Despite the growing competition, manufacturers are turning towards safe haven as they drool away from groundbreaking innovations and features to differentiate themselves.
Display edges pushed until oblivion, a battery that would last a century, processor that would outperform a PC and a camera capable of replacing a DSLR are the prevailing trends fueling smartphone industry. Manufacturers must sway away from these trends by including some innovative tech instead of beefing up the device until a state of redundancy.
Xiaomi proved this argument by launching its flagship device the Mi 9 at a recent event. The company`s flagship offering comes with a 6.39 inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with the latest Snapdragon 855 7nm chipset and a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor. Features include an In-Screen fingerprint sensor and a back that uses a laser engraving holographic technology.
Detailed Spec sheet – Xiaomi Mi 9
- 6.39-inch (1080 × 2280 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with 103.8% NTSC colour gamut, 600 nits brightness, >60000:1 contrast ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection
- Octa-Core Snapdragon 855 7nm Mobile Platform (1 x 2.84GHz Kryo 485 + 3 x 2.42GHz Kryo 485 + 4x 1.80GHz Kryo 485) with Adreno 640 GPU
- 6GB / 8GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB (UFS 2.1) storage / 12GB RAM with 256GB storage (Transparent Edition)
- Dual SIM
- Android 9.0 (Pie) with MIUI 10
- 48MP rear camera with 1/2.0″ Sony IMX586 sensor, 0.8μm pixel size, f/1.75 aperture, LED flash, Laser Autofocus, PDAF, CAF, 12MP 1/3.6″ Samsung S5K3M5, telephoto lens with f/2.2 aperture, 1.0μm pixel size, 6P lens, 2x lossless zoom, 16MP 1/1.3″ Sony IMX481 117-degree ultra-wide angle lens with f/2.2 aperture, 1.0μm pixel size, 6P lens, 4cm macro
- 20MP front-facing camera with 0.9μm pixel size, f/2.0 aperture
- In-display fingerprint sensor
- Dimensions: 157.5×74.67×7.61mm; Weight: 173g
- Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11ac dual-band (2×2 MU-MIMO ), Bluetooth 5, Dual-frequency (L1+L5) GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, NFC, USB Type-C
- 3300mAh battery with 27W fast charging, 20W wireless fast charging
Xiaomi Mi 9 SE
Along with the flagship, Xiaomi also launched the latest iteration of the SE, dubbed the Mi 9 SE. It packs a 5.97 inch Full HD+ Samsung AMOLED display with a Snapdragon 712 SoC and a 48MP Sony IMX586 camera sensor. It too houses the In-Screen fingerprint sensor and a holographic rainbow spectrum surface on the back.
Detailed Spec Sheet – Xiaomi Mi 9 SE
- 5.97-inch (1080 × 2280 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with 103.8% NTSC Color gamut, 600 nits brightness, >60000:1 contrast ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
- Octa Core Snapdragon 712 10nm Mobile Platform (Dual 2.3GHz Kryo 360 + Hexa 1.7GHz Kryo 360 CPUs) with Adreno 616 GPU
- 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB / 128GB (UFS 2.1) storage
- Dual SIM
- Android 9.0 (Pie) with MIUI 10
- 48MP rear camera with 1/2.0″ Sony IMX586 sensor, 0.8μm pixel size, f/1.75 aperture, LED flash, an 8MP telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture, 1.12μm pixel size, 13MP ultra-wide angle lens with f/2.4 aperture, 1.12μm pixel size
- 20MP front-facing camera with 0.9μm pixel size, f/2.0 aperture
- The in-display fingerprint sensor, Infrared sensor
- Dimensions: 147.5×70.5×7.45mm; Weight: 155g
- Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11ac dual-band (2×2 MU-MIMO ), Bluetooth 5, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, NFC, USB Type-C
- 3070mAh battery with 18W fast charging
Pricing and Availability
The Xiaomi Mi 9 costs a respectable 2999 yuan (US$ 446 / Rs. 31,725) for the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage version while the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage version costs 3299 yuan (US$ 490 / Rs. 34,900). The company has also stated to launch a limited edition Mi 9 with a transparent back with a price tag of 3999 yuan (US$ 594 / Rs. 42,300) for 12GB+ 256GB storage. Available in China from Feb 26th.
The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE will come in Blue, Violet and Dark colours, with a price tag of 1,999 yuan (US$ 297 / Rs. 21,150) for the 6GB RAM+64GB storage option and 2,299 yuan (US$ 341 / Rs. 24,330) for a 6GB RAM+128GB storage option. Available from March 1st only in China.
