Today, February 20, 2019, Xiaomi officially announced their new flagship smartphone – Mi 9. Xiaomi Mi 9 combines incredible performance with a stunning new design. Comes equipped with the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 mobile platform.
Mi 9 has a new AI triple camera containing the latest 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 1/2″ sensor and is the world’s first smartphone to feature 20W wireless charging. A hybrid phase detection and laser autofocus system allows Mi 9’s camera to focus quickly and accurately – for you not to miss your precious moments.
Besides the fact that the resolution of the main camera is 48 megapixels, the output image has 12Mp. Other two cameras are the 12Mp 2x telephoto zoom and 16Mp super-wide-angle with a 117-degree field of view.
Xiaomi Mi 9 camera specifications:
● Primary camera: 48Mp 1/2-inch Sony IMX586 quad-sensor with 0.8µm pixels, f/1.75-aperture lens, 26mm-equivalent focal length
● Telephoto: 12Mp 1/3.4-inch Samsung S5K3M5 sensor with 1.0µm pixels, f/2.2-aperture lens, 50mm-equivalent focal length
● Super-wide-angle: 16Mp 1/3-inch Sony IMX481 sensor, f/2.2-aperture lens, 17mm-equivalent focal length
● PDAF/laser autofocus
● LED flash
● 2160p/60fps video (2160p/30fps in default mode)
Xiaomi Mi 9 camera test summary
With the overall DxOMark Mobile score of 107, the new Mi 9 is the best smartphone among Xiaomi family. Such high performance has provided the new Mi 9 with the third place in DxOMark smartphone rating, just slightly behind Huawei’s Mate 20 Pro and P20 Pro.
Photo score
The Xiaomi Mi 9 camera is clearly very good for still imaging in most respects, but some opportunities for improvement remain. Compared to the best in class, dynamic range is slightly limited, with less detail in the shadow areas of the frame. A tone compression effect results in very low contrast and a fairly unnatural rendering of the bright parts in high-contrast scenes. When viewed close-up, results from the Mi 9 show less fine detail than those from such high-end competitors as the iPhone XS Max and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, with fine textures rendered visibly softer.
Video score
Xiaomi Mi 9 really shines in video mode, achieving 99 points – the best Video score DxOMark has seen so far. The Xiaomi is the first camera, tested by the DxO lab, that records 4K footage by default, which to a degree explains the excellent detail rendering in bright light and when recording indoors. At the same time, it keeps noise levels low in those conditions. Impressively, the image stabilization system is capable of keeping things smooth and steady, even with the Mi 9’s high-resolution output. The system works efficiently both when holding the cameras still and when walking while recording. Exposure is good even in low light, and the camera captures pleasant colors with accurate white balance.
Such great video performance makes Mi 9 the go-to device for mobile videographers. Overall video score is derived from a number of sub-scores in the same way as the Photo score: Exposure (85), Color (91), Autofocus (94), Texture (70), Noise (78), Artifacts (80), and Stabilization (92).
© DxOMark
The Mi 9 is also the currently best device in terms of texture/noise balance. The camera not only manages to capture excellent video detail, it is also capable of keeping noise low across most illumination levels. Noise becomes more visible in low light, however, especially on moving subjects in the scene.
© DxOMark
Given that video footage in 4K resolution requires a lot more processing power for efficient stabilization than Full-HD video, the Xiaomi also performs impressively well for stabilization, achieving a score of 92 points. Stabilization is slightly more efficient in bright outdoor light than under typical indoor lighting conditions, but works equally well when holding the camera still or when walking while recording.
The Mi 9 is also our top device for video color, thanks to generally pleasant color rendering in all situations and no color shading. Occasionally we observed a bluish cast in the shadow regions of video frames, but that’s only a very minor issue. White balance transitions under changing light sources are fine as well, with only some slight stepping under indoor lighting.
© DxOMark
There’s no reason to complain about video exposure either. Target exposure is very good, even in low light, and transitions are smooth. Dynamic range is somewhat limited, but the Mi 9 has that in common with most of its direct competitors and overall, only the Apple iPhone XS Max with its HDR video algorithm achieves better dynamic range in video mode.
The Xiaomi Mi 9 autofocus system worked well in video mode, too. It is good at tracking and is always responsive. It’s also pretty fast, but not the fastest we have tested. The only situation in which we noticed a loss of focus was walking while recording under indoor lighting.
Final conclusions for video performance
| VIDEO PROS | VIDEO CONS |
| + Excellent detail in bright light and when shooting indoors
+ Efficient stabilization in most situations + Low noise outdoors and indoors + Responsive and repeatable AF performance + Accurate white balance and good color rendering + Good target exposure even in low light |
− Some ghosting and dropped frames
− Noise in low-light scenes, especially on moving subjects − Occasional focus instabilities when shooting indoors |
Original article: DxOMark
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