Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro/9 Pro Max review

Design, build, handling

If you've seen one dual-glass smartphone, you've seen all of them. There are only two aspects makers can play with - the screen cutout and the camera arrangement at the back. It is a bit sad part of the current smartphone era, but it is what it is. And the new Redmi Note 9 Pro plays by the rules, too.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro is your typical glass sandwich specimen, this time around with a punch-hole for the selfie camera and a black square for the quad-camera on the back. Xiaomi has opted out of the gradients and whatnot, and the phone is painted in one solid color, be it Tropical Green, Glacier White, or Interstellar Gray.

The front is all screen, well, mostly. There is a noticeable black chin under the 6.67" IPS LCD panel, but other than that - you will be enjoying one large and bright screen with cinematic 20:9 aspect. The punch hole for the 16MP selfie camera is centered around the top and Xiaomi likes to brag with the Note 9 Pro symmetrical design. Well, we like it, too.

The display is protected by a flat piece of Gorilla Glass 5 and no matter which color option you choose, the screen frame will always be painted in black.

One very thin and long grille is etched within the screen enclosure above the front camera. It contains the earpiece and one tiny (white) notification LED light.

We have the Interstellar Gray option, which you can see is more like blue, but still. The color stays the same across the entire rear glass and the plastic frame. The glossy finish on the curved Gorilla Glass 5 gives it this mirror-like effect, even if you can only see blurry shapes.

The quad-camera on the back is protruding quite a bit, and its glass is also a piece of Gorilla 5. The setup contains the 8MP ultrawide and the 64MP primary (top row), plus the 5MP macro and the 2MP depth snappers (bottom row). A single LED flash sits below the camera square.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro wobbles a lot if you tap on its sides when left on a flat desk due to the camera on the back. But this is also valid for most of the smartphones these days, so it's nothing we haven't seen or experienced. It is, in fact, inevitable, if you will.

The plastic frame has matte finish, which is both a grip booster and smudge repellant. On its top you will notice the IR blaster, while the bottom has the speaker, the 3.5mm jack, the mouthpiece and the USB-C port.

The left side of the frame houses the tri-card slot for two SIMs and a microSD slot, while on the right you can see the volume rocker and the power key, which also doubles as a fingerprint scanner. The reader itself is always-on and blazing-fast.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro is not a compact smartphone even if it will fit in most pockets thanks to its slim profile. It is well built and the P2i water-repellant coating should provide for some peace of mind around rain or water.

Thanks to the grippy plastic frame, we had no problem using the Redmi Note 9 Pro in all sorts of cases and we did not feel the need to put it in a case. Still, Xiaomi is giving you one for free in the box, so if you ever need extra protection, you got it from day one.