Did Xiaomi make a big mistake when it scheduled the Mi 9 unveiling?

We're not sure what Xiaomi is thinking, but a tweet disseminated this evening by tipster Ice Universe shows that the Xiaomi Mi 9 will be introduced on February 20th (see image at the top of this article). That's the day, of course, when Samsung will hold its Unpacked 2019 event unveiling the eagerly awaited Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+ and the foldable Galaxy F. While Xiaomi does have its fans in certain markets, and the Mi 9 is the company's flagship phone, going up against Sammy for media attention is not such a great idea.

We recently got our first look at the Xiaomi Mi 9 when a photo was posted (and then removed) by Xiaomi product manager Wang Teng Thomas on his Weibo page. The photo showed off a triple camera setup on the back of the phone. The three cameras will reportedly include a 48MP sensor, a 12MP secondary snapper, and a 3D Time-of-Flight depth sensor.

The Xiaomi Mi 9 is expected to carry a 6.4-inch AMOLED panel with a 1080 x 2220 resolution. The Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform will be under the hood, and there is speculation that we will see versions of the handset with 6GB RAM/128GB storage, and 8GB RAM/256GB storage. An in-display fingerprint scanner is said to be included, along with a 3500mAh battery. Android 9 Pie and Xiaomi's MIUI interface will be pre-installed.

Xiaomi is also expected to introduce a premium "Explorer Edition" of the Mi 9, like it did last year with Mi 8. The latter model features a transparent back that shows off what appears to the naked eye to be the phone's innards, including the Snapdragon 845 chipset that powers it. But as it turns out, the transparent back is a fake that can be scrubbed off. Will the Xiaomi Mi 9 Explorer Edition feature the same design? We will find out next Wednesday when the manufacturer unveils its new flagship phone.