Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/14013/mwc-2019-xiaomi-mi-9-global-launch-press-event-live-blog-930am-utc
MWC 2019: Xiaomi Mi 9 Global Launch Press Event Live Blog (9:30am UTC)
by Ian Cutress & Anton Shilov on February 24, 2019 4:06 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
- Xiaomi
- Trade Shows
- Live Blog
- MWC 2019
- Xiaomi Mi 9
04:20AM EST - Xiaomi recently launched the Mi 9 in China, and today at MWC the company will launch it globally. We're here ready to report on the launch, as well as looking out for any extra announcements.
04:23AM EST - Less than 10 minutes to go, and this is by far Xiaomi's biggest press event at MWC
04:23AM EST - They've hired out Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, which in the past Samsung has used
04:25AM EST - Ian is on text, Anton is standing nearer the front to do the photos
04:29AM EST - Just before it begins, we get a video of the other products Xiaomi makes
04:29AM EST - Air purifiers, IP cameras, floor cleaners, clocks
04:30AM EST - Mood lighting
04:31AM EST - Xiaomi is one of the companies that plays off of its fan base a lot, at both official events and fan events. They've started inviting the most serious Xiaomi fans to events like this, alongside press and partners
04:32AM EST - It's clear that Xiaomi should have booked a bigger hall. Typically the first press event of the day gets a crazy big reception
04:34AM EST - Five minute call, looks like we're starting a little bit late
04:37AM EST - Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm is here
04:38AM EST - So something 5G is clearly going to be discussed
04:39AM EST - Here we go
04:40AM EST - Dominic Sung (?) to the stage
04:40AM EST - this is Xiaomi's first product launch at an MWC
04:40AM EST - The theme is 'make it happen'
04:41AM EST - This explains Xiaomi's attitude as a young company
04:41AM EST - Xiaomi always has the mentality to make it happen
04:41AM EST - Uniquely built by fans for fans
04:41AM EST - Invited Xiaomi Fans to the event. They're at the front, rather than the press. Of course
04:42AM EST - The fans are the reason for innovation
04:42AM EST - 'Mi Explorers'
04:42AM EST - In 2014, did 10b in US revenue
04:42AM EST - In 2017, did 15b in US revenue
04:43AM EST - #4 Smartphone brand in the world, 32% YoY growth according to analysts
04:43AM EST - 224 million active smartphone users (what?)
04:43AM EST - First market Xiaomi entered in Europe was Spain
04:43AM EST - Entered UK in November
04:44AM EST - #1 for open market sales in spain in 15 months
04:44AM EST - Many people know Xiaomi as a smartphone company, but we have a full range of ecosystem IoT products
04:44AM EST - #1 in wearables due to popular Mi Band
04:44AM EST - Mi e-Scooters are also popular
04:45AM EST - Shipped over 560k Mi Scooters
04:45AM EST - Best selling personal transportation device in 2018
04:45AM EST - Also number one smart TV brand in China
04:45AM EST - Also shipping to India and other countries
04:45AM EST - 2000+ Xiaomi ecosystem product portfolio
04:46AM EST - Over 200 partner companies
04:46AM EST - smart lighting with Philips
04:46AM EST - World's largest consumer IoT platform
04:47AM EST - Time for a Mi Home demo
04:47AM EST - Buy online or offline
04:48AM EST - Smart door, smart TV
04:48AM EST - Smart purifier with smart voice assistant
04:49AM EST - Google Assistant
04:49AM EST - Obviously, live demo fails
04:49AM EST - Control lighting with smartphone app
04:51AM EST - All products are created with four pillars
04:51AM EST - Innocation, Quality, something, something
04:52AM EST - Today is focusing on innovation and 5G
04:52AM EST - This year is very different. 5G will become reality
04:52AM EST - Driving smartphone and IoT
04:52AM EST - Xiaomi is focused on Smartphone and AIoT
04:52AM EST - A dual line strategy
04:53AM EST - investing over $1.47b USD in next few years
04:53AM EST - 5G enables faster speeds, low latency, and increased connectivity
04:53AM EST - What does 5G mean to consumers?
