Following the announcement of the Mi MIX 3 5G, Xiaomi also announced the global version of its Mi 9 flagship which launched in China just last Wednesday, February 20.

Mi 9 Design

The Mi 9 succeeds the Mi 8 which launched last year and comes with tons of new features. It is Xiaomi’s first phone with triple rear cameras and also its first flagship with a waterdrop notch.

The Mi 9 is unlike the Mi 8. The back which is covered with Gorilla Glass 5 is completely curved and not just at the corners. Thanks to nano-laser engraving holographic technology and dual layer nano-coating, the Mi 9 has this cool rainbow spectrum design that is visible when light rays hit it. Xiaomi also added a halo ring to the 12MP telephoto lens on the back and covered the whole camera setup with sapphire glass to prevent scratches.

Mi 9 Specs

The Mi 9 has a 6.39-inch 1080 x 2340 AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 6 on top. Xiaomi has added Reading Mode 2.0 to protect your eyes. Under the hood is the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform which is paired with 6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of storage.

The rear cameras consist of a 12MP telephoto lens with 2x zoom, a 48MP Sony IMX586 primary camera, and a 16MP ultra-wide angle camera for those wide-angle portrait pictures and videos. There are also a bunch of AI features to make your pictures appear better.

Under the display of the Mi 9 is an in-display fingerprint scanner which is faster and more reliable than last generation’s. The phone packs a 3300mAh battery with support for 27W fast charging. The Mi 9 is also the first phone in the world to support 20W wireless fast charging which lets you charge the phone from empty to full in just 90 minutes.

READ MORE: The XiaoAI Touchscreen speaker is Xiaomi’s version of the Google Home Hub

Price and Availability

The Mi 9 is priced at €449 for the 6GB RAM + 64GB version and €499 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB version. It goes on pre-order today in France and Spain and will be available in Italy starting February 28. It will come in Ocean Black, Lavender Violet, and Piano Black.

Xiaomi didn’t announce a global version of the Mi 9 Transparent Edition.

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Xiaomi had an event today where it announced a bunch of products. At the launch, it unveiled its new flagships – the Mi 9 and the Mi 9 Transparent Edition. Both phones don’t disappoint in terms of specs and even surprise us with their prices.

Mi 9

The Mi 9 packs a 6.39-inch 2340 x 1080 AMOLED display with a waterdrop notch that houses the selfie camera. As Xiaomi revealed a few days ago, the display is supplied by Samsung and is covered with Gorilla Glass 6.

Under the hood of the Mi 9 is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 processor and it is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There is also an 8GB RAM variant with 128GB of storage too. Sorry, there is no 64GB version this year or rather Xiaomi didn’t announce one today.

The Mi 9 is Xiaomi’s first triple camera phone and it doesn’t disappoint. The first camera with the holographic ring around it (red on the transparent edition) is actually the telephoto lens – a 12MP Samsung ISOCELL S5K3M5 sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and 2x optical zoom. Beneath the sensor is the laser-focus module.

The next sensor is the primary camera – a 48MP Sony IMX586 f/1.75 sensor with a 6P lens. There is also a 16MP Sony IMX481 f/2.2 sensor for taking wide-angle photos and macro shots. It has a 117° viewing angle. All three sensors are covered with sapphire glass. The selfie camera is a 20MP sensor The Mi 9 can record 960fps slow-motion, record videos using the wide-angle camera, has a bunch of modes including AR avatars and an integration with TicTok.

Xiaomi also revealed the phone’s DxOMark score at the event. The Mi 9 scored 99 in video recording, making it the best phone for video recording at the moment. Its overall DxOMark score is 107, putting it behind the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and the Huawei P20 Pro.

The Mi 9 has an in-display fingerprint scanner which is 25% faster than the previous generation. It has NFC with NXP’s new SN100T chip for faster transaction speeds, a dedicated AI button, Bluetooth 5.0 dual-frequency GPS for better positioning, an infrared port for controlling electronics in the home, and a USB Type-C port. It also supports face unlock.

The phone packs a 3,300mAh battery with support for Xiaomi’s 27W fast-charging which allows you to charge the phone from empty to 70% in just 30 minutes. Xiaomi says it also supports Quick Charge 4+. The fast-charging technology is certified as safe by TÜV Rheinland.

