Everyone’s eyes were on Xiaomi today as they were supposed to announce a powerful affordable (sub PHP 25k possibly) Snapdragon 855 flagship which was a shoe-in for smartphone of the year. Except they didn’t. Instead, they launched the lower spec variant powered by a Snapdragon 730 priced at who gives a crap?

Not one soul was interested in the midrange variant. Why? Because midrange devices are so commonplace you get them free for every liter of patis in the supermarket. Nobody was interested in a non-flagship because everybody already has a midrange phone. The Mi 9T “Lite”, as what it should be called, is a consolation prize for the Filipino people that apparently don’t deserve a SD855 variant. Because reasons.

Xiaomi Mi 9T (SD730) – PHP 15,990 (US$310) / PHP 17,990 (US$350)

• Snapdragon 730 Processor
• 6.39″ 2340×1080 AMOLED HDR Notchless Display
• 48MP Main + 13MP Ultrawide + 8MP 2x Tele
  • 20MP Motorized Pop-Up Camera
• Android 9.0 with MIUI
• 6GB RAM / 64GB ROM or 6GB RAM / 128GB ROM (No MicroSD)
• Dual SIM LTE
• On-Display Fingerprint Scanner, Face Unlock
• 4,000 mAh Battery 18W Fast Charge
• 3.5mm Headphone Jack

The Mi 9T is supposed to be a flagship. We want flagship. Nobody is interested in a flagship device but also thinks, “oh I don’t want performance, I just want it to be slower and have lower specs cause I’m a psychopath.” We want the Snapdragon 855 variant because it was going to be one of the most affordable flagships in our current market. The only reason we paid attention to that model was because of this. Not because there’s a midrange variant.

What does the Mi 9T “Lite” have? Oh a pop-up cam? An in-display fingerprint? A midrange processor? Oh you mean like the specs EVERY SINGLE MIDRANGER HAS? HOW EXCITING! </sarcasm>

FYI: The Antutu score of typical Snapdragon 730 devices is around the 200k Mark.

The price isn’t even that interesting. It’s PHP 15,990 for the 6GB/64GB. Keep in mind that this phone doesn’t have a MicroSD slot. So good luck trying to fit anything in that variant. The “higher end” (sic) is priced at PHP 17,990 and offers 6GB/128GB with still no MicroSD slot. Oh well, I guess you’ll have to keep deleting your games and pictures and movies because daddy Xiaomi doesn’t care. Guess you’ll not be recording 4K videos much either.

Sigh. Ok I’m done with my rant.

If you’re still interested in the “MIDRANGE” Xiaomi Mi 9T, you can pre-order it at Official Xiaomi Stores or on Lazada here, starting June 24 @ 12 Noon. It’ll be exclusive to Lazada for a bit then will roll out to Xiaomi Stores soon after. Go get one if you’re interested I guess.

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