Xiaomi launched its newer budget offering Redmi 9 Prime recently in India with a starting price tag of Rs.10000. it was their resurrection of the old Redmi Prime series. If you guys remember Redmi 3 Prime was the last Prime series phone we had here. Is the Redmi 9 Prime is the best phone under 10K INR or we have an any better option? Check out this post for our detailed views and mini-comparison against all the major options out there.
If you guys remember, Redmi Note 8 was a well-balanced package under Rupees 10000. But due to everything that happened in 2020, it’s price goes on steady hiking from best bang for the buck to nearly over-priced state and now it starts at Rs.12499. The global supply chain affected due to Covid-19, the rising price of a dollar and 12% to 18% GST hike from our government makes getting a good phone under 10000 rupees a tough-thing.
Especially considering us, the Indian consumers, we have already sett some particular price levels like Phone under 7K, Phone under 10K, Phone under 15k, etc. Even though the pricing has massively changed, people will ask the same question because most of them are not aware of these events. So now we are getting last year’s 7K-9K price category phones in the 10K price segment, and it is hard to recommend a well-rounded phone like Redmi note 8. But with the arrival of Redmi 9 Prime, we finally have a convincing option – but still not good as Redmi Note 8.
What can you expect from this Post?
- In the first section, I have to discuss some things which will help you to understand everything which we are going to discuss in the following sections.
- Here we will compare the Redmi 9 Prime with its main competitors and give our verdict on it.
- The third section will be a mini-review of Redmi 9 Prime. I don’t have the device, but the review will be base on the impressions I got from other tech YouTubers and articles which I trust out there
So let’s start with the first section, In the first section I will give some basic idea about major Processors present in the budget segment and its performance capabilities by using AnTuTu v8 Benchmark Scores, and what are the other things which affect the overall performance of a smartphone. I also list various devices available in the under 10K segment and discuss the similarity between them.
What are the main things which affect the performance of a smartphone?
Mainly they are four key components that affect the performance of a smartphone, the Processor (SoC), the speed of Ram, speed of Storage, and software optimization. But in our case, all of the devices here use the same eMMC 5.1 storage and LPDDR4X Ram. So the capability of the Processor will determine the significant part of the final output.
Which are the devices available under 10K segment?
We have a lot of smartphones under 10K segment from various OEMs, below I will try to list them based on their CPU capability, and I will also provide an average Antutu score for getting an idea about the performance of each one.
- Redmi 9 Prime – Helio G80 – avg score of 195K-200K
- Realme Narzo 10A, Realme C3 – Helio G70 – avg score of 180K-190K
- for Reference: Redmi Note 8 – SD665 – avg score of 170K
- Realme C11, Realme C12, Realme C15, upcoming Redmi 9 – Helio G35 – avg score of 108K-115K
- OPPO A12, Motorola G8 Power Lite – Helio P35 – avg score of 105K
- Redmi 8, Redmi 8A dual, Galaxy M01 – SD439 – avg score of 90-100K
- then comes some Helio P22( avg 90K-95K), Helio A22( 80K-85K), Helio A25(80K-85K)
Don’t confuse with a lot of devices here. The above one is only meant to give an idea about the various processors available in the segment and its performance capabilities. If you are serious about gaming, you need to look for devices with Helio G70 or G80 SoCs.
Similarities between various devices.
Here we have to find the best devices to choose under 10K, So having these many devices will confuse you, but in the above list, some devices are highly related to others. So let me make it easier for you.
Realme C12 is the Pro version of Realme C11, and Realme C15 is the advanced( Pro Plus or Ultra version of Realme C11). So for further comparison, we only use Realme C15.
- Realme C11 + extra 1000 mAh battery + fingerprint scanner + 2MP BW Camera = Realme C12
- Realme C12 + 8 MP Ultra-wide Camera + 8MP front(instead of 5MP) camera + 18W fast charging = Realme C15
Redmi 8 is Redmi 8A Dual with a better Primary rear-facing camera. So we can pick Redmi 8 for further comparison from here.
Realme C3 + Finger Print Scanner + Macro Camera = Realme Narzo 10A. so that we can remove Realme C3 from further Comparison.
The rest of the options are from Motorola(mainly avoiding due to software update and service issues), Samsung, OPPO, VIVO, and Tecno are not included for further comparison because they couldn’t match the phones mentioned above in most of the areas.
