The Xiaomi Mi 9 is a flagship Android smartphone developed by Xiaomi Inc. It was announced in February 2019.[1]

Xiaomi Mi 9
ManufacturerXiaomi
TypeTouchscreen smartphone
SeriesMi
First releasedMarch 2019; 5 years ago (2019-03) (Mi 9)
April 2019; 5 years ago (2019-04)
(Mi 9 Explorer)
PredecessorXiaomi Mi 8
SuccessorXiaomi Mi 10
RelatedXiaomi Mi 9 Pro
Form factorSlate
Dimensions
  • 157.5 mm (6.20 in) H
  • 74.7 mm (2.94 in) W
  • 7.6 mm (0.30 in) D
Weight
173 g (6.1 oz)
Operating systemOriginal: MIUI 10 based on Android 9 Pie
Current: MIUI 12.5 based on Android 11
System-on-chipQualcomm Snapdragon 855
CPUOcta-core Kryo 485 (1x 2.84 GHz 3x 2.42 GHz 4x 1.8 GHz)
GPUAdreno 640
MemoryGB or GB LPDDR4X RAM
GB or 12 GB LPDDR4X RAM (Mi 9 Explorer)
Storage64 GB or 128 GB
256 GB (Mi 9 Explorer)
Removable storageNone
BatteryNon-removable Li-Po 3300 mAh battery
Rear cameraTriple: 48 MP Wide (f/1.5 (Mi 9 Explorer 12 GB RAM) or f/1.8, 27mm, 1/2", 0.8µm) 16 MP Ultrawide (f/2.2, 13mm, 1/3", 1.0µm) 12 MP Telephoto (f/2.2, 54mm, 1/3.6" 1.0µm), 2x optical zoom, laser/phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash
Front camera20 MP (f/2.0, 0.9µm), 1080p
Display6.39 inches (162.3 mm), 1080 x 2340 pixels, (403 ppi), SUPER AMOLED touchscreen, 16M colors
HDR10
DCI-P3
Connectivity2G, 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5GHz), dual-band, WiFi Direct, DLNA, hotspot
Data inputsDual band GNSS (GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo) Bluetooth V5, A2DP, Low-energy, aptX HD
Codenamecepheus
WebsiteMi 9

Specifications

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Hardware

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The Xiaomi Mi 9 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, with 6 GB or 8 GB LPDDR4X RAM and the Adreno 640 GPU. It has a 6.39-inch (162 mm) FHD AMOLED display. Storage options include 64 GB or 128 GB. The handset features a fingerprint scanner under the display. It features a 3300 mAh battery with a USB-C reversible connector which supports Quick Charge 4.0 . Externally, it has a smaller notch and new gradient colors, with Gorilla Glass 6 on the front, Gorilla Glass 5 on the rear and a 7000 series aluminum frame. It does not feature a 3.5mm headphone jack and comes with a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter provided in the box.[2] The Mi 9 includes a triple camera setup with a 48 MP wide angle lens, a 16 MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 12 MP telephoto lens. The front camera has a 20 MP sensor with an aperture of f/2.0. The Explorer variant has larger storage and RAM options, a transparent back, a 7P camera lens, and an f/1.5 (wider) aperture for the main lens on models with 12 GB of RAM.[3]

Software

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It runs on Android 9, with Xiaomi's custom MIUI 10 skin but it is upgradable to Android 11 and MIUI 12.5.

Variants

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Mi 9 Pro/Mi 9 Pro 5G

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On September 24, 2019, Xiaomi announced the Mi 9 Pro and Mi 9 Pro 5G which have upgraded chipsets, faster charging, larger batteries, increased storage and RAM, and new software.[4][5]

Reception

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Digital Trends praised the Mi 9's performance, screen, design and in-display fingerprint sensor but remarked that the camera could be better and that the software needed improvement. Trusted Reviews had similar opinions, and was less impressed with the in-display fingerprint sensor and more positive with the camera, concluding that the Mi 9 had "the makings of one of the most worthwhile flagship smartphone purchases of the year". Digital Trends wrote that the Mi 9 was "a compelling, high-performance smartphone that's sure to become one of the year's best" and "one of 2019's shrewdest smartphone purchases".[6][7]

DxOMark gave the Mi 9's camera an overall score of 110, with a photo score of 115 and a video score of 99, ranking it as their fourth best smartphone camera. DxOMark remarks that the phone "takes things to a whole new level, placing the Chinese company’s latest flagship model firmly into the big league of smartphone cameras—right up there with the heavy-hitters from Apple, Samsung, and Huawei".[8]

Issues

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The Xiaomi Mi 9 faces a handful of minor issues, however, it faces major issues that are restrained to certain regions, such as the lack of facial recognition in some certain western regions, although it was fixed with a software update.[9]

The frequent display of advertisements in MIUI is no different in the Mi 9, Xiaomi defended themselves by saying that these ads help them keep their prices low.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Seifert, Dan (20 February 2019). "Xiaomi's Mi 9 has three rear cameras and a familiar design". The Verge. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Xiaomi Mi 9 Review". gsmArena. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G, Mi 9 Explorer, and Mi 9 SE hands-on review". gsmArena. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. ^ Van Boom, Daniel (24 September 2019). "Xiaomi's Mi 9 Pro is a 5G phone that costs only $520". CNET. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  5. ^ Byford, San (24 September 2019). "Xiaomi announces Mi 9 Pro 5G with 30W fast wireless charging". Circuitbreaker. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  6. ^ Boxall, Andy (March 25, 2019). "Want to see how powerful the Snapdragon 855 chip is? Just rev up the Xiaomi Mi 9". Digital Trends. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  7. ^ Walker-Todd, Alex (March 28, 2019). "Xiaomi Mi 9 Review". Trusted Reviews. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  8. ^ Rehm, Lars (20 February 2019). "Xiaomi Mi 9 camera review - DxOMark". DxOMark. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  9. ^ Forum, Xiaomi MIUI Official. "mi9 face unlock - Mi 9 - Xiaomi MIUI Official Forum". en.miui.com. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
  10. ^ "Xiaomi Mi 9 - The Bad Review". Android Headlines. 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2019-08-22.