Xiaomi Mi 9 and Mi 9 SE Officially Announced (Update: Goes Global)

Xiaomi has officially announced its much anticipated smartphones after several teaser and rumor in the past few weeks, the Mi 9 and Mi 9 SE. The phones have been upgraded in almost every aspects when compared with their predecessors – the most prominent of these is the high-end Snapdragon 855 processor that powered the Mi 9 and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 712 processor that drives the Mi 9 SE.

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Speaking of the Mi 9, it features a 6.39-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display that is Gorilla Glass 6 protected. The display has a Waterdrop notch and a very thin bezel, this let the phone achieve a 90.7% screen-to-body ratio. The Waterdrop notch harbors a 20MP selfie shooter that touts an f/2.0 aperture.

At the back resides triple rear-facing camera; the primary camera is a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor with an f/1.75, the secondary a 12MP telephoto lens with an f/2.2 aperture, while the third camera is a 16MP ultra-wide-angle lens with an f/2.2 aperture. The cameras are tuned with various AI features for un-matched photography.

The maximum RAM and storage capacities included with the Mi 9 are 8GB and 128GB, but there is a special Transparent Edition that comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The Mi 9 sports an optical in-display fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication. It has a Gorilla Glass protected glass back with dual layer nano coating that reflects and shimmers in light.

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Other features included are real-time CPU/GPU/FPS monitoring and Game Turbo. It is powered by a 3300mAh battery with 27W fast charging and 20W fast wireless charging, making it the world’s first smartphone to offer such high-rate wireless charging.

Xiaomi Mi 9 SE

The Mi 9 SE is smaller in size considering its lower 5.97-inch AMOLED screen, but it still retain the Waterdrop notch and the Full HD+ resolution. The screen this time is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. As previously mentioned, the phone is powered by a Snapdragon 712 octa-core chipset, coupled with 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage.

The Mi 9 SE sports triple rear camera just like the Mi 9 – it inherits the 48MP Sony IMX586 main camera, but the secondary telephoto camera has been lowered to 8MP and the third ultra-wide-angle camera to 13MP. The front camera, however, remains the same. The phone does not have the Mi 9 optical in-display fingerprint sensor but instead uses a fifth-gen in-display fingerprint sensor.

The battery has been downgraded to 3070mAh with supports for 18W fast charging to quickly fill it up. Unfortunately, there is no wireless charging onboard.

Xiaomi Mi 9 Specifications

• 6.39-inch Super AMOLED display with FHD+ (2280×1080) resolution, 19:9 aspect ratio, 90.7% screen-to-body ratio, 60000:1 contrast ratio, 600 nits brightness, Gorilla Glass 6
• 2.84GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform, Adreno 640 GPU; Game Turbo, CPU/GPU/FPS real-time monitoring
• 6GB / 8GB / 12GB (Transparent Edition) LPDDR4X RAM
• 128GB / 256GB (Transparent Edition) built-in storage (non-expandable)
• 48MP 1/2″ Sony IMX586 rear camera, f/1.75 aperture, 0.8μm pixel size, PDAF, LAF, CAF, LED flash; secondary 12MP telephoto lens, f/2.2 aperture, 1μm pixel size, 2x lossless zoom; 16MP ultra-wide-angle camera, f/2.2 aperture, 1μm pixel size
• 20MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture; face unlock
• OS: Android 9.0 Pie, MIUI 10
• Optical in-display fingerprint sensor
• Dual SIM
• Connectivity: WiFi 802.11ac (dual band + 2×2 MU-MIMO), Bluetooth 5, Dual 4G VoLTE, 3G, 2G, dual band GPS (L1+L5) /GLONASS/Beidou, NFC, USB Type-C
• Battery: 3300mAh, fast charging (27W), fast wireless charging (20W)
• Dimensions: 157.5×74.67×7.61mm
• Weight: 173 grams

Xiaomi Mi 9 SE Specifications

• 5.97-inch Super AMOLED display with FHD+ (2280×1080) resolution, 19:9 aspect ratio, 60000:1 contrast ratio, 600 nits brightness, Gorilla Glass 5
• 2.3GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 Mobile Platform, Adreno 616 GPU
• 6GB LPDDR4X RAM
• 64GB / 128GB built-in storage (non-expandable)
• 48MP 1/2″ Sony IMX586 rear camera, f/1.75 aperture, 0.8μm pixel size, LED flash; secondary 8MP telephoto lens, f/2.2 aperture; 13MP ultra-wide-angle camera, f/2.2 aperture
• 20MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture; face unlock
• OS: Android 9.0 Pie, MIUI 10
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• Dual SIM
• Connectivity: WiFi 802.11ac (dual band + 2×2 MU-MIMO), Bluetooth 5, Dual 4G VoLTE, 3G, 2G, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, NFC, USB Type-C
• Battery: 3070mAh, fast charging (18W)
• Dimensions: 147.5×70.5×7.45mm
• Weight: 155 grams
• Colour(s): Violet, Blue, Dark Green

Pricing

• Mi 9 with 6GB/128GB -> CNY 2999 ($446 USD)
• Mi 9 with 8GB/128GB -> CNY 3299 ($490 USD)
• Mi 9 with 12GB/256GB (Transparent Edition) -> CNY 3999 ($594 USD)
• Mi 9 SE with 6GB/64GB -> CNY 1999 ($297 USD)
• Mi 9 SE with 6GB/128GB -> CNY 2299 ($341 USD)

The Mi 9 will go on sale from February 26th, while the Mi 9 SE will arrive on March 1st in China.

Update (February 24, 2019)

Four days after its initial launch in China, Xiaomi at the MWC event in Barcelona has introduced its Mi 9 smartphone for the global market. The specs and features remain the same, however, the 6GB/64GB model is priced at €449 ($509), while the 8GB/128GB model is priced at €499 ($565). The Mi 9 will be available in all European countries starting from February 28th, but those who lived in France, Italy, and Spain can pre-order it from today on Mi.com and authorized Mi store.