The Redmi Note 9S is the continuation of one of Xiaomi’s most popular series and that is the Note series. The Redmi Note 9S is the budget flagship. It has the features and specifications of a higher end phone.
Can it compete with the Pocofone F2?
So let’s see the specific features of the Redmi Note 9S.
Redmi Note 9S Specifications
| Redmi Note 9S Features | Specifications |
| Display | 6.67-inch FHD + Dot Display |
| Chipset | Qualcomm 720G Snapdragon |
| Camera | 48MP AI Quad Camera, 8MP ultra-wide camera, 2MP camera, 5MP macro camera |
| Battery | 5020 mAh with 18W charge |
| Colours | Grey, Blue, White |
Frankly speaking, the front design of the Redmi Note 9S is tried and tested. It’s not an innovative design, but it works.
It has a super powerful 6.67-inch massived FHD + Dot Display. It has a 3D curved back for better grip.
The front glass is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 for extra protection. The Note 9S has a unique placement for the fingerprint sensor and that’s the side button. This is much better in terms of natural unlocking. It’s pretty seamless because that’s how most people hold their phone. In terms of the grip, it’s perfect placement.
The display itself has a 91% screen to body ratio.
Redmi Note 9S – Under the hood
The chipset in this system is the uber powerful Snapdragon 720G. It is much more powerful than the popular 712 Snapdragon. In fact it has a 36% stronger CPU and a 18% stronger GPU.
It’s blazingly quick, but it’s let down by the refresh rate which is about 60Hz. So when you are scrolling through an infinite page, you see the slight lag and not the seamless experience you encounter with true flagships.
The phone runs on the MIUI, which isn’t considered the most solid Android layer because of its bloatware and spammy ads. But that doesn’t take away from the performance of the Redmi Note 9S.
Redmi Note 9S – Camera Quality
One of the best aspects of the Redmi Note 9S is the camera. It has a quad camera set-up with a 48-megapixel main camera with Ai features. The other cameras are a 8MP-ultra wide angle camera.
It also has a 5megapixel micro camera and a 2MP depth sensor camera.
So what can the cameras do?
- 8000 X 6000 high resolution
- Night mode with more detail
- 4K video shoots
- Increases the field of vision from 79 degrees to 119 degrees
- The AI portrait mode is brilliant that automatically blurs the background
- The 5MP macro camera is perfect for those close-up shots
The front camera is a 16-megapixel shooter with 120fps slow motion selfies.
These are the features, what about the actual results?
There are a few problems with photos that were zoomed in. There were also actual concerns with regards to the quality of the photos when they were converted from the default mode to the 48-megapixel mode.
The night mode is a great feature on the 9S, but truth be told, it’s not drastically better than the normal mode when you shoot at night. You’d think there would be a marked difference between the night mode and the normal mode, but there isn’t.
Redmi Note 9S – Other Features
The Note 9S also has a 3.5mm jack, nano-coating that protects against splashes, IR remote and a Type-C port. But there are glaring omissions as well. The Note 9S does not have the NFC feature, which is a big omission, especially during these times.
Let’s talk about the haptic feedback. If you’ve used a flagship device and when you are typing and you get a slight vibration, that’s haptic feedback. It’s a signal that you’ve entered text. This is important for a better smartphone experience in general and the Note 9S has brilliant haptic feedback.
It cannot be charged wirelessly and it’s waterproof levels are not up to par. But then again, this is not a flagship phone.
Redmi Note 9S – Battery
The battery on the Redmi Note 9S is one of the best across categories. For a budget flagship to have this kind of battery is pretty awesome. So how much can the 5020 mAh battery last?
It has about 147 hours of music playback, 33 hours of calling time, 16 hours of continuous navigation and 13 hours of continuous gaming. If there are upsides, there are downsides too.
It takes a good 2 hours to fully charge, even with the 18W fast charging. The only positive is, you get 1.5 hours of continuous battery life, which is pretty great.
Redmi Note 9S – Final Verdict
When the Redmi Note 9S was first announced, it had all the trappings of a flagship, when it comes to the features.
But, looking at the price, it was a steal! But truth be told, there aren’t many features on the Redmi Note 9S that work to the level you expect it to and that’s a problem. And that’s a dead giveaway that it isn’t at the flagship level.
Pros
- Very reasonably priced for the specifications it carries
- Beautiful large FHD+ display with Gorilla Glass 5 protection
- Fast fingerprint sensor at the optimal location
- Awesome haptic feedback
- Big battery that easily lasts for 1.5 days with constant use
- Super great chipset that makes using this phone a breeze
- Has a headphone jack
Cons
- The refresh rate on the display doesn’t match the chipset capabilities. There’s a slight lag
- The cameras are a tad underpar considering their specifications and the quality of hardware
- The MIUI is not the best Android OS’ out there
- Does not have NFC, which is important during these times
- The battery takes quite a bit of time to charge, almost 2 hours to fully charge
- No wireless charging feature
If you are buying this phone purely based on the specs, then you will be a tad disappointed because it does have a few issues and you can go for a slightly more expensive flagship.
But if you are buying this phone for the price, then it’s one of the top phones you can buy for what it’s capable of.
Redmi Note 9s Singapore Price
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