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Battery life
- 5,020mAH battery
- 18W fast charging
As with its more expensive siblings, the Redmi 9 Prime houses a big 5,020mAh battery. Add the lower-powered chipset to the mix, and we have a true battery champion. It will easily last you over a day on a single charge, with 7-8 hours of screen-on-time.
It also supports 18W fast charging, which can take the phone from 0 to full in about 2 hours. The included charger has a rated output of 10W, which takes close to 3 hours for the refuelling. It’s not often we see such fast charging on phones in the sub Rs 10,000 segment, and even rarer is that happening over a USB Type-C interface. Considering that a first-party 18W charger costs only Rs 499, it would be a suitable eventual addition.
Camera
- Quad-camera setup
- No night mode
As with nearly every budget smartphone, the Redmi 9 Prime ships with a quad-camera array on the back. While they might not seem that great on paper, they resort to AI to fill the gaps and create surprisingly great results.
The primary camera is a 13MP f/2.2 camera, which produces good pictures in adequate lighting. We’d suggest turning on AI and HDR for better results across the board and to push the dynamic range further. The colours were accurate too but the temperature would suffer in darker scenarios. It degrades quickly when you start zooming in or move to dimly lit areas.
The ultra-wide lens, while fairly wide, isn’t great. The resolution, aperture and sensor size work against it, crushing details. Low-light photography will disappoint you further.
The macro lens has a resolution of 5MP. Finding the right focus distance will take time, but in the right conditions, the results can be pretty cool.
Should you buy the Redmi 9 Prime?
Buy it if...
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