The Xiaomi Mi9 Review: Flagship Performance At a Mid-Range Price
by Andrei Frumusanu on September 13, 2019 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Xiaomi
- Snapdragon 855
- Xiaomi Mi9
Conclusion & End Remarks
The Xiaomi Mi9 was one of the missing flagship phones that was eager to cover this year but hadn’t had the chance to till now. Overall, I’m glad to have been able to test the device even though it’s later in the year, and it did reveal it’s still quite the good overall package and offers excellent value.
Design-wise, I actually do love the Mi9 simply because of its ergonomics that I find impeccable and extremely comfortable. Even though the phone’s screen is among the larger diameters at 6.39”, it very much feels like a smaller phone thanks to its very thin side-frame. The device is also relatively light for its size, comparable with what Samsung is able to offer in terms of size-weight ratio.
The display is very good and on par of what you’d expect of an AMOLED screen, offering excellent contrast and Xiaomi allows the panel to also get plenty bright. Colour calibration is also quite acceptable, being not great, but terrible. It should very much satisfy the vast majority of users.
Performance of the Mi9 is excellent thanks to the Snapdragon 855 SoC the company chose to employ in the phone. CPU and GPU performance that the phone is able to deliver is just beyond anything else that’s currently available in its price class, very much a Xiaomi tradition.
Battery life of the Mi9 is relatively average – the comparatively smaller 3300mAh battery capacity of the phone loses out to other devices which are in the 4000mAh class. On the other hand, Xiaomi also offers wireless charging in the Mi9, which is a bonus for quickly topping off every now and then, and the phone package bundles in an 18W charger.
In terms of cameras, the Xiaomi Mi9 surely offers a good amount versatility thanks to its triple-camera setup.
I found Xiaomi’s post-processing to be among one of the better ones out there, producing some of the best results out of the IMX586 sensor amongst the countless vendors and devices out there with the similar hardware setup. The wide-angle and zoom modules were also extremely competitive in daylight, producing sharp photos with competitive compositions.
Unfortunately, where the cameras completely fall apart in the Mi9 is low-light photography and video. The lack of OIS on even the main sensor of the phone is deadly, and the cameras just aren’t able to produce useable results. Xiaomi offers a Night Mode to help along with things and it does improve the situation, however the phone still remains plainly uncompetitive in terms of picture quality.
Other compromises of the Mi9 is in the audio department, although with a similar earpiece speaker setup as the OnePlus 7, the Mi9 lacks stereo playback and just has to rely on the bottom speaker.
Xiaomi is able to offer the Mi9 at such a low price thanks to some partnerships and advertising, in this case MIUI here and there can show ads, particularly in the post-installation screens of applications. Personally, I couldn’t care less about these ads as the rest of the UI experience was seamless – but potential buyers should be aware of them.
Overall, I think the Xiaomi Mi9 is a fantastic device with the only real and possible deal-breaking compromise being its low-light photography. I hope for the next generation Xiaomi doesn’t make this compromise again, even if the phone costs 10$/€ more.
At 400€ the phone still offers incredible value, and I think any potential buyer will be happy with their purchase.
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Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
That article is garbage, linear one axis VCM actuation isn't anywhere near the effect of real OIS.eastcoast_pete - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
Thanks for the response! I agree that the lack of real OIS doesn't bode well for video. I also looked at the gizchina article mentioned by Redmyth here, and it seems to be more of a single axis autofocus than a multi-axis OIS. Still, if you have a chance, would like to hear how the EIS in this phone coped, especially in 4K.Redmyth79 - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
Well I personally own or owned Galaxy S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S8+, S9+, Note 9, LG G2, G3, G4, V20, V30, iPhone 6plus, 8plus and now a Xiaomi Mi 9. I can tell you that none are close to the photo abilities or the stabilization of the Mi 9! That's not hype but facts as I still have most my flagships today including the Note 9 which until the Note 10 was Samsung's top Note ever and it beats it day or night in photo or video and not by just a little bit.You do realize the IMX586 in the OnePlus 7pro somehow scored a 118 in Dxomark yet the Mi 9 scored a 112 but it beats it in 9 out of 10 photo reviews online especially in real world YouTube reviews. So technically it has the ability to stay with any flagship out today in photo but it's night cam is not as good as P30 pro I can promise you and pixel does extremely well there to. But the catch is that the Mi 9 has a very good ported version of Gcam online from XDA free of charge that makes its night shot awesome. Without it it still beats anything from last year minus the Pixel 3xl and this year it beats quite a few as well. But with Gcam it does great against any period but the P30 is still in my opinion in its own league.
The Zoom on the P30 is unheard of!
As for Video, check out many reviews on line especially YouTube but again check out Dxomark's review and stabilization rating on the Mi 9. It's anything but a one axis OIS lol. Xiaomi was the one that created 4 axis!
Why would they abandon it on there flagship if something new was not better? Seriously? Think about that.
Also I have a Pixel 3XL and a iPhone Max in house that I've tested the Mi 9 against personally and it beats them both rather well.
eastcoast_pete - Saturday, September 14, 2019 - link
I actually looked at the dxomark article on the Mi 9, and they did indeed give it one of their best scores for video, especially mentioning the good video stabilization in 4K. @Andrei: could you give your review unit a quick test of its video capabilities, especially the stabilization, and let us know what's what? Thanks!Bulat Ziganshin - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
In the first night shot Mi9 Wide and Night photos are swappedairdrifting - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
Let me guess, this doesn't work in US? Why can't we have all the good things?NXTwoThou - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
I'm using a Mi9 6/256 Transparent edition with AT&T in the US right now.NXTwoThou - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
Sorry, 8/256. It's the china version and covers most of the bands. I haven't had any connectivity issues in Oklahoma, but I haven't done a lot of traveling.Redmyth79 - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
The EU global version works perfect on AT&T or T-Mobile. I have it on both.realbabilu - Saturday, September 14, 2019 - link
Just been in the us for US open. It is gave LTE for T mobile