MWC 2019: Xiaomi Mi 9 Global Launch Press Event Live Blog (9:30am UTC)
by Ian Cutress & Anton Shilov on February 24, 2019 4:06 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
- Xiaomi
- Trade Shows
- Live Blog
- MWC 2019
- Xiaomi Mi 9
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.
10 Comments
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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 Verizonksec - 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 threatby 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.