1/10
The Mi Notebook Ultra is one of two new Windows laptops that Xiaomi has launched in India recently. The other being, the Mi Notebook Pro. Together they make up the Mi Notebook 2021 series. This is a follow-up to the Mi Notebook 14 series from last year. The Mi Notebook 14, though it was a typical Xiaomi product at heart, was also missing out on a few things, those that are often considered ‘basic’ beyond a certain price point. It did not have a backlit keyboard for instance, or even a webcam. At a more granular level, the laptop could also have done with better thermals. With the Mi Notebook 2021 series, Xiaomi is looking to address all those shortcomings. In the process, the Mi Notebook has also climbed up the price ladder – the Mi Notebook Ultra is the company’s most expensive laptop to date – but hey, if you know a thing or two about Xiaomi, one thing’s certain. The company is still undercutting rivals with what’s on offer here. Whether or not it has been able to offer a cohesive package with all those specs and features, is something we will tell you in our full review, for now, here’s a quick first look at the Mi Notebook Ultra, its design, specs, features, and other details. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
2/10
The Mi Notebook Ultra has a unibody construction. It is milled out of a single block of Series 6 Aluminium. This is an improvement over the original Mi Notebook 14. The Mi Notebook Ultra is a thin and light laptop measuring less than 17.9mm in thickness and weighing just 1.7kg. For a 15-inch laptop, these are some impressive figures. Like its predecessor, the design of the Mi Notebook Ultra is also very minimalist though, a ‘prominent’ Xiaomi branding has been etched on to the lid this time. The Mi Notebook 14 did not have any branding like this. All in all, Xiaomi seems to have cut no visible corners while designing the Mi Notebook Ultra. There’s no weird flex, no loose ends. Moreover, you can open the lid with one hand which is again, impressive for a 15-inch laptop at this price point. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
3/10
The other ‘big’ highlight of the Mi Notebook Ultra is its expansive near edge-to-edge screen. More precisely, you get a 15.6-inch display here with a 3200×2000 pixel or 3.2K resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. The IPS panel in the Mi Notebook Ultra covers 100% of the sRGB colour gamut, according to Xiaomi. A tall 16:10 aspect ratio, meanwhile, makes this laptop extremely lucrative (and a little unusual) for productivity tasks. It is all matte, so that’s another big bonus for multitasking. Brightness levels are good and viewing angles top notch. The company has also thrown in a 720p webcam that is positioned right despite this laptop having such slim bezels. It won’t be wrong to say that the Mi Notebook Ultra has an A-grade display as far as hardware is concerned, something you can’t say for a lot of laptops in and around its price point. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
4/10
The Mi Notebook Ultra has a backlit keyboard with three levels of illumination. Xiaomi says it is also offering a trackpad that is 62% larger than the one in the previous generation of Mi Notebook 14 series. Individual keys have 1.5 mm travel and the trackpad supports Windows Precision Drivers. Interestingly, Xiaomi has also squeezed in a dedicated ‘macro’ key, a popular staple among many gaming laptops but also something, we don’t see a lot in a laptop of its class. It’s a handy addition. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
5/10
Under the hood, the Mi Notebook Ultra comes with up to Intel Core i7-11370H processor paired with up to 16GB of 3200MHz DDR4 RAM, 512GB of NVMe SSD storage and Intel Iris Xe graphics. We will talk more about the Mi Notebook Ultra’s performance in our full review. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
6/10
The Mi Notebook Ultra has a 70WHr battery which is rated to deliver up to 12 hours of battery life. There is support for 65W USB Type-C charging which is said to charge the laptop from 0 to 50% in just under 45 mins. More on the laptop’s battery performance in our review. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
7/10
The Mi Notebook Ultra is pretty stacked when it comes to connectivity options. This includes a Thunderbolt 4 port, USB Type-C port, HDMI 1.4 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, a 3.5mm audio jack and USB 2.0. The only thing probably missing on this list is a dedicated SD card reader. The laptop also supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. For biometrics, it has a physical fingerprint scanner which supports Windows Hello. Rounding off the package are two 2W speakers. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
8/10
The Mi Notebook Ultra starts at Rs 59,999 for a version with Intel Core i5-11300H processor and 8GB RAM. A version with double the RAM will be available for Rs 63,999. The top-end Mi Notebook Ultra with Intel Core i7-11370H processor and 16GB RAM will set you back by Rs 76,999. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
9/10
The Mi Notebook Pro has a lot in common with the Mi Notebook Ultra. It has the same all-metal unibody design but it has a smaller 14-inch 2.5K screen. The screen, again, supports 100% coverage of the sRGB colour gamut and has the same 16:10 aspect ratio as the Mi Notebook Ultra. Refresh rate caps at 60Hz though. Under the hood, the Mi Notebook Pro has the same core hardware. It also has a fingerprint scanner and backlit keyboard, though individual keys here have 1.3mm travel. The Mi Notebook Pro starts at Rs 56,999 for a version with Intel Core i5-11300H processor and 8GB RAM. A version with double the RAM will be available for Rs 59,999. The top-end Mi Notebook Pro with Intel Core i7-11370H processor and 16GB RAM will set you back by Rs 72,999. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
10/10
The Mi Notebook Ultra has a lot going for itself, at least as far as first impressions are concerned. It looks and feels premium, has a nice display that’s tall and pixel-rich, it has solid hardware with lots of ports backed by a pretty sizable battery with fast charging support. But even more importantly, it has a checklist of everything that was missing on last year’s Mi Notebook 14 models making the Mi Notebook Ultra stand out as more value. You can say, Xiaomi is back to full form with this laptop. Watch this space for our full review of the Mi Notebook Ultra in the days to come. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)