5 reasons why Xiaomi Mi 9T is a great camera phone too!

Xiaomi Mi 9T is often labeled as the all-around mid-ranger for those in need of stunning-looking handset with pretty fast performance and long battery life.

48MP camera beast

And why not? It is the only mid-range phone we know that uses a unique type of design and materials reminding us of higher-end flagship phones. For the price, it is also the only one packed with the snappy and power-efficient 8nm Snapdragon 730 octa-core chip yet. Moreover, it loads with 4,000mAh of juice for all-day battery life.

But, it is more than just aesthetics and raw performance. Mi 9T is also equipped with cameras to help you take great photos for this modern social media age.

Why is it a good camera phone for its PHP 15,990 starting price? Read on!

5 reasons why Xiaomi Mi 9T is a great camera phone too

Snapdragon 730 camera highlights

1. Snapdragon 730 is a chip designed to take great images and videos - Coming from the Spectra 250 ISP of Snapdragon 710 and 712, Snapdragon 730 now has the new Spectra 350 ISP. It has support for true 48MP cameras and 4K video recording.

Having a good ISP (image signal processor) is important for processing the image with less noise, proper exposure/white balance, accurate autofocus, and more.

It also has the 4th generation multi-core Qualcomm AI Engine for a more accurate and speedier object and scene recognition and optimization.

Not 1, not 2, but 3 cameras at the back

2. 48MP triple-camera - Mi 9T is one of the few with a true 48MP shooter. It uses the 48MP f/1.75 Sony IMX582 sensor with PDAF and CAF autofocus systems to capture images with incredible details and good colors. It is also paired with a 13MP f/2.4 w/ 124.8-degree ultra wide-angle sensor and an 8MP f/2.4 2x telephoto sensor.

Mi 9T's Sony IMX582 may not be as feature-rich as Sony IMX586 of Mi 9 SE, but the images we got are also considered as great, especially at this price point.

Note: The only difference between Sony IMX586 of Mi 9 SE and the IMX582 of Mi 9T is for videos. Mi 9T can only shoot up to 4K 30fps instead of 60fps. But that's just fine.

Normal daylight shot with lots of details

Ultra-wide

No need to explain much, Xiaomi Mi 9T shoots outstanding images in daylight. I'm also impressed that its AI didn't make these shots oversaturated. Then ultra-wide shot also got plenty of details, minimal distortion, and similar colors versus the primary shooter. Wow!

Respectable depth effect (Normal vs 100 percent crop)

Depth effect (bokeh mode) is respectable. Its subject to background separation is acceptable at this price point. Just do not expect it to beat the bokeh mode of high-end phones.

Point and shoot close-up shot

Doing close-up shots is also possible especially in daylight. Do this to achieve more natural-looking background blur versus the portrait mode.

2x zoom works well!

We like that its 2x zoom mode is almost as good as the normal mode. Colors are even consistent even on conditions with artificial light like the image shown above.

Oh by the way, it has up to 10x digital zoom as well.

Normal vs night mode

3. Powerful night mode - By default, Mi 9T can take good quality images in the dark, thanks to its 48MP camera with 1/2-inch sensor size and support for 4-in-1 1.6μm large pixels.

Low light? No problem

But it also goes with a good AI-assisted handheld night mode to even enhance your shots further. To my eyes, it is almost as good as the flagship-grade night shots of the Mi 9 SE.

Great colors, a lot of details

It allowed the Mi 9T to shoot images with sharper details, better dynamic range, and punchier colors in the dark. It isn't perfect as there is still noise at times, but at least isn't as aggressive with unnatural artifacts versus the night modes from other mid-rangers as well.

The ultra-wide cam can take decent images in the dark, but no night mode

The only real downside for me is its lack of the night mode for the ultra-wide lens.

Pop-up selfie cam

4. Respectable selfie camera - One of the highlights of this phone is its pop-up camera system. The pop-up cam of this device comes with a 20MP f/2.2 shooter with auto HDR for against the light situations and AI for scene detection.

Good dynamic range

I also like that it uses a feature-rich type of portrait mode with different lighting effects, bokeh blur adjustment, and 5 levels of face beauty.

Portrait selfie 1

Indoor dim portrait selfie

Low light groufie with my idols: Sir Tony of Future Perfect, Louie of Yugatech, and Chay of GadgetMatch

Basically, we noticed that its selfie camera is not as soft and white versus other Xiaomi selfie shooters anymore. The face beauty could fully erase the details on your face though. Do not use it above level 2/5. The bokeh effect is decent. Selfies in the dark are hit or miss. But at least, its white balance is consistent.

5. Stabilized videos - Often, video stabilization is a problem of most phones with an affordable price tag. Even Mi 9 SE doesn't have stabilization at 4K. Fortunately, Mi 9T is not one of them.

Mi 9T is one of the few phones with stabilization up to 4K 30fps using either the main 48MP camera or the 13MP ultra-wide camera. Even if it doesn't have OIS, it uses an advanced type of EIS for near shake-free handheld videos.

It can also shoot pretty detailed videos with less noise even in the dark. My only minor concern is it is a bit too saturated at times.

Don't get me wrong, Mi 9T is not a perfect camera phone. But arguably, it is the most versatile shooter at this price point.

To be honest, there are very few camera phones who can compete with its overall image quality in the mid-range segment.

Do you agree with us? Let us know in the comments!