XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 9S

amazon XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 9S reviews

Beautiful design

Previously, the design was not the strong point of Redmi Note line because it is an obvious sacrifice when the company chose to focus on configuration and the price. However, before the fierce competition from rivals and increasingly demanding from users, Xiaomi understands that it is not a good long-term strategy. While the Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro have their own design features, Xiaomi has taken it one step further with the Redmi Note 9s.

The back of the Redmi Note 9s is obviously the most noticeable highlight of the product: the glossy mirror-like appearance and the soft curved edges is very eye-catching.

In the back, the phone is equipped with Gorilla 5 glass, a plus advantage in this price range. However, the Redmi Note 9s, especially products in gray, is slippery for users and has a lot of fingerprints.

The camera set of Redmi Note 9s is also an interesting point. The two “main” cameras which are the 48MP camera and the 8MP wide-angle camera is elegantly placed inside the silver bezel (this is not a metal bezel, though at first I think it is). Below, it is the level measuring camera – 2MP depth and 5MP macro camera, a new trend that is being followed by many brands. Beside the camera set is a flash.

However, although there is no OIS optical stabilization or a telephoto camera potential, the Redmi Note 9s camera set still protrude a considerable amount from the body, making the channel completely up when users place it on a flat surface.

On the front, Xiaomi has made a big change with equipping the Redmi Note 9s with perforated screens that are the “hot trend” today, instead of just the boring water droplets on Redmi Note 8 and Note 7. Inside the dot-hole is a 16MP selfie camera, while the side is on the speaker strip and a very small LED light to illustrate the status of the device.

The bezel of the Redmi Note 9s is unchanged from the Redmi Note 8 but a little thicker than Samsung’s Galaxy A51 or A71, especially the “chin” part. However, the large 6.67 inches screen size makes it hard for you to recognize it and the viewing experience is also very airy. In addition, the screen has a slight knob to the frame, so the edge of the screen is stroked slightly, a minus point unfortunately.

Having a 5,020 mAh battery and such a large screen, it’s no surprise that the Redmi Note 9s is thicker and heavier than the current smartphone market. Xiaomi did not mention the frame material, and although rugged and painted as smooth as metal, the frame of the Redmi Note 9s is still plastic, not aluminum like the Redmi Note 8, which can be metalized to increase the side like the way Xiaomi did with the Redmi Note 7.

Without using a fingerprint sensor in its back, the Redmi Note 9s has integrated the fingerprint sensor into the power button and puts it on the side, something we’ve seen on Sony and Samsung S10e devices. I personally am not too picky about the sensor aspect, as long as it is not an in-display type, as they basically do not meet my speed or accuracy needs.

It is true that the sensor of the Redmi Note 9s is a very fast with accurate unlocking speed, and can be selected to unlock by touching or tapping the sensor. However, placing the right edge sensor instead of this traditional back is quite inconvenient for people who hold a left hand phone like me, and because I’m on the same side with the volume up and down keys, I sometimes get it wrong, although the fingerprint sensor has been dented.

The ports of the device are still enough with 3.5mm headphone jack, Type-C connector and single speaker, but for some reason the microphone mic is placed completely different from the rest making the edge the device looks a bit messy. If there is a need to control indoor electronic devices such as TVs or air conditioners, Redmi Note 9s still retain the “specialty” infrared port. Regarding sim, the device supports 2 nano sims and a separate memory card slot if 64GB or 128GB of internal memory.

Beautiful color IPS screen, support HDR10

The Redmi Note 9s is equipped with a 6.67-inch screen, a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, an IPS LCD panel protected by Gorilla Glass 5, like the back. Like Samsung devices using Super AMOLED panels, users can also change the display color of the Redmi Note 9s to “saturated” if you want vibrant colors, flattering eyes or “standard” colour to match the actual color.

For practical use, IPS LCD panel of Redmi Note 9s will improve wide viewing angle, vivid colors and supports HDR10 standard.

It is worth mentioning that the screen of the Redmi Note 9s still only has a refresh rate of 60Hz, while the direct competition as known as Realme 6 has been equipped with a 90Hz feature. Currently, there are not many games that require high refresh rates but that trend will change over time, and even if you do not play games, even in everyday experience, the high frequency scan screen always offers a smooth experience anh more.

Performance

The heart of the Redmi Note 9s is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 720G chip launched earlier this year, which is manufactured on a new 8nm process including 2 Kryo 465 Gold cores clocked at 2.3 GHz high performance and 6 Kryo 465 Silver cores clocked at 1.8. GHz energy saving.

