Xiaomi Launches Mi Note 10 Lite, Redmi Note 9 & Note 9 Pro Globally

Today Xiaomi is launching a trio of mid- to low-end devices, and we’re seeing the global launch of the new Mi Note 10 Lite, Redmi Note 9 Pro and the Redmi Note 9.

The new Note 10 Lite is a cut-down version of last year’s Note 10 which was the first phone with an 108MP camera. The Lite variant keeps the design aesthetics but comes with a smaller 64MP still very capable camera.

The new Redmi Note 9 series phones adopt a new design language, offering new SoCs in the forms of the Snapdragon 720 and the Helio G85, all whilst maintaining their characteristic huge battery capacities as well as extremely low prices.

Starting off from the highest end device today, the new Mi Note 10 Lite continues to adopt a Snapdragon 730 SoC that we’ve seen in the Mi Note 10 phones. Overall, the Note 10 Lite doesn’t see all that different internal hardware (besides the cameras), other than now coming with a lower 64GB storage base option. It’s still a very capable mid-range phone thanks to the SoC’s A76 cores at 2.3GHz.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro adopts a similar SoC in the form of the Snapdragon 720. On paper the SoC is exceedingly similar to the Snapdragon 730 as they share the same CPU configuration and clocks. This is a more significant generational update compared to the Helio G90T processor found on the Note 8 Pro last year.

Finally, the Redmi Note 9 switches up SoCs from a Snapdragon 665 To a Helio G85 – this should again be a nice performance boost for the phone as we’re switching over to Cortex-A75 cores from the predecessor design’s A73 cores.

The Mi Note 10 Lite and Redmi Note 9 Pro come with 6GB of RAM in most global markets, with the Redmi Note 9 having a choice of 3 or 4GB depending on your choice of 64GB or 128GB storage variants, which by the way is also the storage choice for the higher end models today.

 The Mi Note 10 Lite adopts a similar higher-end design as the Mi Note 10 phones, which is quite rare in this price range as it looks more like a flagship phone. The phone is characterised by a curved edge display coming in at 6.47” diagonal and sports an AMOLED screen with a 2340 x 1080 resolution.

The phone has a reasonable footprint with a 74.2mm width, however it’s quite thick at 9.67mm and a hefty 204 grams weight – all compromises in order to fit in a massive 5260mAh battery into the phone.

Xiaomi downgrades the 108MP HMX sensor in favour of a smaller 64MP Sony IMX686 – still a quite high-end sensor and the follow-up to the immensely popular IMX586 that we’ve seen in numerous devices in 2019. With 2x2 pixel binning this results in 16MP pictures with an effective pixel pitch of 1.6µm. Along with an f/1.89 aperture and computational photography night modes this should result in excellent picture quality.

We find an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, with two extra cameras in the form of a 2MP macro camera and a 5MP depth sensor.

All of the phones announced today have 3.5mm headphone jacks as well as IR blasters – as well as NFC depending on regional models.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro switches up the design compared to its predecessor, now opting for a more symmetrical feature layout. Gone is the notch in favour of a central display cut-out, housing a 16MP front camera.

The phone’s display is an IPS LCD at a 6.67” diagonal and 2400 x 1080 resolution. The phone is quite big at 76.7mm width, and is again quite heavy at 209 grams but again features a massive 5020mAh battery.

The camera setup of the phone is the similar for all phones today, but slightly varying in the modules used. The Note 9 Pro uses the same sensor as the predecessor Note 8 Pro, meaning a 64MP Samsung GW1 sensor. The optical characteristics here are the same as on the Mi Note 10 Lite, just with a different sensor. Oddly enough, this variant of the phone has a 5MP macro camera which on paper is more capable than the Mi Note 10 Lite.

The phone has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for authentication. 

Finally, the Redmi Note 9 is today’s lowest end model. It again has a similar IPS LCD display, but features the camera cut-out in the left corner instead of the centre.

Aside from the aforementioned SoC differences, this model also has an ever-so-slightly smaller battery at 4920mAh (it’s still huge), and features a 13MP front camera.

The main camera on the rear is a 48MP unit with 0.8µm pixels – Xiaomi here doesn’t specify the sensor used to I expect maybe a lower end Samsung GM2. The rest of the camera setup is in line with the other phones, just that this time again the macro module is 2MP.

Aggressive Pricing - Available mid-May

The Mi Note 10 Lite, Redmi Note 9 Pro and Redmi Note 9 will be available mid-May in various global markets. The Mi Note 10 Lite comes in at 349€ for the 6+64GB model, and 399€ for the 6+128GB unit. These are extremely competitive prices given we’re dealing with an OLED display phone and a great camera setup.

The Note 9 Pro starts at $269 for the 6+64 up to $299 for the 6+128 variant. The Note 9 lands in at $199 for the 3+64 and $249 for the 4+128 configuration. Xiaomi here today quoted prices in different currencies so likely market availabilities will start differently across the models.

We recommended the Note 8 Pro as amongst the best value device at its price point over the last 2 quarters and it seems like the Note 9 Pro is going to be a strong follow-up. Meanwhile the Note 10 Lite also is going to be a device to beat at its given price-point, outperforming similar devices such as the Galaxy A71.