Xiaomi Mi 9 announced for global markets. Pre-order now available in Europe

Xiaomi has finally announced its new triple-camera Mi 9 flagship for global markets in conjunction with MWC19. The international Mi 9 will be released first in Europe and they are accepting pre-orders starting from today.

The Mi 9 international set is similar to the one that’s launched in China. Upfront, it features a 6.39″ Full HD+ AMOLED display which comes with a tiny notch for its 20MP f/2.0 selfie camera.

In terms of design, the Mi 9 stands out with its new all-curved glass back that has a holographic rainbow spectrum. With its shimmering effect, Xiaomi says that the design supposedly gives the device a different look each time it is picked up. The Mi 9 is 7.61mm thick and it weighs 173 grams. For added protection, the front uses Gorilla Glass 6 while the rear uses Gorilla Glass 5.

For fingerprint unlocking, the Mi 9 uses an optical-based in-display fingerprint sensor. According to Xiaomi, the new fingerprint sensor has been improved and it’s 25% faster than its predecessor.

Under the hood, the device is running on a Snapdragon 855 processor that has 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM with a choice of 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage. Like any Mi flagship device, there’s no microSD expansion slot and it doesn’t come with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

For taking pictures, the Mi 9 receives a new triple-camera setup which is a first for a Xiaomi smartphone. It gets a 48MP f/1.75 high-resolution main camera. It utilises Sony’s IMX586 1/2.0″ sensor which is a significant upgrade its predecessor. The device also gets a 12MP telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom and a 16MP ultra-wide-angle camera that is also utilised for macro shots. To resist scratches, the camera bump has an added sapphire glass lens cover.

The Mi 9 is currently the best smartphone camera introduced by Xiaomi as it received 107 points on DxOMark Mobile. This is the second highest overall score at the moment and it’s just two points behind the Galaxy S10+, P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro. On top of that, the Mi 9 also receives the highest score for DxOMark video at 99 points.

Powering the Mi 9 is a 3,300mAh battery which is rated to last a whole day and it also comes with a couple of significant fast charging upgrades. The Mi 9 supports a higher 27W wired charging as well as QuickCharge 4+. It also has the world’s fastest wireless charging at 20W and you can fully charge the Mi 9 wirelessly in just 90 minutes. For better safety assurance, the Mi 9 charging technologies are also certified by TUV Rheinland.

The global Mi 9 comes in three colour options – Piano Black, Ocean Blue and Lavender Purple. The Mi 9 is officially priced at 449 EUR (about RM2075) for 6GB RAM + 64GB storage and 499 EUR (about RM2306) for 6GB RAM + 128GB storage. So far there’s no mention of a higher-spec transparent edition for global markets.

Pre-orders are now available in Spain, Italy and France, and it will be sold through retail outlets starting from 28th February 2019. Unfortunately, Xiaomi didn’t provide any info on Malaysian availability but it could be happening soon as the device has passed SIRIM’s certification. We expect the Mi 9 to be priced lower here as European pricing is often more expensive when compared to Malaysia.