Xiaomi Mi 9 Se

The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE at a glance

Presentation

The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is the successor to the Mi 8 SE. The Mi 9 SE is a simple technical update of the latter, but it also retains its position as the lighter version of its flagship reference. A flagship from which it inherits some attributes, such as the shape of its notch, its design and some elements of its Graphic Equipment

5.97-inch Full HD+ screen with small notch

On the design side, the Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is based on the premium chassis of the Mi 9. Mineral glass (Gorilla 5 at the rear and front, from Corning) and aluminum (for the slices) dress the smartphone. At the back, the photo block, positioned vertically, is placed in the upper left corner, as is customary at Xiaomi. It is surmounted by a flash, unlike the Mi 8 SE where this element was integrated between the photo sensors.

Also note the absence of an apparent fingerprint reader on the back. This component, placed at the rear in the Mi 8 SE, has been integrated into the touch screen of the smartphone, as in the Mi 9. Another change compared to the Mi 8 SE inspired by the Mi 9, the notch is no longer wide and trapezoidal, but small and teardrop shaped. It now only hosts the webcam.

Thanks to the reduced notch, the display area of the Mi 9 SE is slightly larger than that of the Mi 8 SE. The Dot Drop screen measures 5.97 inches (compared to 5.88 inches for the Mi 8 SE). The slab is still Super AMOLED. It is HDR compatible, but no longer DCI-P3. Its ratio is 19.5/9e. It displays images in Full HD+ (1080 x 2340). Its resolution is 432 pixels per inch, a figure that is slightly higher than that of the Mi 8 SE).

Snapdragon 712 and 6GB RAM

The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is powered by the Snapdragon 712, replacing the Snapdragon 710 of the Mi 8 SE. This octo-core, developed by Qualcomm, consists of eight Kryo 360 cores (two Gold and six Silver) clocked up to 2.3 GHz. The chipset also includes an Adreno 616 graphics processor and a Snapdragon X15 modem with LTE Category 15 support.

In France, the Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is available in two versions. Either the 4+64 GB version. Either the 6+128 GB version. Around 30 euros separate the two models. As with the Mi 8 SE and Mi 9, the storage space is not expandable with a memory card So be careful when choosing the version that suits you best.

3070 mAh battery with fast charge compatibility

The Mi 9’s battery has a capacity of 3070 mAh, which is slightly less than the Mi 8 SE’s capacity of 3120 mAh. It is compatible with Quick Charge (Quick Charge 3.0), but not wireless charging (a function that remains exclusive to the Mi 9). The charger supplied with the Mi 9 SE delivers 18 watts of power, the same as the Mi 8 SE.

The equipment of the Xiaomi Mi 9 is complete and up to date: a Bluetooth 5.0 receiver (with Qualcomm’s aptX HD codecs), a WiFi ac dual band modem (with native DLNA), a GPS (Glonass, Beidou and Galileo), an NFC sensor, a USB Type C 2.0 port and two nano SIM ports. As with the Mi 8 SE and Mi 9 SE, the Mi 9 SE does not have a 3.5mm jack port for headphones (nor an adapter supplied in the box).

Triple 48+13+8 megapixel photo sensor

On the photo side, the Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is partly equipped with the same equipment as its reference flagship. So we find three photo sensors instead of two as in the Mi 8 SE. The main sensor is a 48 megapixel model inherited from the Mi 9. It is supported by an f/1.8 aperture lens and phase detection autofocus (no laser in the Mi 9 SE). There’s no optical stabilizer.

Even in low light conditions, four pixels are combined into one large 1.6 micron pixel for incredible 12MP photos. The Mi 9 SE is also capable of shooting at an ultra-wide angle of 123° with its 13 Megapixel sensor for landscape photography.

The third sensor is an 8-megapixel model with phase-detecting autofocus and telephoto lens opening at f/2.4. This element offers the equivalent of a 2x optical zoom All this is accompanied by a dual LED flash.

At the front, the webcam comes from the Mi 8 SE and the Mi 9. This is a 20 megapixel model that is HDR compatible and comes with an f/2.0 aperture lens. The Selfie camera not only supports 3D make-up and beauty mode.

The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE shoots up to 2160p at 30 frames per second and rises to 960 frames per second in 720p. He’s filming in HDR. His webcam, meanwhile, shoots in 1080p at 30 frames per second.

Android 9.0 Pie and MIUI 10

The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE runs on Android 9.0 Pie as a base for the MIUI ROM here in version 10. The phablette is 7.5 mm thick, like its predecessor. It weighs 153 grams, nine grams less.

Xiaomi’s smartphone comes in three colours: grey, blue and purple, the last two being iridescent.