Review Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite: for those who don't want to think

Review Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite – Here's another one. Awake, beautiful, convincing. What a mess! Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite add to the substantial list of the Mi 9 Family of 2019, framing itself as entry-level of the entire series, which includes: Mi 9 SE, Mi 9, Mi 9 Pro, Mi 9T, Mi 9T Pro.

Difficult to choose, especially due to the launch price of Mi 9 Lite set at € 299 (single cut from 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage). At the moment it is already available on Amazon for around € 265, in slight devaluation, however we happened to observe some comments from users who, spending 50 euros more, would prefer to grab the more original Xiaomi Mi 9T, or why not the more compact Mi 9 SE.

It seems that the competition, in this case, is directly at home Xiaomi, moreover within its own series of smartphones.
In this review of Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite we try, among other things, to understand what are its strong points and what can direct us to its purchase.

Video review of Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite

Design & Ergonomics

Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite it has dimensions of 156.8 x 74.5 x 8.67 mm and weight of 179 grams. There back cover in 3D glass gives a touch of premium device touch and a feeling of good solidity, but the material with which it is made negatively affects the general grip and, if you do not pay attention to it, there is a high risk of finding it in earth after a thunderous and chilling splash.
Beautiful iridescent reflections in the back for coloring Onyx Gray, which make it look like an Mi A3, colored reflections that are definitely more evident in the coloring Aurora Blue, but you can also opt for one Pearl White.
It is not particularly easy to use with one hand, a difficulty accentuated by the slipperiness of the rear body, fortunately a special gesture can be activated from the settings to enable one-handed use, avoiding the problem.

The fingerprint for unlocking the phone it is placed under the screen, resulting rather accurate, but not always quick and ready. Often the facial release is more readily available, which works discreetly even in low light, but loses part of its speed and precision.

The front panel is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and is a 6.39-inch AMOLED with FHD + and notch resolution, equipped with VDE Blue-Light protection and HDR support. A panel on a par with the one mounted on Xiaomi Mi 9, 9T and 9T Pro, in fact the yield is practically the same, guaranteeing good color calibration, excellent screen resolution and good brightness in sunlight.
We are allowed to hide the notch directly from the settings. Do not miss double-tap to wake, raise to wake, Dark Mode and Reading, Ambient Display, with the screen that is activated upon receipt of notifications.

Although Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite is theopen-track of the series I 9, is not the most compact of the line, with Xiaomi Mi 9 SE preceding it for display size (5.97 ″). For this reason it is certainly not suitable for those looking for small dimensions, ma is great for watching movies and TV series, due to the good display and the presence of the 3.5 mm audio jack. However it is not sufficiently supported by an important sound compartment: the lower mono speaker offers a good maximum volume, but returns a strange wadding effect, with a sound that is not always perfectly clear.

Functionality

Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite covering Android 9 Pie updated to the September 2019 security patches on the new MIUI 11.3.2, available for download via OTA only for a few days.
The software is well optimized and contributes to guarantee an almost excellent user experience: Mi 9 Lite is awake, responsive, fluid, difficult to get hold of. Compared to the previous software version, the MIUI 11 seems to give a slight additional boost to the fluidity and speed of opening applications, as well as bringing some improvements under the shell and rethinking some graphic elements.

We have often made use of screen gestures, which can be activated in place of the classic navigation bar, which are easy and intuitive. The quality of the writing is good, but it happens to beat wrong letters, while the vibration is rather dry, not exciting or particularly pleasant.

Being Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite in the global version, Play Store and various Google default apps are already installed inside. On the software side it all seems to work properly and smoothly, or almost … the notification management system is still not fully satisfactory. Specifically, the MIUI 11 brings (finally!) The persistent icons within the status bar, a phenomenon that did not occur with the previous software versions. This peculiar management of the status bar, seen by many users as a real "problem", has therefore been redesigned. As for the lock screen, the notifications appear here when they are received, but they are removed from the lock screen when the device is first unlocked, thus forcing us to extend the notification drop-down to read them.

Xiaomi then implemented a nice RGB LED indicator, represented by Xiaomi written vertically on the back of the smartphone. It's a nice find, but it turns out to be totally useless, given the frequent positioning of the device with the screen facing upwards. The peculiarities of this LED sign are the switching on when new notifications are received and the change in color when listening to music or during gameplay.

