Xiaomi Mi 9 is official, brings Snapdragon 855, 48MP triple camera for under $500

Following a few social media teases over the past week, the Chinese tech giant – Xiaomi has finally unveiled the latest addition to its Mi flagship series of smartphones – the Mi 9. And unlike last years Mi 8, the Xiaomi Mi 9 has no pro variant, but there is a 12GB RAM Transparent edition as rumored.

As expected, there is a bump in the spec sheet over the Mi 8, but not at the expense of a visual update. Though the device looks familiar to last years Mi 8, it a dazzling finish on the back, which changes colors depending on how you look at it and is even more pronounced when dealing with the lavender violet color option. Still, on the design aspect, the Mi 9 has eschewed the capacitive fingerprint scanner for an In-display fingerprint sensor, while also featuring one additional camera sensor, making a total of three – the first for any Xiaomi phone.

On the display front, the device now has a fairly larger display – at 6.39-inches, but is still a Super AMOLED panel with 1080p+ resolution with Gorilla Glass 6 protection, and a 90.7% screen-to-body ratio, in part thanks to the smaller waterdrop notch.

Under the hood, the Xiaomi Mi 9 has the most high-end SoC from Qualcomm – the Snapdragon 855 processor paired with 6 or 12GB of RAM, and up to 256GB of storage.

Aside from the optical in-display fingerprint sensor, another plus for the Xiaomi Mi 9 is the triple rear camera system which makes it the first ever Xiaomi phone to pack up to three rear cameras. The main sensor is a 48-MP Sony IMX586 that can output 12-MP images, coupled with a 12-megapixel telephoto lens provides a 2x zoom, as well as a 16-megapixel super wide camera that allows for a wider field of view. Above the display, the Xiaomi Mi 9 houses a 20MP selfie camera (f/2.0, 0.9-micron pixels), complete with a software-driven portrait mode.

The device will boot Android 9.0 Pie with Miui 10 out of the box, while the whole package is fueled by a 3300mAh battery that supports 27W fast charging and 20W wireless fast charging.

Xiaomi Mi 9 specifications

• 6.39-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 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
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• 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

The device will go on sale from February 26th in Xiaomis home country China.

• Xiaomi Mi 9 with 6GB RAM with 128GB – 2999 yuan/US$ 446
• Xiaomi Mi 9 with 8GB RAM with 128GB – 3299 yuan /US$ 490
• Xiaomi Mi 9 Transparent Limited Edition with 12GB RAM and 256GB – 3999 yuan /US$ 594

Aside from the limited edition, Xiaomi has also introduced a mid-range Mi 9 SE with a more compact 5.97-inch screen and Snapdragon 712 processor, 6GB RAM, and 64GB storage at a retail price of 1,999 yuan (~$300).