Xiaomi, in its Smarter Living 2022 event, unveiled new products which include the Mi NoteBook Pro and Mi NoteBook Ultra range of Mi laptops alongside other products – Mi TV 5X (43/50/55 inches), Mi Smart Band 6, Mi 360 Home Security Camera 2K Pro, Mi Router 4A Gigabit Edition, and Xiaomi Running Shoes.
Last year, we reviewed the first generation of Mi laptops, the Mi NoteBook 14 Series, and now this year, we have the second generation Mi NoteBook 2021 Series among which is the Mi NoteBook Pro powered by Intel’s 11th generation Tiger Lake-H35 processor and features a crisp 2K display, an all-metal design, and lasts up to 11 hours on a single charge.
As you see, the new Mi NoteBook Series includes two new laptops – Mi NoteBook Pro and Mi NoteBook Ultra, the latter comes with up to a 3.2K display and 90 Hz refresh rate while the former uses a 2K display with largely identical hardware specs.
A quick look at the Mi NoteBook Pro specs, you will find an Intel Tiger Lake-H35 CPU, up to 11-gen Core i7 processor with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB NVMe SSD. In addition, 3-level backlit Scissor Mechanism keyboard, an all-metal design, a fingerprint scanner, and supports 65W USB Type-C fast charging. More into the specs later in the review, let’s jump into the design part first.
Mi NoteBook Pro Specifications
- Display: 14-inch (35.5 cm) 2.5K QuadHD display (2560 x 1600 pixels resolution, 215 PPI), 16:10 Golden Aspect Ratio, 100% sRGB Wide Colour Gamut, Anti-glare protection
- Software: Windows 10 Home SL (20H2 version)
- Security: Fingerprint scanner embedded on Power key, Windows Hello support
- CPU: Up to 4.8 GHz, 11th generation Tiger Lake-H35 Core i7-11370H, 12M Cache (OR Core i5-11300H quad-core processor, 8 MB Cache)
- GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics (Tiger Lake GT2)
- Memory: Up to 16 GB DDR4 RAM (3,200 MHz), not upgradable
- Storage: 512 GB NVMe SSD
- Keyboard & Trackpad: 3-level backlit Scissor Mechanism keyboard with 1.3 mm deep key travel and dedicated macro key, Multi-touch trackpad
- Audio: 2x 2W stereo speakers, DTS Audio Processing App Support
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6 dual-band (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.1, 1 x Type-C USB (For charging and data transfer), 1 x Thunderbolt 4, 1 x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x Type-A USB 2.0, 1x HDMI v1.4, 1x 3.5 mm combo audio jack, built-in microphone
- Camera: 720p HD
- Other: Mi Smart Share, Mi Support, Mi Service pre-installed apps
- Battery: 46 WH, Up to 11-hour battery life, 65W Type-C power adapter (compatible across USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 4 ports)
- Power Adapter: 65 Watts (19.5V DC, 3.3A)
- Dimensions: 17.3 mm x 315.6 mm x 220.4 mm
- Weight: 1.46 kg
- Price: Rs 56,999 (Core i5-11300H & 8 GB RAM), Rs 59,999 (Core i5-11300H & 16 GB RAM), Rs 72,999 (Core i7-11370H & 16 GB RAM)
Design, Display, & Build
The Mi NoteBook Pro is sized at 14-inch with a compact form factor weighing 1.46 kg and 17.3 mm thick, it’s highly premium utilizing the Aerospace grade Series 6 Aluminium design, the whole construction is metal and it looks gorgeous, attractive, and feels pleasant.
It carries a 2.5K QuadHD display (2560 x 1600 pixels resolution), 60 Hz refresh rate, 16:10 Golden Aspect Ratio, with over 1B colors (Mi TrueLife display), 100% sRGB Wide Colour Gamut, and is protected by an Anti-glare sheet. The display looks amazing, the bezels look thin and it gives you a great viewing experience.
The laptop offers a 3-level backlit Scissor Mechanism keyboard with 1.3 mm deep key travel and a dedicated macro key that can be customized to launch apps of your choice. The Multi-touch trackpad is very large, way better than its last generation and the trackpad has been significantly upgraded.
Other features include a fingerprint scanner embedded on the power button with support for Windows Hello, an HD webcam with dual microphones besides, 2x 2W Stereo Speakers at the bottom of the laptop with DTS support, and a big grill at the bottom for ventilation.
