At only about $500, the Xiaomi Mi 9 truly is a flagship killer. It boasts a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 855, an vibrant 6.39″ 1080p AMOLED screen, and a 48 megapixel triple camera. It scored 107 on DXOMARK, which is 2 more than the 105 scored on the iPhone XS (Not to mention the iPhone is double the price). Despite its low price, the Mi 9 does not skimp on features either. It supports 20W wireless charging, faster than even the Samsung Galaxy S10 series (and way faster than the iPhone Xs which charges at a measly 7.5W).
The display, which also sports an in-display fingerprint scanner, is protected by Gorilla Glass 6 while the body is made of Gorilla Glass 5. The front-facing camera is housed in a waterdrop notch. Perhaps the only downside to this phone is the battery size, at 3300mAh. It’s a bit small, especially for the size of the phone. In addition, the Mi 9 is limited to a non-upgradeable 128 GB of internal storage. Competitors such as the Oneplus 6T beat the Mi 9 in this department with a larger battery, and more storage options.
Keep in mind Xiaomi is a 30 billion dollar company (at the time of writing). A flagship like this is truly impressive for such a small company, especially when pitted against the best of the once trillion dollar company, Apple. To fight against those big companies, Xiaomi will need to continue this upward trend; with the Mi 9 already being an excellent step forward.
Marcus Tech Blog 