During every launch, there is always a phone that is always left behind the shadows as it is quite overpowered by the other more popular units during the release. The Mi CC9e was as the end of the straw for this release and like any other units that are overshadowed, this is the least talked about phone when it got on sale. But, let me tell you this, not all units left in the shadow are the least powerful, the CC9e is no ordinary phone, yes its small but its a performer in the camera division, and we shall show you.
Tech Specs of Mi CC9e:
- · Qualcomm SDM665 Snapdragon 665 Octa-core processor 11nm (2×2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver)
- · Adreno 616 GPU
- · 4/6GB of RAM LPDDR4x 1866Mhz
- · 6.088-inch Samsung AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, (~80.3% screen-to-body ratio) TUV Reinland Certified
- · 720 x 1560 pixels HD+ (~286 ppi pixel density), 60,000:1 contrast ratio, 19.5:9 Ratio, NTSC 102.7%
- · High color saturation, 350nit, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
- · Glass Back Battery Cover Edge to Edge Round Edge
- · Pearl White, Blue, Gray
- · 64/256GB of storage UFS 2.1
- · 48 MP, f/1.79, 1/2″ Light Sensing Area, 1.6µm, SONY IMX Sensor 586
- 8 MP Ultrawide Lens, f/2.2, 1.12µm
- · 2 MP Depth Sensor, f/2.4,1.75µm
- · 32 MP front camera, f/2.0, 1.6 µm, 3D Beauty, Teardrop Notch
- · 7th Generation On Screen Finger print scanner
- · Dual SIM (nano sim size) + Hybrid Expansion Memory Storage
- · 3G, LTE, 4G+ Carrier Aggregation, VoLTE Calls
- · LTE FDD: B1/B3/B5/B8 LTE TDD Network Bands: B34/B38/B39/B40/B41
- · Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, Single Band GPS Phone, A-GPS, NFC
- · 4030mAh battery, Quick Charge 3.0 Supported, 18 Watts Fast Charging (10W Charger Included)
- · 2×2 MIMO Technology to support MU-MIMO
- · Sensors: Ultrasonic distance sensor, Under Screen Ambient Light sensor, Gyro, Vibration Motor, Accelerometer, Barometer, Electronic
- Compass, Camera Laser Sensor, Infrared Sensor
- · 3.5mm Audio Jack High-Res Audio
- · Android Pie 9, MIUI 10.2
- · USB-C port, UFS 2.1
- · 153.48 mm x 71.85 mm x 8.475 mm
- · 173.8 Grams
Unboxing
Design
The Mi CC9e sports the same outside appearance with the Mi CC9, its just its a little smaller than its big brother. With a screen size of 6.088 versus a 6.39 from the CC9, the CC9e feels solid on the hand and best is that it can perform using one hand. It sports the same icy effect on the back of the phone like that from the Glacier Blue of the Mi 9T and the waterdrop notch was carried over from the Mi 9 flagship. They have only 3 color for the CC9e which is the pearl white, blue and gray. The glass protection is mentioned to be Corning Gorilla Glass 5, same as the Mi 9T while there is no mentioning about the protection of the glass back case (it is assumed to be CG5 based on speculations).
Display and Audio
We were expecting a lot from the display side as we know that its sporting a Samsung AMOLED, tho this is already a norm for Mi Series since the Mi 8. The Full HD display did blew me away with its awesome rendering of photos and videos, and probably one thing that is not good with AMOLED is the burn in problems like those on the Samsung Galaxy Flagship Series that we have heard about. After holding the Mi 9T with the popup camera and notchless display, we felt that we did took a step backward as we went back to the teardrop notch display similar to the Mi 9 flagship. We watched several movies and I can say its pretty crisp but there was a little drawback in watching 1080p movies as this is only HD+ which means it supports only up to 720p quality movies. The sound was excellent, especially the louspeaker it was quite loud. Even it is not stereo sounds, but playing games are pretty solid, the output of the sounds are quite loud but the Mi 9T has performed better than this one. Bluetooth connectivity on my Redmi Air Dots headset is also no problem on this unit. Upon transfering files from Mi 9T, Mi Drop was also seamless. Playing games like PUBG was not a problem tho we cannot access the highest definition, just dont forget to access the Mi Game Turbo Mode v2.0 inside the security app.
Audio Format supported by the Mi CC9e
Supports PCM, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, MP3, AMR-NB and WB, FLAC, WAV and other audio formats
3.5mm headphone jack | Hi-Res Audio (high resolution audio)
Video Format Supported by the Mi CC9e
- MP4
- XVID
- M4V
- MKV
- APE
- AAC
- FLAC
- AMR
- WAV
- MP3
Video formats such as H.265/HEVC (Main profile), H.264 (Baseline/Main/High profile), MPEG4 (Simple profile/ASP), and supports high dynamic range display when playing HDR10 video content.
Snapdragon 665
Xiaomi did took a slight step forward improving from SD 660 to the SD 665 from Mi A2 to the Mi CC9e which is also the exact unit as the Mi A3. Honestly there was not much changes on this SoC but the downgrade of 2.2Ghz down to 2.0Ghz might mean a lot for some people. The GPU did get a lot better as well as the AI Camera thats for sure. The SD 665 is powered together with the Adreno 610, and of course a generous serving of 4/6GB of RAM, it will give you an above average performance in both multitaksing and gaming category, running PUBG and NBA2k19 was not really a problem its just that we cannot set it to the maximum graphic setting. the best midrange experience up to date.
AnTuTu benchmark gave it a 173872 point out of the box which is the expected score for this processor. This score is at par with the CC9 Meitu Edition.
Camera
The Mi CC9 series probably has the Best Selfie Camera among all the Xiaomi phones that I ever held, the front shooter is not only just another 32MP camera, but it has probably one of the most beautification centric camera I have ever seen. Coupled with the Sony IMX 586 48MP camera at the back, this camera should capture awesome photos wherever you go.
Sample Photos
Selfie Camera
Video Sample
Battery and Benchmark:
The Mi CC9e supports the Qualcomm Quick charge 3.0 and up to 18W of speed. We charged the Mi CC9e and it took in 6V 2.9 Amperes based on our testing using the 18W charger and cable. We charged the phone from 15% to 100% in 1 hour and 54 minutes which was a little off from my expected 1 hour 30 minutes for a 4030 mAh capacity phone. We recorded a 15 hour and 1 minute SOT endurance test under normal usage using the PC Mark Battery Stress Test. If these statistics are true on a normal daily use, then it’s really a good sign for the said smartphone, and based on my daily usage for several days, the battery almost last me a day without hitting the charging dock.
Verdict
The Mi CC9e for me is probably one of the easiest to handle phone I had ever handled, not that I haven’t handled the likes of the Redmi 7 which is almost the same size, but this one I can say that it has outperformed any rivals of its level. The camera was the superb part as well as the SD 665 was able to handle all the multitasking I threw at it. Tho its just having a little problem handling Mobile Legends under high frame rate, but not everyone is a gamer right? If you are in the market looking for the best budget 6 incher phone with great camera and battery life, have no doubt that this is definitely the phone just for you!