Just in time for the Mobile World Congress (MWC), China-based smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has announced that its new Mi 9 high-end device will also be available in Europe starting next week. There will be two versions of the smartphone on the market, which differ only in the size of the memory. 64 GByte cost 449 Euro, 128 GByte offers Xiaomi for 499 Euro in Europe.
Despite their comparatively low price, the smartphone’s components belong to the upper class. Xiaomi’s Mi 9 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and a Triple-Cam, whose main sensor from Sony offers a resolution of 48 megapixels. Only the optional Snapdragon X50 modem for the upcoming 5G wireless standard is not available. The Samsung Galaxy S10 models, some of which are more than twice as expensive, also come on the market without the 5G. The main memory is 6 GByte in both versions.
The 6.39-inch AMOLED display was manufactured by Samsung. The resolution is 1,080 x 2,340 pixels. The display, protected by Gorilla Glass 6, also has a small notch for the front camera. The smartphone’s fingerprint sensor is also installed under the display. Instead of an ultrasonic sensor, which is used for the first time in the Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphones, Xiaomi continues to install an optical sensor. Alternatively, the front camera can be used as a face scanner to unlock the smartphone.
The 3,300 mAh battery has Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0, which means it can be charged to 70 percent in 30 minutes by cable. With wireless charging, a complete process only takes 90 minutes.
Main camera with pixel binning
The 48 megapixels can allow the main camera to take pictures with a very high resolution. But the real highlight of the camera is the so-called ‘Pixel Binning’, in which several pixels are combined in order to be able to take good pictures in poor lighting conditions. With active pixel binning, four pixels are combined to increase the light information available to the sensor. The resolution is still a good 12 megapixels. In addition, the Xiaomi Mi9 has a telephoto lens with 12 megapixels and a super wide-angle lens with 16 megapixels as well as a front camera with 20 megapixels and display flash. There is probably no secondary front camera for cost reasons.
Release in France, Italy, and Spain
So far, Xiaomi has announced only one release in Spain, France and Italy, where the smartphone will be distributed via Amazon and MediaMarkt. However, German customers can also order the smartphone from these dealers starting next week.
