Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G, Mi 9 Explorer, and Mi 9 SE hands-on review

Xiaomi Mi 9 SE hands-on

The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is a bit smaller than the Mi 9 - it has a 5.97" AMOLED panel with a waterdrop notch on top and slightly thicker bezel on the bottom. The Snapdragon 712 chipset is coupled with 6 GB RAM and 64/128 GB storage.

We haven't yet experienced this new Snapdragon 712 chip. It is pretty much the same as the Snapdragon 710, but with a slightly faster CPU. It is still built on the 10nm FiNFET process and its modem supports all the usual Wi-Fi standards, Bluetooth 5.0, and dual LTE.

The Mi 9 SE has a triple-camera on its back, just like the Mi 9. The main shooter is a 48MP camera that spits 12MP shots - just like the Mi 9. But it has a 13 MP ultra-wide-angle lens and an 8 MP telephoto lens to keep it company. The front-facing camera is 20 MP with plenty of Beauty filters for all the social media addicts out there.

There is fast-charging for the 3,070 mAh battery in the Mi 9 SE, but it is capped at 18W. The SE lacks 3.5 mm audio jack as well, so you'll have to rely either on the USB-C port or wireless headphones. Other features include the Game Turbo booster, latest MIUI 10 and an NFC chip.

We handled the Blue model of the Mi 9 SE and it looks quite nice. It reflects light in a cool way and makes for somewhat a faux-gradient effect. It's as slippery as it looks, fingerprints stick easily, but it's one very cool headset, costing almost half the Mi 9 price and yet retaining most of its goodies.

Wrap up

Overall, we like what Xiaomi is bringing to the table. The SD855 edition of the Mi Mix 3 sort of explains why the regular Mi Mix 3 comes with Snapdragon 845. The Explorer edition is a nice spin to the already quite intriguing specs that the regular Mi 9 has. And the Mi 9 SE, well, we're looking forward to putting it through its paces in our review routine.