The Redmi series is one of the ones that has given Xiaomi the most joy. The company ended 2020 with excellent results; in the third quarter, it grew by 19 percent in the Chinese market, which decreased by 15 percent. In Spain, it has positioned itself first in mobile distribution, according to data from Canalys. To maintain and improve these excellent figures, begins with a new member who comes, once again, to mess with names that are too similar: it is the Redmi Note 9T, which I have tested for a week. It boasts of being the first of the Redmi Note family with 5G. Are you ready to help the company continue to succeed?
Performance and battery
The new member of the Redmi family launches 5G connectivity in a big way: it will work when the 5G SA (Stand Alone) is released in Spain, allowing you to use all the maximum bandwidth. It is equipped with the mid-range Mediatek Dimensity 800U processor and 4 GB of RAM (with two memories to choose from, 64 GB or 128 GB, expandable with microSD), plenty of features for an average user. Of course, it does not offer the speed of response of the Mi 10T Pro, nor does it pretend to.
What is measured face to face with the Mi 10T Pro is in the battery section: both with 5,000 mAh, the latter achieves better time when you put it to play YouTube videos continuously with maximum brightness, but only half an hour more, that is, ten and a half hours compared to the 10 hours of the Redmi.
The difference between fast charging is excellent. While the most advanced reaches 100 percent in an hour, the other takes two (50 percent in half an hour, the Redmi in three-quarters of an hour).
Software
As with other manufacturers, the software does not vary excessively in the different models. In essence, it coincides regardless of the range in which the device falls. But the price difference is there, and the Redmi Note 9T does not come with some applications that the Mi 10T Pro does integrate. Among them are:
- The screen refresher (obviously).
- The touch response configuration.
- The creation of a Second space to protect privacy.
I particularly like floating windows for their usefulness and simplicity, although not all apps are compatible. Yes, they are those of the Chrome browser, the Google search engine, and Google Maps, but not YouTube. It comes with an FM radio, screen recorder, voice recorder, document scanner, and My Remote (to use the phone as a remote control for TV, air conditioner, projector, or DVD player…).
Camera
The circular camera module is located in the center, the best position for my taste, because I find it easier to focus the camera, especially in macro photography where you have to bring the lens close to the photographed object. This shape, delimited with a silver ring, seems to me at times like an emoji.
As for objectives, the Redmi Note 9T works with a main one of 48 megapixels activated only when the user wants through the More option in a drop-down menu (this helps not to overwhelm the memory soon). When you do not select this resolution, the phone allows you to choose between high, medium, and low; that is, it does not specify the number of pixels with which it takes the photo. Do not expect an abysmal difference between a resolution of 48 megapixels and the default as high, yes in what they occupy: 14 MB and 6 MB, respectively.
This phone does allow you to take photos with a bokeh effect with the 2-megapixel depth lens and magnification photography with a 2-megapixel macro. However, a wide angle is missing (a lot), the ideal lens for taking photos of landscapes and groups of people. The macro mode photos are far from the Mi 10T Pro level, or they are not very clear or too forced (unnatural).
In the standard photo mode, I have also missed the icons to select the zoom (allows from 1x to 10x) by default that comes on the Mi 10T Pro. It does not go blind either: the number of magnification that it applies appears on the screen when you slide your fingers over it to enlarge or shrink the shot.
Being an affordable phone, it integrates fewer camera features than the Mi 10T Pro, a phone that costs twice as much. For example, it cannot clone people in photos and video or record with the front and rear cameras simultaneously.
The 4 GB and 128 GB models used for this analysis arrived in Spain for 269 euros (249 for 64 GB). Logically, being a cheap phone dispenses with some functions (including some in the camera). It offers the basics with more than enough quality for those who do not need great features. But, above all, it stands out in its autonomy, at the height of more expensive phones. What it brings to this family is 5G, technology that you may not yet need.
The camera is quite acceptable for its price. However, I would have preferred a wide-angle lens to a macro one because I find it more valuable, especially when the latter’s quality does not convince me. For the rest, and considering its price, it has the weapons further to boost this manufacturer to the top of shipments. Easy does not have it because the rest of the brands are not far behind and, in addition, a new competitor has just arrived , Vivo, which has been going strong, with phones that are also good value for money, such as the Y70, but it does not have of 5G.
