Xiaomi has been pretty serious with their devices, and they’re not stopping. The new Mi 9 is proof enough. They’re pretty much the company that started the bezel-less trend with their Mi Mix series in 2016. Then last year they started a campaign against unnecessarily expensive flagships with the amazing Pocophone F1. In 2019 they’ve launched an assault on the budget category where they’re pushing the boundaries of what a budget device should look or feel like with one of the Redmi Note 7.

The announcement of the Mi 9 comes just a few hours ahead of the Samsung S10 series, and is probably meant to make people reconsider what they pay for their flagship devices. Because this device though very flagship in every way, is priced very reasonably compared to the $1000+ Samsung, Apple and other companies ask for their devices.

There’s a Super AMOLED 6.3 inch display with a teardrop notch and Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection both front and back. The screen resolution is 1080 x 2340 pixels, with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. And it is HDR10 ready. The processor is Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 855 which is a 7nm chipset. There’s two configurations of either 6 or 8GB RAM and either 64 or 128GB storage. But there’s also a transparent edition that comes with 12GB RAM.

There’s an under-the-display new generation fingerprint scanner which is something that will probably be the highlight of 2019 devices.

For the cameras, there’s a 20MP selfie shooter, and a triple lens setup at the back that consists of a 48MP f/1.8 main sensor, a 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide sensor, and a 12MP f/2.2 telephoto sensor.

It is not only the design of the phone, RAM and Chipset that makes it a flagship device. It is also the fact that it features things we are seeing for the first time like a 20W wireless charger that will charge the device faster than most physically plugged-in chargers do. This is surely the fastest wireless charger out there. The phone’s plug-in charger is 27W. Yes, perhaps only the Mate 20 Pro‘s charger beats that right now.

That Xiaomi is asking for only between $550 and $650 for this device is crazy. This company will redefine smartphone prices in the next few months, I hope they keep expanding. In all pricing segments for the many different devices they sell, Xiaomi keeps asking us “Why pay more…?”

2019 is the year of Budget Smartphones

I am not sure if Xiaomi Kenya will be bringing it. But I sure hope they do. Because if available, it will be a considerable option for many people with its pricing. Now, let’s wait and see what Samsung announces in the coming hours…