04:55AM EST - More people, more devices, communicating more and faster
04:55AM EST - IoT can play in 5G as well
04:55AM EST - 5G + AI = intelligent connectivity for IoT through the cloud
04:55AM EST - not only person-to-person comms, but person-to-device and device-to-device
04:55AM EST - Enabling new use cases
04:56AM EST - with xiaomi's full range of devices, the company is greatly positioned to drive innovations
04:56AM EST - Already ahead in the 5G era
04:56AM EST - Started researching early in 5G
04:57AM EST - contributed to narrowband-IoT standard
04:57AM EST - Pushing 5G as early as possible
04:57AM EST - Connected a smartphone to a 5G network in September 2018
04:57AM EST - Xiaomi has entered the 5G era
04:58AM EST - at the forefront of the next wave of 5G innovation
04:58AM EST - Cristiano Amon to the stage
04:58AM EST - President of qualcomm
04:58AM EST - Talking about the partnership between Xiaomi and Qualcomm
04:59AM EST - Xiaomi was one of the first companies to bring Snapdragon 800 to the Chinese market
04:59AM EST - Qualcomm likes to work with Xiaomi because they take risks
04:59AM EST - Qualcomm wants to create winners
04:59AM EST - 5G is here. In 2019.
05:00AM EST - The year of 5G
05:00AM EST - In the hands of consumers as early as Q2 2019
05:00AM EST - transition will be faster than to 4G
05:00AM EST - users are now more educated
05:01AM EST - With the launch of 4G, Qualcomm had 2 operators. Today with 5G, there are 20 operators
05:01AM EST - Xiaomi will be well positioned
05:01AM EST - We'll think different about our devices
05:01AM EST - Multi-gigabit speeds and low latency
05:01AM EST - unlimited speeds, unlimited data-rates, unlimited connectivity
05:01AM EST - 4K video is going to be as easy as streaming music
05:02AM EST - Generate and share content
05:02AM EST - The low latency will create virtual presence
05:02AM EST - Going to change connectivity and bring innovation
05:02AM EST - It doesn't just stop at phones - connecting everything
05:03AM EST - Because 5G enables the user to be connected with the cloud 100% of the time, you will start to see the apps in the cloud instead
05:03AM EST - It is less about the OS, more about the experience
05:03AM EST - bringing cloud machine learning to devices
05:03AM EST - This is how we see change in the smartphone
05:03AM EST - Leveraging computing in the cloud
05:04AM EST - All of this will come to live in 2019 with the Snapdragon 855 + X50 modem
05:04AM EST - Xiaomi understand the value of premium
05:04AM EST - 855 is the fastest mobile platform
05:04AM EST - driving a new array of experiences
05:04AM EST - evolving connectivity and ML at the same time
05:04AM EST - 4th Gen AI engine on S855
05:04AM EST - 2x faster than the nearest android competitor
05:05AM EST - AI will see the fastest growth inside a 5G device
05:05AM EST - 855 offers Elite Gaming
05:05AM EST - It's not just about faster graphics
05:05AM EST - Unleashing the power of mobile
05:06AM EST - Mobile Gaming is one of the fastest growing industries
05:06AM EST - 'With the launch of the Xiaomi 5G device'
05:06AM EST - Proud of the partnership
05:06AM EST - Xiaomi Mix 3 5G
05:06AM EST - Looks like Cristiano just announced the new phone
05:07AM EST - ok now Donovan Sung to the stage
05:07AM EST - Mi MIX 3 5G
05:07AM EST - one of the world's first commercial 5G smartphones
05:07AM EST - coming to market very soon
05:07AM EST - Snapdragon 855 + X50 modem
05:08AM EST - All new Kryo 485, +45% perf
05:08AM EST - All new Kryo 485, +45% perf
05:08AM EST - New fast download speeds
05:09AM EST - Now for a video call demo
05:10AM EST - Live 5G call
05:10AM EST - First Xiaomi 5G call outside of china
05:11AM EST - Real 5G, not fake 5G
05:11AM EST - Made through Orange
05:11AM EST - Bringing 5G across western Europe
05:12AM EST - Mi MIX 3 features coming to 5G: Ceramic body, magnetic slider
05:12AM EST - Forbes, XDA Developers
05:13AM EST - 6.39-inch, 93.4% screen to body ratio
05:13AM EST - Same camera module as Mi MIX 3
05:13AM EST - Dedicated Google Assistant button
05:13AM EST - Two colors - Onyx black and sapphire blue
05:13AM EST - Dual 12MP cameras, 960 fps
05:14AM EST - 3800 mAh battery
05:14AM EST - Now price
05:15AM EST - From 599 Euro
05:15AM EST - Cheapest 5G device announced so far
05:15AM EST - Vodafone, Telefonica
05:16AM EST - Available from May
05:16AM EST - That's impressive
05:16AM EST - Next product
05:16AM EST - is Mi 9
05:17AM EST - First ever Xiaomi triple camera phone
05:18AM EST - Curved design
05:18AM EST - Two colors - Ocean Blue, Lavender Violet
05:19AM EST - Multiple-stage back cover process
05:19AM EST - nano-level color patterning, reflective coating, corning gorilla glass 5
05:19AM EST - holographic rainbow spectrum effect
05:19AM EST - Halo ring accent on top camear
05:19AM EST - camera
05:20AM EST - Sapphire glass cover on rear cameras
05:20AM EST - Launching in three offical colors in West EU: and also piano black
05:21AM EST - Mi 8 was a popular flagship device. Mi 8 was curved edge but flat in the middle.
