Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max) long-term review

Camera

A quad rear setup with two (almost) useless sensors, a high-res pixel-binning main cam, and an ultrawide is pretty much the default setting for any mid-ranger in 2020, it seems. And the Redmi Note 9 Pro doesn't disappoint, even if it's starting to feel disappointing to see the macro and depth cams on dozens of devices nowadays. We understand they're cheap, but we would have preferred Xiaomi to maybe pay for autofocus on the ultrawide instead and stick to two rear cams. You know, those you'll actually use.

Anyway, ranting aside, the Redmi Note 9 Pro has what looks like a pretty standard setup for its price range (especially when we compare it to other Chinese phones). A 64 MP main camera, an 8 MP ultrawide on the back, and a 16 MP selfie snapper housed inside the hole-punch on the front.

If you remember how much this phone costs, you probably shouldn't expect the world of its camera setup, for that seems to consistently be one of the hardest things to pull off on a budget. That said, the Redmi Note 9 Pro's shots don't disappoint for the price range it's in. In good light, you can get very usable results, and even at night, images from the primary sensor are half decent if you use Night Mode.

A note on that: Xiaomi's Night Mode right now is among the best out there and definitely the best at restoring highlights. The results obviously depend on the camera hardware used, but the algorithms seem to be shared between phones, which is an excellent thing. This means that, with a steady hand and some patience, the Redmi Note 9 Pro's Night Mode shots do punch above what you might have expected for the price.

Let's start with daytime shots from the main sensor. The 16 MP pixel binned images that Auto mode gives you are good, with reasonable amounts of detail, accurate colors (that are 'punchified' just a tad to make things more appealing looking), and good dynamic range. Sharpening is present and a bit on the heavy side, but it walks the line well between nice looking and going overboard. Noise is generally rather low, rearing its ugly head only sometimes in areas of uniform color. Handling of foliage is definitely lacking, but we say that generally - when you remember how cheap this phone is, it's actually decent.

Daytime samples from the main camera

As usual for pixel binning cameras, we chose not to shoot in the full resolution mode, as these sensors are not designed to be used in that way, and Auto mode with its 16 MP shots will give you the best results.

The ultrawide camera is quite wide at 119-degrees field-of-view, and during day time, it produces pleasant images with decent detail levels and contrast and a good dynamic range. The distortion correction around the corners does a good, if not a stellar job, but there is an obvious quality delta when going from the main cam to this one, and a lot of times, the colors aren't matched.

Daytime samples from the ultrawide

Although there isn't a dedicated telephoto camera, you get a 2x option in the viewfinder, which crops from the primary sensor. We shot a few of these to let you know that the results are definitely passable in broad daylight, although the quality is understandably lower than what you'd get at 1x. Still, if you absolutely have to zoom, you can, and with results that aren't always horrible - if you can live with a huge amount of oversharpening.

Daytime 2x samples

The macro snapper is among the best of the dedicated macro cams out there. However, the need for it to exist would have certainly been negated had the ultrawide had autofocus; then, this snapper could have been used for the same purpose and in higher resolution. We appreciate the 5 MP resolution, though, as it's better than the 2 MP macro sensors that are everywhere nowadays. The shots are detailed and sharp, and there isn't much noise to speak of. Autofocus comes real handy too, but the colors could be livelier-looking.

Macro samples

At night, the main camera in Auto mode is rather inconsistent, sometimes taking decent shots, sometimes ones that border on unusable. Then again, remember the price of this device when you look at these. The detail levels are barely okay, and noise creeps in a lot, but color saturation is good.

Nighttime samples from the main camera

When you can, use Night Mode. Yes, it requires a steady hand and waiting a few seconds to do its magic, but compared to the Auto shots - magic it is indeed. Its only downside is that somehow it seems to create even lower amounts of detail, but the exposure is much more balanced, and detail is restored to shadows while the highlights are reigned in.

Night Mode samples

If you don't absolutely have to, you should probably avoid using the ultrawide at night. It creates dark, underexposed, noisy images that look more like smeared oil paintings than renditions of actual reality. Detail levels are very low too, and there's no Night Mode for this camera either - possibly because not even those algorithms could fix the hardware problems here.

Nighttime ultrawide samples

We snapped a few 2x samples at night, too, to give you an idea of what these are like. We expected them to be worse than 1x images, similar to what we saw during the day, and sometimes that is indeed the case. But other times, 2x shots seem to come out better than Auto mode 1x snaps, bafflingly. If push comes to shove, you may be able to use one here and there for social media and the likes, depending on how big your tolerance for imperfection is.

Nighttime 2x zoom samples

Selfies are not very sharp, even during the day, but otherwise very usable, with good colors and contrast, and Auto HDR when needed. Things get understandably rougher at night, and you do need to have some ambient lighting around for any such capture to be even barely acceptable. Portrait mode shots are okay for the price, with a rather convincing background blur and good enough subject isolation. Don't expect perfection, and you'll be fine - this could be the mantra of this selfie snapper.

Selfie samples, day and night, Portrait Mode off/on

Overall, the Redmi Note 9 Pro has adequately competent cameras for the price, with the main rear sensor being the standout in good lighting conditions, when, for most people, we'd wager it would be hard to tell that its shots came from a phone this cheap (if viewed on the screen or on social media sites).

Nighttime shots, though, are only good if Night Mode is used, and even then, they're very, very far from what the best phone cameras can produce right now. While the ultrawide is nice to have, it's also not among the best ones out there, by any stretch of the imagination, and you'll never be confused about that fact either.