SBMARK Selfie Test Protocol, click here.

Test summary

With a SBMARK camera selfie score of 88, the Xiaomi 11T ranks joint third of devices in the high-end segment ($ 400- $ 599), achieving the same score as last year’s Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G. Scoring better than the Samsung Galaxy A71’s 83, the Xiaomi 11T is an attractive option at this price point, but its scores aren’t as impressive as those of the Asus ZenFone 6 or Huawei nova 6 5G, respectively. 98 and 100.

The Xiaomi 11T boasts excellent target exposure and fairly high details in outdoor selfies.

Since the Xiaomi 11T is equipped with a similar front camera to that of the more expensive Xiaomi 11T Pro, it would be reasonable to assume comparable image quality between the two. This is not the case, however, since Xiaomi ditched the Snapdragon chipset used on the Pro model and, as a result, the 11T performs slightly worse in many areas.

The Xiaomi 11T controls the noise in both indoor and outdoor images well, managing to maintain good levels of detail in outdoor shots. Target exposures are also very accurate in all lighting scenarios, ensuring that faces are always well exposed. Unfortunately, dynamic range is limited, so bright backgrounds are often overexposed, and the slightly underwhelming color rendition results in washed-out skin tones and generally low levels of saturation.

In this demanding high-contrast scene, the 11T’s dynamic range is comparable to its Xiaomi Mi 10T predecessor, but the color isn’t as pleasant. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Snapdragon) manages to expose both the subject and the background well, with higher color saturation levels for a much more punchy result.

Xiaomi 11T, limited dynamic range leads to an overexposed background, low color saturation low across the whole image

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, slightly worse dynamic range than 11T but more saturated colors

Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Snapdragon), the best of the three thanks to well exposed subject and background with good color saturation

Artifacts are generally well controlled on the 11T, although some anamorphoses are visible when subjects are close to the edges of the frame and color quantization is often present in low light conditions. In freehand shots in our texture analysis lab, you can see that the 11T is almost paired with more expensive devices in good lighting, but details quickly diminish in simulated indoor and low-light conditions.

Texture comparison: The Xiaomi 11T offers good details in bright light, but the texture is noticeably lower both indoors and in low light than the Xiaomi 11T Pro and Mi 10T Pro.

Portrait mode is also an area for future enhancements on the 11T. Although bokeh shots offer a strong depth-of-field effect, no realistic blur gradient is visible, and slightly jarring artifacts are generally seen in most images in the depth estimate.

Xiaomi 11T, bokeh simulation

Xiaomi 11T, crop, very obvious depth estimation errors are visible

For video, we see something of the opposite for exposure, with slightly low target exposures but good dynamic range on indoor and outdoor video. White balance is also often neutral, but color remains washed out in the 11T’s video files, which is the most noticeable difference when comparing results to the 11T Pro.

Texture-to-noise ratios are similar to still images with generally well-controlled noise in bright light and accurate texture rendering, but detail is noticeably less in both indoor and low-light videos. Finally, for videos, the stabilization of the Xiaomi 11T is not very effective with many residual movements visible in the videos, even on static scenes with the camera stationary.

In these video examples, you can see that the dynamic range is quite wide on the outside, but the colors are undersaturated and residual motion is visible.