Xiaomi Mi 9 Vs Mi 9 SE: Which is Best?

Estimated read time 12 min read
MI 9MI 9 SE
BUY NOWBUY NOW
PROSPROS
Affordable price. Impressive camera setup. Powerful chipset.Sleek, premium design. Snappy performance. Great camera for the price.
CONSCONS
Gets hot rather easily. Odd-looking UI. Low battery capacity.No headphone jack. Mono speaker. MIUI isn’t great.

BASIC SPECS

MI 9MI 9 SE
Released 2019, MarchReleased 2019, March
173g, 7.6mm thickness155g, 7.5mm thickness
Android 9.0, up to Android 10.0; MIUI 11Android 9.0; MIUI 10.3.3
64GB/128GB/256GB storage, no card slot64GB/128GB storage, no card slot
6.39″ Display5.97″ Display
48MP Rear Camera48MP Rear Camera
6/8GB RAM6GB RAM
3300mAh Battery3070mAh Battery

DESIGN & BUILD

MI 9MI 9 SE
Dimensions157.5 x 74.7 x 7.6 mm (6.20 x 2.94 x 0.30 in)147.5 x 70.5 x 7.5 mm (5.81 x 2.78 x 0.30 in)
Weight173 g (6.10 oz)155 g (5.47 oz)
BuildGlass front (Gorilla Glass 6), glass back (Gorilla Glass 5), aluminum frameGlass front (Gorilla Glass 5), glass back, aluminum frame
SIMDual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

Mi 9:

The Xiaomi Mi 9 has a build made of glass on the front and back. The back is curved with a mirror-like finish, it tapers down to the aluminum frame, making the phone seem sleek and razor thin. It doesn’t feel like a razor though since the frame is rounded, the lack of a sharp edge makes it a bit difficult to grip. I would recommend using a case.

Mi 9 SE:

With the less than 6 inch screen, the Mi 9 SE is the most compact of Xiaomi’s current 9’s. It’s incredibly comfortable and easy to use one-handed. It’s pretty much the only phone at this size that has three cameras and honestly I hope more manufacturers start releasing phones with this form factor again.

The SE is also unique in that it’s one of the only phones to have a true triple camera setup at its price which definitely makes us stand out in the crowd.

The SE goes for elegance and minimalism over flashiness, it has a simple reflective back but the phone doesn’t feel or look cheap and it has a pleasing heft to it.


DISPLAY

MI 9MI 9 SE
TypeSuper AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colorsSuper AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size6.39 inches, 100.2 cm2 (~85.2% screen-to-body ratio)5.97 inches, 87.5 cm2 (~84.1% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~403 ppi density)1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~432 ppi density)
ProtectionCorning Gorilla Glass 6
DCI-P3
HDR10
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
HDR

Mi 9:

The Display of the Mi 9 is a 6.39 inch AMOLED with a tall 19:5:9 aspect ratio. There’s a notch cut-out in the screen to house the selfie camera but it is a smaller water drop style notch. There’s no option to hide it with a black bar.

With the 1080p resolution content looks good on the screen, nice and crisp. With the deep blacks of an AMOLED, the display is also quite color accurate. Maximum brightness is respectable at 413 nits and up to 620 nits in auto mode in bright conditions. Legibility outdoors in the Sun is great.

There’s support for an always-on display which has different themes to choose from and can show you the time and notifications while the phone sleeps. And if you want to take advantage of the AMOLED to save power, you can turn on dark mode to switch all system colors from white to black.

Mi 9 SE:

On the front, the bezels are slim and there’s a small notch on the top. You can leave it on constantly or allow MIUI to hide it automatically but the auto mode doesn’t always hide it when you’re watching YouTube videos.

Tthe screen itself is a samsung made Super AMOLED and it’s plenty good. The full HD panel has a decent pixel density at 432 PPI and while its whites are way too cool when you start phone for the first time if you switch it to the warm preset or the standard mode the display becomes much more color accurate. You can use it outdoors with no issue.

The phone has an IR blaster too which is a rarity these days and using the mirror mode app you can control TVs and other appliances.


AUDIO

MI 9MI 9 SE
LoudspeakerYesYes
3.5MM JackNoNo

Mi 9:

For audio, the Mi 9 has a single bottom firing speaker. Loudness is very good but not excellent. The output is quite clean and rich sounding though.

There’s no 3.5 millimeter Jack, you’ll have to plug headphones into the USB C port with a dongle. Audio quality is good with above-average loudness and very good clarity.

