The Rise of Xiaomi Phones

Founded in April 2010, this Chinese multinational company specializes in electronics. They released a series of phones that rapidly gained market share in China and became the country’s largest Smartphone Company in 2014. After Samsung and Huawei, they are the third company to have self-developed phone chip capabilities.

The following is a comprehensive list of some of their more notable handsets:

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3

Proving to be a great flagship handset, the Mi Mix 3 did what a lot of new phones did and got itself a gimmick. The face of the phone could slide down to reveal the dual front-facing 20MP + 2MP cameras hiding at the back, providing it with the much sought after 100% screen to body ratio. If you're looking for a new smartphone, you'd find many great deals on unlocked mobile phones this time of the year. Packing a 6.39-inch full HD+ AMOLED display with dual 12MP rear lenses that offer different focal lengths, this model is a great phone for the asking price.

Mi Mix 3 Price in Australia

What was truly noticeable about the phone is its weight, but perhaps that is the cost of such a solid battery. The phone comfortably lasted well over 16 hours of heavy use, that being said, if you add on too many Bluetooth devices then it does suffer. On-trend with most other devices, it lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack. The price for a refurbished Mi Mix 3 starts at $339 AUD.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 7

For its price, the Redmi Note 7 is an astonishing win for budget phones. A sleek design blend of glass and plastic with a 6.3-inch screen of acceptable quality, this phone does show a lot of battery power as after a 13 hour day of heavy use, it had barely lost 30% charge. You can save money by going for a refurbished device than a new phone.

Sporting 48MP and 5MP rear lenses, the camera is not the best to ever grace a phone but the pictures were certainly serviceable.

Xiaomi Mi 8

The phone has a simple 6.21-inch AMOLED display with full HDR10 capabilities. The phone lasts a full day with moderate use and has a dual 12MP rear camera with a 20MP front-facing, both of which take perfectly adequate photos.

The phone has a slightly cluttered but, overall, functional UI with a nice amount of customizability. Following its seemingly partial relationship to a give and take mentality, the handset has no stereo speakers but does have a generous 128GB of storage that should give the user plenty of space for videos, pictures, and songs. And if you're buying a used mobile phone, be sure to buy it from a reputable retailer.

Mi 8 Price in Australia

This device from Xiaomi supports 18W fast charging and Quick Charge 4+. It comes with a 3,400mAh non-removable battery. The price for a like new Mi 8 in Australia is $499 AUD.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9

It comes with Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front, a plastic frame, and a plastic back. With a 6.53-inch Full HD display and the inclusion of the ever rarer headphone jack; this is a perfectly functional unit for everyday use with around 13 hours of charge for heavy usage. With 4 rear cameras of a 48MP, 8MP ultra-wide, 2MP macro, and 2MP depth sensor lens. And it has a punch hole camera design for the 13mp front camera. Like all modern smartphones, it comes with standard accessories but you can find 3rd part phone accessories online.

Redmi Note 9 Price in Australia

The phone runs smooth and handles almost all tasks without breaking a sweat and it’s overall a pretty good device for the price. The price for a like new Redmi Note 9 is $289 AUD.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro

Taking a step back, this edition of the Redmi series doesn’t feature an AMOLED display and instead opts for a 6.53-inch IPS LCD screen, protected Gorilla Glass 5; the lack of an AMOLED is not too disappointing as the screen is still vibrant and saturated while sharp and focused. On the rear, the Note 8 sports 64MP main, 8MP ultra-wide, 2MP macro, and 2MP depth lenses which included a night mode. Although functional, the night vision added a lot of noise to the pictures and greyed some of the colours. The refurbished comes with a warranty if you're buying from a reputable retailer.

With a battery that supported 17 hours of straight video viewing, we were pleased to see a phone that could survive a long-distance journey without dying 2 hours in.

Xiaomi Mi 9

A brilliant all-rounder handset, this phone gives you a lot of what you want without breaking the bank to get it. An impressive chipset, 48MP wide-angle, 16MP ultra-wide, and 12MP telephoto camera array alongside a sleek design, all make this an impressive mid-range device. With a 6.39-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution that keeps the visuals punchy.

The battery in this device is not as good as the previous models, but after a 90-minute video test, the battery only dropped by 15% which is quite acceptable. The UI is unique and customizable. It can easily last a day but if you're a power user, you can carry a portable battery pack with you to charge it on the go.

If you have used a Xiaomi phone before then you may be well accustomed to the MIUI. It is a pretty good device and handles every task you throw at it, thanks to the Snapdragon 855 processor and MIUI’s optimization.

Xiaomi Mi 9t

The Mi 9T is a well-balanced handset sporting a lot of technology with not a lot of compromise. Is it a flagship killer? No. But it does have flexible 48MP main, 8MP telephoto, 13MP wide-angle rear cameras, and a pop-out 20MP front-facing lens. With a 6.39-inch, full HD+ AMOLED display and a big battery to keep you viewing your favourite shows for hours, this model was a steal for its asking price. And it's powered by the Snapdragon 730  which is plenty for normal daily usage.

This model adopted the hidden front camera design which gave it a true edge-to-edge display that’s hard to complain about.

Xiaomi Mi 9t Pro

There is surprisingly little to criticize with the Mi 9T Pro, it’s got a delightful premium feel thanks to its elegant design. With a 6.39-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display that is edge-to-edge thanks to its curved slick body and pop-out 20MP front-facing camera. The triple rear camera offers great quality videos, being able to record a 4K resolution video at 60FPS on a phone is impressive.

It’s got flagship specs but it doesn’t quite hit the same strides as other handsets of its generation and despite its very fast charging capabilities, it lacks wireless charge. Furthermore, it isn’t waterproof which might not be a deal-breaker for everyone.

Xiaomi Mi 10

The Mi 10 is another great example of the budget brands breaking into the top shelf without that all too familiar price tag. Gorilla Glass 5 on the front, glass on the back, sandwiching an aluminium frame and securing the 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display with HDR10 capabilities and a 90Hz refresh rate which, for the record, really makes everything look everything fluid, smooth and higher-than-expected quality is achieved. You won't be able to use your wired earphones without the dongle, which can be easily taken care of with Bluetooth earphones as Mi 10 has Bluetooth 5.1.

In the camera array, this device sports a whopping 108MP main camera, a 13MP Ultrawide lens, a 2MP macro, and is topped off with a 2MP depth sensor. The pictures that the 108MP lens shoots are, quite frankly, stunning. The colours are vibrant; the contrast is good and the colours are nice and punchy. In regards to the front-facing selfie camera, this handset features a 20MP lens with bokeh that you can toggle.

Mi 10 Price In Australia

 The Super AMOLED display with the super smooth 90Hz makes this phone a joy to use. Paired with the MIUI 12’s optimization and a 4,780mAh battery, you can get around 2 days of use if you’re careful with it. You can buy a like-new Mi 10 for $829 AUD in Australia.

Final Word

Xiaomi provides a surprisingly well developed and incredibly well-priced series of mobile phones. With the introduction of these phones into the mainstream, they provide an excellent mid-range alternative to the high-end brands that we know. Cheap with great specs, there is little more that one could ask for.