The Mi 9 runs Android 9 Pie based on MIUI 10. It has a dark mode and also comes with a Game Turbo Mode.

Mi 9 Transparent Edition

The Mi 9 Transparent Edition comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Its primary 48MP camera also has an aperture size of f/1.47 and has a 7P lens. Unlike the Mi 9, it has a see-through body which is pretty gorgeous.

Pricing and Availability

The Xiaomi Mi 9 is priced at ¥2999 (~$447) for the 6GB+ 128GB version while the 8GB RAM version is priced at ¥3299 (~$491). The Mi 9 Transparent Edition with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage will sell for ¥3999 (~$595).

The phones will be available for pre-order starting tonight at 6 PM local time. The first sale is scheduled for February 26.

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In less than 24 hours more details about the Mi 9 have surfaced. We now know the Mi 9 will get a transparent edition just like the Mi 8 Pro. This version will have 12GB of RAM and a modified 48MP rear camera but it’s still different from the Mi 9 Explorer Edition which has four rear cams.

Following the price leak from yesterday, the same source has released another one and this includes all the memory variants of the Mi 9. According to the images shared on his (@New Technology) Weibo page, the Mi 9 will come in four variants. Below are the variants and their respective prices:

1. Base model with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage – ¥3299 (~$487)
2. 8GB RAM + 128GB version – ¥3499 (~$517)
3. 8GB RAM + 256GB version – ¥3699 (~$547)
4. 8GB RAM + 256GB version transparent edition – ¥4999 (~$739)

The pricing for the variants is pretty unusual which puts holes in the authenticity of these prices. If for only ¥200 more, you get an extra 2GB of RAM and double the storage of the base model, I don’t see anyone purchasing the base model. If you want even more storage, you can add another ¥200 and you get the 256GB version.

READ MORE: Xiaomi working on a pop-up camera smartphone, hints Wang Teng Thomas

Another unusual thing is the configuration of the transparent edition which is said to have 8GB of RAM when Xiaomi’s own CEO, Lei Jun, revealed it has 12GB of RAM. Like we said yesterday, take these prices with a pinch of salt.

(Source)

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With all the details about the Xiaomi Mi 9, we are actually not surprised that there is no official info about the price of the device. If Xiaomi already revealed that, there would be no need for the February 20 launch event. However, there is an unofficial leak about the price of the phone.

An image shared on Weibo by @New Technology has revealed the price of the Mi 9 and the Mi 9 Explorer Edition.

The image shows the Mi 9 Explorer Edition which has four rear cameras and a transparent back ad this image lets us see the wireless charging coil of the phone. We already know that the Mi 9 supports wireless charging and now we can confirm the Mi 9 Explorer Edition supports it too. We may even see both phones ship with a wireless charger just like the Mi MIX 3.

However, the more important part of the image is the text on it. A rough translation reveals some details of the phone such as its 48MP primary camera, its holographic double-layer coating, its bottom bezel which is 40% thinner than that of the Mi 8, and an Explorer Edition with four cameras. But before we get to the price, there is another important info buried in the text.

The last line before the text lists the primary camera and the functions of the other sensors. We already know the other two cameras on the Mi 9 are a 12MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom and a 16MP ultra wide angle lens. This should be the same configuration for the Explorer Edition in addition to the fourth sensor. But what’s the fourth sensor? The image above reveals it is a periscope lens!

There were rumors back in December that Xiaomi would launch phones with periscope lens for better zoom in 2019 and the Mi 9 and Mi MIX 4 were the two phones mentioned. So it appears the rumors are indeed true.

For the price, the image says the standard Mi 9 will be priced at ¥3499 (~$516) while the Mi 9 Explorer Edition will be priced at ¥5999 (~$885)! We are not surprised about the Mi 9 since Xiaomi already compared its chin size to that of other phones priced under ¥3999 (~$600) but the Explorer Edition is pretty expensive for a Xiaomi phone.

READ MORE: Xiaomi to launch a new sports smartwatch on February 19 via crowdfunding

Nevertheless, we presume these prices are for the highest configurations, so variants with less RAM and storage will probably go for less. Also, we advise you to take the prices with a pinch of salt.

(Source, Via)

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