04:20AM EST - Xiaomi recently launched the Mi 9 in China, and today at MWC the company will launch it globally. We're here ready to report on the launch, as well as looking out for any extra announcements.

04:23AM EST - Less than 10 minutes to go, and this is by far Xiaomi's biggest press event at MWC

04:23AM EST - They've hired out Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, which in the past Samsung has used

04:25AM EST - Ian is on text, Anton is standing nearer the front to do the photos

04:29AM EST - Just before it begins, we get a video of the other products Xiaomi makes

04:29AM EST - Air purifiers, IP cameras, floor cleaners, clocks

04:30AM EST - Mood lighting

04:31AM EST - Xiaomi is one of the companies that plays off of its fan base a lot, at both official events and fan events. They've started inviting the most serious Xiaomi fans to events like this, alongside press and partners

04:32AM EST - It's clear that Xiaomi should have booked a bigger hall. Typically the first press event of the day gets a crazy big reception

04:34AM EST - Five minute call, looks like we're starting a little bit late

04:37AM EST - Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm is here

04:38AM EST - So something 5G is clearly going to be discussed

04:39AM EST - Here we go

04:40AM EST - Dominic Sung (?) to the stage

04:40AM EST - this is Xiaomi's first product launch at an MWC

04:40AM EST - The theme is 'make it happen'

04:41AM EST - This explains Xiaomi's attitude as a young company

04:41AM EST - Xiaomi always has the mentality to make it happen

04:41AM EST - Uniquely built by fans for fans

04:41AM EST - Invited Xiaomi Fans to the event. They're at the front, rather than the press. Of course

04:42AM EST - The fans are the reason for innovation

04:42AM EST - 'Mi Explorers'

04:42AM EST - In 2014, did 10b in US revenue

04:42AM EST - In 2017, did 15b in US revenue

04:43AM EST - #4 Smartphone brand in the world, 32% YoY growth according to analysts

04:43AM EST - 224 million active smartphone users (what?)

04:43AM EST - First market Xiaomi entered in Europe was Spain

04:43AM EST - Entered UK in November

04:44AM EST - #1 for open market sales in spain in 15 months

04:44AM EST - Many people know Xiaomi as a smartphone company, but we have a full range of ecosystem IoT products

04:44AM EST - #1 in wearables due to popular Mi Band

04:44AM EST - Mi e-Scooters are also popular

04:45AM EST - Shipped over 560k Mi Scooters

04:45AM EST - Best selling personal transportation device in 2018

04:45AM EST - Also number one smart TV brand in China

04:45AM EST - Also shipping to India and other countries

04:45AM EST - 2000+ Xiaomi ecosystem product portfolio

04:46AM EST - Over 200 partner companies

04:46AM EST - smart lighting with Philips

04:46AM EST - World's largest consumer IoT platform

04:47AM EST - Time for a Mi Home demo

04:47AM EST - Buy online or offline

04:48AM EST - Smart door, smart TV

04:48AM EST - Smart purifier with smart voice assistant

04:49AM EST - Google Assistant

04:49AM EST - Obviously, live demo fails

04:49AM EST - Control lighting with smartphone app

04:51AM EST - All products are created with four pillars

04:51AM EST - Innocation, Quality, something, something

04:52AM EST - Today is focusing on innovation and 5G

04:52AM EST - This year is very different. 5G will become reality

04:52AM EST - Driving smartphone and IoT

04:52AM EST - Xiaomi is focused on Smartphone and AIoT

04:52AM EST - A dual line strategy

04:53AM EST - investing over $1.47b USD in next few years

04:53AM EST - 5G enables faster speeds, low latency, and increased connectivity

04:53AM EST - What does 5G mean to consumers?

04:55AM EST - More people, more devices, communicating more and faster

04:55AM EST - IoT can play in 5G as well

04:55AM EST - 5G + AI = intelligent connectivity for IoT through the cloud

04:55AM EST - not only person-to-person comms, but person-to-device and device-to-device

04:55AM EST - Enabling new use cases

04:56AM EST - with xiaomi's full range of devices, the company is greatly positioned to drive innovations

04:56AM EST - Already ahead in the 5G era

04:56AM EST - Started researching early in 5G

04:57AM EST - contributed to narrowband-IoT standard

04:57AM EST - Pushing 5G as early as possible

04:57AM EST - Connected a smartphone to a 5G network in September 2018

04:57AM EST - Xiaomi has entered the 5G era

04:58AM EST - at the forefront of the next wave of 5G innovation

04:58AM EST - Cristiano Amon to the stage

04:58AM EST - President of qualcomm

04:58AM EST - Talking about the partnership between Xiaomi and Qualcomm

04:59AM EST - Xiaomi was one of the first companies to bring Snapdragon 800 to the Chinese market

04:59AM EST - Qualcomm likes to work with Xiaomi because they take risks

04:59AM EST - Qualcomm wants to create winners

04:59AM EST - 5G is here. In 2019.