So for in the next section, we are going to do a mini-comparison between Redmi 9 Prime, Redmi 8, Realme Narzo 10a, Realme C15 to find the best Phone under 10K
Redmi 9 Prime Vs Competitors
If you following this post, now you are well aware of the main competitors of Redmi 9 Prime. Redmi 9 Prime is a much better option compared to these, because of its well-balanced nature. Redmi 9 Prime has the best Processor in this price range (Helio G80), it is the only device with Full HD+ panel compared to all other phones with HD+ panels.
The device doesn’t compromise on anything considering the price range and maintains everything in the average or above-average level. It supports 18W fast charging but only comes with a 10W charger in the box, but you can spend an extra 450 rupees to get an 18W charger from Xiaomi. The rest of the specs are presence 5000 mah battery, decent cameras, 5 GHz Wifi, gorilla glass 3, etc. More details on Mini-Review in the next section.
In contrast, Redmi 8 offers a better primary rear camera and has Gorilla Glass 5 as protection. But it comes with SD439, which provides half of the Performance of Redmi 9 Prime. So there is a massive difference between them in terms of raw power. It also has an HD+ display instead of Full HD+. The rest of the specs very similar. Redmi 8 was a well-balanced phone when it was released last year.
Realme C15 offers an in-box 18W charger and 6000mAh Battery, but they compromise on the most crucial part of a smartphone, which is the processor(Helio G35). The HD+ display and the presence of micro USB port in 2020 also leads to the Redmi 9 Prime dominance over it.
Realme Narzo 10A is the device that can provide the closest performance to Redmi 9 Prime, but the device only comes with HD+ display, 10W charging support, and micro-USB port makes Redmi 9 Prime has a huge win.
By now, you have a clear idea of why Redmi 9 Prime stands out from the rest of the competition and make it the best device to go for under 10K rupees. But we haven’t discussed anything about it in detail. So if you are interested, check out our mini-review below, which is based on the other youtube tech reviews and articles ou there.
Redmi 9 Prime Mini-Review
First of all, I didn’t use Redmi 9 Prime till now, So I couldn’t call it as my review, and because of this, I haven’t included this post in our review section. This mini-review is purely based on my knowledge, impressions from other tech review videos, and articles out there, meaning it will not be perfect.
Design
Redmi 9 Prime comes with a polycarbonate back panel with a plastic frame and gorilla glass 3 on the front. It is relatively Big( 163.30mm x 77mm ), thick (9.1 mm thickness), and weighs 198 gram, which is pretty heavy for a phone with plastic frame and polycarbonate back panel, it may be mainly due to the 5020 mAh battery inside it. The rear panel has POCO X2 inspired design with circular matte rings, so-called Aura 360 design for better grip and look.
The devices come with a black silicon transparent silicon case in the box, and the oleophobic coating on the front glass is not as good as other Redmi Note devices but still better than any realme budget offerings. Overall the phones look good, and it has a good design for its price range.
Display
Redmi 9 Prime comes with a 6.53-inch Full HD+ Panel, which is different from commonly seen HD+ panel out there. The display itself has adequate brightness levels(400 nits), excellent touch response for this price and has no edge bleeding issue. It is the best display you can find in this price category. Also, the device comes with a Widevine L1 certificate so that you can stream HD content in your favourite streaming services.
Performance
Redmi 9 Prime is equipped with Mediatek Helio G80 SoC, which is the best you can find under 10000 rupees. It is pretty powerful compared to most of the other processors used in this price range. The Mali-G52 MC2 GPU can provide excellent gaming performance for this price range too. You can play PUBG in HD+HIGH or Smooth+Ultra settings. But the game like COD is not optimized for its optimal performance as of now. Even the benchmark score is pretty high for this price range, and Redmi 9 Prime can score around 200K in Antutu Benchmark. So If you are looking for the best performing smartphone under Rs.10000, Redmi 9 Prime is the way to go.
The device comes with 4GB LPDDR4X Ram, which is common in this price category. It has two eMMC 5.1 storage skews either 64GB or 128 GB depending upon your needs. But in my opinion, the 128GB variant is somewhat overpriced when compared to its 64 GB variant. So it will be better to buy a 4+64 GB variant then add an external SD card in the dedicated slot for more storage needs.