The right side of the laptop offers a 3.5 mm combo port (microphone + headphones) and a USB Type-A 2.0 port. The left side offers a USB Type-A version 3.2 Gen 1, a Type-C port for charging and data transfers, and a Thunderbolt 4 port as well. You also get an HDMI 1.4, but no LAN jack.
Software & Features
The Mi NoteBook Pro comes with Windows 10 Home Single Language (20H2 version) pre-installed with hardly any apps installed, MIUI+ app, and Mi Support along with a few apps from Microsoft come installed with the laptop, the interface is clean and free from bloatware.
We used it as an everyday laptop with multi-tasking, browsing, surfing, downloading files, streaming videos and music, and light gaming, and it turns out that the overall experience was great, smooth as well as responsive.
The built-in MIUI+ app connects with your Mi smartphone and allows you to access the files on the phone, transfer the files, and allows you to perform certain activities on both devices.
On the connectivity side, it comes with a Wi-Fi 6 dual-band (802.11ax) 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies, newer Bluetooth version 5.1, multiple ports including 1 x Type-C USB for charging as well as for data transfer, 1 x Thunderbolt 4 same for charging and data transfer, 2x Type-A USB ports one with 3.2 Gen 1 and another with 2.0 version, 1x HDMI v1.4, and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack. You will also find a webcam with a built-in microphone just beside it.
The audio quality on the laptop is fair, the speakers’ output is not that great, you get 2 x 2W stereo speakers with DTS Audio support. The HDMI port uses version 1.4 and the laptop doesn’t with any LAN interface (RJ-45).
Hardware, Performance & Gaming
Moving to the hardware side, the Mi NoteBook Pro equips Intel’s 11th generation Tiger Lake-H35 i.e. up to Intel Core i7-11370H in its topmost variant, 12M Cache running up to 4.8 GHz at max Turbo Boost. Furthermore, it’s paired with 16 GB DDR4 RAM (3,200 MHz) at max and a 512 GB SSD NVMe type.
The Mi NoteBook 15 Pro comes in total three variants, one with Intel Core i5-11300H clocked at 3.1 GHz base frequency (4.4 GHz Turbo Boost), Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 8 GB DDR4-3200 MHz RAM, 512 GB NVMe SSD as the base variant, a second variant with the bumped up RAM to 16 GB, and third is the topmost variant with Intel Core i7-11370H processor clocked at 3.3 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.8 GHz.
If you are choosing an 8 GB RAM variant, you will end up with only 8 GB, the RAM isn’t upgradable on the laptop which can be a setback for those who are planning to upgrade in the future, since the RAM is soldered and cannot be modified or upgraded, you may want to choose its 16 GB variant that costs Rs 3,000 more compared to the base variant.
On the flip side, the SSD storage performs amazingly fast as it’s an NVMe, the faster SSD type, it has overall better performance among the regular SSDs and far better than its HDD counterparts. The SSD storage plays an important role in the overall system performance.
The onboard graphics is from Intel, no dedicated GPU is available, the Intel Iris Xe Graphics is a faster 11th generation graphics from Intel code name Tiger Lake GT2 and is capable of light to medium gaming. You won’t get any variants with a dedicated GPU like NVIDIA or AMD graphics.
You can check out the detailed hardware info provided by the HWiNFO64, CPU-Z app, GPU-Z app, and Geekbench 5 benchmarks in the screenshots below. We also did a DirectX Diagnostic Tool check by running the dxdiag command to check the display driver dates and versions.
Battery Runtime & Charging
What’s surprising is its battery life and fast charging capabilities, the Mi NoteBook Pro offers an 11-hour all-day battery life which is by far better than several Windows laptops. The battery life on the laptop varies depending on the usage of the laptop.
On the charging side, the Mi NoteBook Pro comes with a 65 W power adapter for charging the battery. The charging takes about 34 minutes to charge the battery from 0% to 50%, you can expect it to fully charge in around an hour or so. The charging is really quick and equivalent to the fast charging smartphones.
Verdict
The Mi Notebook Pro has all it takes to compete with the upper midrange laptops in its segment, features such as light-weight and compact form factor, all-metal design, 2.5K display, superior performance, bulky specs (Core i7 + 16 GB RAM + 512 GB SSD), and great battery life, the Mi NoteBook Pro leaves nothing to be desired. If you are looking for a premium-grade laptop with powerful specs under Rs 60,000, this is what you should be looking for. For hardcore gamers, you should pick a laptop with a dedicated GPU.
