Redmi 9 Power Review: A Good Pick In The Affordable Segment?

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Xiaomi has come a long way ever since it made a debut in the smartphone industry. While the company has started introducing digital accessories and other consumer electronics products, the smartphone segment is where it still dominates. Specifically, in the Indian market; the company has a good hold over the affordable smartphone segment. Xiaomi's Redmi series is well known when it comes to pocket-friendly smartphones. One of the recent offerings in this category is the Redmi 9 Power.

 

Rating:
4.0/5

Redmi 9 Power Review: A Good Pick In The Affordable Segment?

The mid-range Redmi 9 Power brings features like a 48MP quad-camera setup, a massive 6,000 mAh battery, and the mid-range Snapdragon 662 processor to the table. The device comes for an asking price of Rs. 10,999. It has been a while since we are using this smartphone as our daily driver. If you are looking forward to buying the Redmi 9 Power as your next smartphone, then make sure you go through this article.

Redmi 9 Power Review: Design And Display
 

Redmi 9 Power Review: Design And Display

The Redmi 9 Power features an all-plastic body material. The device ditches the standard gradient design, and the rear surface here is textured and reflects patterns with light rays falling on it. You get a rectangular camera setup on the top-left of the back panel and the Redmi branding at the bottom. The Redmi 9 Power is a clean-looking smartphone with a refreshed design. While the textured surface adds to the grip, the bulky form factor is what you have to work out with. It's difficult to operate the smartphone single-handedly.

You can easily use the power key and the volume keys (placed on the right) with a single hand. However, using the display and reaching the corners during a task is not comfortable.Also, the power key integrates the fingerprint scanner for security. With an ideal positioning of the scanner and the accuracy in reading fingerprints, unlocking this smartphone is quick. The device packs the 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, while the bottom panel houses the speaker griller and the USB Type-C port. The unit has a dedicated microSD card for storage expansion and two SIM cards.

Moving to the display, the Redmi 9 Power has a big 6.53-inch display which is complemented by an FHD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. It has 400 nits of peak brightness that allows for decent brightness levels outdoors. The display output is satisfactory. The high-resolution support allows for a crisp output with video playback and gaming. The viewing angles here are average so is the color production. The color temperature seems to be slightly on the warmer side by default. You can tweak the color scheme and temperature from the display settings to fit your requirements. Overall, the Redmi 9 Power is a clean-looking smartphone with a refreshed design.

Redmi 9 Power: Hardware And Battery Performance

Redmi 9 Power: Hardware And Battery Performance

The Redmi 9 Power gets its power from the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor. The device is packed with 4GB LPDDR4X RAM and 64GB/128GB storage. The unit delivers an ample amount of power. It doesn't have any hiccups with multitasking. The apps load quickly and you will be able to shuffle between multiple apps running in the background. There isn't any heat-up issue to be flagged. The handset can handle gaming also smoothly. Thanks to additional features like Game Turbo mode, the gaming experience is good on this handset.

Now coming to the battery, the Redmi 9 Power has a huge 6,000 mAh unit packed inside. This is one of the biggest highlights of this smartphone. The device easily lasts for an entire day on a single charge. Include basic usage with web surfing, occasional gaming, and HD+ video playback in the loop. The battery gets support from 18W fast charging tech. The device takes well over an hour for a complete refuel (zero to 100 percent). But, a charge of half an hour gives you close to 50 percent of backup. You wouldn't have any complaints in this department.

Redmi 9 Power Review: Software And Benchmark Performance

Redmi 9 Power Review: Software And Benchmark Performance

The Redmi 9 Power has run on the Android 10 OS and has the MIUI 12 custom interface. The market has already seen several new devices booting on the Android 11 OS. Therefore, a new software version is what we would have liked to see here. Besides, the look and feel of the UI are similar to what we have seen on the Xiaomi smartphones in 2020. It is a bit cluttered and you will see a bunch of third-party apps pre-installed. This makes the UI crowded. However, you can uninstall the unwanted apps manually to make enough room for a clean UI.

We also ran several benchmark tests on the Redmi 9 Power. Starting with the Geekbench 5, the device has scored 311 points in the single-core test, while it logged 1285 points in the multi-core test. We also tested performed the PCMark benchmark test where the device logged 6072 points in the work performance 2.0. In the Sling Shot Extreme test on 3D Benchmark, the handset scored 1182 points. The benchmark scores are decent compared to the competition in the segment.

Redmi 9 Power Review: Camera Performance

Redmi 9 Power Review: Camera Performance

The Redmi 9 Power has four cameras handling the imaging department. The camera specifications include a 48MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, a 2MP macro sensor, and a 2MP depth lens. You wouldn't have any struggles using the camera applications. It is easy to find all the shooting modes. The default images clicked are 12MP pixel-binned shots. The camera comes with several features such as HDR, AI, Time Lapse, and slow-motion video recording. The output is fairly good when the images are clicked in daylight.

The clarity and the color production are to the point; so is the dynamic range. The night shots are where you will find the camera capturing less detail. The low-light shots don't have good edge-detection and are distorted. Video recording is also decent here. The device supports up to 1080p video recording (both front and the rear camera). You get an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture for selfies. The front camera also delivers a good output with good light conditions.

Redmi 9 Power Review: Worth A Buy?

Redmi 9 Power Review: Worth A Buy?

Xiaomi has been one of the go-to brands in the sub-Rs 15,000 price category for a long. The Redmi smartphone lineup has been Xiaomi's best bet in this segment for a long time now. While Xiaomi is getting tough competition from Realme, Samsung, and others in this segment, it isn't just putting a halt to introducing feature-packed smartphones. The Redmi 9 Power is a good example of a powerful yet cheap-priced smartphone. It has all the elements in place that make it worth a buy in its segment.

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