Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T Review: A Powerful Yet Budget-Friendly 5G Phone

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T is one of Xiaomi’s affordable phones. It also belongs to Redmi generation nine released in 2021 at the same time as the Redmi 9T.

On paper, it’s the successor of Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T launched in 2019 but they have little in common except for the name and their price range.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T Price And Availability

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T with RAM of 4GB and 64GB of onboard storage comes at the price of $299.99. The variant with double the storage will set you back $325. Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T price in India is Rs 12,999 for the 4GB/128GB variant.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T Design

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T isn’t the smallest nor the biggest phone at this price range. With a dimension of 161.2x77.3x9.1mm and a weight of 199g, unless your hands are small, the phone will fit snugly in your palm.

The power button on the right doubles as the fingerprint scanner. It’s easy to reach so unlocking the phone is a comfortable experience. Above the power button is the volume rocker. The phone also has an infrared blaster, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB-C port.

While this phone has a plastic back, no surprise here given the affordable price, the bumpy texture makes it feels leather-like and provides a good grip.

The rear cameras are housed in a circular camera module. While the bump doesn’t exactly protrude much, it still prevents the phone from lying flat.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T is available in purple and black.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T Display

The phone display measures 6.53 inches, which matches the size of the Note 9 but bigger than that of the Redmi Note 8T. It features a Full HD+ resolution.

The LCD screen means colors aren’t as vibrant and black isn’t as dark as many would like. The color profile of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T leans toward the warm side. While there are options in settings to change this, those who are used to the coolness of OLED might find the results too warm for their taste.

Unlike other Redmi phones, the Note 9T features a 90Hz display so overall, motion feels a lot smoother.

With a max brightness of 450 nits, the screen of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T might be too dim for some users.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T Camera

The camera setup of the Redmi 8T makes it to the back of the Note 9T save the ultra-wide snapper. The setup consists of a 48MP f/1.8 primary snapper, a 2MP f/2.4 macro lens, and a 2MP f/2.4 depth camera.

While the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T won’t take breathtaking pictures, an average user who doesn’t care much about photography won’t have any issue with the cameras.

While images look bright enough, the dynamic range is lacking and colors are too similar for our tastes.

In real-life situations, the autofocus is a bit slow and jittery, taking too much time to figure out what we are trying to take a picture of. The photos taken by the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T have a shallow depth of field with parts of the subjects being blurred.

The issues with close-up shots don’t seem to appear in wider landscapes though. In good lighting, the pictures look fine. Even on gloomy days and at dusk, photos seem ok.

While on paper, the phone is capable of shooting 4K 30 FPS videos, in our tests, it can’t handle 4K recording very well. Users also have access to a macro video mode but the best they can have is 720p 30 FPS.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T sports shooting modes seen on previous Xiaomi phones like timelapse, portrait, VLOG, night photography, and slow motion.

One of the highlights of the phone is the 13MP f/2.3 front camera which takes detailed and bright pictures.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T Specs And Performance

Under the hood, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T runs on a MediaTek Dimensity 800U chipset. While this is pretty much a budget processor, it packs seriously impressive processing power.

In a benchmark test, the phone wins over Google Pixel 5 and Motorola Edge, both of which are more expensive than the Note 9T.

The power is responsible for excellent real-world performance. The phone can handle mobile games very well – running PUBG at top graphics with a handful of stutters. Opening and closed apps are quick too.

Since the chipset has a 5G modem, Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T is 5G-compatible.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T Software

The phone is powered by Xiaomi’s MIUI based on Android 10, offering a nice design and a lot of customization. On the flip side, the phone suffers from Xiaomi software’s persisting problem – bloatware. While the issue isn’t unique to the brand, it’s arguably the worst offender.

If you can ignore the bloatware, what you have left is standard Android features and no app drawer (the latter can be enabled in settings).

Since MIUI scans apps before installing, users are assured that they don’t accidentally invite malware.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T Battery Life

The 5,000mAh battery can easily sustain the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T for a whole day. The phone has 18W wired charging so it takes over an hour to reach 100% from 0.

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