The Xiaomi Mi 9 In-Depth Review – 48MP Flagship FTW!

Xiaomi Mi 9 - Up Close, Key Features

The Xiaomi Mi 9 Up Close!

The Xiaomi Mi 9 (64GB : US / UK / MY | 128GB : US / UK / MY) is built around a large 6.39-inch Dot Drop display.

Like the Redmi Note 7, the Mi 9 display has a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, but it has a superior Samsung AMOLED panel that delivers a 60,000:1 contrast ratio and 103.8% of the NTSC colour gamut!

The Mi 9 is protected in the front and back by Corning Gorilla Glass 6, which offers 2X the damage resistance than Gorilla Glass 5 used to protect Redmi Note 7.

Disappointingly, the bundled TPU bumper case was not well-designed. It does not protect the display or the camera bump at all. It can only protect against falls on the sides of the phone…

Fortunately, the camera bump is protected by sapphire glass, which is tougher and less likely to scratch than Gorilla Glass.

On the left side, you will find the SIM tray and a Google Assistant button (like the Bixby button on Samsung smartphones).

The Power and Volume control buttons are both located on the right side.

Even though the Mi 9 (64GB : US / UK / MY | 128GB : US / UK / MY) is thick enough to support a 3.5 mm audio port, Xiaomi removed it.

So you will only find a second microphone at the top, together with an IR emitter (which lets you use the Mi 9 as a remote control).

At the bottom, you will only find a bi-directional USB Type C port flanked by the speaker and microphone ports.

The Mi 9 (64GB : US / UK / MY | 128GB : US / UK / MY) comes with a USB-C to 3.5 mm adaptor cable. It allows you to hook up your earphone or an external microphone to the USB-C port.

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Dot Drop Display

At the top of the 6.39-inch AMOLED display is what Xiaomi calls a “dot drop” notch.

This dot drop notch allows for a larger display area, specifically space for more notifications. Barring the complete removal of the notch, this is about as good as it gets!

Thanks to this small notch and thin bezels, the Xiaomi Mi 9 (64GB : US / UK / MY | 128GB : US / UK / MY) has a 90.7% screen-to-body ratio.

 

In-Display Fingerprint Sensor

The Xiaomi Mi 9 (64GB : US / UK / MY | 128GB : US / UK / MY) boasts an in-display fingerprint sensor.

This is an improved optical fingerprint sensor made by Goodix, that promises to detect your fingerprints about 25% faster.

While this is not as accurate or reliable as the ultrasonic sensor on the Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphones, it works quite well as long as your finger isn’t wet.

 

Double SIM Tray

The Xiaomi Mi 9 (64GB : US / UK / MY | 128GB : US / UK / MY) has Dual SIM, Dual Standby capability. Its SIM tray supports two nano SIM cards for this very purpose.

However, Xiaomi chose to eliminate the option for expandable memory using a microSD card. You must rely solely on the internal flash storage.

Therefore, we highly recommend you opt for the most amount of storage possible, which is usually 128 GB.

Next Page > Xiaomi Mi 9 – Processor, Memory + Storage, Setup, Battery Life + Recharging Speed

 

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