05:00AM EST - The year of 5G

05:00AM EST - In the hands of consumers as early as Q2 2019

05:00AM EST - transition will be faster than to 4G

05:00AM EST - users are now more educated

05:01AM EST - With the launch of 4G, Qualcomm had 2 operators. Today with 5G, there are 20 operators

05:01AM EST - Xiaomi will be well positioned

05:01AM EST - We'll think different about our devices

05:01AM EST - Multi-gigabit speeds and low latency

05:01AM EST - unlimited speeds, unlimited data-rates, unlimited connectivity

05:01AM EST - 4K video is going to be as easy as streaming music

05:02AM EST - Generate and share content

05:02AM EST - The low latency will create virtual presence

05:02AM EST - Going to change connectivity and bring innovation

05:02AM EST - It doesn't just stop at phones - connecting everything

05:03AM EST - Because 5G enables the user to be connected with the cloud 100% of the time, you will start to see the apps in the cloud instead

05:03AM EST - It is less about the OS, more about the experience

05:03AM EST - bringing cloud machine learning to devices

05:03AM EST - This is how we see change in the smartphone

05:03AM EST - Leveraging computing in the cloud

05:04AM EST - All of this will come to live in 2019 with the Snapdragon 855 + X50 modem

05:04AM EST - Xiaomi understand the value of premium

05:04AM EST - 855 is the fastest mobile platform

05:04AM EST - driving a new array of experiences

05:04AM EST - evolving connectivity and ML at the same time

05:04AM EST - 4th Gen AI engine on S855

05:04AM EST - 2x faster than the nearest android competitor

05:05AM EST - AI will see the fastest growth inside a 5G device

05:05AM EST - 855 offers Elite Gaming

05:05AM EST - It's not just about faster graphics

05:05AM EST - Unleashing the power of mobile

05:06AM EST - Mobile Gaming is one of the fastest growing industries

05:06AM EST - 'With the launch of the Xiaomi 5G device'

05:06AM EST - Proud of the partnership

05:06AM EST - Xiaomi Mix 3 5G

05:06AM EST - Looks like Cristiano just announced the new phone

05:07AM EST - ok now Donovan Sung to the stage

05:07AM EST - Mi MIX 3 5G

05:07AM EST - one of the world's first commercial 5G smartphones

05:07AM EST - coming to market very soon

05:07AM EST - Snapdragon 855 + X50 modem

05:08AM EST - All new Kryo 485, +45% perf

05:08AM EST - All new Kryo 485, +45% perf

05:08AM EST - New fast download speeds

05:09AM EST - Now for a video call demo

05:10AM EST - Live 5G call

05:10AM EST - First Xiaomi 5G call outside of china

05:11AM EST - Real 5G, not fake 5G

05:11AM EST - Made through Orange

05:11AM EST - Bringing 5G across western Europe

05:12AM EST - Mi MIX 3 features coming to 5G: Ceramic body, magnetic slider

05:12AM EST - Forbes, XDA Developers

05:13AM EST - 6.39-inch, 93.4% screen to body ratio

05:13AM EST - Same camera module as Mi MIX 3

05:13AM EST - Dedicated Google Assistant button

05:13AM EST - Two colors - Onyx black and sapphire blue

05:13AM EST - Dual 12MP cameras, 960 fps

05:14AM EST - 3800 mAh battery

05:14AM EST - Now price

05:15AM EST - From 599 Euro

05:15AM EST - Cheapest 5G device announced so far

05:15AM EST - Vodafone, Telefonica

05:16AM EST - Available from May

05:16AM EST - That's impressive

05:16AM EST - Next product

05:16AM EST - is Mi 9

05:17AM EST - First ever Xiaomi triple camera phone

05:18AM EST - Curved design

05:18AM EST - Two colors - Ocean Blue, Lavender Violet

05:19AM EST - Multiple-stage back cover process

05:19AM EST - nano-level color patterning, reflective coating, corning gorilla glass 5

05:19AM EST - holographic rainbow spectrum effect

05:19AM EST - Halo ring accent on top camear

05:19AM EST - camera

05:20AM EST - Sapphire glass cover on rear cameras

05:20AM EST - Launching in three offical colors in West EU: and also piano black

05:21AM EST - Mi 8 was a popular flagship device. Mi 8 was curved edge but flat in the middle.

