Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE Review

Rear cameras, photo and video samples

The Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE (Xiaomi 2109119DG) has three rear cameras. The main one packs a 64MP Samsung S5KGW3 sensor with a 1/1.97-inch optical format and a 0.7 μm pixel size. The sensor uses Samsung's Tetrapixel technology and Super Phase Detection Autofocus. It is paired with a 6-element lens with an f/1.79 aperture. By default, the main camera outputs 16MP photos. You have to go to the Pro mode if you want to shoot 64MP photos. The main camera records 4K videos at 30 fps.

The main camera is positioned above the 5MP Samsung S5K5E9 telemacro unit within the module on the back of the handset. This is a fully independent camera capable of shooting 5MP photos and FHD videos at 30 fps. The sensor has a 1/5-inch optical format and uses 1.12 μm pixels. The ultra-wide camera is positioned to the right of the main one and the dual-tone LED flash is below it. The third shooter uses an 8MP Sony IMX355 sensor with a 1/2.8-inch optical format and a 1.14 μm pixels size. The ultra-wide camera has an f/2.2 lens and a 119° field of view.

Primary camera

Night photos

The Xiaomi 11 LIte 5G NE arrives with Night Mode 2.0. Below we provide photo samples taken with the main camera at its default resolution and settings, with the 64MP mode, and with the dedicated Night Mode feature which also snaps 16MP photos.

Front camera, photo samples

The front-facing camera of the Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE is equipped with a 20MP Samsung S5K3T2 sensor paired with an f/2.24 lens with an 80° field of view. The sensor has a 1/3.4-inch optical format and 0.8 μm pixel size. The camera snaps photos with a resolution of 5184 x 3880 pixels and shoots 1080p videos at 60 fps.

Camera app

The Camera app offers plenty of options yet, it is simple and easy to use with most of the options a click or two away. Starting from the bottom up, the layout of the elements is classic. There's the centrally positioned shutter button with a shortcut to the list of photos and videos to its left and the camera switch to its right. The reel above them comprises the various shooting modes - a list that you can customize by adding or removing shooting modes the "Features" list available in the camera settings. The default shooting mode is Photo, which means shooting with the main camera in its 4-in-1 pixel binning mode and snapping 16MP photos. You can choose to zoom in or zoom out with the options above but this does not switch to the macro and wide cameras like on other smartphones. These are simple zoom-in and out with the main camera. The top list of features for shooting photos contains flash options, HDR, AI, beautification, focus metering, and a hamburger menu that expands to offer a choice of image ratios, timer, grid line, Super Macro, Settings. Note that the Super Macro option switches to the macro camera. The Video shooting mode screen also offers flash options, EIS on/off, filters and beautification for videos, a hamburger menu that offers a choice of video resolution, AI, Super Macro, and a Fast-moving object option. The Super Macro option switches to the macro camera with which you can record FHD or HD videos only. The Fast-moving object option is strictly limited to FHD videos. There are additional settings of course that are standard. Expectedly, the Portrait mode uses aperture adjustment, beautification, filters, and AI. It uses the main camera. The Pro Mode is the one with the more significant options. You can switch between the three independent cameras and for each, you can manually adjust the white balance, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure. The camera settings for photos allow you to switch on/off the watermark, live tips, smart suggestions, set the picture quality, Auto Night Focus toggle, customize the shooting modes list, etc. The camera settings for videos contain a toggle for EIS, video tagging, live in-ear monitor, video encoder choice, and other general settings such as shutter sound, location info saving, anti-banding, privacy, etc. The interface for the front camera is almost entirely identical to the one for the rear cameras. Whenever you choose a shooting mode that's not supported by the front shooters (the Pro mode, for example), the device simply switches to the rear cameras. The Photo mode is further enhanced with more detailed beautification options. Makeup ones are also added. Palm shutter options and front camera mirroring are also available. Photos can be edited with Google's Photos application, which arrives pre-installed. You can adjust the brightness, exposure, contrast, saturation, vibrance, beautification effects, erase, crop, add text, doodle, etc. Google Lens is embedded in photos and can be used for recognizing objects and texts, text translation, etc.