Xiaomi Mi 9 Review: Hold My Beer, Premium Phones

A flagship phone utilising the new Snapdragon 855, 6GB RAM and 48MP camera for only SG$699? Some brands say “no way”, but Xiaomi’s Mi 9 goes full on “hold my beer” while they compete with other brands who price their phones at almost double the price.

The Mi 9 boasts a 6.39″ AMOLED Full HD display with a stunning 90.7% screen-to-body ratio, thanks to the teardrop design front camera. The model retailing at S$699 offers 128GB of internal storage, which should be the base amount for most phones these days in my opinion.

The phone comes in three different colours, Piano Black, Ocean Blue and Lavender Violet, with the latter two having a prismatic sheen on the back cover. The phone is a fingerprint magnet of course, but Xiaomi does include a silicon case in the box for initial protection until you can get a case more suited to your taste.

Let’s talk about the cameras. The rear cameras comprise of a 12MP telephoto camera, a 16MP ultra-wide camera and the 48MP rear camera that utilises pixel binning for a sharper image. The rear camera even support 4K video recording at 60 fps.

The 20MP selfie camera works great if you turn off all beauty settings, with good detail in facial hair. This camera also works for unlocking the phone via facial recognition, aside from the in-display fingerprint reader.

While the battery is only 3300mAh, the phone charges up really quickly at 27W wired. There’s also wireless charging at 20W, which is incredibly fast. The wireless charging speed alone is faster than what you’d get out of an iPhone charging with a certified Apple cable.

This phone does feels like a premium smartphone, with a glass back and aluminium frame. Despite having to cut corners here and there to keep prices low, this phone is definitely a contender against some of the flagship phones available on the market today, with its price point being a huge push factor.

The Xiaomi Note 9 is available at Xiaomi’s retail outlets, and Lazada’s online store.