05:21AM EST - Mi 9 is a fully curved device

05:21AM EST - Quoting Gaudi

05:21AM EST - Certified by the Gaudi Academy of Knowledge

05:22AM EST - 173g

05:22AM EST - 7.61mm

05:22AM EST - 6.39-inch

05:23AM EST - AMOLED

05:23AM EST - Reading Mode to reduce blue

05:23AM EST - in-screen fingerprint

05:24AM EST - Triple camera

05:25AM EST - Shoot like a pro

05:25AM EST - Three cameras - top 12MP telephoto, 48MP Sony IMX586, 16MP ultra wide angle

05:25AM EST - Zoom in 2x optical

05:27AM EST - Photo examples

05:28AM EST - 1/2" CMOS sensor

05:29AM EST - f/1.75 aperture, laser autofocus

05:29AM EST - AI smart metering

05:30AM EST - night photography

05:30AM EST - 12MP telephoto lens

05:31AM EST - more photo demos

05:31AM EST - AI software will suggest different shots

05:32AM EST - Portrait Mode

05:32AM EST - Wide Portrait Mode

05:32AM EST - Also video

05:33AM EST - Xiaomi party tonight, apparently

05:33AM EST - Supports 4cm macro photography

05:34AM EST - >The ultimate test is PC components

05:34AM EST - Also, 960 fps video

05:34AM EST - looks like 720p or less

05:36AM EST - Working with DXO Mark

05:36AM EST - Overall score 108, Video 99, 111 Photo

05:36AM EST - 112

05:36AM EST - Top video score in the world

05:37AM EST - Now for photos on Mi 9

05:39AM EST - 20MP selfie camera

05:40AM EST - Snapdragon 855

05:41AM EST - Why oh why is Xiaomi showing AnTuTu scores

05:42AM EST - 3300 mAh battery

05:42AM EST - high performance wireless charging

05:43AM EST - 20W wireless charge

05:43AM EST - 100% charge in 90 minutes

05:43AM EST - TUV certified

05:44AM EST - Sold separately, 20W Qi compatible fast wireless charger

05:44AM EST - Now Price

05:45AM EST - 6+64 and 6+128 options

05:45AM EST - From 449 Euro for 6+64

05:46AM EST - 499 Euro for 6GB+128GB

05:46AM EST - half the price of the S10

05:46AM EST - Preorders in spain today, available autorized stores and online soon

05:46AM EST - Italy and France pre-orders today too

05:47AM EST - One more product

05:47AM EST - Mi LED Smart Bulb

05:47AM EST - 16m colors

05:47AM EST - Supports Google Assistant and Alexa

05:48AM EST - Control through Mi Home app

05:48AM EST - Lasts up to 11 years

05:49AM EST - Price

05:49AM EST - 19.9 Euro

05:49AM EST - White and Color

05:50AM EST - Philips White Smart bulb for 9.9 Euro

05:50AM EST - partner with Xiaomi

05:50AM EST - Looks like that's a wrap. We'll see if there's a hands-on area.

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  • SanX - Sunday, February 24, 2019 - link

    "Globally" means it will work on Verizon too? This would cost them next to nothing but not all Chinese phones include Verizon
  • ksec - Sunday, February 24, 2019 - link

    I don't like the current way many company are selling 5G. X50 does not support FDD, which means majority of the world does not gets to use it. Its main purpose is mmWave and that is perfectly fine, but once Real 5G roll out on sub 6 Ghz spectrum your 1st Gen 5G phone would not be able to use it.
  • Someonefromtheotherside - Sunday, February 24, 2019 - link

    Mi 9 or the mate 20, difficult choice. The mi 9 has presumably the more flexible camera (and chance for gcam) and chance for custom roms whereas the mate 20 has headphone out (which I barely use these days) and a bigger battery. Not easy.
  • cpkennit83 - Sunday, February 24, 2019 - link

    Wonder how long before Xiaomi is perceived as a threat
    by the established players in the US and becomes the new Huawei. Decently specced hardware and top notch build quality that makes Nokia/HMD ridiculously overprized, let alone Samsung and the others
  • ZolaIII - Sunday, February 24, 2019 - link

    As long as they are a big share holder's & it doesn't enter US market none whatsoever. Build quality ain't top notch it's on the Samsung level (better in lower tier actually). But their is a catch which Xiaomi's phones don't (yet) have water resistant they are easy to repair and generally aren't glued up.
  • 808Hilo - Sunday, February 24, 2019 - link

    10 phonec corps presenting the same phone. How did they all come up with the same idea :-)
  • dromoxen - Thursday, February 28, 2019 - link

    I was afraid the world deficit in BS was imminent, but you can always rely on MWC to bring out the T'sunami. Our brightly colored slab is better than their's ...
  • Charlotte Blanda - Tuesday, August 18, 2020 - link

    I think Mi 9 is the first smartphone introduced by the Xiaomi in which the feature of in-display fingerprint has been added. I am given the assignment to write about such in-display fingerprint features in smartphones and thanks to https://top5writingservices.com/edubirdie-com-revi... source for providing me true reviews about writing help as well as your phone review. Unfortunately, this smartphone was not launched in my country.

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