Like the rest of the Redmi models, Note 9 came out as a good smartphone for little money.
Budget Xiaomi reviews are a daunting task. We all know that these are good and reliable devices that will delight their owner for a couple of years, so sure.
Regular updating of the Redmi Note line does not help us with this: we need to find words that will often be synonymous with “good smartphone, it will suit you.” We have to contrive somehow and write something unusual. On the other hand, this is the same budget Redmi.
Redmi Note 9 Review: Design and equipment
The box of the Redmi Note 9 is practically no different from the older brother of the Note 9 Pro.
The smartphone is available in three colours: white, grey (which is actually bluer), and green. We have the last one on review. In the kit you will find the smartphone itself, a charger, a USB-A – USB Type-C cable and a simple, transparent case:
The smartphone is quite big. Personally, it seemed to be very wide. Its dimensions are: 162.3 x 77.2 x 8.9 mm and weighs 199 g. But I know a lot of people who only accept large phones.
Unlike the Redmi Note 9 Pro, the fingerprint scanner is not in the power button, but under the camera. Because of this, a similar block with four lenses looks visually heavier than that of its older brother:
The IPS screen is flat, and the front camera is located in the upper left corner. I think this solution is more successful in contrast to the central location of the front camera. In this form, she attracts less attention to herself.
I liked the display: it is a luscious screen with beautiful colours. But only in clear weather, its brightness may not be enough for you, because of which you will strain your eyes. But this, unfortunately, is a typical problem for all budget devices.
The case gets dirty very easily. There seems to be no oleophobic coating on the smartphone.
Redmi Note 9 Review: System
The main difference from the Pro version is the processor. Instead of Snapdragon 720G, here is MediaTek Helio G85. And this is not the best news for gamers. The benchmark and throttling test confirm this point:
Buyers can choose from two versions: 3/64 and 4/128 GB. I have the youngest on the review. Simultaneously, the smartphone was able to work with two SIM cards, which do not interfere with microSD.
In my opinion, three gigabytes is not enough for a smartphone. In this version, my smartphone unloaded applications from memory, moreover, working applications. For a long time, I haven’t come across this on Xiaomi, that’s why I’m sinning on RAM.
Like the Pro version, there is a 5020 mAh battery. But the charging is weaker – in the box, you will find a power supply unit with a capacity of not 30, but 22.5 W. But this, in principle, is quite enough.
The battery and the processor perform well together: in some ways, they surpass the Redmi Note 9 Pro, in some way they are inferior to it. I guess the battery will last for two daylight hours. In favour of my opinion is the fact that Redmi Note 9 is not a gaming solution. The smartphone can easily cope with the user’s daily tasks – whether it is correspondence in instant messengers, negotiating by mail, sometimes YouTube and browsing.
There is also reverse charging: connect the device with a cable that you want to recharge from Redmi Note 9, and the smartphone will give out energy with a power of 9 W. Steeper than the stock 5-watt chargers you’ll find in the box with most iPhones.
Don’t forget that the smartphone has NFC. And on the street of Xiaomi owners, this is still considered a reason for the holiday!
Redmi Note 9 Review: Camera
Redmi Note 9 has five cameras:
- The main wide-angle 48 MP. Redmi Note 7 received a similar one and a half years ago. Most of the photos on this camera will be taken in 12-megapixel mode when four pixels will be combined into one large one. This is a fairly large 1 / 2.0 “sensor with 0.8 µm each pixel. Equivalent focal length – 26 mm, aperture – f / 1.8;
- The ultra-wide-angle camera takes pictures with a resolution of 8 megapixels. Matrix size – 1 / 4.0 inches. Each pixel is 1.12 µm in size. The angle of view is 118 °, and the lens aperture is f / 2.2;
- The front camera takes pictures with a resolution of 13 megapixels. This is a relatively large 1 / 3.1-inch matrix. At the same time, the size of each pixel is identical to the ultra-width – 1.12 µm. The equivalent focal length is 29mm, and the aperture is f / 2.3.
The remaining two cameras are macro and depth sensors. Both have a resolution of 2 megapixels.
Let’s start with a simple one – a shot in good lighting conditions with the main camera.
For my taste, the picture came out overexposed, although the conditions were perfect: the car was in the shade of the trees, and I was there too. However, the yellow Camaro was not as rich as it was in reality.
And this is the 48-megapixel mode. It is needed to obtain information.
The portrait was shot in more difficult conditions: against the light. That is, the camera sees something very bright. It is necessary to balance when the shadows do not go to black, and the picture does not look overexposed.
Good detail, the camera clearly understood what (more precisely, who) to focus on. The photo looks alive even with the blown sky. It is also worth praising how the smartphone blurred the background: the blur gradation depending on the subject’s distance is very good.
Snapshot on the front camera. There are good details, but the camera tried to even out the skin tone even with the beautifier turned off. If you fight for objectivity, then where are my bruises under my eyes from unsuccessful attempts to go to bed early? I don’t see them here, but they are! On the other hand, it is better to post just such a photo on Insta, not something that will make people want to put you to bed, injecting a large dose of sleeping pills.
And this is a macro camera. The resolution of the pictures is 1600 × 1200 pixels, that is, 2 megapixels. The camera focused on the flower for a very long time, but could not do it.
You can find Redmi Note 9 is aiming at the largest segment of mid-budget smartphones. And there are quite a few competitors here. The 3/64 GB version costs $199 in official retail, and the 4/128 GB version costs $249. However, at the time of this writing, Xiaomi has reduced the cost by two $50 for each version, which looks very tempting! But I don’t know how long such a price will last, so we will still focus on the price announced at the presentation.
Redmi Note 9 Review: Output
Redmi Note 9 entered a very saturated segment. The model has many strong competitors, some of the official retail I have indicated above. And if you look at the “grey” market, then the choice of buyers increases significantly! And there you can already find other, more expensive Xiaomi models, for example.
For Note 9 buyers, I would recommend paying attention to the version with 4 GB of RAM, as everyday applications become more resource-intensive. From time to time, I got the feeling that the smartphone lacks power.
But Redmi Note 9 is not challenged to be the most powerful and fastest smartphone ever. Its target audience is people who need quality dialer and the ability to use social networks, instant messengers and browsing. And the smartphone copes with these tasks perfectly. A capacious 5000 mAh battery and NFC are a very nice bonus.
Do not forget about MIUI – an operating system that has been supported for a very long time. For me personally, MIUI remains the most convenient shell for Android, and I know many people who think the same way.
Redmi Note 9 came out pretty good. Of course, I would like for Xiaomi to stop chasing models, presenting a new version every six months. But this is purely a pain of the reviewer: there are not so many innovations, but you need to find some words. But, as I said above, the budget Redmi doesn’t need to be outstanding. He needs to be a good smartphone for little money. And he copes with this task perfectly.