Xiaomi Mi 9 With Snapdragon 855, Triple cameras, In-Display Fingerprint Sensor Launched

While Samsung is preparing to unveil its new generation of the Galaxy S flagship series, Galaxy S10, at an event in the US, Xiaomi has just announced a new flagship phone, the Xiaomi Mi 9 in China. The phone’s specifications are in line with previous leaks, packing AI-backed triple rear camera setup, the Snapdragon 855 chipset, and an AMOLED FHD+ display.

Mi 9: Specifications & Features

The Xiaomi Mi 9 sports a 6.39-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 6. The display features a dewdrop notch and a screen-to-body ratio of 90.7 percent. Other highlights of its display include Sunlight Mode 2, Reading Mode 2, and 600nit brightness. The handset is also the first from Xiaomi to pack a 7nm Snapdragon 855 SoC, coupled with an Adreno 640 GPU. The phone was also shown in the event to come with a Snapdragon X50 5G Modem which offers support for 5G.

Xiaomi also provides a dedicated mode to improve gaming performance, and it is called Game Turbo mode. The mode works by allocating phone’s resources intelligently for complicated scenes, similar to the those of Huawei and Oppo. For security, Xiaomi opts for an on-screen fingerprint sensor, which it claims to be 25% faster compared to the previous ones, and it is able to capture users’ fingerprint from a bigger area on the display.

In terms of camera, the phone is also the first from Xiaomi to sport a triple rear camera setup, including a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor with 0.8µm pixels and an aperture of f/1.75, a 12MP telephoto sensor with an f/2.2 aperture, and a 16MP third sensor with a wide 117-degree wide-angle lens. All of three rear cameras are located in a sapphire glass camera module, and it offers CDAF and PDAF.

The primary 48MP camera also features the Quad Bater array, and it uses a 6P lens. On the front, it comes with a 20MP selfie camera with 1.8µm pixels. Xiaomi claims that the camera achieved a DxOMark score of 107 with 99 points on video and 112 points for taking pictures, claiming the third position in the ranking, only behind the Huawei P20 Pro, and Mate 20 Pro.

In terms of software, the phone runs the latest Android 9.0 Pie-based MIUI 10 out of the box. It will also come with a Dark Mode that is touted to significantly reduce the phone’s power consumption by as high as 83 percent when use. It is quite useful as the phone is backed by a 3,300 mAh battery which is not really that impressive, but it still supports 27W fast charging. The wireless charging is present on the handset as well, which isn’t surprised as it is becoming standard on flagship smartphones.

Transparent Edition Mi 9 & Mi 9 SE: Specifications & Features

Mi 9 SE

Along with the regular Xiaomi Mi 9, there will also be a Mi 9 SE edition and a Mi 9 Transparent Edition. The lower-end Xiaomi Mi 9 SE sports a 5.97-inch OLED panel with a water-drop notch on top. On the rear, there will be a 48MP main camera coupled with 8MP and 13MP cameras. Instead of the Snapdragon 855 chipset, it will pack a Snapdragon 712 chipset. It will come in two memory configurations, including 6GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/128GB storage.

Xiaomi is expected to announce the device on 24 February at the MWC 2019. We will update more about the phone as soon as we hear more from them.

Xiaomi Mi 9 Transparent Edition

Xiaomi also introduced a special edition for the Mi 9 which is called Transparent Edition, featuring a see-through back panel that allows users to see the inside of the phone. Besides that, the special edition also supports up to 40W fast charging. Not only that, it comes with impressive specifications, packing massive 12GB RAM as well as 256GB storage. In terms of camera, it comes with rear camera with an aperture of f/1.47 and 7P lens.

Xiaomi Mi 9: Price

The base variant of the Mi 9 with 6GB RAM/128GB storage costs CNY 2,999 (around Rs. 31,729), while the option with 8GB RAM/128GB storage is priced at CNY 3,299 (around Rs. 34,900).

Meanwhile, the more affordable Mi 9 SE is priced at CNY 1,999 (around Rs. 21,100) for the 6GB RAM/64GB storage, and CNY 2,299 (around Rs. 24,300) for the model with 6GB RAM/128GB storage.

The top-end Mi 9 Transparent Edition variant with 12GB of RAM/256GB of internal storage is priced at CNY 3,999 (around Rs. 42,300).

All of the three editions will be available for pre-ordering from 6 pm today, while the sales will begin from 10 am on 26 February via Xiaomi’s website and other e-commerce platforms such as Suning, Tmall, JD.com and more.