The world of smartphones has always accustomed us to seeing continuous evolution of products, companies and the use of these now inseparable portable devices. Among the rising stars of this new gold rush, we can safely insert Redmi , Xiaomi ‘s low budget appendix . The smartphones launched on the western market by this company have hit the market hard thanks to top-notch features and performance and really low prices. Today the time has come for us to review one of the most successful products of this new brand, namely: Redmi Note 9 Pro .

Packaging 

If from the side of the features each new smartphone adds some news to its previous version, the part of the Redmi packaging is really very monotonous. The phone is sold inside a very classic white case, identical in features but not in size to those used for the two devices prior to this one. Regardless of the little inspiration in studying the packaging, we can safely say that inside the Redmi Note 9 Pro package , we will find everything we need to make it work immediately:

• Telephone
• Charger (supports 33W fast charging)
• USB-C
• the comfortable transparent silicone case

Design

As initially anticipated, the smartphone market is always evolving both in technical and design terms. Xiaomi , however, at least for the Redmi models , does not stand out with a brilliant initiative, and in the end even the Redmi Note 9 Pro limits itself to taking the lines of its predecessors, improving them just a little. The smartphone has a resistant Gorilla Glass arranged above a simple flat monitor, while the back has been made slightly more curved to improve grip.

The generational leap is tangible from the first glance; the ninth generation of Redmi has a 6.67 ”Full HD + IPS LCD screen that occupies the entire surface of the smartphone with really thin bezels. Obviously at the top we find the 16 MP front camera, excellent for taking perfect selfies. Always at the top we find the headset grille, and in this field we must admit that it is really thin and at the same time powerful, able to contain even a small white LED for notifications.

Among the features that we lose along the way compared to high-end smartphones, there is certainly the fingerprint scanner under the screen. This lack comes from the fact that by not mounting OLED screens , this feature cannot be implemented; for this reason the company has decided to insert a scanner on the right side of the device, just above the on and off button, which does not miss a beat, fast and accurate and extremely comfortable. As for the rear, we find a truly fascinating Aurora Blue color, bright and iridescent at the right point. At the center obviously stands the quad-camera which creates a small, fairly negligible step effect.

The frame in the same color all around the device appears to be of effect and in addition to being beautiful to see it makes the grip even more stable (given the size of the phone). On the right side we find a volume button, an on and off button that includes the fingerprint sensor, while on the left side you can see the cart for the two SIMs and for the microSD ; in the lower part we find instead an entrance for the audio jack, the holes for the speaker and obviously the input for the charger. It should be noted how the Redmi Note 9 Prois a particularly large phone and only those with “important” hands will be able to use it easily with one hand. However, the intrinsic qualities are truly remarkable and thanks also to the P2i nano-coating technology, the product is able to face even the rain, even if it does not have the complete waterproofing certification.

Technical specifications

• Dimensions 165.8 x 76.7 x 8.8 mm
• Weight 209 g
• Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G CPU
• Adreno 618 GPU
• Core number eight
• Processor frequency 2.3 GHz
• 8nm production process
• RAM 6 GB
• Internal memory (ROM) 64 / 128GB
• Memory type UFS 2.1
• Expandable memory
• Accelerometer
• Digital compass
• Proximity sensor
• Brightness sensor
• Gyroscope
• Noise reduction microphone
• Dual SIM Dual SIM
• SIM type nanoSIM
• 4G network speed + – 600 Mbps
• Wi-Fi a / b / g / n / ac
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Infrared port
• NFC
• GPSS
• FM radio
• Audio jack
• USB Type-C 2.0 input type
• IPS LCD display technology
• Display resolution FHD + / 1080 x 2400 pixels
• Pixel density 409 ppi
• Display size 6.67 inches
• Display update frequency 60 Hz
• Display format 20: 9
• Camera resolution 64 megapixels
• Focal aperture ƒ / 1.9
• Sensor size 1 / 1.72 \ “
• Single camera flash
• 4K video resolution – 3840 x 2160 pixels
• Video FPS 30 fps
• Additional 2mpx Macro cameras
• Front camera: 8 megapixel resolution
• Focal aperture ƒ / 2.2
• Typology (3rd chamber) Bokeh effect
• Resolution (3rd chamber) 2 megapixels
• Focal aperture (3rd chamber) ƒ / 2.4
• Front camera
• Resolution (front) 16 megapixels
• 5020 mAh battery
• Fast charging

We can safely say that at the hardware level the new Redmi Note 9 Pro has a lot of substance. As if that weren’t enough, users can choose two storage configurations, one 64 and one 128GB , which makes the device very capacious and difficult to send to distress. It must be said that in some moments we have noticed some arrangement on the part of the interface, with some loading a little too long, but this only happens if left in standby or immediately after switching on. Surely it is a problem that will be solved with the optimization of the device software, but for the moment it is not a bug to worry about, because in the rest of the day the phone is really fast and performing.

Display

The display of the  Redmi Note 9 Pro is a 6.67 ″ IPS LCD with a small hole in the upper part to give space to the front camera and Full HD + resolution (of 2,400 x 1,080 pixels – with a density of 395ppi). The screen is covered with Gorilla Glass 5, which makes it safe and very durable. Among the advantages of this display we find the support for HDR10 which can display HDR content in Full HD of all the best-known streaming services, such as Netflix and in general all those that support the Widevine L1 DRM. As with the other devices in the house, the only note that can be defined as negative is the front camera which occupies a small portion of the screen, but after a while it is as if it disappears from the eye.

The brightness of the screen slightly exceeds 400 nits , but managing to reach almost 600 nits in full ambient light and thus proving to be easily readable at any time of the day. As if that were not enough, Xiaomi has decided to insert three different contrast settings for this display. We will find the Default, which automatically adjusts the color gradation, otherwise we can switch to a Warm setting which obviously tends to produce a much brighter tonality gradation, or the Cold one, which obviously acts exactly opposite to the Warm one. As if this were not enough we can decide to set an Automatic variant, which always improves the colors or leave the standard one which always makes them homogeneous.

Final remarks

There is very little to object, the Redmi Note 9 Pro is currently one of the most reliable and powerful mid-range phones in circulation, for this reason we can safely define it as the best buy of 2020. Its large battery and its hardware components make it make a device capable of facing the most intense days without ever leaving us “dry”. As much as we were able to test it in normal daily use, therefore always active social networks, photos, emails and very demanding games ( Saint Saiya: Awekening ), the phone responded flawlessly, arriving at the end of the day with just under half the charge. If, on the other hand, we use it for work we can easily use it for two days in a row without the hassle of having to attach it to the charger.

The photographic behavior is excellent while the power of the rear and front cameras is hardly comparable to a phone of the same price range, making it practically exceptional. Surely the dimensions and weight are very bulky, but thanks to the finish of the frame and with the help of the case, you can use it without any kind of problem.