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
System Performance
Following our Snapdragon 855 device overview, we should be relatively familiar with how the Xiaomi Mi9 performs. The chipset is by now a very well known component and various devices with the silicon will only ever differ by the software stack implementation by the vendor.
In Xiaomi’s case in the Mi9, I didn’t see anything particularly standing out for the phone, performing quite well but also not particularly distinguishing itself as being among the best nor worst performers amongst its Snapdragon 855 siblings.
Overall in PCMark, we see the Mi9 also perform averagely but very much within the top tier devices this year. It’s not quite as fast as the Galaxy S10 (S855) or the odd device like the RedMagic 3, but it performs better than say the LG G8.
Similarly, to the PCMark results, the Mi9 ends up quite in the middle of the Snapdragon 855 pack in the web browsing JS tests.
Overall, my subjective experience with the Mi9 was excellent. Xiaomi seemingly very well integrated the OS-side boosters and the phone is very responsive when opening or switching between applications. Again I have to mention that while this performance doesn’t really stand out much amongst other flagship devices this year, it’s an incredible showing at the price range that the Mi9 is at. Other mid-range phones in this bracket, such as say the Pixel 3a and similar just can’t really compete with the Mi9.
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MrSpadge - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
It's the built-in camera app, called "Kamera" as far as I can tell. However, I had a quick look and can't find any sharpening settings now either, so maybe they've removed that with some update.In order to load this .eu rom I'd have to reinstall everything not saved in the google account, right? If so: thanks, I'll keep it in mind for now.
Redmyth79 - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
LOL, yeah I had it to until the update switched from 10.26 to 10.27 I believe it wasRedmyth79 - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
I used to have the option on EU ROM to sharpen, Saturation, and contrast but after the 10.26-27 update I lost that ability and truthfully I'm pissed about that. But I still am using stock ROM as I have yet to unlock my boot loader although I can at anytime as I've had it sense mayElFenix - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
52 mm lenses are not telephoto! it's just normal! quit calling it telephoto!Redmyth79 - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
It has a telephoto equal to S10+, as it's actually a Samsung telephoto lens.ElFenix - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
still not telephoto!Redmyth79 - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
What ever you say master! It's telephoto in cellphone world!It's only a 2x not 3 or 5x optical but 2x the factory wide angle.
s.yu - Saturday, September 14, 2019 - link
It's telephoto if1. It's longer than normal, which it is not.
2. Its physical length is shorter than its focal length, which we don't know of, but is likely true.
NXTwoThou - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
FYI, the wireless charging is 20W. So you can technically charge wirelessly faster than you can with the (global)included charger. China version came with the 27W charger and bought the 20W pad(and 20W car wireless auto grippy one) to go along with it.Awful - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
It's a shame it wasn't the Mi 9T/Pro - as it really is a newer iteration on the Mi 9 - pretty much everything's improved from what I can tell. I've had mine for a few months now and the value is through the roof for what you get.Also noteworthy is just how easy/good GCam is on these - you can just download the APK and go (camera2 API already enabled so no messing round). It's nightmode and HDR+ fill in a lot of the weaknesses of the Xiaomi's camera app nicely.