Behold the Xiaomi Mi 9 in all its (official) glory ahead of MWC 2019 launch
Well, that was fast. Xiaomi officially scheduled its mysterious "new product launch" at MWC 2019 for February 24 yesterday, and the mystery has already been shattered by the company itself on social media. After (not so) cryptically teasing a device with three rear-facing cameras using the main @xiaomi Twitter account, the world's fourth-largest smartphone vendor outright revealed the handset's back in all its glory.
In an unusually detailed (and technical) tweet, Wang Xiang, Xiaomi's Global Senior Vice President and Head of International Business, confirmed the Mi 9 would be on display at the 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The new flagship model's color options will include a snazzy blue shade with a very distinctive glow, which looks pretty stunning even by the high standards set by past gradient finishes of various Huawei and Samsung phones.
#Mi9 is here!
— Wang Xiang (@XiangW_) February 14, 2019
We used nano-level laser engraving holographic technology + dual layer nano coating to create this beautiful and unique color.
For more details, make sure you check out our new product launch on Feb 24！ pic.twitter.com/vtBLCJTBQD
The technology behind this "beautiful and unique color" of the Xiaomi Mi 9 is briefly explained by Wang Xiang, but we're naturally far more interested in that triple lens arrangement at the back of the device, including an eye-catching ring around the top imaging sensor. While the camera specifications are not confirmed just yet, Xiaomi's latest MWC 2019 event teaser seems to suggest one of the lenses will be used for depth effects, aka portrait shots, with another one in charge of wide-angle photography, and a "normal" shooter also in tow.
The primary camera is rumored to feature a whopping 48 megapixels, with the wide-angle lens likely capable of producing 12MP photos, and the depth sensor expected to integrate the same groundbreaking 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) technology that Apple reportedly plans to use on its 2019 iPhone generation. That's some pretty exciting stuff, but it's unclear if the February 20 Chinese announcement event of the Xiaomi Mi 9 has been canceled.
That could be the case or the phone may separately be unveiled for its manufacturer's homeland and "international" markets a few days apart. Either way, the Xiaomi Mi 9 is definitely headed for Barcelona, possibly anticipating a wide European commercial rollout. Official US availability seems as unlikely as always, but Xiaomi has to pursue its American dream one of these days. Fingers crossed that day will come soon.
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