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
Battery Life
Battery life of a device is dictated by the SoC efficiency, screen efficiency and battery capacity. The Mi9 has an efficient SoC, and it should have an adequately efficient screen, however its battery capacity of 3300mAh is on the lower side compared to competitor devices this year, which are found to sport 3700-4000+ mAh units.
In the web-browsing test, the Mi9 ends up as expected on the lower half of our device database of recent flagships. The phone lands near where the G8 landed.
Similarly, in PCMark, the Mi9 ends up quite average in terms of its longevity. It’s not bad at all, but still remains as the lowest longevity of S855 devices, just a hair worse than the 90Hz mode of the OnePlus 7 Pro.
Overall while the Mi9 certainly doesn’t compete in battery to the likes of the Galaxy S10+, it should offer sufficient longevity to get most users through the day.
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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