Xiaomi MI 9 Vs Samsung Galaxy S10: Which One to Buy?

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This is comparison between Xiaomi MI 9 Vs Samsung Galaxy S10.

MI 9	SAMSUNG S10
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Affordable price. Impressive camera setup. Powerful chipset.	High screen-to-body ratio. In-screen fingerprint sensor. Wireless PowerShare perk.
CONS	CONS
Gets hot rather easily. Odd-looking UI. Low battery capacity.	Stunning price hike. S10e and S10 Plus are better. Great camera, but not the best.

DESIGN

Xiaomi Mi 9:

Available in ocean blue, violet, and piano black colours, Xiaomi MI 9 has a very appealing look, which is enhanced by its slightly curved back made of glass. The small top bezel of the MI 9 contains the selfie-camera. It is a medium-sized smartphone, weighing 173g, which seems a little bit heavy after prolonged gaming or general usage.

Volume buttons and the power button are present on the ride side of the mobile, and the USB Type-C connector is at the bottom of the mobile. Unfortunately, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack, and headphones can only be connected via a converter or USB-C port. A new button – Google Assistant button – has been introduced in this model, which is present on the left of the phone. It helps to launch the Google Assistant instantly.

On the rear side of MI 9, three cameras are present along with an LED flashlight. Overall, the mobile provides a good grip and is comfortable to hold and use.

Samsung S10:

With a back made up of glass and metal and protected by Gorilla Glass 5, Samsung Galaxy S10 has an appealing look from the backside. The front display is protected by the latest Gorilla Glass 6. An edge-to-edge Infinity-O notch is present, which has a camera in its top-right. The fingerprint scanner has also been installed in the display of Samsung S10, but the absence of a notification LED from the smartphone is a disappointment.

Weighing 157g, Galaxy S10 is quite easy to hold and can be used for a long time without feeling much heaviness. The power button is on the right side of S10 while the volume buttons are on the left, along with a button dedicated to Bixby. Speaker, USB Type-C port, and a headphone jack are situated at the bottom of the mobile.

DISPLAY

Xiaomi Mi 9:

Xiaomi MI 9 flaunts an AMOLED Display that gives a complete HD+ resolution. Thus, the user can enjoy lively colours and a variety of brightness control options. These options really enhance watching movies, pictures, videos, and playing games. The large screen of 6.39’ is safeguarded by the Gorilla Glass 6 – the latest and damage-resistant protector for smartphones.

As the brightness levels can go very high to about 620 nits, the display of MI 9 is easily visible in bright sunlight, and there is no difficulty in using the mobile phone outdoors. Although the default setting of MI 9’s display is fantastic, many different modes are present in the settings to fine-tune the colors or contrasts.

Samsung S10:

Samsung Galaxy S10 has a large display of 6.1’ AMOLED Display that is curved to make the phone attractive. The screen itself is very sharp, and it has a round cut-out at the right to make space for the front camera. The in-display fingerprint scanner has been installed at the bottom of the screen.

HDR10+ display of Samsung S10 offers a massively amazing experience with vivacious colours and different levels of brightness. The screen is easily visible in bright sunlight at the maximum brightness level. Users can enjoy watching movies, series, or playing games with the large screen and amazing image quality of the Samsung Galaxy S10.

CAMERA

Xiaomi Mi 9:

The camera of the Xiaomi MI 9 is one the significant specification of this mobile as it comes with a three-camera setup at the rear and a single powerful selfie-camera. On the back of MI 9, three cameras of 48MP, 16 MP, and 12 MP helps in taking fancy pictures, which can be further accentuated by the use of AI Technology. On the front, 20MP is installed as a selfie-camera.

In daylight, pictures taken by MI 9 are incredibly vivid, color-corrected, and have great details and tones. However, for the images taken in low-light situations, the camera does not fare as well as expected. Even with night mode, pictures were not as detailed as they should have been from this smartphone.

Users have the option to take ultra-wide shots through the 16MP camera present at the back. This helps in taking pictures of a large number of objects; however, the quality of the picture suffers due to this feature. Making use of the 12MP camera, MI 9 can focus on objects very quickly, and blur the background appropriately. This feature helps in taking pictures according to today’s trend and make your photos beautiful. Though the auto-focus option works most of the time correctly, the users also have the option of manual focus. The front camera also captures good photos with precise colours and brightness.

The rear camera supports 4K recording, which is really beneficial for people who depend mainly on their smartphones for heavy recording. With image stabilization, 4K video recording gives a very high-quality video.

Samsung S10:

Like its successor, Galaxy S10+, the rear cameras of the S10 also takes amazing pictures with the help of a 12MP primary camera, 16 MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 12MP camera that supports optical zooming. Capability to shoot high standard videos of 4K and HDR10+ is also present in Samsung S10.

The front camera of the Samsung Galaxy S10 is 10 Mega-Pixel with the features of autofocus and 4K video recording, which is the newest feature in the Samsung Galaxy series. The addition of an Instagram Mode is also bound to impress the users as through this mode, users can capture the photos enhanced for Instagram, and can easily share them to the social media platform.

Overall, the quality of the images captured and videos recorded is excellent from both the front and rear cameras. Moreover, pictures taken in different conditions like daylight, low-light, and indoors, are equally noteworthy, and various modes are already present in the camera app to enhance the images.

