The Redmi Note 9 series is now official in the Chinese market & don’t mistake it as the same series of smartphones that have already launched globally. While the name of the series is the same, the smartphones that have launched under it in the Chinese market are different. So basically, there are three phones under this series in China named the Redmi Note 9 4G, Redmi Note 9 5G & the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G. As the name suggests, there are two 5G devices as well, making them the first 5G phones under the Redmi Note series. In this article, we will talk about the Note 9 5G & Note 9 Pro 5G.
REDMI NOTE 9 5G – DESIGN & SPECIFICATIONS
Speaking of the design first, the Note 9 5G has a hole-punch design on the rear, so the single selfie camera is there on the top left corner of the display. The back has a circular camera module that includes three cameras in it & the LED flash. The fingerprint scanner is not on the rear because it is there on the right side & hence doubles as the power button. On the top, there is an IR Blaster whereas, on the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port alongside the 3.5mm headphone jack. The back has a splash-proof coating which protects the phone against normal splashes of water.
The display on the front is a 6.53-inch Full-HD+ IPS LCD & comes with the Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It is not a high-refresh-rate panel, though. Under the hood, there is the MediaTek Dimensity 800U SOC that comes integrated with a 5G Modem & is based on the 7nm manufacturing process. This chip also means the phone supports Dual SIM Dual 5G.
Redmi Note 9 5G has 6/8GB RAM paired with either 128GB or 256GB UFS 2.2 storage. There is a 5,000mAh battery & the phone supports 18W Fast Charging as well.
Coming to the cameras on this phone, there are three on the rear that include a primary 48 Megapixel camera with f/1.79 aperture, a secondary 8 Megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, & a 2 Megapixel macro camera. The primary camera is capable of shooting 4K videos at up to 30fps. On the front, the Redmi Note 9 5G has a 13 Megapixel camera that can shoot up to 1080p 30fps videos.
There are stereo speakers as well, so the primary one is placed on the bottom whereas the secondary speaker is there on the top. Finally, MIUI 12 based on Android 10 runs out of the box.
REDMI NOTE 9 PRO 5G – DESIGN & SPECIFICATIONS
When it comes to the design of Note 9 Pro 5G, it is mostly the same as that of Note 9 5G but with two major differences. The cutout for the selfie camera is placed in the middle instead of in the corners. Also, the circular camera module on the rear now has not three but four cameras in it. Rest of the design is the same, so there is a side-facing fingerprint scanner, a USB Type-C port on the bottom, IR Blaster on the top, Stereo speakers etc.
The biggest highlight of this phone is definitely the primary camera on the rear. The Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G has the 108 Megapixel primary rear camera that has the 1/1.52″ Samsung’s HM2 sensor. If you don’t know, the HM2 sensor was unveiled in September this year as Samsung’s third 108 Megapixel camera sensor. Some of the highlights of this camera sensor include nine-pixel binning technology, up to 3 times lossless zoom, Super-PD AF etc. While this camera sensor is capable of shooting 4K 120fps videos, due to the SOC limitations, Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G can shoot only up to 4K 30fps with this camera.
And well, that’s it! That’s all about the camera setup because the rest of the cameras are just not that great. There is the secondary 8 Megapixel ultrawide camera & two 2 Megapixel cameras for macro & portrait shots. Like seriously, Did Redmi go for two 2 Megapixel cameras along with a 108 Megapixel sensor? It’s really funny!
On the front, there is a 16 Megapixel camera for selfies.
On the front, Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G has a 6.67-inch LCD with 120Hz refresh rate & 240Hz touch-sampling rate. There is Gorilla Glass 5 on the front & back, so the device does look & feel premium. Under the hood, the Note 9 Pro 5G gets the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G chipset that comes with Adreno 619 GPU & 5th Gen AI Engine. There is 6/8GB RAM paired with 128/256GB UFS 2.2 storage.
Finally, there is a 4,820mAh battery & 33W Fast Charging support. MIUI 12 based on Android 10 runs out of the box.
REDMI NOTE 9 5G & REDMI NOTE 9 PRO 5G – PRICING & AVAILABILITY
At the end, talking about the pricing & availability of the two phones, the Note 9 5G comes in three colors – Purple, Green & Gray. There are three storage options & here is the pricing –
- 6GB + 128GB – 1,299 Yuan ($199)
- 8GB + 128GB – 1,499 Yuan ($229)
- 8GB + 256GB – 1,699 Yuan ($259)
There are three color options for the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G as well & here is the pricing –
- 6GB + 128GB – 1,599 Yuan ($243)
- 8GB + 128GB – 1,799 Yuan ($273)
- 8GB + 256GB – 1,999 Yuan ($303)
Starting December 1st, both the phones will be available to buy in the Chinese market.