Xiaomi Mi 9 Series Review: Where is the Innovation?

Yesterday, was a big day for the smartphone industry. A few outstanding and much-anticipated models were announced. But we are more interested in the Xiaomi Mi 9 models. Many say the Mi 9 copies what other top brands too, and even provide some proofs. But we have decided to focus on the key features of this handset and its sibling in order to understand whether it has anything to boast of. But as there were several models, we also decided to take a look at each of them separately.

Xiaomi Mi 9 series review

After Redmi’s independence from Xiaomi, the latter had been changed a lot. Now it has more freedom to focus on the high-end market and come in with more expensive models. On contrary, the Redmi brand comes with a slogan of ‘focus on the ultimate price/performance ratio’, and took the ‘extremely cost-effective’ strategic development direction from Xiaomi. The first Redmi Note 7 was so amazing, that the domestic sales exceeded one million in less than one month.

At present, the opening battle of Redmi’s independent operation is indeed very beautiful, but behind this, the glamorous Xiaomi is faced with the obstacles of the positioning, pricing, and even the development direction of the next Xiaomi phone.

Xiaomi Mi 9 series review

For the question of how Xiaomi is going to do a good job in the development of ‘double-brand dual strategic direction’, Lei Jun gave a brief interpretation – ‘Redmi focuses on the ultimate cost performance, focusing on the e-commerce market. Xiaomi focuses on high-end and new retail.’

Xiaomi Mi 9 key features

The Xiaomi Mi 9 is the first product of the company that focuses on the high-end market, which is new retail for this manufacturer. So it’s quite interesting what features it comes with. Let’s simply go through its technical hardware specs. The Xiaomi Mi 9 is packed with the Samsung AMOLED screen with a size of 6.39 inches and a resolution of 2340×1080. Under the hood, it carries the Snapdragon 855 chip, which is paired with a 6GB/8GB LPDDR4x 2133MHz dual-channel large memory, a triple-camera with the Sony’s 48MP super wide-angle CMOS, a front-facing camera using Sony’s 20MP lens, the fifth generation screen fingerprint recognition and face recognition options, a 3300mAh battery, supporting 20W wireless flash charging as well as 27W wired flash charging.

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One of the biggest selling points of the Xiaomi Mi 9 is the triple camera. As said above, it includes the 48 MP Sony camera, which supports a zoom option identical to the magnifying glass, the 12MP lens supporting a 2x optical zoom, and a 16MP super wide-angle lens, supporting 4cm macro shooting. It’s logical that the Mi 9 will score high points at DxOMark. According to the official announcement, the phone reaches 107 points and ranked third. Thus, it yields only the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and the Huawei P20 Pro that have 109 points each.

Also, the MIUI 10 system with MI Turbo solution supports defragmentation I/O performance optimization, application startup speed optimization, and reduces aging stagnation. At the same time, the Xiaomi Mi 9 supports Game Turbo, game scene mode, enhanced touch mode, display enhancement, and Game Toolbox 2.0.

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The Xiaomi Mi 9 is full of piles of material, and the price of 2,999 yuan ($446) cannot be said to inherit the price-performance strategy that Xiaomi has been using for 8 years. Lei Jun has said that the development of 1999 yuan ($297) flagships have actually become an obstacle for Xiaomi. Lei Jun’s feelings are understandable. The Redmi Note 7 that comes with a number of eye-catching features a d quite low price tag casts a shadow on the Xiaomi Mi 9. So it was quite difficult for Xiaomi to decide the pricing of the Xiaomi Mi 9.

However, Xiaomi has decided to add some innovations to its flagships to somehow justify this pricing. At the press conference, Lei Jun explained the principle of holographic color body and the technical process difficulty of the Xiaomi Mi 9. In fact, most users don’t pay much attention to these, and what holographic color is eclipsed on the phone case. The Xiaomi Mi 9 adopts a full-surface slim design, and the body is round and flawless. As said, it adopts holographic phantom body, nano-holographic pattern, and double-layer nano-plating. The design of the rear camera ring is called ‘Angel Eye’. The Xiaomi Mi 9 has a holographic illusion blue, a holographic illusion purple, and deep gray versions.

Xiaomi Mi 9 series review

So where is the innovation of Xiaomi Mi 9? In fact, there’re ‘real’ innovations that we are going to talk about.

