Why You Should Carry 2 Phones (and a xiao mi 11 lite review)

Should you have two phones? One for work and one for personal use. I’m not going to drag this any further but the answer is an astounding YES and here’s why. It’s not only great for times of emergency when the other phone run out of battery, but also for your mental health.

Where to buy? Xiao Mi Official Store

We’re in the day and age where staying connected is already our “lives” especially now during these times of pandemic and everyone is working from home. You need to separate the two in a physical sense, because no matter how we tell ourself “I’ll limit my mobile use for work”, the never ending notifications or checking your e-mail every now and then would not stop until you split them apart.

3 Benefits of Having a Separate Work Phone

1. Compartmentalization
   Psychology Today defines compartmentalization as a “mechanism in which people mentally separate conflicting thoughts, emotions, or experiences to avoid the discomfort of contradiction.”

   A dedicated work phone allows you to separate your personal and business lives. Isolating the two has a significant benefit.

   The usage of a completely separate device allows you to mentally transition between your personal and professional profiles.

2. Work-Life Balance
   A work phone helps you to achieve a work-life balance. No matter how demanding your job is, you still need rest. You can switch off or silence your work phone to de-stress a bit after work.

   Your clients and colleagues won’t call you during your off hours to discuss business on your personal line. They’ll know it’s an invasion of your privacy. If they try the official phone and if it’s unavailable, they’ll wait.

3. Control
   For some, owning two mobile phones is a nightmare straight out of a horror tech show. Consider this: the majority of your work can be done on your device in some form or another. The last thing you want when you get home and are ready to unwind after a long day is to receive an email that completely changes your mood. This causes personal stress, which has an unavoidable impact on those around you. When you have two phones, you can literally put the job away when you turn off the work phone, giving you control over what you do with YOUR time. It also keeps a “sane” divide and balance between work and play.

My last “work” phone broke down, so fresh out of the box I received this new Xiao Mi 11 (4G) for review and let me tell you, this functions sooooo close to the one worth 3x as much. Let me break down to you its description, specs, and how I use this from day-to-day as my workhorse.

Mi 11 Description

XIAOMI MI 11 LITE: Ultra-Slim Smartphone Without Compromise

Experience the difference with TrueColor AMOLED display

Sporting a 6.55” AMOLED DotDisplay with 10-bit TrueColor support, Mi 11 Lite produces a dazzling 1.07 billion colors  – 64x more than its predecessor. This allows for smoother color gradation and a more natural transition between hues, minimizing banding and reducing noise and blemishes on the image, whatever angle the display is viewed from.

Featuring DCI-P3 color gamut, color performance is further optimized by providing high color accuracy and retention, ultimately creating a stunningly vivid, true-to life image. Additionally, its support for HDR10 creates a more dynamic image with sharper contrast for a more lifelike viewing experience.

Mi 11 Lite’s stunning picture quality is paired with equally vivid sound. Equipped with dual speakers and certified with Hi-Res Audio, Mi 11 Lite offers an exceptional listening experience with truly immersive sound.

In addition, with its 90Hz refresh and 240Hz touch sampling rate, Mi 11 Lite is as impressive to use as it is to look at – gone are the days of waiting for laggy, unresponsive screens.

Flagship-level performance

Debuting with the Qualcomm^® Snapdragon^TM 732G, Mi 11 Lite offers more power, more speed and higher reliability with its 8nm manufacturing process technology.Equipped with LiquidCool technology, Mi 11 Lite was built to stay at peak performance even during periods of heavy usage such as when streaming or gaming.

Boasting a 4,250mAh battery and 33W fast-charging, Mi 11 Lite offers long-lasting power for full day¹ and even multi-day use – say goodbye to low battery anxiety.

Continuing the heritage of best-in-class camera performance

Mi 11 Lite confidently carries on Xiaomi’s legacy of innovation and best-in-class smartphone camera technology. Touting a triple rear camera array with a 64MP main shooter and 1/1.97” sensor, Mi 11 Lite offers a nimble and user-friendly experience that enables anyone to take professional grade pictures and videos with minimal effort. An 8MP ultra-wide angle and 5MP telemacro camera round out the triple camera setup, allowing users to capture wide scenery shots or close up macro shots with stunning detail.

Both the wide-angle camera and the 16MP front camera have been optimized for low-light conditions with Night Mode, enabling users to take stunning images of sunset landscapes, nighttime cityscapes or night-out selfies with higher brightness, sharper contrast and enhanced detail. The cameras are further boosted by a selection of new video modes and filters that allow anyone to easily capture pro-level, cinematic footage that would otherwise require a high level of expertise and expensive equipment to create.

Head-Turning Design and Comfortable Feel

Measuring just 6.81mm in thickness and weighing in at a mere 157g, Mi 11 Lite offers a more comfortable and lightweight in-hand feel. Sporting a punch-hole cut out for the front camera, Mi 11 Lite achieves a nearly bezel free design for users looking for maximum screen size. Protected by Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass 5, Mi 11 Lite was built to withstand damage from everyday drops and scratches. Designed for the fashionable young generation, Mi 11 Lite 4G offers fresh color options including Boba Black, Bubblegum Blue and Peach Pink.

Price and Availability

The Mi 11 Lite comes in 8GB+128GB storage variant with an SRP of PHP 14,990, and will be available for purchase from Authorized Mi Stores and partner retailers nationwide as well as our official stores in Lazada and Shopee starting April 24.

Mi 11 Specifications

Mi 11 Lite Review

Of course I was ecstatic the moment I saw what’s inside, a super slim phone that feels comfortable to grip with my tiny hands. It has to be, this is going to be my defacto work and axie phone (hahaha). 

With a new protective case put in place, I immediately booted my new Mi 11 Lite for set-up. I placed a sim, and off I go. It only took my less than 30 minutes to follow all the steps required to set-up the phone – from WiFi connection to installing the apps that I need via the Google Play Store. I was pleasantly surprised how user-friendly this is, I’m sure even my 80 year old grandpa would appreciate.

The 6.55 AMOLED display doesn’t look miles apart from my primary flagship as I can watch my favorite shows on my streaming app with much gusto.

Camera-wise, while I’m not here to give you technical specs or nerdy details, I can say this: It takes decent photos under low-light and the selfie cam gives nice depth of colour that in case of emergencies, I won’t shy away from using this one when my primary phone gets low battery.

My favorite part here is the battery life. I only charge this once every night, and it lasts me the entire day of playing my Axie until I reach quota and replying to work-mails, without overheating! It’s truly the perfect work phone for me.  

This is the 4G version. If you prefer 5G, there’s also a Mi Lite 5G available. But to be honest I won’t see any major differences now as not all areas are 5G ready yet.