Mi 9 vs Mi 8: Price, Specifications, and Features Compared

Mi 9 was launched in China on Wednesday as the latest flagship offering from Xiaomi. The Mi 9 phone has a triple rear camera setup, fifth-generation in-display fingerprint sensor, and as high as a 90.7-percent screen-to-body ratio. Also, the Mi 9 comes with a Snapdragon 855 SoC and a 48-megapixel primary sensor. All this makes the Mi 9 a strong contender in the market of premium smartphones. But there are also several upgrades over the Mi 8 that Xiaomi launched last year. Read on to find out more about the differences between the Xiaomi Mi 9 and Mi 8.

We're here comparing the specifications and price of the Mi 9 with the Mi 8 to let you easily see all the differences between the two models.

Xiaomi Mi 9 vs Mi 8 price

The Xiaomi Mi 9 price in China is set at CNY 2,999 (roughly Rs. 31,800) for the 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant, whereas the 8GB RAM/ 128GB storage model comes at CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs. 34,900). It will be available in Blue (gradient), Pink (gradient), and Deep Grey colour variants. Xiaomi has also this time brought the Mi 9 Transparent Edition that is priced at CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 42,300).

In contrast, the Xiaomi Mi 8 price is set at CNY 2,699 (roughly Rs. 28,600) for the 64GB storage option, CNY 2,999 (roughly Rs. 31,700) for the 128GB storage model, and CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs. 35,000) for the 256GB storage variant. The smartphone comes in Black, Gold, Light Blue, and White colour options.

The India price details of the Xiaomi Mi 9 and the Mi 8 aren't revealed yet.

Mi 9 vs Mi 8 specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) Xiaomi Mi 9 runs Android 9.0 Pie on top of MIUI 10. However, the dual-SIM (Nano) Mi 8 debuted with MIUI 10 based on Android Oreo, though it received an update to Android Pie a few months back.

Xiaomi has provided a 6.3-inch full-HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) Samsung AMOLED display on the Mi 9 along with 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 403ppi pixel density, and Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection. In contrast, the Mi 8 has a 6.21-inch full-HD+ (1080x2248 pixels) full-HD+ display that brings 402ppi of pixel density and comes with an 18.7:9 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, the Xiaomi Mi 9 comes with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC, coupled with Adreno 640 SoC and 6GB and 8GB LPDDR4X RAM options. The Mi 8, on the other side, has 6GB of RAM. The Mi 9 also has 128GB of UFS2.1 onboard storage. The storage is identical on the Mi 8.

Mi 9 vs Mi 8 camera

For photos and videos, the Xiaomi Mi 9 has a triple rear camera setup that includes a 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 primary sensor with 1.0-micron pixel size and an f/2.2 lens. The primary sensor also supports a four-in-one pixel technology (12-megapixel effective pixels). Also, there is a 16-megapixel IMX481 secondary sensor along with a combination of ultra-wide and macro lenses having an f/2.2 lens and a field-of-view (FoV) of 117 degrees and a 12-megapixel tertiary sensor along with an f/2.2 telephoto lens. The Mi 8, distinctly, had a dual rear camera setup along with a 12-megapixel sensor featuring a wide-angle, f/1.8 lens and a 12-megapixel secondary sensor with a telephoto, f/2.4 lens.

On the selfies part, the Xiaomi Mi 9 and Mi 8 both have a 20-megapixel camera sensor along with an f/2.0 lens.

Connectivity options on both the Xiaomi Mi 9 and Mi 8 include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. However, there are some notable distinctions on the part of built-in sensors. The Mi 9 has an accelerometer, ambient light, gyroscope, in-display fingerprint sensor, magnetometer, and ultrasonic distance sensor. In contrast, the Mi 8 has an accelerometer, ambient light, gyroscope, hall sensor, magnetometer, and a traditional fingerprint sensor.

Mi 9 vs Mi 8 battery

The Xiaomi Mi 9 packs a 3,300mAh battery that supports 27W wired fast charging and 20W wireless fast charging. This is unlike the Mi 8 that had a 3,400mAh battery supporting Qualcomm's Quick Charge 4+.

Dimensions of the Xiaomi Mi 9 are set at 157.7x74.67x7.61mm, while the Mi 8 measures 154.9x74.8x7.6mm. Besides, the Mi 9 weighs 173 grams, whereas the Mi 8 comes with a weight of 175 grams.

With Galaxy Fold, has Samsung kicked off a revolution in smartphone tech? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.