The Redmi Note smartphone lineup is no powerhouse, you can check the Mi-series, for the purpose. They’re basically, budget phones which brought Xiaomi to the spotlight by sticking to their core values. Recently, the company announced they have sold over 110,000,000 Redmi phones Globally, which is a milestone. The company looks to add to this insane number, which is why they announced the Redmi Note 9 Pro, even at an affordable price compared to its predecessors.
On our Redmi Note 9 Pro review, we are leaving out the competition to focus more on what Xiaomi has got right with its recent release. Therefore, our review centers on users’ opinions and feedback from people that have spent time with the phone.
Design: great, but becoming thicker
For me, I believe the Redmi 5 Plus is the best design, Xiaomi has been able to come up with in the past years under the Redmi brand. The device after three years still competes with the recent release, and most time throws them off balance. Nevertheless, Xiaomi needed to grow, and they did with the quality compact design, which they introduced with the Note 7 series.
Meanwhile, at the back of the Redmi Note 9 Pro is where you see the neat glossy design engineered with Gorilla Glass 5. And like the Note 8 Pro, it keeps a centralized rear camera arrangement but mounted on a rectangular bump this time. Apart from the camera bump, the back is empty as the fingerprint scanner is now on the power button. The scanner is very fast and well-positioned, but the volume rocker is rather too far to reach with one hand.
On the other side is the sim tray, as well as the Micro SD slot. You find the USB-C port at the button along with the speaker grills and the headphone jack, while the IR blaster comes off the top.
On the front, a few things have changed, which you may not even notice. The device is now taller, probably the reason it’s able to accommodate a big 6.67-inch screen and the punch hole for selfie snapper. It still maintains a FullHD+ resolution while the aspect ratio stretches to 20:9. But unfortunately, it refreshes at 60Hz, unlike the POCO X2. However, that’s just a number as it’s yet to be proven if high refresh rates influence mid-rangers.
But while the Redmi Note 9 Pro design is great, the weight is now heavy at 209g and the body thicker. Think about the weight after putting protective glass, and case, it will probably hit 250g, which becomes heavy on the hand after holding for a long period. And don’t go leaving your phone inside water, the Redmi Note 9 pro only certified P2i rating to be splash-proof.
Performance: capable of what is to come
Redmi opted for a Mediatek processor with the Note 8 Pro, but it seems the company is back with Snapdragon Chipset. The processor is on an 8nm process with two 465 Gold cores clocked at 2.3GHz and six 465 silver cores at 1.8GHz. There’s Adreno 618 GPU to deliver seamless graphics.
The processor is Wi-Fi 6 compatible, which is the next generation Wi-Fi, even better for gamers. And while all the Redmi Note 9 Pro reviews have tipped the device to take anything thrown at it, you should avoid the base version with 4GB of RAM, if you’re a gamer.
Interestingly, the device supports Widevine L1 straight from the box, but there’s no option to switch to HD on Netflix videos. The playback options show the device supports the feature but keeps the resolution at SD and no means of switching to HD. Well, it’s kind of weird, and we hope Xiaomi fixes it very soon.
Outside the box, you get MIUI 11 on top Android 10 and all the features of MIUI, including bloatware. You might be able to uninstall some of these apps, but overall the performance has been great.
Redmi Note 9 Pro review: camera
Well, we’re yet to test the camera, but from the Redmi Note 9 Pro reviews coming in, the shots are pretty decent. At the back of the Note 9, Pro is a primary 48MP Samsung GM2 sensor. It’s a downgrade from the 64MP snapper present on the Note 8 Pro, but there’s a twist on the software.
The shots again are pretty decent and offer a natural-looking science. The white balance is decent, dynamic range is also good for the price, while there’s a lack of sharpness on each shot. However, you will notice noise snapping on 48MP resolution.
Meanwhile, the portrait mode is a nice try as the sensor does well in edge-detection and crafting out natural-blur. The 2MP is there and does its job pretty well while the 5MP Ultra-wide didn’t disappoint. But switching to night mode will give you horrible pictures using the primary camera, however, it gets better when you switch to night mode functionality, but still won’t give you the best shot. And with the Redmi Note 9 Pro, you can shoot videos up to 4k @ 30fps.
Battery: got bigger, charges slow
Before now, we have seen Redmi phones debut with 4000mah battery capacity. Things are different now with Redmi slapping a big 5020mAh cell inside the Note 9 Pro. The performance is impressive and will see you through the day, but it takes a chunk of your time to get filled up. With the charging speed kept at 18W, it will take the device 2hours 20minutes to charge from 0% to 100%. The charging speed is rather too slow, and that’s the only issue we see on that side.
Redmi Note 9 Pro review, audio: gets the job done at least
You are guaranteed a quality sound for your Bluetooth headphones. Once your speaker supports the necessary programs, the Note 9 Pro delivers quality sound via AptX, AptXHD, and LDAC. Overall, the sound quality is pretty nice, and on earphones, it produces enough dynamic range. However, the base is not encouraging, and we believe a stereo speaker could have gone far.
Price: a bang for the bucks
The Redmi Note 9 Pro starts at $175, the official price for the base 4GB RAM/ 64GB version. It’s even more affordable than the Note 8 Pro when it was released. Meanwhile, the 6GB RAM/ 128GB version sets you back $232 and looking at the price, it shows the company still got it when it comes to fair pricing. And if you start needing an extra, like a 64MP camera sensor and fast charging, just check out the Note 9 Pro Max.
The Redmi Note 9 Pro is great value for money. It tries to bring modern features while keeping the core values, which is affordability and performance. And like the predecessor, it will still compete favorably with other mid-rangers.
The verdict
The Redmi Note series has always focused on offering decent performance at a fair price. The Redmi Note 9 Pro didn’t deviate from this as it promises to deliver robust performance and fair smartphone photography at a price that’s within the budget of most smartphone buyers. Redmi Note 9 Pro keeps the core of a budget phone, although some things could have been done better.
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