“Xiaomi has also announced the Mi 9 Transparent Edition at the event, which will flaunt 12-gigs of RAM”
Xiaomi has taken the fight straight to Samsung and launched the Mi 9 flagship smartphone hours before the Unpacked event for the Galaxy S10 series. After being a hot topic for a long time on the rumour mill, the flagship is finally here for everyone to see. The Xiaomi Mi 9 is as loaded as rumours pegged it to be and flaunts bleeding-edge features like AI-backed triple cameras, Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC and full HD+ AMOLED display.
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Mi 9 price
The Mi 9 price for the entry-level variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage is RMB 2,999 (~Rs 32,000), whereas the 8GB + 128GB option will retail for RMB 3,299 (~Rs 35,000). The company also announced the Mi 9 Transparent edition, which is being offered with 12GB RAM + 256GB storage configurations, priced at RMB 3,999 (~Rs 42,300). Lastly, the Mi 9 SE price is RMB 1,999 (~Rs 21,000) for the option with 6GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage, while the one with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage will cost RMB 2,299 (~Rs 24,300). All three smartphones will be up for pre-orders starting 6pm local time today, while sales will start in China at 10am on February 26th via the official website as well as e-commerce sites such as Tmall, JD.com, Suning, etc.
The company also unveiled a wireless charging power bank at the event – users simply need to put their Qi-compatible phone on the side with the wireless charging coil/ plate to charge their smartphones. It offers output of 10W and is priced at RMB 149 (about Rs 1,580). There is also a 20W wireless charging pad to keep your phone charging in cars, priced at RMB 169 (about Rs 1,800). Lastly, the standard 20W Qi-compliant wireless charging pad for your home or desk has been announced as well; it will cost RMB 99 (about Rs 1,050).
Mi 9 specifications
The Xiaomi Mi 9 comes with a 6.39-inch display with full-HD+ resolution and AMOLED panel protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6. The screen has the waterdrop notch and offers 90.7 percent screen-to-body ratio. Other salient features of the display includes 600nit brightness, Sunlight Mode 2.0 and Reading Mode 2.0. The flagship is also the first from the brand to come with Qualcomm’s 7nm octa-core Snapdragon 855 SoC (1 x 2.84GHz + 3 x 2.42GHz + 4 x 1.8GHz), backed by Adreno 640 GPU. One of the slides in the presentation also showed the handset will come equipped with the X50 modem and offer 5G support.
The processor will be further backed by a dedicated Game Turbo mode for enhanced gaming performance; it works by “intelligently allocating resources for complicated scenes,” much like OPPO and Huawei’s gaming modes. As for security, the phone features an optical in-display fingerprint scanner, which is touted to be 25 percent faster than the previous generation and capture the fingerprint from a larger area on the screen.
In the imaging department, the Xiaomi Mi 9 happens to be the first from the company to come with a triple camera module on the rear panel. The primary camera is Sony IMX586 48MP sensor with 0.8-micron pixel size and f/1.75 aperture, which is accompanied by 12MP f/2.2 telephoto sensor and a 16MP sensor with 117-degree wide angle lens. The camera setup is protected by sapphire glass and offers PDAF as well as CDAF. The primary camera features Quad Bayer array and uses a 6P lens. As for self portraits, the flagship device offers a 20MP sensor with 1.8-micron pixel size on the front. The company claimed it received a DxOMark score of 107 for the Mi 9, putting it third in the rankings, behind Huawei Mate 20 Pro and P20 Pro.
On the software front, the Xiaomi Mi 9 boots the latest MIUI 10 based on the Android 9 Pie, out of the box. There will be a Dark Mode as well that is claimed to reduce power consumption by as much as 83 percent when in effect. As for the battery, the newest flagship comes with a 3,300mAh battery with support for 27W fast-charging. Wireless charging (up to 20W) is also present on the phone, which is not a huge surprise since it’s fast becoming a standard feature on flagship devices. Connectivity options on the handset include NFC, GPS L5, and Bluetooth 5.0, along with the usual suspects
Mi 9 SE, Transparent/Explorer Edition specifications
The Mi 9 Transparent Edition was also announced at the event, featuring a faux transparent back that gives a look at what the internals of the smartphone will appear like. Also, as mentioned before, the Mi 9 Transparent Edition will feature 12GB of RAM and 256GB internal storage and have rear camera with 7P lens and f/1.47 aperture.
A lower-end variant called Mi 9 SE was also unveiled at the event, featuring a smaller 5.97-inch display, 3,070mAh battery, 18W fast-charging, 48MP + 8MP + 13MP triple rear cameras. Instead of Snapdragon 855 SoC, it will be powered by the Snapdragon 712 SoC. As mentioned above, it will come with 6GB of RAM as standard, while storage options will be 64GB and 128GB.
Xiaomi has scheduled a presser on 24th February at the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2019 for the global unveiling of the handset. We will bring you more updates regarding the global availability straight from the event.