Redmi Note 9, Mi Note 10 Lite launched: Xiaomi goes big with batteries, quad cameras and more

It has been almost two months since Xiaomi India launched the Redmi Note 9 Pro duo but curiously left out the standard model. Well, Xiaomi has launched it in Europe finally and as the rumors had suggested, the Redmi Note 9 is indeed the first phone in the market to use the MediaTek Helio G85 chip. That’s not all though, as Xiaomi also announced two other models in the Redmi Note 9 series along with the Mi Note 10 Lite, with the latter costing much less than an iPhone SE.

Let’s talk about the Redmi Note 9 series first. The vanilla model, which is the Redmi Note 9, draws a lot from the Pro models we saw in the Indian market and it starts at $199 (approx Rs 15,000). There’s a Redmi Note 9S as well which is essentially a renamed Redmi Note 9S. The Redmi Note 9 Pro for the European market is the same phone we know in India as the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max. The latter duo has got the same Snapdragon 720G chipset keeping things chugging.

Redmi Note 9

The Redmi Note 9 draws a lot from the Redmi Note 9 Pro, which is a good thing. You get a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with Full HD+ resolution that’s protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass 5. The punch-hole cutout for the camera sits in a corner instead of the center position. At the back, there’s a quad-camera system with the same squarish design as the Pro models, but with the black patch extended further down to conceal a capacitive fingerprint sensor.

The quad cameras contain a 48-megapixel main camera using a Samsung GM1 sensor that’s assisted by an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera. You also get a 2-megapixel macro camera and a 2-megapixel depth camera. For selfies, there’s a 13-megapixel camera using an unknown sensor.

Inside, the Redmi Note 9 uses a MediaTek Helio G85 chip, which uses a processor having two performance cores and six efficiency cores. The phone is available with 3GB and 4GB RAM whereas you can opt between 64GB and 128GB. You can also expand the memory to 128GB.

To keep it alive, Xiaomi has given the Note 9 a massive 5020mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging. That said, Xiaomi is providing a 22.5W fast charger in the box, which is unheard of in the smartphone market. Note 9 also gets a USB-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, NFC for select markets, and an IR blaster.

You can get the Redmi Note 9 in green, white, and grey colors. The base variant with 3GB RAM and 64GB storage comes in at $199 (approx Rs 15,000) whereas the top-end model with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage will cost $249 (approx Rs 19,000). Xiaomi hasn’t commented on an Indian availability yet

If you wanted a Note device from Xiaomi without compromising with premium features, the Mi Note 10 Lite is here. Based on the Mi Note 10 from a few months ago (the first commercial phone with a 108-megapixel camera), the Lite version starts at Euro 349 (approx. Rs 28,000) but retains most of the features of the standard model.

The Mi Note 10 Lite looks similar to the standard model, except for the rear camera design which now has four cameras instead of five. The front of the phone has the same 6.4-inch Full HD+ display with curved edges. This is still an AMOLED panel with an in-display fingerprint sensor but the refresh rate stays stuck at 60Hz.

It’s the back camera where things change. There’s now a quad-camera system that ditches the 108-megapixel camera in favor of a 64-megapixel Sony IMX686 sensor-based main camera. This is accompanied by an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 5-megapixel depth camera. The phone has dual-LED flash at the back for an even lighting tone. The selfie camera uses a 32-megapixel sensor sitting in the small notch.

Inside, it remains unchanged. There’s a Snapdragon 730G chip that’s paired with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB. The 5260mAh battery is promised to deliver up to two days on a single charge and to fill it up, there’s a 30W wired fast charging system baked in.

The Mi Note 10 Lite comes in the same white and black gradients but it gains a new Nebula Purple variant. You can get the Note 10 Lite starting at Euro 349 (approx (Rs 28,000) with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. The same variant with 128GB storage costs $399 (approx Rs 33,000).