Mi 9 SE:

The loudspeaker is very loud and easily earned an excellent rating. Sound is rich and detailed but bass is not that good. Still, it’s more than good enough for a smartphone. Sadly, there is no headphone jack.


SOFTWARE & PERFORMANCE

MI 9MI 9 SE
OSAndroid 9.0 (Pie), upgradable to Android 10.0; MIUI 11Android 9.0 (Pie); MIUI 10.3.3
ChipsetQualcomm SM8150 Snapdragon 855 (7 nm)Qualcomm SDM712 Snapdragon 712 (10 nm)
CPUOcta-core (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 485 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 485 & 4×1.78 GHz Kryo 485)Octa-core (2×2.3 GHz Kryo 360 Gold & 6×1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver)
GPUAdreno 640Adreno 616
Internal64GB 6GB RAM, 64GB 8GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM

Mi 9:

The Mi 9 interface is Xiaomi’s custom MIUI 10 over Android 9. It offers some features that are a bit different from stock android. Gesture navigation is quite simple to use. Similar to the style made popular on iOS. There’s no app drawer, so everything is kept on the home screen. Since the phone has an IR blaster, you can use it to control appliances through the Mi remote app.

There’s a dedicated button which can launch Google assistant on the international version of the phone. You can even map it to other functions but only ones chosen from a predefined list.

The Mi 9 is the first phone we’ve seen with the newest Snapdragon 855 chipset which is built on the 7 nanometer process. Together with 6 GB of RAM, the performance is awesome. It’s among the best available for Android. But where it shines is in graphics performance. With this new Adreno 640, it dominates the android competition.

Mi 9 SE:

Performance-wise, the SE has plenty of power for daily use with the snapdragon 712. If you want a true step-up in the graphics department the regular Mi 9 is probably a better bet but naturally that comes with the step up in price too.

Mi 9 SE runs Android Pi with MIUI 10.2 on top. MIUI updates typically are pretty timely, so you shouldn’t have a problem with future updates. There are a few nice 24-hour live wallpapers and there’s a limited selection of themes available. If you don’t like any of them you can get to the theme store.

MIUI has no app drawer, if you install a third-party launcher you can get around this but it’s a bit of a hassle.

MIUI is very comfortable to use. Gestures are some of the around, especially the back gesture and the task switcher is nice when to get used to it. Of course, you can always switch back to navigation buttons if you need them.

There’s also a gaming mode that allows you to boost RAM, take screenshots, and record your gameplay.


CAMERA

MAIN CAMERAMI 9MI 9 SE
Modules48 MP, f/1.8, (wide), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF.
8 MP, f/2.4, (telephoto), 1/4.0″, 1.12µm, PDAF.
13 MP, f/2.4, (ultrawide), 1/3.1″, 1.12µm.
48 MP, f/1.8, (wide), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF
8 MP, f/2.4, (telephoto), 1/4.0″, 1.12µm, PDAF
13 MP, f/2.4, (ultrawide), 1/3.1″, 1.12µm
FeaturesDual-LED flash, HDR, panorama.Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama
Video2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, 720p@960fps, gyro-EIS.2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, 720p@960fps, gyro-EIS
SELFIE CAMERAMI 9MI 9 SE
Modules20 MP, f/2.0, (wide), 1/3″, 0.9µm.20 MP, f/2.0, (wide), 1/3″, 0.9µm
FeaturesHDRHDR
Video1080p@30fps1080p@30fps

Mi 9:

The Mi 9 introduces a triple camera setup to the Mi line up. There’s a 12 megapixel telephoto camera at the top, the large 48 megapixel main camera in the middle, and at the bottom a 16 megapixel ultra wide camera. None of these have OIS.

The main camera doesn’t save photos in 48 megapixels. It uses a quad bayer filter and pixel binning. So the default output is 12 megapixels. You can opt to shoot a 48 megapixel photo if you use pro mode but the results are rather soft and noisy. In daylight, the 12 megapixel shots from the main camera were great. There’s plenty of detail, impressive dynamic range, low noise and overall very nice rendition.

Images from telephoto lens look great too. The noise is low, colors are lively and accurate, there’s plenty of detail and dynamic range is equally impressive.

Ultra-Wide shots were also nice. Detail of images were not too high but the color rendition was excellent. Noise levels are tolerable and the dynamic range is superb.

The Mi 9 portrait mode uses the telephoto by default and gives you a slider to choose the amount of blur. The subject separation is among the best we’ve seen and the blur background looks quite nice.

