Xiaomi has always been pushing the boundaries of its capabilities. This year too, the Chinese brand has done the same with the announcement of two major flagships in the Mi and Mi Mix lineups. Besides Mi, its sub-brand Redmi also stepped into the flagship game with the launch of the Redmi K20 Pro of late.
In a recent move, Xiaomi took the wraps off the latest flagship models – Mi 9 Pro 5G and Mi MIX Alpha 5G in its home soil China. Interestingly, the company also took the wraps off a premium offering in the Mi TV Pro lineup with support for 8K video playback. The other announcements include MIUI 11, the latest custom skin and the futuristic Mi MIX Alpha with a wraparound screen. While these announcements were made in China, the Redmi Note 8 Pro has been launched in Europe.
Redmi Note 8 Pro debuts in Europe from €249
Redmi Note 8 Pro is the most impressive budget smartphones we have seen in 2019. The smartphone is now official for €249 for the 6GB/64GB variant and €269 for the 6GB/128GB variant. As of now, it has been launched in Spain and will go on sale from September 26 via Mi.com, Mi Stores and AliExpress for €229 for the first 24 hours and via Amazon from September 30, but there’s no word regarding the wider launch of the device.
The major selling point of the Redmi Note 8 Pro is the use of a 64MP camera at its rear. This sensor is accompanied by three other sensors including an 8MP ultra-wide lens, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth sensor. Up front, there’s a 20MP selfie camera within the waterdrop notch.
Going beyond the camera, the Redmi offering comes with an octa-core MediaTek Helio G90T and a 4500mAh battery. The other goodies include 6.53-inch FHD+ LCD display, 18W fast charging, a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, NFC and IR blaster.
Another 5G phone: Mi 9 Pro 5G
Xiaomi joined the 5G bandwagon with the launch of the Mi MIX 3 5G, which is already available in Europe. The second one is the Mi 9 Pro 5G with upgraded specs than the Mi 9. The Mi 9 Pro 5G features the advanced Snapdragon 855+ processor, 12GB RAM and 512GB of storage. For gaming aficionados, there is a vapor chamber-style heat sink made using copper to dissipate the heat to the centre of the back panel and make it relatively cooler.
Mi 9 Pro 5G features Mi Charge Turbo with 40W touted to charge up to 20% of the battery in just 5 minutes and completely in as low as 48 minutes. And, the charger bundled within the box is of 45W and can be used to charge even MacBooks. There’s support for reverse wireless charging at 10W. Technically, the Mi 9 Pro 5G features a 6.39-inch AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, a specially designed display with DC dimming and more. The 5G variant borrows the same camera from the Mi 9 including a 48MP main sensor, a 16MP ultra-wide-lens and a 12MP telephoto lens.
Mi MIX Alpha with a crazy display
Mi MIX Alpha is the latest premium offering from Xiaomi with something that we’ve never seen before, a 4D surrounding curved display. It is an AMOLED display with an astonishing 180.6% screen-to-body ratio and a bezel-less design. There are display status icons at the sides and virtual buttons to enhance the screen real estate.
The Mi MIX Alpha flaunts a whopping 108MP primary sensor with pixel-binning technology for 27W megapixel images. This is unusually large for a smartphone and is touted to produce great low-light photos. The other sensors include a 20MP ultra-wide-angle lens and a 12MP 2x optical zoom telephoto lens. There aren’t selfie cameras as the display at the rear can capture self-portraits.
Mi MIX Alpha’s innards comprise the Snapdragon 855 Plus SoC, 12GB RAM, 512GB UFS 3.0 storage space and 4050mAh battery with 40W fast charging. It runs Android 10 based MIUI 11 custom skin. This smartphone is all set to be available in December.
Main image picture credits: Xiaomi
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