SPEAKERS

Xiaomi Mi 9:

The traditional mono speaker is installed at the bottom of Xiaomi MI 9, which is quite disappointing in this price range. Yet, a single speaker, along with an active external amplifier, gives a decently loud volume with perfect clarity.

Sound through the headphones delivers the excellent output with loudness being good and the clarity and the richness of the sound being nearly perfect.

Samsung S10:

The stereo speaker setup is present in Samsung Galaxy S10, which is capable of providing a very loud as well as crisp sound. On testing the speakers, S10 gets more decibels than most of its competitors.

The clarity of the sound output is great, and it also excels in terms of loudness and richness of the sounds. Audio through the headphone is equally impressive, but a very slight increase in crosstalk may produce a little distortion in the voice. Overall, the sound quality of the Samsung S10 is great.

PERFORMANCE

Xiaomi Mi 9:

Xiaomi MI 9 is powered by Snapdragon 855 – a revolutionary modern chipset. This powerful processor is supported by the massive RAM of 6GB. The smartphone runs smoothly, and heavy applications and games like PUBG can be played at their highest graphics settings without any lag. On benchmark test, MI 9 scores very high on the chart, with the scores being as near as the 10,500.

The one problem that the users may face in the performance of this mobile is overheating as MI 9 sometimes get overheated while playing heavy games for long hours, watching movies, or even using light applications like the camera. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved through an update in the future.

Samsung S10:

Samsung S10 is available in two versions. One is driven by the Exynos 9820 (Europe variant), and the other one is powered by Snapdragon 855 (USA variant). Both of these variants make use of 8GB of RAM, which provides fast and impressive performance.

There are no lags in browsing, streaming, or gaming, thanks to its powerful processor.

Exynos version of S10, in particular, is highly impressive as it is one of the first smartphones to use this chipset, and it does it well by showing that the processor is able to handle any kind of game and applications without any type of problems.

SOFTWARE

Xiaomi Mi 9:

In Xiaomi MI 9, MIUI 10 launcher has been used based on the Android Pie. Overall, the software of the smartphone looks terrific as it provides customization options along with the in-built themes. New system icons, volume sliders, and shortcuts make the software of MI 9 user-friendly and easy-to-use.

Navigation options are present, which include swipe for home, recently-used application, and swipe and hold to return to the last app. These gestures work smoothly and support different features of the mobile by making them easily accessible.

Like the previous MIUI software, dark mode is present in MIUI 10 as well; but, a new variant of the dark mode is introduced in MI 9 as transforms the colors of the whole system to black to save battery. The compatibility of this mode varies from application to application. The software comes with live applications that switch automatically depending on the time of the day.

Samsung S10:

Samsung S10 has not introduced anything innovative in terms of the software it uses as it runs on the Android 9 and Samsung One UI. Other than the minor updates, two key features have been: Bixby Routines and Digital Wellbeing.

The object of the Digital Wellbeing is to limit the usage of the mobile to prevent phone addiction. Bixby is the management tool for Samsung S10 users to manage the necessary actions and tasks of the smartphone.

BATTERY

Xiaomi Mi 9:

A battery of 3,330 mAh is disappointing in any smartphone, but considering the price range of Xiaomi MI 9, it is extremely unsatisfactory. With such powerful features and processing power, a small battery is a negative point for the MI 9 as a single charge can hardly last a full day. Even with typical usage, the battery decreased significantly. A small battery test of the mobile showed that the battery falls down 15% when a video is played at maximum brightness for 90 minutes.

On the bright side, MI 9 charged up rapidly. It took about 45 minutes to charge the smartphone from 0% to 90%. The remaining 10% charging took more time. Charging the mobile wirelessly is impressive as well.

Samsung S10:

Samsung Galaxy S10 is powered by a battery of 3.400 mAh, which is not much high for a flagship smartphone, but the claim of Samsung that the battery is capable of providing power for a whole day is valid to some extent. Upon testing, the battery of Samsung S10 decreased to 20% after a whole day usage, which consisted of music streaming, playing videos, using social media applications, browsing, and gaming.

Samsung S10 can be charged quickly. The feature that impresses the most in terms of charging and the battery is its wireless charging as it is swift and introduces a new feature of Wireless Power Share through which you can use the Samsung S10 itself as a charger for other wireless charging devices. Charging through Power Share is comparatively slow, but it provides a fantastic tool in case of emergency.

WHICH ONE YOU SHOULD BUY?

At a relatively low price, Xiaomi MI 9 is a clear choice between Samsung S10 and MI 9. This is because MI 9 makes use of the same processor – Snapdragon 855 – and provides lag-free performance, and yet its price is roughly half as the cost of Galaxy S10. While MI 9 lacks in features and quality by the camera, it excels in terms of performance and software usage. However, if you want to enjoy loud music, have a comparatively larger battery, and take better pictures, you should go for the Samsung S10.

Jaskaran Singh

Jaskaran, a tech enthusiast from childhood, inspired by his father, began his tech journey by rooting Android phones. He now writes on various tech topics, aiming to simplify complex ideas for a broad audience. His writing is direct, concise, and flows effortlessly, making tech topics accessible and engaging.