The Xiaomi Mi 9 just went official with the company’s first triple camera and the fastest wireless charging of any phone yet.
The star of the camera is the 48MP module, a Sony IMX586 with a Quad Bayer filter. It’s a large 1/2” sensor with 0.8µm pixels, which can be combined into 1.6µm Super pixels.
The Mi 9 also offers a 16MP ultra-wide camera with 117° field of view. It has 1.0µm pixels and an f/2.2 lens with autofocus, which allows it to shoot macros from 4cm distance. The Mi 9 trumps it with a brighter aperture (f/2.2).
The screen grew up to 6.39-inches but is still a Super AMOLED panel with 1080p+ resolution. Xiaomi claims 90.7% screen-to-body ratio, in part thanks to the smaller waterdrop notch. The screen’s High brightness mode can reach 600nits. Dark Mode can be used to reduce power usage by up to 83%.
The smaller notch required modifications to the 20MP selfie camera . There will be AI-powered face unlock. AI is also used to reduce the distortion in the ultra-wide camera and will prompt you to switch between cameras when it thinks you can get a better shot.
The other biometric unlock option is the in-display fingerprint reader. It’s guarded by Gorilla Glass 6. The back gets Gorilla Glass 5 and the triple camera has even more protection with a sapphire glass lens cover.
The Xiaomi Mi 9 brings a major improvement in fast charging. The company calls it Charge Turbo and it can deliver up to 27W over USB-C.
There’s a fast wireless charger up to 20W, the fastest we’ve seen yet which comes bundled with a 27W wired charger. A 20W wireless car charger will also be available. The battery capacity is essentially the same, 3,300mAh.
Xiaomi picked the Snapdragon 855 chipset to power the Mi 9. It’s paired with 6GB of RAM and you can choose between 64GB and 128GB of storage.
The standard Xiaomi Mi 9 will be available in Lavender Violet, Ocean Blue and Piano Black.
