Xiaomi [Smartchoice] Notebookpro Qhd+ Ips Antiglare Display Intel Core I5-11300H 11Th Gen 14 Inch(35.56Cm) T&L Laptop(8Gb/512Gb Ssd/Iris Xe…

So, let’s talk about good things first.

Display: Yes, it has a QHD display in 16:10 aspect ratio (roughly, the actual ratio is bit less tall) and the display quality is really god at this range or even at range of 1.5 Lakhs. The screen is not exactly matte, but does good job of dimming down reflections. Still, not suggested to take it out in the sun as the nit count is low and the screen does reflect a bit.

Build quality: Real metal, not a finger print magnet. Solid construction, almost zero keyboard and screen flex. I have not dropped it yet, but, I am sure it can handle one or two low height drops (when lid is closed).

Keyboard: Not Apple’s magic keyboard or a normal mechanical keyboard comfort, but the key travel is good and not a pain to type on. The keys are responsive and are easy to press due to to aforementioned zero flex chassis.

Sound: Almost all reviews I have seen of this laptop, along with a friend who bought this before me, complained that the speakers are trash and sound is really bad. However this is not the case. Sound is good in clarity and volume (for the price range), but since these are down firing speakers, they do get muffled for those people who place the laptop on bed, tummy or on some dining table with a table cloth. Of course, you cannot host a party with these speakers, but if you have normal environment with no loud noises around, you can rely on the speakers and enjoy music and movies. Also, please do not expect bass from laptop speakers.

Heating: I did not encounter any heating issues with this laptop even when I tried to put some load on it. I avoid using the laptop for anything heavy due to battery issues, so could not test heating a lot.

Now, onto the things which you should know before you regret buying this laptop:

Battery: Absolutely pathetic. Takes forever to charge with the charger that comes with the unit and about 2 hours to go from 10% to 100% using a 65w USB ASUS USB C charger I have. Battery drain so quick that it surprises me. 100% to 10% in less than 5 hours with very minimal use – no games, no videos, just web browsing (some Youtube, but no other streaming). I also tried charging the laptop to 100% and just keep the display on and done nothing on it. Battery down to 8% in 5.5 hour.

Size: It is a compact laptop, yes but it is big for a 14incher. This is because Xiaomi tried to be Apple and added big trackpad (which is not so responsive in the corners, so acts like a small trackpad anyway), and blank empty areas next to keyboard (which Apple uses for upward firing speakers). Using this on the lap or on the go is not difficult but a standard 14 inch laptop should be atleast 20% smaller than this. If I need big laptops, I can get a 15 inch screen on the same chassis.

Bluetooth: If anyone reading this ever had the original Mac Mini, you would know it had issues with Bluetooth connectivity due to all metal body. Same here. I have 4 wireless bluetooth headphones ranging from budget to premium ones. All of them has connectivity issues with this laptop. I tried connecting an external bluetooth dongle to the laptop, and that worked fine.

I/O: I will not get into details, but do keep in mind that only 1 USB port allows for display out and HDMI is only 4K@30Hz. Also, the transfer speed is not same or stable on either of the USB-C Thunderbolt ports.

Gaming: LOL. Gaming at this price point with Intel Iris? Come on, stick to mobile gaming.

I’m writing this review after about 4 months of usage, so it’s based on a mixture of the purchase criteria/comparisons and actual usage. I wanted a no-frills laptop which was powerful but inexpensive. I looked at the Dells and Lenovos within the sub-60k price range but finally settled on this. Two and a half months later, no regrets.

You need to be clear what you want and what you’re getting because this config won’t satisfy everyone. Given below are my criteria for choosing this and a comparison of how this fares against the others I looked at.

CPU – Wanted an 11th gen i5 and this one has an i5-11300H – not G – so it has adequate power for the next few years.

RAM – I wanted either upgradeable 8GB RAM with a free slot or on-board 16GB. Through the years, my experience has been that buying a budget config laptop and doubling its RAM after a year or two really extends its life. Today, that means buying 8GB and upgrading to 16 later. Well, this one has 16GB out of the box so it should last a few years.

Graphics card – This doesn’t have an external NVIDIA card. So if you’re editing videos, playing graphics-intensive games or programming neural nets, then don’t go for this.

Touchscreen – Didn’t want to spend money on this. I’m fine with a good quality trackpad. If you want a touchscreen, you’ve got to either raise your price point or compromise on something else (RAM, screen quality etc) at this price point.

Screen Brightness – I wanted a screen bright enough to work outdoors in the afternoon and pretty much everything from the standard brands fell short on this front. My reading of the market (as of June 2022) is that you have to spend 80-90k+ on the more standard brands to get that kind of screen. But I’ve used this laptop outdoors in the afternoon quite often and there’s no issues, even on a bright afternoon.

Screen Resolution, Clarity, Contrast, Viewing Angles etc – Let’s be clear, this is not an OLED screen. You want the best of those, go for an ASUS. But it is high res and sharp. Viewing angles are great and so are colours. The best feature is that this screen has matte finish. None of those irritating ambient reflections in sunlight which a clear glossy screen is prey to. If you want to sit outdoors and work (browsing , editing, spreadsheets, presentations, coding etc), this is a great screen. What it is not great for is watching movies. Nothing like a clean, glossy OLED screen with muted ambient lighting for watching Netflix.

Sound – It’s adequate but nothing great to write home about. As I said, this laptop is not your best choice for media consumption.

Ports – My laptop is normally plugged into a monitor, keyboard, mouse, power and speakers at my desk. As a result, it’s a bit of a pain to unplug and reattach so many cables every time. Which is why I was keen on Thunderbolt 4. The thought of simply unplugging one wire and walking off with the laptop was very attractive. A good USB 4 hub is expensive, so I haven’t bought one yet, but it’s no.1 on my to-buy list. Many brands seem to think that Thunderbolt 4 is a premium feature, meant only for laptops which cost 80k+. For a non-premium guy like me it’s fortunate that Xiaomi included it in this laptop.

Looks and Durability – It’s an all metal body which looks sleek. As for durability, the metal body should prevent damage from minor falls. But the least durable parts of a laptop are the trackpad and the hinges – and I have no way of telling whether these will last or not. So no idea about this.

All in all, if you’re looking for a portable, inexpensive (I got this for 55k with exchange), laptop for work and regular use, this was the best available in June 2022 at this price point. You can use it in your balcony/garden, plug it back in very conveniently at your desk and the config should last 3-4 years easily. But if you’re a teacher (or need a touchscreen for other reasons), video editor, gamer or an avid consumer of streaming services, then choose something better suited to those purposes.

 This is an gen for all the average students. Don’t think that its an new brand . Because it actually deliveres excellent quality products. I already have 80k worth xiaomi products and I never faced an issue. And moreover they have lots of physical service centres unlike other major brands virtual onsite services. Go just go for it.

Good