The Mi 9 selfie camera is 20 megapixels at F/2.2 and focus is fixed. You need to hold the phone rather closer the subject to be in the sharpest focus but if you get it right, the level of detail is quite amazing, the colors are nice too, and dynamic range is good for a selfie camera.

Videos can be captured in up to 4k at 60 FPS. 4k videos from the main camera is sharp and detailed with Pleasant colors and low noise, dynamic range is pretty decent too. There is no option to shoot through the telephoto camera but you can take an ultra-wide video, these are softer and less detailed but the color rendition is still quite nice. Electronic stabilization is available to smooth out your videos but only in 30 FPS not 60. You do get a bit narrower view, if you use it.

Mi 9 SE:

The Mi 9 SE supports the same triple camera setup that you’ll find on the Xiaomi Mi 9T. There’s an ultra wide camera, a telephoto camera, and a main 48 megapixel main shooter with an F/1.8 aperture.

In daylight, the main camera does an excellent job when in the default 12 megapixel mode, there’s a lot of detail, good color rendition, and it has a natural look without excessive sharpening. The dynamic range is nice and wide and it handles scenes with a lot of contrast quite well. You can also take photos in the 48 megapixel setting but quality wise you’d be better off with the 12 megapixel. When you switch to the ultra wide camera, the dynamic range and sharpness are very good.

The telephoto camera on the other hand doesn’t have a dynamic range. Iit has slightly less contrasting images that have a slight haze in difficult light and slight purple fringes and brighter areas. Details are fine and there’s some noise but that’s to be expected considering how small the sensor is.

SE uses the telephoto camera to take portraits and uses the main camera for depth detection. In good light, there’s some pretty nice flow bokeh although we still recommend taking a couple of shots for best results.

The 20 megapixel shooter on the Mi 9 SE seems to be the same selfie camera as the one on the MI 9. Selfies come out with good detail and nice colors but they look a tad over processed and have a little too much sharpening when you look at them up close. The selfie camera also struggles a little at dynamic range but nothing out of the ordinary for a front camera.

4k videos out of the main camera are nice and detailed and have likable colors. Dynamic range is excellent too, the only complete we had was how bad the video stabilization was at this resolution. If you zoom out with the ultra wide camera, it becomes pretty clear that the SE handles ultra wide videos a little better than the 9T. Colors are more natural and an dynamic range is better. 1080p footage from the main camera is also quite good aside from the drop and resolution. They pretty much look the same as for 4k videos. Stabilization on the other hand is much better and actually noticeable.


SECURITY

MI 9MI 9 SE
SensorsFingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compassFingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass

Mi 9:

Waking up the Mi 9 is easy with the under display fingerprint reader. It feels quite fast and responsive. Other option is face unlock but you had to set your location to something like India to enable it. It is also fast but unlike last year there’s no infrared component, so it might not work quite as well as in the dark.

Mi 9 SE:

There’s an under display fingerprint reader that works quickly and reliably. There’s a really satisfying vibration every time you unlock it and you can change the unlock animations if you want to personalize.

Face unlock is equally fast but not as secure and you might need to change a region in order to get it to work.


BATTERY

MI 9MI 9 SE
ChargingNon-removable Li-Po 3300 mAh battery.
Fast battery charging 27W (Quick Charge 4+).
Fast wireless charging 20W.
Non-removable Li-Po 3070 mAh battery
Fast charging 18W

Mi 9:

Battery life on the Mi 9 is great. It scored an endurance rating of 91 hours in our proprietary tests. Xiaomi’s fast charging called charge turbo is supported here but unfortunately the 27-watt charger doesn’t come in the box. The one you get instead should be 18-watts and we got from 0% to around 45% within 30 minutes. If you do up to buy the bigger break, you’ll be able to get from 0% to 70% charge in the same amount of time.

The charge turbo brick comes bundled together with a 20-watt wireless charging pad. With this we were able to get from 0% to 30% in half an hour.

Mi 9 SE:

With the 3070mAh battery the Mi 9 SE got a respectable but still mediocre 73 hours on our battery life tests. MIUI supports dark mode which might help you squeeze out a few extra minutes of battery but more importantly the SE supports a quick charge. You can charge the phone up to 47% in half an hour and up to 100% in 1.5 hours.


WHICH ONE YOU SHOULD BUY?

Obviously, the Mi 9 is a better device of the two. But if you dont want to spend too much money then the Mi 9 SE is a great option. The Mi 9 will be retailing at the starting price of over $440 while the cheapest version of the Mi 9 SE will be available for a bit under $300.

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