Xiaomi Mi 9T/Redmi K20 Review

OS, UI and software

Xiaomi Mi 9T runs on MIUI Global 10.3.11 based on Android 9.0 Pie. It is quite pleasing to see a MIUI that's not deprived of its good customization features, yet made lighter and easier to work with because the China-targeted apps and content have been removed. Just like the classic MIUI on the Mi 9, it includes Dark Mode, MI Turbo and Game Turbo 2.0. Just like other MIUI versions, the global one does not support notification snoozing and desktop shortcuts. However, it supports Google Assistant, which can be activated if you touch and hold the Home Button.

As long as it concerns the user interface, it is a typical MIUI one. The Lock Screen maintains the standard MIUI layout with a time/date widget and a shortcut to the camera. If you have set up fingerprint and/or face IDs the corresponding unlocking icons will appear on it as well just like the charging icon if your device is hooked to a power outlet. The Wallpaper Carousell and the Lock Screen quick access tray that are typical for the traditional MIUI, are missing. After a swipe by default, you unlock the device. The Home Screen displays the time, date, weather, favourite apps and a docked raw of applications. The second desktop continues with the list of apps. A swipe to the right from the Home Screen opens the App Vault with shortcuts to preferred services, apps, features, information sources, notes, step counter, etc. You can customize it to your liking or completely switch it off from the home screen settings.

If you zoom in with two fingers on an empty area on any of the desktops or simply touch and hold on that space, you will open the Widgets menu, which offers a choice of wallpapers and widgets, window transition effects and home screen settings. The home screen settings can also be accessed from the main Settings menu. From here you can choose a default launcher, set the default desktop, fill the empty cells, lock the home screen layout, switch on/off the AppVault, etc. In the Task Manager, MIUI 10 tiles the apps vertically in a zig-zag manner. Above them, there are shortcuts to the Cleaner, Security scan, Deep clean and app manager. When you touch and hold on an app, three options appear: app lock, enter split-screen mode and app info. The Task Manager also has a shortcut to the split-screen mode in the top left corner and a clear-all icon at the bottom. Some apps don't support split-screen mode, such as the Contacts one, for example.

The Notification cards and Quick settings shade remain unchanged and reflect the new MIUI design paradigm with larger icons and more curved corners. The brightness level bar is designed as a separate element and appears between the Notification cards and Quick settings shade. The toggles are listed on two pages and you can customize whether the shade should show a search or a settings shortcut. The Volume shade shows the sliders vertically and has two levels of appearance - collapsed and expanded. The collapsed one shows only the slider for the current type of volume (media, alarms, calls) and a shortcut to the Silent mode. When you click on the three dots, you get the expanded view with all sliders and the two shortcuts to the Silent and DND modes. In MIUI, all apps are installed directly on the Home Screen and the desktops following it. On each desktop, there's a docked row of apps containing the Phone, Messenger, Browser, and Camera. Removing an app uninstalls it directly after a confirmation dialogue. The Phone app is slightly changed containing only two tabs - Recents and Contacts. The latter appears as a separate app in the Tools folder. The Messenger remains unchanged. The File Manager also has two tabs instead of three, which are also designated with icons, not text. The clock icon corresponds to the Recents (recently stored/opened files) and the second icon corresponds to the Categories (files sorted in folders according to their type such as Docs, Videos, Images, Music, etc.). There's a third icon for searching among the available files on the device. The Xiaomi-designed Clock, Sound recorder and Screen recorder apps can be accessed from the Tools folder as well as the Compass and Level tool. The in-house developed Calculator is known for providing not only a classic and scientific version of a calculator, but also containing options for converting metric units and, currencies, calculating mortgages, etc. The Calendar and Browser remain largely unchanged. Of course, the browser lacks all the Chinese content found on the original MIUI. The Weather remains the same, so do all other apps in the Tools folder, where you will also find the QR Scanner, Downloads, Feedback, FM Radio. The Notes app retains its Voice Notes option and overall design and functionality remain unchanged. The Security app made its first appearance in the first MIUI 8 and is dedicated to monitoring your device and optimizing its performance. In MIUI 10 its appearance has been re-designed but that's only the surface of things - all else remains the same. The app provides lots of features, but there are 6 main ones - Cleaner for optimizing the internal storage by cleaning unnecessary files, Security scan, Game Speed Booster, App Management, Data and Battery usage. The latter will be discussed in the Battery section of this review. The Security app also contains various device management services such as app lock, deep clean, dual apps, second space, block list, etc. All of these are also available as options in the System Settings. There's a special Game Mode app with Game Turbo 2.0 support. Instead of Chinese apps, the More folder contains the Facebook and WPS Office apps. Most of the traditional Xiaomi applications are missing and you get the usual Google Play services and apps, together with Play Store. Google Lens makes a debut on MIUI on the Mi 9T. The System Settings is the least changed part in MIUI and starts with a search bar followed by the My Device group that contains the About Phone menu, System Apps Updater and Security Status. The Wireless & Network group is second and allows you to manage your Wi-Fi settings, Bluetooth, Hotspot and other wireless connections, SIM cards, data usage and mobile networks. The third group is dubbed Personal and manages the Display, Wallpapers, Themes, Sound & Vibrations. The Display menu contains the usual Brightness level with Dark mode, Reading mode, Contrast & colours menu for setting up your display profile, the Ambient Display with AOD settings, etc. The Sound & vibration menu offers the usual options - the three volume bars, Silent mode toggle, ringtones, notifications and system sounds, etc. System & device is the name of the largest group of settings and its first menu contains the Lock screen & password options. From here you can create and manage fingerprint IDs, face ID, fingerprint payments, set a screen lock and privacy protection password as well as set up your lock screen - shortcuts, smart cover mode, etc. You can choose a fingerprint animation and set shortcuts for your fingerprint ID. The Notifications & status bar settings are second in this group for managing app notifications, the notification shade and the icons on the status bar.

The Home screen settings come third in the group and are the same ones that you can access from the Widgets menu. They allow you to choose a default launcher, lock the home screen layout and others. They are followed by the Full-Screen Display menu and from here you can either use the on-screen navigation bar or on-screen gestures and hide the virtual buttons. It also includes a list of apps that support the fullscreen mode. The System & device group continues with the Second space, Battery, Storage, Emergency SOS, and Google settings. Second space has been around MIUI for quite some time now and allows you to have two separate virtual places on one physical handset. If you activate the second space, a Switch icon appears on the home screen and you can easily switch between the two. The Storage menu remains largely unchanged so is the Battery one, which will be discussed in the corresponding section of this review. The Emergency SOS is a redesigned version of the default Android feature with the same functionality. It lets you manage your emergency messages and contacts as well as set an emergency signal.

The last group of options under System & device is the Additional settings, which offers plenty of features for customising the way you interact with the device. It contains the Date and Time, Language and Region settings, detailed Privacy settings, the Quick Ball feature which is a floating dot as a yet another type of navigation. From here you can also manage the notification light, headphones & audio effects, activate/deactivate the one-handed mode, choose accessibility services.

The Accounts group of settings has only two menus - the Mi Account and the Sync one. It is followed by the Apps group of settings. Its features can also be found as options in the Security app and include system app settings, app management, dual apps, permissions and app lock.