The successor to last year’s Xiaomi high-end smartphone, the Mi 8, seems almost ready to be unveiled. After teasing its upcoming foldable screen smartphone, a Xiaomi official was reportedly caught teasing the Mi 9 on Chinese social networking website but was later taken down. It looks like the Xiaomi Mi 9’s first real-life picture made it to the internet through Weibo, and then onto SlashLeaks. The image shed some light on its build, design, and camera department.
The phone appears to feature a glass back, similar to the Mi 6 and the Mi 8’s design. Moreover, it appears that the phone might bring more than two rear-facing camera sensors on a Xiaomi phone for the first time. The Xiaomi Mi 9 is expected to make its debut sometime next month.
Mi 9 Leaked Image Shows Triple Rear-Facing Camera
Wang Teng Thomas, a Product Manager to Xiaomi, had allegedly shared the Mi 9’s real-life image on Weibo through his social networking account. However, for some reason, he removed the image after some time but an eagle-eyed Xiaomi fanboy managed to save the image and then reshared it on SlashLeaks.
Upon close notice, we can see that the phone definitely features a glass back, similar to the Mi 8. Hence, it will most probably carry Qi wireless charging. We can also see that there’s no capacitive fingerprint reader on the phone’s back, which definitely means that it either relies on 3D facial unlock or an in-display fingerprint reader or both. The Mi 8 Pro and the Mi 8 Explorer Edition had both the unlocking mechanism.
One more thing to notice from the leaked image is that there appear to be more than two camera sensors and an LED flash on the Mi 9. This seems plausible since many smartphone makers are now equipping their new or upcoming devices with triple-camera setups. The Mi 9 would be the first Xiaomi phone to feature a triple-camera setup. It is being reported that the phone will feature a 48MP primary sensor, a 12MP secondary sensor with a telephoto lens, and a 3D TOF sensor.
Mi 9 Expected Specifications
The Xiaomi Mi 9 allegedly appeared on Geekbench, revealing its software version, processing chipset, and RAM. According to the listing, the Mi 9 will run Android 9 Pie and have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset paired to 6GB of RAM. We expect Xiaomi to release an 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage variant of the phone as well. Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s CEO, had teased 24W fast charging support for the Mi 9, but a recent filing of the phone in Xiaomi’s regulatory authority’s website showcased 27W fast charging support.
Other features of the Mi 9 allegedly include a 6.4-inch AMOLED screen with Full HD+ resolution and HDR10, an in-display fingerprint reader, stereo speakers, and water resistance. It will have a single selfie camera, a triple-camera setup at the rear with a 3D TOF sensor, Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, Wi-Fi 6, dual-SIM card slot, a 3500mAh battery, fast charging support, and a USB Type-C port.
The Mi 9 could cost CNY 2,999 (around INR 31,499) for the 6GB RAM+128GB storage variant in China.
