The Xiaomi Mi9 Review: Flagship Performance At a Mid-Range Price
by Andrei Frumusanu on September 13, 2019 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Xiaomi
- Snapdragon 855
- Xiaomi Mi9
Camera - Low Light Evaluation
The Mi9’s expectations for low-light photography shouldn’t be too high: The IMX586 wasn’t a fantastic performer in any phone until now, but on the Mi9 it’s exasperated by the fact that the phone lacks OIS, a critical missing component to be able to get sharper low-light shots. Here’s to hope that the Mi9 at least managed to do adequately compared to the competition:
[ Mi9 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Reno 10x ]
[ G8 ] - [ BlackShark 2 ] - [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
As expected, things aren’t off to be a very good start here. Comparing the Mi9 to the Reno 10x with the same hardware, we’re seeing relatively similar compositions between the two phones. The difference here is that the Reno is able to capture an exposure twice as long at half the ISO level of the Mi9, which has to go up to ISO7066 in this scene. The Reno still managed to end up with a vastly sharper image, all in likelihood thanks to the OIS it employs.
Thankfully, the Mi9 does have a computational photography night mode. The mode does help the phone a lot in terms of exposure, however it just can’t too much in terms of enhancing details and lacks behind the night modes of other phones.
The wide-angle doesn’t have the option to use the night mode, and thus ends up quite disappointing and uncompetitive.
[ Mi9 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Reno 10x ]
[ G8 ] - [ BlackShark 2 ] - [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
The next shot unfortunately ends with similar results. Without night mode, the Mi9’s capture is just disastrous and reminded us of devices 3+ years old, maybe even worse. Night mode makes things passable and useable, however if we compare the night mode of the Mi9 against the automatic night mode shot of the Reno 10x, the results are just incomparable.
[ Mi9 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Reno 10x ]
[ G8 ] - [ BlackShark 2 ] - [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
Same with the next shot, night mode makes the exposure passable, but it’s just lacking in any kind of detail.
[ Mi9 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Reno 10x ]
[ G8 ] - [ BlackShark 2 ] - [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
Extreme low-light becomes a blur.
[ Mi9 ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ Xperia 1 ] - [ P30 Pro ] - [ Reno 10x ]
[ G8 ] - [ BlackShark 2 ] - [ RedMagic 3 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
Indoor dim lighting actually ends up better with Night Mode off for the Mi9 as at least it’s able to resolve some detail, with the mode on it becomes another unusable blur.
Low-light Conclusion - Terrible
Overall, Xiaomi’s choice of not employing OIS on the Mi9 is very costly in terms of the low-light photography results. The phone just isn’t competitive in any kind of scenario and the results are quite most terrible. Don’t expect to be able to do much at all after the sun sets.
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Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
That article is garbage, linear one axis VCM actuation isn't anywhere near the effect of real OIS.eastcoast_pete - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
Thanks for the response! I agree that the lack of real OIS doesn't bode well for video. I also looked at the gizchina article mentioned by Redmyth here, and it seems to be more of a single axis autofocus than a multi-axis OIS. Still, if you have a chance, would like to hear how the EIS in this phone coped, especially in 4K.Redmyth79 - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
Well I personally own or owned Galaxy S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S8+, S9+, Note 9, LG G2, G3, G4, V20, V30, iPhone 6plus, 8plus and now a Xiaomi Mi 9. I can tell you that none are close to the photo abilities or the stabilization of the Mi 9! That's not hype but facts as I still have most my flagships today including the Note 9 which until the Note 10 was Samsung's top Note ever and it beats it day or night in photo or video and not by just a little bit.You do realize the IMX586 in the OnePlus 7pro somehow scored a 118 in Dxomark yet the Mi 9 scored a 112 but it beats it in 9 out of 10 photo reviews online especially in real world YouTube reviews. So technically it has the ability to stay with any flagship out today in photo but it's night cam is not as good as P30 pro I can promise you and pixel does extremely well there to. But the catch is that the Mi 9 has a very good ported version of Gcam online from XDA free of charge that makes its night shot awesome. Without it it still beats anything from last year minus the Pixel 3xl and this year it beats quite a few as well. But with Gcam it does great against any period but the P30 is still in my opinion in its own league.
The Zoom on the P30 is unheard of!
As for Video, check out many reviews on line especially YouTube but again check out Dxomark's review and stabilization rating on the Mi 9. It's anything but a one axis OIS lol. Xiaomi was the one that created 4 axis!
Why would they abandon it on there flagship if something new was not better? Seriously? Think about that.
Also I have a Pixel 3XL and a iPhone Max in house that I've tested the Mi 9 against personally and it beats them both rather well.
eastcoast_pete - Saturday, September 14, 2019 - link
I actually looked at the dxomark article on the Mi 9, and they did indeed give it one of their best scores for video, especially mentioning the good video stabilization in 4K. @Andrei: could you give your review unit a quick test of its video capabilities, especially the stabilization, and let us know what's what? Thanks!Bulat Ziganshin - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
In the first night shot Mi9 Wide and Night photos are swappedairdrifting - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
Let me guess, this doesn't work in US? Why can't we have all the good things?NXTwoThou - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
I'm using a Mi9 6/256 Transparent edition with AT&T in the US right now.NXTwoThou - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
Sorry, 8/256. It's the china version and covers most of the bands. I haven't had any connectivity issues in Oklahoma, but I haven't done a lot of traveling.Redmyth79 - Friday, September 13, 2019 - link
The EU global version works perfect on AT&T or T-Mobile. I have it on both.realbabilu - Saturday, September 14, 2019 - link
Just been in the us for US open. It is gave LTE for T mobile