Performance

Under the body we find the CPU Snapdragon 710 and Adreno 640 GPU, in addition to 6GB of RAM LPDDR4X e 128GB of storage space UFS 2.1. Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite offers performance similar to that of I 9 SE, which, however, is equipped with Snapdragon 712. The 700 series of Qualcomm chips has repeatedly proved to be an excellent compromise between performance and consumption. THESoC manages to support the smartphone in all the operations that are submitted to it, without particular problems, slowdowns or inertia.

On the gameplay side the experience of use is good, with sporadic drop frames, which however do not considerably undermine the gaming experience, maintaining a reasonable level of fluidity.
Also present is the Turbo Videogiochi app, useful for determining which apps can benefit from Game Turbo 2.0 technology for accelerating in-game performance, or for adjusting touch sensitivity parameters or for adjusting contrast and details graphics.

Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite it is then equipped with a dual nano SIM combined slot (2 SIM or 1 SIM + microSD). It offers good general reception, good exit from shady areas and quick hang-up, plus stable connection and 4G + support.
Do not miss the WiFi a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 5.0, A-GPS, NFC chip with support for Google Pay, USB Type-C for charging and data transfer, FM radio and infrared. Supports VoLTE HD calls in dual sim.

Camera

Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite has one triple back room from 48 + 8 + 2MP, respectively standard, ultra wide and depth sensor. All sensors electronically stabilized and accompanied by a single LED flash.

We liked the management of the HDR, but above all how the color tone is managed, always very apt (note the absence of the AI ​​mode in the images of example).
We compared some shots taken by both Mi 9 Lite and Mi 9 SE. The difference between the two smartphones is quite evident especially in terms of definition and HDR yield, with the 9 SE that somehow manages to bring home more convincing results.

As for sensor management, we find 3 distinct focal lengths to choose from within the Camera app: the super-wide 0.6x, the standard 1x and the 2x canvas. It should be noted that the 2x zoom is totally digital, since it simply cracks the image taken by the main sensor. However, the effect is quite successful and, in some ways, it almost seems like a third dedicated room.

The front camera is 32MP with Super Pixel 4-in-1 technology and f / 2.0 aperture. In particular, we were amazed by the details of the various textures and the effect of the bokeh effect, which is rather precise and with a very convincing blur effect: it looks like the one created by a real photographic slow.

It is then possible to make video recordings up to resolution 4K 30fps, as well as of slow-motion at 960fps or short 15 second videos, ideal for uploading to Instagram.

Battery & Autonomy

Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite relies on a battery from well 4030 mAh, thus being the most capacious of the whole Mi 9 Family. By using it on average, we have totaled 6 hours of active screen (even spending several hours on stand-by). Usage included YouTube video, Instagram and Facebook browsing, internet browsing, bluetooth. We did not notice any obvious difference in battery discharge between MIUI 10 and 11.
To signal the support to the fast charge at 18W and Quick Charge 4.0, usable thanks to the 9V 2A transformer supplied in the package.

Once again, despite its entry level position within the Mi 9 series, the 9 Lite manages to assert itself in terms of autonomy, making it an excellent alternative in this field compared to the more disappointing Mi 9 SE.

In conclusion

We now come to the conclusion of the review of Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite. It is a complete, balanced smartphone with good performance and an almost excellent user experience, all seasoned with a pleasant aesthetic and premium device materials.

Who is undecided between 9 Lite and Xiaomi Me 9T, we can say that the differences in the experience of use are few, with the 9T gaining a few more points on the camera side and the power of the SoC, with in addition the gem of a pop-up front camera. From this point of view, Mi 9 Lite is certainly a more basic, classic and linear smartphone.

Compared to a Xiaomi I 9 SE it has a lower compactness, moreover it has few points in the photo side. However, it gains by itself, offering almost 1000 mAh more.

Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite is a phone for those who have little desire to think, for those who want to play it safe by turning to a reliable brand like Xiaomi, spending a small amount, but taking home a functional and functional product, valid and with some small compromises, but that will not regret the money spent.

As an alternative to Mi 9 Lite we also mention Samsung Galaxy A50, Redmi Note 8 Pro and Huawei P smart Z.

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