Xiaomi Mi 9 Hands On, First Impressions

Xiaomi’s pretty much a household name now when it comes to bang-for-your-buck devices. Together with the opening of their newest Xiaomi store in the metro, the brand has also officially launched their latest flagship, the Mi 9, here in the Philippines. Here’s our quick hands-on take of it!

The Xiaomi Mi 9 sports a 6.39-inch display with a waterdrop notch, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6. The bezels are pretty slim all around, and while the phone does have a chin, it’s way smaller than the bottom bezel of the flagship Xiaomi released last year, the Mi 8. Holding the phone in the hands, the Mi 9 feels premium and high-end with its curved glass back. A couple of downsides though is that it also feels slippery and it’s also a fingerprint magnet. If you’re one who hates seeing fingerprints and smudges on your phone, it would be ideal for your unit to be housed in a case instead.

Situated on the rear are three cameras, the 48MP primary shooter, the 12MP telephoto lens, and the 16MP ultra-wide lens. The 48MP camera has a lining around it, showing off a rainbow-colored hue when the light hits it. The Mi 9 also has a 20MP front camera, housed in the waterdrop notch.

On the right are the usual volume rocker and the power button while situated on the left, is the SIM tray. Similar to the Mi 8, the Mi 9 doesn’t have any option for expandable storage. Users can only choose between two variants, the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage one, or the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage one.

Located at the bottom of the device are its speaker grills and a USB Type-C port. Again, like the Mi 8, the Mi 9 doesn’t have a 3.5mm audio. Of course, Xiaomi won’t leave its users hanging as included in the box is a Type-C to audio adaptor cable.

The Xiaomi Mi 9 runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 coupled with Adreno 640 GPU.  Software-wise, the Mi 9 runs on MIUI 10, based on Android 9 Pie. Other features of the smartphone include a 3,300mAh battery capacity with support for 20W wireless charging, in-display fingerprint sensor, and AI face unlock. We’ve yet to take the Mi 9 for a full spin; however, we can say that you should keep the Mi 9 in mind if you’re shopping the market for a new flagship phone.

Xiaomi Mi 9 specs:

• 6.39-inch AMOLED Display 19.5:9 FHD+
• Corning Gorilla Glass 6
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
• Adreno 640 GPU
• 6GB RAM
• 64GB/128GB storage
• 12MP + 48MP + 16MP triple rear cameras
• 20MP front camera
• Dual 4G
• Bluetooth 5.0
• USB Type C
• AI face unlock
• In-screen fingerprint sensor
• 20W Wireless charging
• 3,300mAh battery capacity
• 157.5 x 74.67 x 7.61mm
• 173g
• Piano Black, Ocean Blue, Lavander Violet

The Xiami Mi 9 and its variants are priced are as follows:

• Mi 9 6GB + 64GB – PHP 22,990USD 392INR 33,211EUR 373CNY 2,853
• Mi 9 6GB + 128GB – PHP 24,990USD 426INR 36,101EUR 406CNY 3,101

It will roll out on Mi Authorized Stores starting today, March 30, 2019, and will soon be available on Lazada.