Xiaomi’s Newest Flagship Has the Fastest Wireless Charging

Xiaomi has taken the wraps off its latest flagship Mi phone this week. Ahead of Mobile World Congress, the company is announcing the new Xiaomi Mi 9, its latest addition to the Mi line that builds on the Mi 8 from last year and doesn’t look all that different.

Xiaomi’s Mi 9 comes with all the spec bumps you would expect on a 2019 phone — it has the Snapdragon 855 mobile platform under the hood, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of storage. It features a 6.39-inch FHD+ AMOLED display made by Samsung, with a 90.7% screen-to-body ratio and a teardrop-notch design. The device features an on-screen fingerprint scanner, too.

One of the biggest highlights of the new Mi 9 is the new Charge Turbo feature. Xiaomi says the feature can allow for 20W wireless charging on the device, meaning you can fully charge the device’s 3,300mAh battery in just one hour and 40 minutes, wirelessly. Xiaomi says that’s the fastest wireless charging in the market right now. And if you just wanna charge the device traditionally with a cable, you can charge it up to 100% in just over one hour.

Xiaomi is also focusing on the camera of the Mi 9 — there’s a triple-camera setup on the back of the device, featuring a 16MP ultra-wide lens with a 117-degree field of view, a 12MP telephoto lens, and a 48MP Sony lens for the main camera. The new cameras on the device apparently take better pictures than the cameras on the iPhone Xs and Galaxy Note 9, as well as the Pixel 3, according to DxOMark — but that doesn’t really say much about exactly how good the cameras are.

Xiaomi is also launching a “mid-range” version of the device called Mi 9 SE that features a 5.97-inch screen, a Snapdragon 712 processor, and starts at only 1,999 Yuan, or $300.

Either way, the Xiaomi Mi 9 will be available in China and slowly expand to other markets later on. The device starts at approximately $450, or about 2999 Yuan in China for the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant. The variant with 8GB RAM will run for 3299 Yuan, or around $490. And there’s even a $600 (3,999 Yuan) variant that comes with 12GB RAM, 256GB of storage, and a cool transparent design.