Holding the Redmi Note 9s on my hands, my colleague tested AnTuTu Benchmark v8.3 and got 220,321 points. I tried running again on my machine to reach 245,200 points, partly showing the “reference” nature of AnTuTu. Redmi Note 8 Pro with Helio G90T reached 225,202 points on AnTuTu v7, and through our tracking, AnTuTu v8.3 tends to push the score higher than previous versions, basically the performance of the two chips are equivalent to each other.

Instead of benchmark apps, I want to focus more on gaming performance and actual usage. With the Redmi Note 9s, this is a rare time that the new configuration is a problem, at least in the two games we choose including PUBG Mobile and Dead Trigger 2.

With PUBG Mobile, the Redmi Note 9s cannot activate the HDR graphics option and users will receive the message: “this feature will soon be available on your device” even though the smartphone itself supports HDR10. Selecting the HD setting, the device is locked at 30 fps, switching to the lowest graphics is only unlocked at 40 fps, while the Galaxy M31 I recently evaluated with a supposedly lower configuration is opened 60 fps.

Of course, with a strong configuration, HD settings can not be too difficult to Redmi Note 9s, the player is stable at 30 fps, high stability up to 98%, no frame fluctuations or high temperatures because Chips and GPUs are not working at full capacity yet.

With Dead Trigger 2, Redmi Note 9s only chooses to set to “High” instead of “Ultra high”. The average fps reaches 60, the frame stability is 94%.

However, it must be said that the problem of games that do not support the maximum configuration power of Snapdragon 720G is only a matter of time. Besides gaming, the Snapdragon 720G provides nimble performance for casual tasks. With multitasking needs, the 4GB RAM version was a bit drastic when many background applications have to reload frequently. So, if you need a lot of multitasking, you should choose the 6GB RAM version for better multitasking.

Android 10, MIUI remains the same, 5,020 mAh battery is comfortable to use

In terms of software, the Redmi Note 9s comes pre-installed with Android 10, something that is evident with the smartphone launched in 2020, with the MIUI 11 interface. There is not much to say about MIUI because basically the interface of Xiaomi has not changed too much between versions, the advantages of many custom features for users and the disadvantage of pre-installing many “junk” applications and ads still exist – anyway, this is a way for Xiaomi be able to maintain competitive low prices.

Redmi Note 9s has a 5,020 mAh battery. The battery test results show that this phone has much better battery life than the old generation Redmi Note 8 Pro. In actual usage, despite high frequency gaming and continuous use, by evening I still have about 25% battery. For most ordinary users, perhaps the device will last about 2 days to charge.

Only supports 18W fast charging, but rather surprisingly, inside the box, Xiaomi comes with a 22.5W charger. Battery charging time of Redmi Note 9s is not too fast, about 2 hours 10 minutes to fully charge.

where can you get a XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 9S online

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S 6.67″ 48MP International Global Version (Glacier White, 6GB/128GB): Buy it now

Camera

Do not let the new design fool you because, in fact, the camera set of Redmi Note 9s is almost “intact” from Redmi Note 8. There are still a main camera 48MP ISOCELL GM2 sensor of Samsung, a 8MP wide-angle camera, al the 2MP depth-of-field camera and only the macro camera is upgraded to 5MP resolution.

The image quality of the Note 9s can be encapsulated in a word – “temporary”. Anyway, before the advantages of configuration or design, in this price range, we are forced to trade off.

On a rare day without rain and light, the Redmi Note 9s produced images with a wealth of details, natural colors and vividness. AI mode still tends to push colors to a much more realistic level, which can be suitable for those who prefer to flatter their eyes.

Low light environment is where the camera of the Redmi Note 9s strongest advantage. The noise is quite clear, the light is not properly controlled and has little detail. Machine mode Night Mode helps improve a bit, but the image is still only at acceptable level.

8MP wide-angle camera is something that is so familiar on recent Xiaomi and Redmi products. Photos from this camera are usually lighter in color than the main camera and are only suitable for shooting in brightly lit environments.

The macro camera of Redmi Note 9s is increased to 5MP resolution. I have to give a plus point to Xiaomi when it comes to focusing for this macro camera, instead of having to align the distance like Samsung devices, I just need to touch to focus and shoot, much more effective.

In the font deletion mode, the Redmi Note 9s uses a 2MP camera to capture depth support for the 48MP main camera. The device recognizes the subject border to remove the background quite well, less blurry and the background can adjust the level of deletion after shooting.

16MP selfie camera meets the needs of virtual life posted on social networks. The water color is quite natural when it is bright enough, clears the background, the skin is smooth but not too “nature”.

Summary

There are still problems to fix and improve but after all, the Redmi Note 9s is still a smartphone that you can hardly refuse: strong performance, eye-catching design, unless you require high photography, I see no reason not to choose the Redmi Note 9s.