Xiaomi phones are often among the most affordable handsets on the market that are still worth using, especially Redmi devices, as that's the company’s dedicated budget brand, and there are now two new smartphones boasting the Redmi name.
These handsets are the Redmi Note 9 Pro and Note 9 Pro Max, the first two handsets in Redmi’s Note 9 range (judging by the names, and precedent, there will be more).
The phones were both just launched at an online event hosted by Redmi India, and it was a launch specific to the country, but we’d expect the phones to be available in many more regions before too long.
- Check out our Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T review
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- Check out our Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review
The new phones both have 6.67-inch FHD+ displays, which is impressive for the (rough) price tags, although they are LCD, a display tech which sometimes underwhelms. These screens are broken up by punch-hole cut-out segments for the front-facing camera, a design first for Redmi.
In terms of specs the phones are quite similar, as they both have a Snapdragon 720G chipset (which is okay for the price tag), a large 5,020mAh battery, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and three of the same rear cameras.
The Redmi Note 9 Pro and Note 9 Pro Max both have four rear cameras in total. Both have 8MP ultra-wide, 5MP macro and 2MP depth-sensing snappers, but it’s the main camera that’s different. While the Note 9 Pro has a 48MP snapper, the Note 9 Pro Max boasts a 64MP sensor. That’s one of the most high-res you can get at this price tag.
Speaking of price tags, these phones look set to be super affordable. There’s no global pricing yet, but based on the Indian pricing the phones are likely to be very cheap for what they offer.
Roughly converted, the Redmi Note 9 Pro will be available for around $200 / £160 / AU$310, coming in at just above or just below that, depending on whether you opt for a 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage or 6GB/128GB combo.
The Note 9 Pro Max is a little more, starting at that previous price for 6GB/64GB, and going up to around $255 / £200 / AU$400 for the priciest of its various options, which gets you 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
We’ve asked Xiaomi if and when we can expect to see the Redmi Note 9 Pro devices outside India, and will keep you updated when we hear back.