Lens protection

Smartphone cameras are used more frequently. In Xiaomi’s view, the protection of smartphone lenses is particularly important. The 243mm2 sapphire lens protection screen and the slightly convex stainless steel lens holder design that does not affect the aesthetics provide good protection for the camera lens of the Xiaomi Mi 9. And what’s more important, they don’t affect the imaging effect.

27W wired flash charging, 20W wireless flash charging

The 27W wired flash charging and 20W wireless flash charging technology coming to the Xiaomi Mi 9 fits the development trend of the industry. Prior to this, Xiaomi’s performance in the field of fast charging was not good. After the Xiaomi Mi 9 debuted, this gap was filled. For those who use the fast charge to sneer at the 5V1A, the wired or wireless fast charge of this handset is undoubtedly one that makes users enjoy the good experience.

VDE low blue eye protection

The relationship between phones and our daily lives is getting closer and closer, and long-term use of smartphones with excessive eyesight can cause visual fatigue and even affect vision. The Xiaomi Mi 9 is equipped with the eye protection technology certified by the German Institute of Electrical Engineers VDE low blue eye protection. The color temperature eye level is increased to 256 levels, the transition effect is smoother, and you can take care of your eyes.

Xiaomi Mi 9 series review

AI automatically recognizes super wide-angle mode, wide-angle anti-distortion

Coming with the AI technology, the Xiaomi Mi 9 camera will give suggestions for switching the wide-angle mode according to the shooting scene, and can achieve the wide-angle mode to prevent the photo film from being distorted. In short, what you do is to make taking pictures a simple matter.

Lens-type fingerprint recognition

The fifth generation of screen fingerprint belongs to the lens-type optical fingerprint recognition group, which has a 25% increase in speed.

Lei Jun said that the Xiaomi Mi 9’s lens-type optical fingerprint recognition module uses a large pixel of 5 microns, which is similar to a macro camera. According to the official introduction, the unlock time reduced to 0.28 seconds, and the light, temperature and other options have been optimized.

Pricing

The Xiaomi Mi 9 6+128GB costs 2999 yuan, while the 8+128GB is priced at 3299 yuan. However, Lei Jun said that this is the last time the Xiaomi digital series smartphone is below 3,000 yuan.

Xiaomi Mi Explorer Edition

According to Lei Jun, the Xiaomi Mi 9 Explorer Edition is the world’s first mass-produced 12GB memory smartphone. It also uses a 7P lens with an f/1.47 large aperture. Compared to the Xiaomi Mi 9 ordinary version’s holographic color body, the Mi 9 EE features a full-surface transparent body design. In terms of software, the Xiaomi Mi 9 Explorer Edition also have the custom theme of Battle Angel: Alita.

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The rest of the features are the same. The 12GB+256GB model costs 3999 yuan.

Xiaomi Mi 9 series review

Xiaomi Mi 9 SE

After the release of the original Xiaomi Mi 9, Lei Jun announced the ‘small-screen flagship’, namely the Xiaomi Mi 9 SE. It’s called so because the Samsung AMOLED screen is only 5.97 inches. Thus, it’s similar to the Xiaomi Mi 6. But this model is covered with a 2.5D glass and supports a screen fingerprint recognition. The forehead is only 2.05mm, which is narrower than that of the Xiaomi Mi 9. The chin is 3.8mm and a screen ratio is 90.45%. This version has a thickness of 7.45mm and a battery capacity of 3070mAh, which is similar to the size of the Mi 6 again. Say, compared to the iPhone XS, the Xiaomi Mi 9 SE has a larger screen, a larger battery, and lighter weight.

Xiaomi Mi 9 series review

At the same time, it’s powered by the new Snapdragon 712, which scores 187,626 points in AnTuTu. This is a move forward compared to the Kirin 710 and the Snapdragon 670. The main camera of the Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is the same as Xiaomi Mi 9. Thus, it’s another Sony 48MP camera phone. But the rest two sensors include the 8MP and 13MP lenses.

Xiaomi Mi 9 series review

The 6+64GB version costs 1999 yuan, and the 6+128GB version is available at 2299 yuan.

Summary

After the Redmi Note 7 and the Xiaomi Mi 9, the strategic development routes of Xiaomi and Redmi are completely clear. Redmi has taken the cost-effective route of the original Xiaomi brand. While nowadays, Xiaomi takes on the responsibility of innovation and user experience. However, after the forced and improved user experience, the price of Xiaomi’s follow-up products is bound to rise slightly.

Buy Xiaomi Mi 9 SE at $435.99 on GeekBuying

Buy Xiaomi Mi 9 at $675.99 on GeekBuying

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