Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S Review

The Redmi Note 9S sits in Xiaomi’s budget-friendly Redmi Note line, a family that spans several models at different price points. In its hardware the Redmi Note 9S shares most of its makeup with the Redmi Note 9 Pro, while its rear camera arrangement follows the Redmi Note 9. This review looks at the Redmi Note 9S across its design and build, display, performance and software, cameras, and battery life.

Design & Build

The Redmi Note 9S is a large phone. It weighs 209 grams and measures 8.8 mm thick, which makes it bulky next to slimmer models in the same segment. The back panel is glass rather than plastic, and like the screen it is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. The frame around it is plastic.

The Redmi Note 9S does not carry an IP rating for water resistance. Instead it uses a water-repellent coating that helps it withstand splashes and spills, though it is not built for submersion.

The rear camera block protrudes from the body. Xiaomi raises a small frame around the camera area to keep the lenses off flat surfaces, and places the flash below the block.

The power button on the right side doubles as the fingerprint sensor and sits alongside the volume buttons. A side-mounted reader is easier to reach than one placed under the display or on the back. The fingerprint sensor responds smoothly. Face recognition is also available, though it is slower to unlock than the fingerprint reader.

At the bottom there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a USB-C port, and a single speaker; there is no stereo pair. The speaker is clear, but its volume is on the low side. The box does not include headphones, but it does contain a silicone case, and the screen comes with a protective film already applied.

Display

The screen is a 6.67-inch IPS LCD, the same panel used on the Redmi Note 9 Pro. It has a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels in a 20:9 aspect ratio, reaches around 450 nits of brightness, and supports HDR10.

Because it is an LCD rather than an AMOLED panel, its blacks and contrast are not as deep, but colors look saturated and the IPS panel holds up well at wider viewing angles. The front camera sits in a hole-punch cutout in the display.

Performance & Software

The Redmi Note 9S runs on the Snapdragon 720G, the same processor as the Redmi Note 9 Pro. It pairs four cores at 2.3 GHz and four at 1.8 GHz with the Adreno 618 GPU, and overall performance is solid for its class. The main hardware difference from the Pro is memory: the Redmi Note 9S has 4 GB of RAM against the Pro’s 6 GB.

The review unit has 64 GB of storage, and a 128 GB option is also available. Storage uses the UFS 2.1 standard and can be expanded with a microSD card. The phone supports dual SIM cards. It ships with Android 10 and the MIUI 11 interface.

For gaming, the Redmi Note 9S handles mid-range titles comfortably. In our testing, PUBG Mobile ran at around 40 fps. In synthetic benchmarks, the phone recorded the following scores:

Benchmark	Score
GeekBench (single-core)	569
GeekBench (multi-core)	1722
AnTuTu	272,611

Camera

The Redmi Note 9S carries five cameras in total: four on the back and one on the front. The main rear camera is a 48 MP Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM2 sensor. It is joined by an 8 MP ultra-wide with an f/1.9 aperture and a 119-degree field of view, a 5 MP macro camera, and a 2 MP depth sensor. The front camera sits in the display’s hole-punch cutout.

By default the main camera captures at a lower resolution; users can switch to the full 48 MP mode from the camera interface for more detailed shots. The first time a 48 MP image is opened, it takes a moment longer to process. We did not run into shutter lag. Portrait shots draw on the depth data and AI processing for a bokeh effect.

Battery

The Redmi Note 9S has a 5020 mAh battery. In our testing it comfortably passed 10 hours of screen-on time and finished a day of active, heavy use with about 30 percent remaining. With lighter use it stretches into a second day. The larger the battery, the longer it takes to refill: with the 18 W charger included in the box, a full charge takes about 2.5 hours.

Who Is Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S For?

The Redmi Note 9S suits users who want long battery life and a large screen without paying flagship prices. Its 5020 mAh battery, Snapdragon 720G, and 48 MP main camera cover everyday use and mid-range gaming well. Users who need stereo speakers or an official IP water-resistance rating will not find them here, but for those who value endurance and screen size at a budget price, the Redmi Note 9S is a sensible fit.