Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S vs Note 9
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.67-inch Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G) that was released on March 23, 2020, against the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9, which is powered by MediaTek Helio G85 and came out 1 month after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
- Shows 9% longer battery life (38:54 vs 35:35 hours)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- 34% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (335K versus 249K)
- Ability to record video in 4K resolution
- More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 720G
- Delivers 23% higher peak brightness (575 against 467 nits)
- Faster storage type - UFS 2.1 versus eMMC 5.1
- 55% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 578 and 373 points
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9
- Reverse charging feature
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
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Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Size | 6.67 inches | 6.53 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 395 ppi | 395 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 628 nits | 450 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | No |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.5% | 83.5% |
| RGB color space | 114.9% | 97.7% |
| PWM | Not detected | Not detected |
| Response time | 34 ms | 32.2 ms |
| Contrast | 1111:1 | 4608:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 166 mm (6.54 inches) | 162.3 mm (6.39 inches) |
| Width | 77 mm (3.03 inches) | 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.8 mm (0.35 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 210 g (7.41 oz) | 199 g (7.02 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue | White, Gray, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in home button | Yes, rear |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G | MediaTek Helio G85 |
| Max clock | 2300 MHz | 2000 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 8 (2 + 6) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 465 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 2 cores at 2.3 GHz: Kryo 465 Gold (Cortex-A76) |
- 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A75 |
| L3 cache | 1 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 8 nanometers | 12 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 618 | Mali-G52 MP2 |
| GPU clock | 750 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~435 GFLOPS | ~59 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 106177 | 70992 |
| GPU | 84499 | 58131 |
| Memory | 55422 | 36905 |
| UX | 87366 | 83025 |
| Total score | 335159 | 249548 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 42.4 °C | 39.2 °C |
| Stability | 98% | - |
| Graphics test | 6 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1040 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 5874 | - |
| Video editing | 5383 | - |
| Photo editing | 16581 | - |
| Data manipulation | 7023 | - |
| Writing score | 9019 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 4, 6 GB | 3, 4, 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 64, 128 GB | 64, 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | eMMC 5.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | Up to 512 GB | Up to 512 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) |
| ROM | MIUI 13 | MIUI 13 |
| OS size | 18 GB | 16.5 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5020 mAh | 5020 mAh |
| Charge power | 18 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 50 min) | Yes (50% in 40 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:30 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 15:02 hr | 12:34 hr |
| Watching video | 14:39 hr | 14:56 hr |
| Gaming | 05:53 hr | 05:48 hr |
| Standby | 130 hr | 120 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With the Best Battery Life (37th and 98th place)
Camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | 120 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 119° | 118° |
| Lenses | 4 (48 MP + 8 MP + 5 MP + 2 MP) | 4 (48 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 48 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2", Samsung S5KGM2 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 48 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2.0", Samsung S5KGM1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/4.0", Omnivision OV8856 |
- 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/4.0" (CMOS) |
| Macro lens | - 5 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron |
- 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Depth lens | - 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Pixel size: 1.75 micron |
- 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Megapixels | 16 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4920 x 3264 | 4128 x 3096 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | f/2.3 |
| Focal length | - | 29 mm |
| Pixel size | 1 microns | 1.12 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" | 1/3.1" |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, HID, A2DP | LE, HID, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | No | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | Yes |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 12 | 7 |
| 5G support | No | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Mono | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | Yes |
| FM radio | Yes | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | No | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Announced | March 2020 | April 2020 |
| Release date | April 2020 | June 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 0.72 W/kg | 0.8 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 0.98 W/kg | 1.14 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 1335