Xiaomi is bringing the 11 Lite 5G NE to India on September 29. This is essentially a souped-up take on the Mi 11 Lite 4G which was launched in the country barely three months ago. The 11 Lite 5G NE swaps the Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G system-on-chip with a Snapdragon 778G chipset keeping rest of the specs and core design same as the Mi 11 Lite 4G.
Many would argue, the 11 Lite 5G NE is the phone that Xiaomi should have launched in India in the first place. But there’s more to it than what meets the eye. The 11 Lite 5G NE is technically a ‘new’ product (the NE in fact stands for new edition) which was announced just yesterday at Xiaomi’s global event that also saw the company launch a couple of more premium phones, the 11T and 11T Pro. So, in a way there’s no way that Xiaomi could have launched the product in India in June.
But what it could have done was launch the Mi 11 Lite 5G, which was around at that point in time. The ‘new edition’ is virtually the same phone with a different chipset. As it turns out, and as it’s being widely reported, the reason why Xiaomi didn’t launch it in India probably, and why a phone like the 11 Lite 5G NE exists today is in part due to the global semiconductor shortage. That is also the reason why we’ve seen many of its phones including the popular Redmi Note 10 getting a price hike recently.
Also Read | ‘Supply chain shortages, increased shipping charges responsible for hike in smartphone prices,’ says Xiaomi
As for why Xiaomi launched the Mi 11 Lite 4G, well, your guess is as good as ours.
But as mentioned earlier, the 11 Lite 5G NE is a Mi 11 Lite 4G with a Snapdragon 778G chipset. This means Xiaomi is expectedly touting its ‘slim and light design’ once again, much like it did with the 4G model, with the addition that it now packs global 5G bands and expectedly should offer faster performance. You can read more about the Mi 11 Lite 4G here for more details on design, display, cameras and battery capacity.
There will of course be changes in pricing and the 11 Lite 5G NE should be priced tad higher when compared with the Mi 11 Lite 4G. Xiaomi has set a global recommended retail price of Euros 369 (roughly Rs 32,000) for a version with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. A model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage will set you back by Euros 399 (roughly Rs 34,500). Watch this space for more coverage on the Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE in the days to come.
