Xiaomi and spin-off brand Redmi have had an interesting year so far. Kicking it off with the launch of the Redmi Note 7 in China, Xiaomi launched the Mi 9 and the Mi 9SE in February. Later in the year, the Redmi 7 was announced in China and then in India. Besides these, Redmi also announced the new groundbreaking Redmi K20 series, including the flagship K20 Pro. While Carrying on with this heightened momentum, Xiaomi has now announced a new mid-range camera-centric series for the young users. It includes two new smartphones – the Xiaomi CC9 and the CC9e.

Xiaomi CC9

With the Xiaomi CC9, the company is focussing on users that care a lot about the aesthetics of their smartphones. The CC9 comes with a 3D curved glass design in three exciting finishes. The first one – Blue Planet – comes with a breathing pattern on the back with curved lines that move with the angle of the incident light. The second one, called White Lover, is primarily inspired by the different hues in snow while the third one, titled Black Prince, comes with a satiny black panel.

On the front, the Xiaomi CC9 is equipped with a 6.39-inch FullHD+ AMOLED display with a dewdrop notch. This display, manufactured by Samsung, features a max brightness of 600 nits and is equipped with an in-display fingerprint scanner. Xiaomi has also added support for DC Dimming technology to reduce strain on users' eyes when they use the smartphone in low light. The CC9 also supports Always-on Display along with customizable a lock-screen clock widget.

For photography, the Xiaomi CC9 is equipped with a 48MP primary camera sensor on the back. This is complemented by an 8MP wide-angle sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The primary sensor on the back is 1/2" sensor with 0.8μm pixel size. Xiaomi did not specify the make and the model of this sensor at the event but the product listing on Xiaomi's Chinese website lists this as a Sony sensor paired with an f/1.79 aperture lens. On the front, there's a 32MP sensor and it supports Xiaomi's adaptation of Apple's Animoji – called Mimoji. Xiaomi says that the CC9 supports up to 165 face elements, including special hairstyles for the Chinese people.

The Xiaomi CC9 boasts of a 4,030 mAh battery with 18W charging support. The smartphone is powered Snapdragon 710 but the company did not spend much time talking about the performance of the smartphone since it is primarily a photography-centric device. The Xiaomi CC9 comes in two RAM and storage configurations – 6GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB.

Xiaomi CC9 Meitu Edition

Last year, Xiaomi took over smartphone company Meitu, which also known in China for its selfie app inspiring users to be proud of their appearance. Along with the new smartphone, Xiaomi has released a special Meitu edition of the CC9, which primarily focuses on better selfies and portraits, and enhanced as well as blur-free videos. The special edition comes with a separate camera app which is custom-designed by Meitu, with an eye for human beauty. The smartphone also comes with a customized version of MIUI with Meitu apps and special themes.

The special edition comes with more RAM and storage than the standard edition CC9. To augment the special experience provided by Meitu and inspire users to click more pictures, the Xiaomi 9 Meitu Edition comes with 256GB onboard storage and 8GB of RAM.

Xiaomi CC9e

The Xiaomi CC9e is the more affordable model of the series but it comes with the same attractive finishes as the CC9. The smartphone comes with a smalled 6.088-inch HD+ AMOLED display, the less powerful Snapdragon 665. This is an 11nm CPU with eight Kryo 270 260 cores with a maximum clock speed of 2.0GHz hooked to an Adreno 610 GPU. The Xiaomi CC9e is the first smartphone to be running a Snapdragon 665 mobile platform.

The Xiaomi CC9e borrows the triple rear cameras including the 48MP primary module and the 32MP from the CC9. Similarly, the Xiaomi CC9e also features a 4,030mAh battery and supports up to 18W charging, even though it comes with a 10W charger within the box.

The Xiaomi CC9e comes in three configurations - 4GB/64GB, 6GB/64GB, and 6GB/128GB.

Xiaomi CC9 Series: Price & Availability

The 6GB/64GB variant of Xiaomi CC9 is priced at CNY 1,799 (~$260 ) while the 6GB/128GB variant is priced at CNY 1,999 (~$290 ).

The three variants of Xiaomi CC9e – 4GB/64GB, 6GB/64GB, and 6GB/128GB are priced at CNY 1,299 (~$190 ), CNY 1,399 (~$205 ), CNY 1,599 (~$235 ), respectively.

The Meitu Edition of the CC9 comes for CNY 2,599 (~$380 ). Along with the smartphone, Xiaomi will also sell a clear bracelet case for CNY 199 (~$30 ) and a clip-on LED soft light for CNY 49 (~$7 ).

All of the smartphones go on pre-booking today and will be available for purchase in China starting July 5th.