Review | Xiaomi Mi 9T full review: full-spec, all-screen phone is best deal for buyers on a budget

Handset’s processor is very capable for a second-tier chipset, and its triple-lens rear camera performs well in daytime; night mode helps with night shots

Pop-up selfie camera makes 6.4-inch OLED display uninterrupted, and well-tried MIUI 10 Android skin is smooth. At this price, it offers unbeatable value

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The Xiaomi Mi 9T has a triple camera system comprising a 48-megapixel sensor, a 13-megapixel wide-angle camera, and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens, housed vertically on its glass back with gradient coating. Photo: Ben Sin

Published: 10:15am, 28 Jun 2019Updated: 10:24am, 28 Jun 2019

Jaws dropped at the 2018 Mobile World Congress when Chinese phone maker BBK Electronics showed off a Vivo handset with a selfie camera hidden inside the device’s body that only popped up when needed, thus allowing an all-screen design without a notch cut-out.

A little more than two years later, this design, which seemed radical at the time, has become the norm in Chinese handsets, with no fewer than six phones launched this year featuring it. Xiaomi’s Mi 9T is the latest model to adopt this elevating selfie camera design, which is also its main selling point.

Design and hardware

The Mi 9T has a lot in common not just with the three-month-old Xiaomi Mi 9 but also recent releases from rival Chinese brands such as the Realme X, Vivo X27 Pro, and OnePlus 7 Pro. All have an uninterrupted OLED screen with a fingerprint scanner embedded underneath, a pop-up selfie camera, and a triple camera array headlined by a 48-megapixel Sony lens accompanied by wide-angle and telephoto lenses.

The Xiaomi Mi 9T has a notchless 6.4-inch OLED display thanks to its pop-up selfie camera. Photo: Ben Sin

Where the Mi 9T differs is in its brains – the Snapdragon 730 chipset used here is the latest Qualcomm second-tier processor. It is not as powerful as the flagship Snapdragon 855 processor used in the Mi 9, but a step up from the 710 used in the recent Realme and Vivo releases.