India

Redmi 9 Power review: Powerbank that doubles up as a phone

Unbeatable battery

Published

February 12, 2021

Shivam Vahia

Reviewing a mobile phone has become relatively straightforward because brands like Xiaomi are releasing a new phone every month. While the successive launch of new phones has slowed down in the last few months, I’m yet to review one of the last phones of 2020 — the Redmi 9 Power.

The Redmi 9 series continues its predecessors’ legacy and aims to provide maximum features at the most affordable price. In fact, Xiaomi’s own portfolio is often confusing for the customer. The Redmi 9 Power is a brand new offering that’s supposed to be pushed to the extreme.

The Redmi 9 Prime is priced slightly lower, so what’s different about the Power? Plenty. Let’s find out!

It has a 6.5-inch LCD with a water-drop notch

The back has a grooved design that’s very grippy

For authentication, it gets a side-mounted fingerprint scanner

So far, all the usual Xiaomi features. So, what’s new?

The phone looks like a very conventional affordable phone consisting of polycarbonate construction. However, it feels very solid in hand. There’s no flimsy plastic or poor build, and I managed to drop it quite a few times, without any visible damage. Keep in mind, the plastic body is helping reduce the phone’s overall weight.

The outside of the phone may not be very amusing, but the internals indeed are. The phone packs a 6000mAh battery that supports 18W charging, so you’re practically never going to run out of juice. The phone easily lasts two days with heavy usage, and I often ended up using it as a power bank for my headphones, smartwatch, and even secondary phone (albeit very slow).

If you travel a lot, this phone can be an ideal secondary phone. It rarely runs out of charge, and you can afford to deplete your battery in low network regions. Another useful application of the phone is for studying online. Students can attend a full day’s lecture with the display switched on without needing a charger.

The Redmi 9 Power takes a little more than two hours to completely charge the battery but provides an insane screen-on-time of more than nine hours. No wonder the phone is called Power.

Designed for entertainment

IU 😍

The phone has a 6.5-inch display that’s bright enough, produces accurate colors, and offers decent viewing angles. At this point, Xiaomi has figured out the affordable display formula, and all their budget phones have consistent results.

Although, when paired with the massive battery, this phone is perfect for non-stop entertainment. Watch as many YouTube videos as you can, or maybe even binge-watch a show on Netflix. There’s a chance the show will end, but the phone still chugs along. The phone is available in 64GB and 128GB internal storage options, which is expandable via a microSD card.

Powering the phone is a Snapdragon 662 chipset, which is a slightly boosted sibling of the Snapdragon 660. It incorporates a faster Adreno 610 GPU, but don’t expect a radical change in gaming experience than the Redmi 9 Prime, which an Helio G80 processor powers. The phone comes with 4GB RAM only, so it’s safe to assume that it isn’t designed for hardcore gaming.

MIUI runs smoothly on the phone and enhances the user experience to a great extent. The Android skin is conveniently customizable based on preference, and day-to-day tasks are a breeze. I tried Call of Duty: Mobile, Asphalt 9, and Sniper Fury on the phone, and all of them ran smoothly. The phone rarely heats up unless you’re pushing it to the peak with performance and charging.

A reliable set of lenses

It has a quad-camera setup that consists of a 48-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 2-megapixel macro sensor, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. Together, the cluster gives many options to users, and MIUI’s add-ons further extend this. In a nutshell, the pictures range from good to decent, with nothing exceptionally good or bad.

: Wide-angle

: Normal (1.0x)

: Zoomed (2.0x)

Daylight pictures are capture a lot of detail but look dull due to inaccurate color saturation. In many pictures, the highlights are blown out, further making the image look unsatisfying. The same highlights issue is also observed in low-light shots.

Indoor pictures are pretty good, but it does feel like the phone needs a lot of manual attention to click an image. Xiaomi has made phones in the past that have sported brilliant cameras for the price. The wide-angle sensor works as you’d expect it but sometimes manages to distort the edges. Thankfully, the macro and depth sensor are uniform across all Xiaomi phones.

Coming to the front, there’s a 13-megapixel shooter located in a water-drop style notch. The selfies are on point and look appealing. You can toggle on/off the beauty mode based on your requirement or even tune it. The AI-based portrait mode is pretty good actually and detects edges accurately.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

If you’re looking for a phone that never runs out of juice and keeps you away from the wall as much as possible, this phone is perfect for you. I’ve also suggested the phone to many folks who’re using a flagship phone but would love to have a secondary option at an affordable rate. The Redmi 9 Power can seamlessly complement an iPhone or a Note 10.

With a starting price of INR 11,999 (US$ 165), the phone carves a perfect balance of features that make it a must-have. The display is enjoyable, the performance is above average, an unbeatable battery, and the goodness of MIUI. If you have a slightly flexible budget, the Redmi Note 9 is also a good pick that offers a much-improved design.

Related Topics:featured MIUI Redmi Redmi 9 Power Redmi India Xiaomi

India

The vivo V60 is a rebadged vivo S30 for international markets

The first V-series phone with periscope telephoto lens

Published

August 12, 2025

Vincenz

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

vivo is just on time with its biannual refresh of the V-series.

After the V50 launched last February 2025, the Chinese company has just revealed the newest vivo V60 in India six months after.

Rebadged vivo S30

If you’ve been following vivo for quite some time, you won’t be surprised that the China-exclusive vivo S30 will be the next V-smartphone in their global roster.

For the most part, it is a rebadged vivo S30 for the international market.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Internals are identical: Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 4nm 8-core SoC, Adreno 722 GPU, up to 16GB LPDDR4X memory and 512GB UFS 2.2 storage.

It may be a good or bad thing but the vivo V60 has an 8+128GB base model whereas the S30 starts with a bigger 12+256GB configuration.

