What happened to the Xiaomi Mi Note 11, the successor to one of 2019's best phones?

At the end of 2019, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 launched; it surprised us with a low price yet great design and cameras, and ended up being one of the best phones of the year. But despite our hopes, there was no Xiaomi Mi Note 11 in 2021 - so what happened?

Well, we're going to assume the phone has been canceled, or at least pushed back significantly from the anticipated end-of-year release date that was rumored.

We tried contacting Xiaomi on the matter, but we've yet to receive comment from the company. There was no certainty the Mi Note 11 was coming out, seeing as there wasn't a Mi Note 9 in 2018, but many tech fans appreciated the Mi Note 10's fantastic value for money.

How come the Xiaomi Mi Note 11 didn't come along when we expected it? Well, it's possible the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 sold poorly, or Covid-19 made production a challenge, but we think it was something else - it seems likely another phone replaced the Mi Note 11.

Xiaomi had a busy 2020, launching new phones left, right, and center. So did one of these brand-new devices replace the Xiaomi Mi Note line? We think these three phones played a part in stopping the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 from seeing a successor.

These are the best Xiaomi phones you can buy now

Xiaomi Mi 11

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 came over four months before the launch of the Mi 10, Xiaomi's flagship series for 2020. That meant the Note device had sufficient time to stand on its own and draw in potential buyers before the next series of phones launched.

We've been hearing that the Xiaomi Mi 11 line might launch on December 29, way earlier than the February launch many originally expected. Xiaomi might have thought that early release was too near to the November release the Mi Note 11 was expected to have, and thus scuppered the latter line.

After all, Xiaomi Mi 11 release date rumors started quite a while ago - few would have bought the Mi Note 11 knowing the Mi 11 was coming soon, as most presumably would wait for the flagship line if its launch was so close.

Perhaps we'll see the Xiaomi Mi Note 11 come later then? Maybe it'll land in February when the Mi 11 was expected to launch, but we're not holding our breath.

Here's what we know about the Xiaomi Mi 11 so far

Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro

The Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro, launched in the middle of 2020, a very different phone to the Mi Note 10, but it was going for exactly the same kind of selling point - the 'flagship-killer' mid-range tier.

Like the Mi Note 10, the Poco F2 Pro had a low price but specs that resembled a more premium device. Sure, those elevated specs were different - the Mi Note 10 had a fantastic design and cameras, whereas the Poco F2 Pro was heavier on the performance power side, but they were still in competition.

Perhaps Xiaomi saw the Poco F2 Pro as too much of a rival for the Mi Note 11 to make the latter worth putting out at all. If true that would be a shame - as we said, they were sufficiently different - and we imagine most phone fans prefer one over the other.

Check out our Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro review

Xiaomi Mi 10T

As with the Poco F2 Pro, the Xiaomi Mi 10T series aims for the same mid-range market as the Xiaomi Mi Note series - that is Xiaomi's main domain, after all. Unlike the Poco, though, this handset, which launched in September 2020, has a name some buyers could confuse for the Mi Note 10.

For both those reasons, it's possible Xiaomi thought the Mi 10T line would compete with a new Mi Note phone, and decided to axe the Mi Note 11. Sure, it's a different number from the Mi 10T, but given how non-phone-fans can get very confused with all Android phone names, there's still that risk for certain buyers.

It's very possible the presence of three Mi 10T phones just meant Xiaomi simply couldn't make any more devices too - they only came out two months before we were expecting the Mi Note 11, and given Covid-19 some tech companies have had manufacturing problems.

The Xiaomi Mi 10T series were fine stand-ins for the Mi Note 11, but they weren't totally as compelling. However unlikely, we're crossing our fingers and hoping the Mi Note 11 was delayed, not cancelled.