05:21AM EST - Mi 9 is a fully curved device
05:21AM EST - Quoting Gaudi
05:21AM EST - Certified by the Gaudi Academy of Knowledge
05:22AM EST - 173g
05:22AM EST - 7.61mm
05:22AM EST - 6.39-inch
05:23AM EST - AMOLED
05:23AM EST - Reading Mode to reduce blue
05:23AM EST - in-screen fingerprint
05:24AM EST - Triple camera
05:25AM EST - Shoot like a pro
05:25AM EST - Three cameras - top 12MP telephoto, 48MP Sony IMX586, 16MP ultra wide angle
05:25AM EST - Zoom in 2x optical
05:27AM EST - Photo examples
05:28AM EST - 1/2" CMOS sensor
05:29AM EST - f/1.75 aperture, laser autofocus
05:29AM EST - AI smart metering
05:30AM EST - night photography
05:30AM EST - 12MP telephoto lens
05:31AM EST - more photo demos
05:31AM EST - AI software will suggest different shots
05:32AM EST - Portrait Mode
05:32AM EST - Wide Portrait Mode
05:32AM EST - Also video
05:33AM EST - Xiaomi party tonight, apparently
05:33AM EST - Supports 4cm macro photography
05:34AM EST - >The ultimate test is PC components
05:34AM EST - Also, 960 fps video
05:34AM EST - looks like 720p or less
05:36AM EST - Working with DXO Mark
05:36AM EST - Overall score 108, Video 99, 111 Photo
05:36AM EST - 112
05:36AM EST - Top video score in the world
05:37AM EST - Now for photos on Mi 9
05:39AM EST - 20MP selfie camera
05:40AM EST - Snapdragon 855
05:41AM EST - Why oh why is Xiaomi showing AnTuTu scores
05:42AM EST - 3300 mAh battery
05:42AM EST - high performance wireless charging
05:43AM EST - 20W wireless charge
05:43AM EST - 100% charge in 90 minutes
05:43AM EST - TUV certified
05:44AM EST - Sold separately, 20W Qi compatible fast wireless charger
05:44AM EST - Now Price
05:45AM EST - 6+64 and 6+128 options
05:45AM EST - From 449 Euro for 6+64
05:46AM EST - 499 Euro for 6GB+128GB
05:46AM EST - half the price of the S10
05:46AM EST - Preorders in spain today, available autorized stores and online soon
05:46AM EST - Italy and France pre-orders today too
05:47AM EST - One more product
05:47AM EST - Mi LED Smart Bulb
05:47AM EST - 16m colors
05:47AM EST - Supports Google Assistant and Alexa
05:48AM EST - Control through Mi Home app
05:48AM EST - Lasts up to 11 years
05:49AM EST - Price
05:49AM EST - 19.9 Euro
05:49AM EST - White and Color
05:50AM EST - Philips White Smart bulb for 9.9 Euro
05:50AM EST - partner with Xiaomi
05:50AM EST - Looks like that's a wrap. We'll see if there's a hands-on area.