After the release of the Redmi Note 9 series here comes the budget phones from Xiaomi the Redmi 9 and Redmi 9a. Xiaomi Redmi 9 is a powerful budget phone with a cool feature that is worth mentioning. A decent powerful device at a low price, but what can we get at its price?
Table of Contents
Specification
| Redmi 9 | |
| Design | |
| 198g | |
| Plastic back | |
| Gorilla Glass 3 | |
| Carbon Gray, Sunset Purple, Ocean Green, Blue, Pink | |
| Display | |
| 6.53″ IPS LCD | |
| 1080×2340, 19.5:9 | |
| 395 PPI, 83.2%Â STB | |
| Camera | |
| 13MP f/2.2 Main | |
| 8MP f/2.2 Ultrawide | |
| 5MP f/2.4 Macro | |
| 2MP f/2.4 Depth | |
| 1080p@30fps | |
| Selfie | |
| 8MP f/2.0 | |
| 1080p@30fps | |
| Performance | |
| Mediatek Helio G80 (12 nm) | |
| Mali-G52 MC2 | |
| Android 10, MIUI 11 | |
| 3GB RAM | |
| 32GB | |
| expandable via MicroSD (512GB) | |
| Battery | |
| 5020mAh | |
| 18W Fast Charging | |
| Features | |
| Wi-Fi 802.11/ 5Ghz Wi-Fi | |
| USB Type-C | |
| 3.5mm Jack | |
| Bluetooth 5.0 | |
| Fingerprint (rear-mounted) | |
| Face Unlock | |
| Price | |
| P6,990 (3GB/32GB) | |
| P7,490 (4GB/64GB) |
Pros
- Cheap but offer more specs
- Budget 1080p display
- Gaming Chipset
- Large Battery
Cons
- Distracting camera module
- Struggles to shoot low light scenes
- Camera software needs optimization
WATCH:Â Redmi 9 vs Redmi Note 9 – Which one should you buy?
Design
Starting off with the design Redmi 9–our unit–is carbon gray and it has a matte finish coated in a plastic back with a fingerprint-like texture to add grip. In the middle is a vertically aligned camera module along with a fingerprint scanner and beside it is the fourth camera and an led flash. The fingerprint location is somehow comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. It is with the camera module so whenever you will unlock the device using fingerprint, you can easily locate it because of the camera bump but at the same time, you can touch the 3rd camera lens which is somehow adding awareness that you can create a smudge to block the lens. And playing in landscape orientation you will cover all camera lenses.
On the left of the frame are the power button and volume rocker in one location. On the other side is the simtray with dual sim and expandable storage slot. Below is the single firing speaker, USB Type-C port dual-hole microphone, and a headphone jack. Lastly on top are the IR blaster and a noise-canceling mic. The design is pretty minimal and symmetrical at the same time because all components in the front and back are in the middle, it has a dewdrop notch, the whole body is a bit wider because of its screen ratio. Though holding the phone is comfortable and for 198g it feels sturdy.
ALSO READ: Redmi 9 Gaming Review Video – Max Graphics with 1080p Setup
Display
Heading to the display it boasts a 6.53 inches FHD+ IPS LCD with 395ppi it is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The screen of Redmi 9 is a standout. On its price point, we can have a 1080p sharp display with good contrast and a little punch in color. The standard white balance of the screen is in cooler tone but the good thing is you can adjust the color scheme on the display settings to make a little warm or adjust the color filters that suit you.
Camera
Redmi 9 sports a quad camera, 3 lenses on the vertical camera module consist of 13MP main camera, 8MP Ultrawide 5MP Macro, and outside the module is a 2MP depth.
First of all, about the camera features it has a pro mode that shoots 3200 ISO and 30-second shutter. Slow-motion at 120fps@720p, in video mode, it records 1080p footage at 30frames but it doesn’t have any EIS. On selfie, It records 1080p@30fps and it appears a little contrasty but it is sharp.
Now for the camera quality, the traditional 12MP camera of the Redmi 9 outputs almost true to life color reproduction but indoors, it tends to be in a warmer tone, giving the photo more boost on the exposure. Also, the images are acceptable it produces soft images rather than sharp photos which we think needs little optimization. In terms of high dynamic range, shadows or dark parts on Redmi 9 are underexposed. So turning on HDR will give a lift to the shadows.
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Shooting on an 8MP ultrawide, the colors appeared to be in a good white balance with a little underexposed image. When you turn on the HDR mode the overall images are still underexposed.
Moving to the macro lens it outputs saturated looking photos and even it has a 5MP lens we can’t get a super sharp image as we don’t get autofocus on the camera system. Shooting macro will be a little bit hassle as you will nail the focus manually.
Now moving on to the portrait lens, the subject to background separation is not accurate when we look and examine the top and sides of the photo.
Now switching to the front-facing camera, it tends to output a pinkish skin tone. It still has an acceptable selfie but the deep contrast nearly removes other details. Shooting at night, it is more detailed and it does have a balanced contrast.
Performance
Heading to its performance, under the hood the Redmi 9 is powered by Mediatek Helio G80 12nm With 3GB of ram and 32GB of internal. It is running on Android 10.0 with MIUI 11 skin. We don’t have any news about Redmi 9 yet to update its skin to the latest MIUI 12 but we get optimization and it’s hard to review devices with newer chipsets as we don’t have fixed performance results yet. This is because we are currently receiving optimization on software updates. The MIUI 11 feels heavy and not smooth but it gets the job done and there are also useful features and unique features that are worth mentioning and reliable.
Games are good we can still play it at 100% stability if we lower the graphic settings, so I know a lot of you didnt want that high graphics you just need to play the game smooth with 1080p display and a large battery, with just a budget phone. However, this 3GB variant only offers 32GB and we can still install at least five graphically demanding games but 32GB isn’t enough in 2020. We also received internal storage running out info in the notification panel. If you want to watch our gaming review on Redmi 9, click here.
ALSO READ: Redmi 9 vs Realme C15 Specs Comparison – 1080p Screen or 6000mAh Battery?
Battery
On its battery, it is backed by a large 5020mAh battery plus with an 18W fast charging. We tested the usual, video loop test, gaming, benchmarking, and social media browsing, unfortunately, we don’t get a performance mode on the Redmi 9 so we don’t have boosted performance. But still, the result is pretty impressive. And as for charging we all know that it has a large battery so charging it on 18W fast charger, it will still take, but that is the acceptable charging time since we saw some phones with the same capacity and the same fast charge.
Audio
Audio For the audio quality it has a solid bassy sound it has a thug sound when it hits low which is good. It has a loud sound that can fill a single room and it doesn’t distort even at max volume. Overall audio quality, it gives great sound above its price point.
Verdict
For the price of P6,990 (3GB+32GB), you’ll get an overall package, a large and sharp 1080p display. A huge 5020mAh battery, a gaming chipset, and great audio. It is not the most beautiful phone on the market but it offers more specs beyond other competitors in its price range. It’s kinda bulky and heavy and holding it horizontally is uncomfortable, but it offers and gives you the inside experience. Redmi 9, an entry-level budget phone that is powerful enough and that’s enough.
Good phone for the price they are asking. I just think miui is too heavy a skin for android, i also noticed, since this has a fhd screen, there are times when swiping left to right is not fluid.