Camera
Redmi 9 Prime comes with four rear cameras and a single selfie camera on the front. The Primary rear camera is taken from Redmi 8A dual, which is not an exciting sensor due to its low aperture. It is a 13MP f/2.2 sensor sourced from different vendors and produces good photos with reasonably accurate colours for the price. It supports auto HDR, and it enhances the dynamic range in both daylight and low light conditions. The performance of this sensor is reasonably average in low light. The lack of Night Mode also shows it is the one area Xiaomi has to compromise on this phone to maintain its low price. But still, the overall picture quality is above average for this price range. But Phones like Redmi 8 can take better pictures with its much better sensor.
The 8MP Ultra-wide angle sensor takes one of the best Wide-angle shots in this price category, and it can rival some of the more expensive mid-range phones too. The 5MP Macro will be the best Macro camera you can find in this price category. The 2 MP depth sensor assists portrait shots, and Xioami has the best edge detecting software in the budget segment, The portraits are pretty good for the price. But the lack of HDR in the primary sensor makes portrait shots in some scenes over or underexposed.
The 8MP front camera also shoots good selfies for the price category. The portrait shots from the front camera are pretty good too due to good edge detection software.
The Video capture from Redmi 9 Prime is average due to lack of any stabilization in any camera. But the sound recording is good for the price.
Overall the camera on the Redmi 9 Prime is similar to other phones in this price range. Still, the older phones like Redmi 8 will lead in terms of picture quality. But due to good software optimisation and various modes on their camera and editor app like sky replacement feature make it still be a good camera for this price range. Probably in the first three.
software
Redmi 9 comes with Android 10 out of the box with familiar MIUI 11 skin. But it will soon get updated to newer MIUI 12. which looks modern and very artistic nature, and I am pretty sure you will enjoy using features like the floating window in MIUI 12
The devices come with some pre-loaded apps as bloats, and most of them are uninstallable. Xiaomi also removed all the apps banned by the Indian government recently from their software. But like every budget Xiaomi device you can see plenty of bloatware and ads here too. To remove it you can check out our guide to remove Ads and Bloatware from xioami devices.
Battery Life and Charging
The Redmi 9 Prime comes with a massive 5020 mAh battery, which can provide you pretty good battery life with its other internals. It will not be the class-leading because some other phones in the price range offer 6000 mAh battery, but they compromise on a lot of different things. The device comes with a Type-C port instead of a micro-USB port.
In terms of charging, the device support 18W fast charging(QC 3.0) and comes with a 10W charger in the Box. It will take plenty of time to fully charge the massive 5020 mAh battery with the 10W charger, so if you are buying the Redmi 9 prime, Please consider purchasing the 18W charger from mi store (mi.com), and it will only cost Rs.449, and with this 18W charger you can fill it up the battery in nearly 2 Hours.
18W fast Charging is the highest you can find in this price category, but some devices like Realme C15 comes with in-Box 18W charger. But as I said earlier, they compromise on many other things like inferior Helio G35 chip and still comes with a micro USB port in 2020.
Miscellaneous
The Audio output through the main speaker is tiny and has average sound quality, but the call quality through the earpiece is good. The sound output through a 3.5 mm headphone jack is good for the price. The device also supports 5 GHz wifi which is usually not seen in Budget phones, which is pretty great.
Verdict
Redmi 9 Prime is the only well-rounded smartphone under Rupees 10000 after the price hike happened recently. it has the best performance, best display, faster charging, a reliable camera, and the right other specs for this price range. It is the only phone that doesn’t compromise on anything severely. So it is the phone to pick up if you have a budget of 10k.
Redmi 9 Primes with either 4+64 GB or 4+128 GB variants and price Rs.9999 and Rs.11999 respectively. According to us 4+128 GB is not worth the money comapred to 4+64 GB variant and you can better device like Redmi Note 9 at the 12K price range. So if you need more storage buy the 4+64 GB variant then add a fast 64 GB SD card. To be honest i am not big fan using SD card in phones due to its difference in speed, but when comes to budget phones they comes with slower eMMC 5.1 storage, so it doesnt have much differnce in Speed, So in this case i think it is the better way to go
Redmi 9 Prime officially available in mi.com, amazon.in, local.mi.com, mi home, and author authorized Mi preferred partner showrooms.
BUY NOW:
Redmi 9 Prime: amazon.in
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