86 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 67BUYING GUIDE
Mi 9 is Xiaomi’s brand-new flagship phone for 2019.
It undercuts the Samsung Galaxy S10 by more than
£300 – the iPhone XS by more than £500. And what
do you really lose – waterproofing? A few extra pixels
that you can’t actually perceive? No-one of sane mind
has any business overlooking the Mi 9 in the search
for their next smartphone. It’s not only one of the
best Chinese phones, but the best phones full stop.New features
The most obvious difference when you pick up
Mi 9 is the display, which is now larger and taller
than on Mi 8 and covers a greater surface area,
with a reduced chin and a significantly smaller
notch. It builds in an in-display fingerprint sensor,
previously seen only on the Mi 8 Pro, and adds some
customization options to the Always-on Display.
Naturally this means the previous sensor has
been removed from the rear, but there’s yet more
change here with the LED flash moved to below
the camera assembly and the addition of a third
lens within. The arrangement is narrower but also
taller, and juts out more than before. When you see
the specs you’ll understand why, since Xiaomi has
crammed in an incredible 48Mp lens.
Around the edges the new Mi 9 looks to be much
shinier, with a highly polished metal frame that is
narrower at the edges with glass that curves in not
only to the left and right but also top and bottom.
The IR blaster has been reinstated along the phone’s
top edge, and on the left is a new button for calling
up Google Assistant.