Mi 9 Gets Highest Ever

XIAOMI MI9

Mi 9 Gets Highest Ever 

The newly announced Xiaomi Mi 9 is grabbing a lot of attention because of its price, design, and features such as an in-display fingerprint sensor. Xiaomi announced the Mi 9 along with the flashier Mi 9 Transparent Edition and the more affordable Mi 9 SE in China today. All three devices will go on sale in China on February 26, with pre-orders already open. Global pricing and availability are set to be announced at Xiaomi's MWC 2019 event in a few days' time. While the Mi 9 SE has mid-range specifications, the Mi 9 and Mi 9 Transparent Edition both feature Qualcomm's brand new flagship-class Snapdragon 855 processor and 20W wireless charging, which Xiaomi says is a world first.

However all three can boast of the top-end Sony IMX586 sensor for their primary rear cameras. In addition to having more RAM, the Mi 9 Transparent Edition has been equipped with a better 7P lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.47 for its primary rear camera. At the launch of its new M9 series, Xiaomi also announced that the well-known camera quality evaluation firm DxOMark has given the Mi 9 a rating of 107, placing it second-highest on the current smartphone leaderboard. Separate ratings for the Mi 9 Transparent Edition and Mi 9 SE have not been announced and it is unclear whether they share the rating.

That puts the new Xiaomi MI9 behind only Huawei's Mate 20 Pro (Review) and P20 Pro₹ 117,119 (Review), both of which are tied at first place with scores of 109. However, its video sub-score of 99 is the highest that any phone tested by DxOMark has achieved. Huawei's two phones beat the Mi 9 in terms of still photos and so Xiaomi lost out on the top spot thanks to a lower average between its still and video scores.

According to DxOMark, the Mi 9 captures high-quality stills in nearly all conditions, with consistently accurate exposures, pleasant colours, good white balance, quick autofocus, and controlled noise. The company evaluates still photos and videos on the basis of exposure, colour, autofocus, texture, noise, and artefacts. The flash, zoom capabilities and bokeh quality also factor into the score for stills, while stabilisation is also evaluated for videos.

The Mi 9's front camera was not evaluated, and DxOMark has published separate scores for some phones' front cameras. Also, while Xiaomi can boast of being the first manufacturer with a smartphone based on theSnapdragon 855 processor.