The weight has also been balanced evenly for better comfort. Like most reviewers, Xiaomi sent me the Aurora Blue variant and this looks stunning under any lighting. The gradient is subtle and I am glad Xiaomi did not go for a highly reflective pattern similar to the Realme phones subtle colour gradients look civilised.
I can comfortably use the Note 9 Pro in my office and at a party alike, and no one, I think, would comment on my fashion choices. What I am still sceptical of is the rectangular camera hump that looks weird.
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The black patch below the camera hump with the 48MP branding looks awkward. Similar to the rear, the front of the phone also feels upmarket. The phone still uses an LCD display but the bezels are narrow and thanks to the punch-hole cutout positioned in the center, it looks more expensive.
The chin is still noticeable and looks ugly but given the price, this is something we have to put up with. The fingerprint sensor sits on the power button and similar to the Poco X2, it is slightly difficult to reach for smaller hands. The volume buttons are positioned too high even for larger hands.
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Overall conclusions? The Redmi Note 9 Pro feels more upmarket than it is and due to the added weight, some may be more confident in using it outdoors. However, the grams weight is a concern for users with smaller hands and I wish Xiaomi found a way to keep the weight under check.
Cheaper phones are getting better and one area where that improvement is visible is the display. Sadly, the wait continues. The display on the Redmi Note 9 Pro is a massive one it measures 6.
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My mom liked the mega size of the display and she said she would like to watch YouTube more on this one than her ageing Mi A1. The narrow bezels also help the cause.
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While the big size helps, the quality of the LCD panel is sub-par. The backlight distribution is uneven around the camera cutout and at times, it is disturbing. Storage is bumped to 64GB as standard but you can upgrade to GB on the top model. The Snapdragon G has garnered praises for its performance and I have nothing new to add. The chipset is powerful and on a phone that costs Rs 12,, the performance it delivers can be termed blistering.
These 3D games run at high graphics by default but the frame rates are restricted. Some games like Asphalt 9 need to be optimised for the chipset but on the whole, the Redmi Note 9 Pro can handle most of the popular games with ease. While gaming is a big concern, most users will also be worried about how it performs in daily usage. Xiaomi optimises its MIUI interface quite well for any given phone and on the Note 9 Pro, it ensures that the experience is pleasing. MIUI 11 has smooth animations and the interface now feels more modern than before. The gesture navigation makes this big phone easy to use with a single hand.
The dark theme has been implemented tastefully and every corner of the OS feels like this OS has been designed by someone who loves phones deeply. Sadly, the marketing department at Xiaomi has to make money and it has littered this nice OS with a host of promotional pre-installed apps and games that most of us may not even use ever. Most of the system apps such as GetApps, Mi Browser and some pre-installed apps kept throwing incessant notifications with irrelevant ads. A swipe up gesture open the Mi browser by default and I had to dig deep in the Settings to disable it. Hence, I installed the Poco Launcher to declutter the UI further and shut off ads to make my experience better.
Some notable upgrades made in this department are the haptics and the NavIC support.
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Xiaomi says the Note 9 Pro uses a new vibration motor for flagship-phone-like feedback experience. You get mild vibrations while pressing buttons on the quick access tray and even when you are swiping down the notifications tray. The NavIC support makes locating more precise in maps apps in theory. In reality, I did not find it to be much different from GPS. However, you can be rest assured that getting a lock-on on your location will be faster than ever inside India.
I recently did an in-depth camera review of the Redmi Note 9 Pro and you can check it out to get a better idea about the camera performance. In short, the new cameras perform on par with what the Redmi Note 8 Pro cameras could do. The new megapixel Samsung GM2 sensor has improved in terms of details and colours. In daylight, you will find vibrant colours and high contrasts if you are using the sunlight to your advantage. With falling light levels, the MIUI camera app tries to enhance the exposure but balances it out in different parts of the frame.
Hence, despite a higher exposure on the ground, you will see clouds and blue skies together not fused up as just white light. At night, the camera struggles with sharpness and details but the colour reproduction is nice. The ultra-wide-angle camera is average at best and you can only get decent pictures in daylight. Dynamic range is somewhat limited, but the Mi 9 has that in common with most of its direct competitors and overall, only the Apple iPhone XS Max with its HDR video algorithm achieves better dynamic range in video mode.
Artifacts are well-controlled overall, but we noticed some aliasing on diagonal lines and a slight judder effect when panning. There are also some dropped frames in all conditions, but our testers counted only about four dropped frames per minute of recording, so the effect will hardly be noticeable to the casual viewer. The Xiaomi autofocus system worked well in video mode, too.
It is good at tracking and is always responsive. The only situation in which we noticed a loss of focus was walking while recording under indoor lighting. With convincing results across the board and no major flaws, the Mi 9 is the third-best device so far for still imaging, edged out only by Huawei juggernauts Mate 20 Pro and P20 Pro. In video mode it does even better, finding itself at the very top of our ranking, making it the top choice for mobile video shooters.
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This is partly due to the Mi 9 being the first test device recording 4K video by default and therefore scoring very high for texture and detail, but it also puts in a very good performance in all other test categories. Still, it might be considered a very useful tool by many, making the Xiaomi Mi 9 even easier to recommend to anyone who likes taking pictures and recording videos with their smartphone. Read more about our Comment Policy. Updated: Xiaomi Mi 9 camera review. Update summary.
Xiaomi Mi 9 Xiaomi Mi 9, 18mm, image detail. Xiaomi Mi 9, crop. Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, 18mm, image detail. Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, crop. Huawei P30 Pro, 18mm, image detail. Huawei P30 Pro, crop. Xiaomi Mi 9, no geometric distortion correction with people in the frame. Xiaomi Mi 9, flash auto night portrait, good exposure on face.
Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, flash auto night portrait, good portrait on face, dark background. Huawei P30 Pro, flash auto night portrait, good portrait on face, dark background. Xiaomi Mi 9, auto flash low-light cityscape, highlight clipping. Xiaomi Mi 9, crop showing highlight clipping. Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, flash auto night cityscape. Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, crop showing well-controlled highlight clipping. Huawei P30 Pro, auto flash night cityscape. Huawei P30 Pro, crop showing well-controlled highlight clipping.
Xiaomi Mi 9, night mode portrait. Xiaomi Mi 9, crop showing strong white balance cast. Huawei P30 Pro, night mode portrait. Huawei P30 Pro, crop showing average white balance cast. Google Pixel 3, night mode portrait. Google Pixel 3, crop showing slight white balance cast.
Xiaomi Mi 9 images show good exposure and well-controlled noise levels in almost all conditions. White balance is accurate and color rendering pleasant. The Xiaomi Mi 9 maintains good color, exposure, and noise levels in indoor scenes. In video mode, the Mi 9 captures very good detail even at a low 20 lux video still. Xiaomi Mi 9, out-of-focus image in backlit scene.
Xiaomi Mi 9, outdoor detail. Apple iPhone XS Max, outdoor detail. Apple iPhone XS Max, crop. Huawei Mate 20 Pro, outdoor detail. Huawei Mate 20 Pro, crop.