Redmi Note 9: Not a performance upgrade over the Redmi Note 8?

Xiaomi's high-value sub-brand, Redmi, is set to release its next generation of phones soon. The company is billed to unveil the Redmi 9, Redmi Note 9, and Redmi Note 9 Pro about six months after the launch of the Redmi 8-series.

The Redmi Note 9 recently made its way over to Geekbench where it posted some decent scores. The device recorded a single-core score of 345 and a multi-core score of 1247. While the SoC onboard is unnamed, those scores look a lot like the ones recorded by the new Realme C3—a phone powered by the MediaTek Helio G70 SoC.

Redmi has had ties with MediaTek for a while now, and the Redmi Note 8 Pro was powered by the class-leading Helio G90T. The Redmi Note 8 opted for the Snapdragon 665. Tables are likely to be turned this time around, though, with the Redmi Note 9 Pro touted to feature the Snapdragon 720G, while the Redmi Note 8 opts for the Helio G70.

Sadly, though, the Helio G70 doesn't appear to be a significant upgrade over the Snapdragon 665 on the Redmi Note 8. On Geekbench 5.1, the Snapdragon 665 shows a 5% advantage over the Helio G70 in the multi-core test, and a 10% disadvantage in single-core. That, coupled with MediaTek's other cons—poor community development, for one—makes Xiaomi's choice of SoC for the Redmi Note 9 a curious one.

Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 now on Amazon (Australia)