Cameras are neither different: 50MP f/1.88 main, 8MP f/2.0 Ultra-Wide Angle (UWA), and 50MP f/2.2 selfie.

However, the vivo V60 now sports an additional 50MP f/2.65 periscope telephoto lens that its predecessor lacks. It’s also the same shooter found on the flagship-grade vivo X200.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

This newly-added camera is based on Sony’s widely-used IMX882 sensor and supports OIS (Optical Image Stabilization).

It can take 3x optically zoomed photos, and clear 10x shots through Stage Portrait Mode.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

50x zoomed shots is also possible via vivo’s all-new AI Hyper Zoom.

vivo’s signature ring flash dubbed “Aura Light Portrait 2.0” is here to stay.

A 6500mAh Si/C BlueVolt battery is also here alongside vivo’s speedy 90W FlashCharge standard.

Wireless charging is still absent but reversed wired charging is present for those who need it.

Dual IP68+IP69 water and dust resistance ratings also remain.

Not a total clone

The vivo V60 is not a total clone of the S30 as there are some differences that may or may not matter to most of you.

The vivo V60 has a slightly bigger 6.77-inch 120Hz AMOLED display but only with a Full HD+ resolution and pixel density of 388ppi.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

The Chinese vivo S30 has a smaller 6.67-inch screen of the same tech, but with more resolution at 1.2K and tighter 460ppi.

As expected, the Chinese model runs OriginOS 5 while the latter still runs Funtouch OS 15 that are both based on Android 15 — shutting the rumor that vivo Global will adopt their Chinese OS in the new V-phone.

That also means vivo’s already rich AI prowess are ever-present with improvements in AI Erase and Image Expander as well as highlighting newly-added AI capabilities such as AI Magic Move, AI Photography Suite, and even AI Four-Season Portrait.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

As expected, the vivo V60 still rocks the ZEISS Camera System that its Chinese counterparts never had since the S18 Pro (Chinese version of the V30 Pro).

Indian vivo V60s are also expected to have an exclusive Wedding vLog and Portrait Studio presets.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Lastly, the vivo V60 has executed premium finishes and colorways: Auspicious Gold, Moonlit Blue, and Mist Gray.

That’s in contrast to S30’s pastel slash two-tone options derived from the S30 Pro mini (or X200 FE).

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Although the gold and blue options have glass backs, the gray one is made from plastic.

That also makes up for its varying thickness: 7.53mm (gray), 7.65mm (gold), 7.75mm (blue).

All in all, the vivo V60 is slightly thicker over the S30 (7.49mm).

Pricing and Availability

Although there’s no “V60 Pro mini” (nor a V60 Pro), the X200 FE already exists as the global version of China’s vivo S30 Pro mini.

And unlike the vivo X200 FE where it was launched first in Malaysia and Taiwan, the vivo V60 headlines the global launch in India.

Here are India’s specific pricing per configuration:

8+128GB = INR 36,999
8+256GB = INR 38,999
12+256GB = INR 40,999
12+512GB = INR 45,999

It will just be a matter of time which markets the vivo V60 will come right after India.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

It’s good to note though that vivo Malaysia already teases the V60 up on their website with two different colorways opposed to the Indian options: Berry Purple and Summer Blue.

India

Marshall Minor IV earbuds price, availability in India

Small in size, big on Marshall signature sound

Published

June 14, 2024

GadgetMatch

Marshall has unveiled the Minor IV True Wireless earbuds. This entry-level audio wearable sets new standards with Marshall signature sound, supreme comfort, and exceptional battery life. It will retail for INR 11,999 locally. Elsewhere, the product will be available from June 15 on Marshall.com.

Created for music lovers, the Minor IV features a 12mm dynamic driver that delivers expertly balanced sound. Design wise, it stands out with Marshall’s classic look, coming in a black-colored leather-like material. The brand logo is situated in front of the charging case. The water-resistant earbuds themselves feature a reangled design so it can fit better inside the ear canal.

The Minor IV earbuds can play music and other content for up to seven hours on their own. And with a charging case, the total playtime extends to more than 30 hours. When drained of power, the Minor IV will take just about over an hour to recharge. The case, meanwhile, will replenish back to full in two hours using USB-C charging.

Users will find it easy to navigate and manage calls with Marshall’s dedicated app. They may also connect multiple devices simultaneously with Bluetooth multipoint connectivity.

Along with the Major V, the new earbuds will support Bluetooth LE Audio soon. This technology allows the device to deliver higher audio quality, while also increasing the streaming range and improving audio sync.

India

India imposes a ban on imported laptops, tablets, and PCs

Personal orders are still allowed

Published

August 4, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

There’s no doubt that India is a major market for technology. While the country has its own brand preferences outside of the world’s usual, everyone still wants to get a piece of the market. To the dismay of global companies, the country is realizing the potential of its own market. Effective immediately, India has started restricting imports for new laptops, tablets, and PCs.

Recently, India made some headlines in the smartphone industry. A few companies, including Apple, have poured funds into building factories in India. Locally produced devices will allow these companies to attract the Indian market better. With the new regulations out today, it looks like these brands are going to enjoy a head start over others who aren’t in the country yet.

The Indian government introduced a new restriction (via Reuters) against the importation of “laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, and ultra-small form factor computers and servers” made from other countries. Customers, however, will get an exemption. Airline passengers can still bring in these devices in their luggage. Additionally, a single imported device is allowable when bought through e-commerce platforms. Companies can import their products only by applying for a special license.

In a nutshell, bulk orders without a license are out. The government is instead encouraging users to buy locally produced products as part of its “Make in India” program. At the very least, it’s not a total ban on foreign brands. For example, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are exempt from the regulations since they already have production facilities built in the country.