Redmi 9A Review: A Decent Entry-Level Smartphone

Xiaomi’s Redmi 9A is a successor to last year’s Redmi 8A. Redmi 9A is the latest entry-level Android device from the company and comes with a budget-friendly price-tag. But, is it worth the money and is similar or better than its successor? We have tried to come up with the answer to all these questions from our review here. So, let’s find out if Redmi 9A is a real deal when it comes to entry-level Android devices.

Specifications:

Redmi 9A Price in Nepal and Availability:

Redmi 9A Full Review:

Design and display:

The design is not that new from its previous competitor Redmi 8A except for the camera on the back is placed on side of the back panel. Also, the design is similar to 8A and the only thing that’s different is its pattern that is directed towards the side rather than the middle like its previous generation. The camera sensors on the backrests on an oval module with a LED flash below the sensors which lie beneath the 13MP camera. The back panel comprises of a legit glossy and attractive a ‘Redmi’ logo at the bottom side. 

So, like every other feature phone, it also has curved edges with a polycarbonate body and also looks good on the hand. Also, the surface doesn’t attract fingerprint or smudges on the surface, which makes it’s durable too. While taking a look at the buttons and ports, the Redmi 9A holds a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top and the sim tray to its left frame. Similarly, you will find a volume rocker and the power button at the right along with micro USB charging port and speaker at the bottom.

With a 6.53 inches IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display the phone has legit texture and slick design. It is also an HD+ like its previous generation so its nothing new here either. Moreover, it only supports pattern and face unlock and has no fingerprint sensor. Also, Xiaomi has degraded the USB type-C connection for Redmi 8A to micro USB on the Remi 9A. Brightness wise it was minimal and trying to get through the phone under sunlight was quite a struggle. Adding up, Xiaomi has further added some cut to the display as it has no corning gorilla glass 5 protection like the 8A and the display panel isn’t as expected with unlikely colour accuracy.

Software and Performance

It is powered by MediaTek Helio G25 chipset manufactured under 12 nm processor and it is actually gaming-oriented silicon. However, it’s gaming experience isn’t quite good. The game and overall phone experience is laggy and slow. Also, the games like PUBG and call of duty was unplayable in the minimal setting. It lagged most of the time and had many dawdled every time. Moreover, the phone got heated up pretty quickly and the overall experience was not great at all. However, lite games were smooth and worked perfectly and gave a decent gameplay experience so its not all bad.

Redmi 9A is the First Xiaomi Device With MIUI 12 Out Of The Box.

As for the daily normal usage, the combo of 2GB RAM coupled with MIUI 12 doesn’t really fit the mood as it can give stutters and lagginess while using multiple apps. Sometimes, the phone also gives slow performance while just randomly unlocking it. However, the other video and social media apps worked smoothly and were just fine. Also, the MIUI 12, of course, gives a vibrant and interactive experience while using the phone. It was overall okay but if you are looking for better performance, maybe, go for other mid-range phones like Redmi Note 9.

Also read: Gadget of the Month “Redmi Note 9 Pro Max” || Max Value, Max Performance

Camera

As for the camera, Redmi 9A comes with a single 13MP camera at the back and a 5MP selfie camera at the front. The front camera stays inside an ample of a teardrop notch. The picture quality is pretty good with precise colour accuracy and also the detailing is decent as well. The primary lens does give a smooth and vibrant texture to the picture but it does come out on the undersaturated side. Adding up the dynamic range is not its best catch and we can turn on the HDR to moderate it but it doesn’t really help in a wide range. However, the overall normal picture outcome for the main camera is good and just a quick reminder HDR mode takes some time to process and you have to be super steady while clicking the picture, or else you might get a blurry picture.

Moving on to the Selfie mode, it has a decent and, let’s say, good selfie outcome with adequate light. We can get a vibrant selfie with a good focus that gives a great colour saturation. More so, with a portrait shot, we can get similar results. While the portrait selfies are good enough, the portrait shot from the main camera is not that great on its subject detection. However, it’s absolutely okay and overall great for a feature phone.

Now, like all the feature phone it doesn’t have a dedicated night mode to it, but it doesn’t give that bad of a night shot. Although it’s not as great as other mid-range devices and gives grainy and sludgy sharpness to the pictures, it can be considered okay for its price.

In terms of video, it provides a 1080P at 30 FPS video from both of its front and back camera and the outcome isn’t as good because it has no stabilization whatsoever. The videos were shaky and had blurry sometimes.

Camera Samples:

Portrait

Battery

Well, one of the best things about the phone is the battery itself as it comes with a huge 5000 mAh battery and gives for about 2 days of battery life. It is lasting and we can always use the ultra battery saving mode as it reduces the phone load in a heavy amount. But, since it only has a 10 W charger, getting the phone from zero to hundred is an absolute heavy struggle. It takes 2 hours and 50 minutes to get charged, so you might want to check your battery long before you head out, just to make sure you have staked up the charging.

Verdict: A Decent Entry Level Smartphone

Xiaomi’s Redmi 9A is a pretty good phone with amazing battery, decent camera and acceptable gaming performance and overall can be considered a good value for money. Nevertheless, there is some degradation compared to its previous generation Redmi 8A when it comes to the gorilla glass 5 and a faster 18W type C charger. However, it can still be considered as a good entry-level smartphone.