The Xiaomi Mi 9 just went official with the
company’s first triple camera and the fastest wireless charging of any phone
yet. The star of the camera is the 48MP module, a Sony IMX586 with a Quad
Bayer filter. It’s a large 1/2” sensor with 0.8µm pixels, which can be combined
into 1.6µm Super pixels. Note that the Redmi Note 7 from the sub-brand uses the
Samsung 48MP sensor instead.
Anyway, the Mi 9 also offers a 16MP ultra-wide
camera with 117° field of view. It has 1.0µm pixels and an f/2.2 lens with
autofocus, which allows it to shoot macros from 4cm distance. The Mi 8 lacked
an ultra-wide cam. It did have a 12MP 2x telephoto camera, but the Mi 9 trumps
it with a brighter aperture (f/2.2).
The screen grew up to 6.39-inches but is still a Super
AMOLED panel with 1080p+ resolution. Xiaomi claims 90.7% screen-to-body ratio,
in part thanks to the smaller waterdrop notch. The screen’s High brightness
mode can reach 600nits. Alternatively, Dark Mode can be used to reduce power
usage by up to 83%. The Always-On Display now supports colorful patterns to
spruce up the look of the phone.
The smaller notch required modifications to the 20MP
selfie camera (f/2.0, 0.9µm). In some regions, there will be AI-powered face
unlock. AI is also used to reduce the distortion in the ultra-wide camera and
will prompt you to switch between cameras when it thinks you can get a better
shot. The other biometric unlock option is the in-display fingerprint
reader. It can be used with Google Pay thanks to the NFC connectivity. There’s
also a dual-frequency GPS and an IR blaster.
Back to the screen for a moment, it’s guarded by
Gorilla Glass 6. The back gets Gorilla Glass 5 and the triple camera has even
more protection with a sapphire glass lens cover. If there’s one sort of
protection the Mi 9 lacks, it is water resistance.
The Xiaomi Mi 9 brings a major improvement in fast
charging. The company calls it Charge Turbo and it can deliver up to 27W over
USB-C. However, the standard retail package comes with an 18W charger instead
(matching the Mi 8).
There’s a fast wireless charger – up to 20W, the
fastest we’ve seen yet – which comes bundled with a 27W wired charger. A 20W
wireless car charger will also be available. Charge Turbo has been certified by
TÜV, by the way, so it matches the Huawei's solutions in terms of safety. With
all this, the battery capacity is essentially the same, 3,300mAh (that’s 100mAh
down compared to the Mi 8).
Xiaomi picked the Snapdragon 855 chipset to power
the Mi 9, no surprise here. It’s paired with 6GB of RAM and you can choose
between 64GB and 128GB of storage. Game Turbo mode will tune the CPU and GPU to
deliver a smoother gaming experience. There will be a transparent
version (you see decals rather than the real components). This model will pack
12GB of RAM and 256GB storage. This one will be available only in China at
first. Also only in China, the phones will use Xiao AI instead of the Google
Assistant.
The standard Xiaomi Mi 9 will be available in
Lavender Violet, Ocean Blue and Piano Black. The pricing for the 6/128 GB
variant is CNY 2,999, which is about US$ 455/€ 395. The 8/128 GB option is CNY 3,299
(US$ 490/€ 430), while the Transparent option with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage
will cost CNY 3,999 (US$ 595/€ 525).
