Xiaomi itself leaks Mi 9 specs, images and camera samples

Next week (February 20th to be more precise), Xiaomi is expected to take the wrapping off of its new flagship phone, the Mi 9. Executives and company co-founders have leaked images of the phone, so some of the mystery is gone as far as the design is concerned. And yes, they also revealed some of the specs of the phone as well. Actually, it's a great strategy; some one is bound to pass along the information, so why shouldn't the company get a jump on it.

While there had been a question of which chipset would be found under the hood, that is all settled. According to XDA, Xiaomi has confirmed that its latest and greatest will be powered by Qualcomm's latest and greatest, the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform. While not a shocker, there was some speculation that the Snapdragon 845 chipset might be used instead, but that rumor is officially shot down.

The smartphone industry is so competitive that a slightly smaller chin is a selling point. Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun posted a chart showing how the chin on the Mi 9 has been reduced by 40% and will measure 3.6mm. That is .2mm smaller than the one on the Vivo X23, which apparently gives Xiaomi bragging rights among its fellow phone manufacturers in China. That image also confirms that the Mi 9 will feature an in-display fingerprint scanner. Speaking of that feature, last month another Xiaomi co-founder, Bin Lin, showed off a prototype with a larger area of the screen dedicated to an in-display biometric reader. At 50mm x 25mm, users would have five times the space to press down on the display to unlock the phone. Whether the Mi 9 will offer this extra space probably won't be revealed until the unveiling.

One Mi 9 feature that was leaked via a photo of the device posted by Xiaomi product manager Wang Teng Thomas, was the triple camera setup on the back of the handset. Now, Xiaomi has confirmed the specs of the cameras on the phone. The 48MP primary sensor will feature a Sony IMX586 sensor, wide-angle lens, f/1.75 aperture, and 0.8μm pixel size. The  secondary camera carries a 12MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom, an aperture of f/2.2 and a pixel size of 1.0μm. The third camera offers an ultra wide-angle 117° lens with an aperture of f/2.2 and a 1.0μm pixel size. The 20MP selfie snapper in front supports Xiaomi's AI based beauty features. Speaking of the camera, Xiaomi co-founders Lei and Bin shared some photos taken with the Mi 9, including one taken with the ultra wide-angle camera.

The company says that the rear cameras on the Mi 9 are protected by sapphire glass, and the body of the phone itself is stainless steel. The company has revealed four different color options for the phone, a gradient blue; gradient pink; solid blue; and solid black/gray. And Bin also recently revealed that there will be an Explorer Edition of the Mi 9. You might recall the controversy that last year's model set off when it was discovered that the image seen through the phone's transparent back was not really what it appeared to be. Those with the phone might have thought that they were looking at the mainboard inside the device, when in actuality the image was merely a plastic plate that covered up the real (and less aesthetically pleasing) circuitry inside the device. The Mi 9 Explorer Edition will also sport a transparent back according to Xiaomi's president.

With Xiaomi executives leaking as freely as football fans in the Mens room at halftime, who need tipsters? To fill out the remaining specs, the Mi 9 is expected to be equipped with a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with a 1080 x 2220 resolution (FHD+). That works out to an aspect ratio of 18.5:9. We could see a couple of different configurations of the phone including one with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, and another with 8GB of RAM with 256GB of native storage. The Explorer Edition could come with 10GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. A 3500mAh battery will supposedly power up the Mi 9 (4000mAh for the Explorer Edition), and the Mi 9 should be pre-installed with Android 9 Pie and Xiaomi's MIUI 10 interface.