Verdict
An affordable handset offering a good principal camera , strong barrage life story and a nice concealment . It does n’t come with 5 yard connectivity , and public presentation tier are n’t vesicate , but it ’s still a great - note value steal .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Realme 9 series now features more model than a glossy section store catalogue , with theRealme 9 5 gm , Realme 9i , Realme 9 Pro 5 gm , andRealme 9 Pro Plusall currently on the Book – and who ’s to say there wo n’t be new summation arrive at a later date ?
This reappraisal concerns the nominal model of the series , but called the Realme 9 . Despite all these variants sharing a similar name , their specifications are considerably dissimilar – and in this caseful they also happen to be considerably impressive . The Realme 9 leads with a 108 - megapixel photographic camera sensor , a 90Hz Super AMOLED CRT screen , and a 5000mAh battery – all of which could be telling coups for the low start price of £ 249 .
In this inspection , we ’ll check out whether those elements come together satisfactorily for a must - buy package having used the handset as our main phone for over a workweek .
Design and Screen
The Realme 9 is n’t a shy , retiring handset ; it need you to cognize that it ’s get in on the scene .
My review French telephone was in the Sunburst Gold colour , and when it catches the light , it looks like a liquefied gold bar . It has a matt ending – rather than glossy – so it does n’t fall brightly , but the texture delivers at least some protection from fingermark slur ( although it ’s by no means completely immune ) . In my feeling , it ’s quite flashy , to the point of being garish ; but there are white and black choice useable , too , or you could just pop it in a suit .
As for the practicalities , there ’s a 3.5 mm headphone jack here so you could use wired headphones , aUSB - Cport for charging and data transfer , and an SD card one-armed bandit for expandable storage , should you require to improve on the 128 GB that the handset add up with . Unfortunately , there ’s noIP rating , so we ’re not certain how it will handle spattering of water or being dunked in dirt .
While the design is n’t particularly suit to my immanent tastes , I feel far more positively about the screen .
Not all handsets at this terms have anOLEDscreen or an enhanced refresh charge per unit , but this one has both . The former delivers splendid levels of contrast thanks to the display ’s bass black shades , while the latter makes scrolling seem politic when you ’re using supported subject .
The screen measures 6.4 column inch all in all , which is quite large – although the gadget did n’t experience unwieldy in the difficult , thanks in part to its lightweight grammatical construction , weigh in at just 178 g. The showing resolution is 1080 x 2400p , which is as sharp-worded as you ’ll rule at this Mary Leontyne Price , and in fact matches pile of more expensive handsets . Another aim blooper is the filmdom ’s comparatively great “ Kuki ” ( a larger bezel underneath the display ) , which is all the more surprising reach the Realme 9 ’s lack of 5 universal gravitational constant connectivity , which sometimes necessitate such invention compromises .
Camera
This smartphone ’s primal specification is undoubtedly its 108 - megapixel camera sensor , which is an unbelievably high solvent gift the speech sound ’s retail monetary value . Habitually you ’d gestate to see this in handset charge double the price or more , so we ’re impressed to see it here . What ’s more , it performs well , too – just take a look at the range below :
As you could see , detail is startlingly good in some shots . Overall , however , we were more satisfied with the tone of shot we captured with theRealme 9 Pro Plus , which provide even greater clarity .
Of of course , the main camera is n’t the only sensor on the keister of this equipment ; there are three in all , with the other two being a 2 - megapixel macro photographic camera and an 8 - megapixel extremist - wide social unit with a 120 - stage arena of horizon .
The macro camera is n’t good for much , but the ultra - all-encompassing was ready to hand for those occasion I need to squeeze more into the skeleton , proffer a thumping 120 - degree field of scene . The vista of Lille , above , was captured with theultra - broad , while the same scene was snap by the principal tv camera in the image below to showcase the difference .
As mentioned , it ’s very helpful to have that extra perspective available with the extremist - wide , giving much - require versatility to your camera – although , patently , the shot are n’t quite to the same gauge as the chief detector , which give up more naturalistic - calculate result .
There ’s no telephoto sensor here , so instead you ’ll have to trust on the main camera ’s digital zoom , for which there ’s a default 3x option . From the same position , I took the follow three images of the Porte de Paris using the ultra - all-embracing , independent tv camera , and 3x digital soar , so that you could compare your shooting alternative .
Once again , you ’ll notice that the radical - wide lens is a raft warmer than the primary lens ; but , additionally , you ’ll see that an impressive level of detail is still retained at 3x digital zoom , imply that it ’s a genuinely practicable option when you need to get close to your national .
When you ’re shoot in darker conditions , there ’s a dedicated Night mode to serve you get the best out of the camera . Above is the termination with that mode is n’t applied , and you may see that the shiny highlights from street lamps have been importantly blown out .
In the above image , where Night modewasapplied , a decorous amount of born colour has been restored to the picture and the highlights have been toned down . The result is very far from perfect , and it wilts in comparison to splendid budget dark - gun such as thePixel 4a . Nevertheless , at least it ’s a scintilla tidier compared to the default setting .
Turning to the 16 - megapixel selfie camera , you ’ll get hold that results are jolly well , with detailed shots that do judge to difficult grain , such as skin and hair . However , the Portrait musical mode ( below ) is n’t as take as I ’d wish , with there being a blurry border around the subject ’s face , rather than the clear distinction that really makes bokeh - essence images stand out .
Overall , its Pro Plus sibling might be a tad superior in this regard , but the Realme 9 ’s camera is still strong for the price and remains one of the cardinal assets of this equipment .
Performance
The chief compromise on the Realme 9 , and the one that sets it apart from its sibling , the Realme 9 5 thousand , is the lack of a5G - supporting chipset . This French telephone has a lower - powered Snapdragon 680 mainframe , and its performance score are n’t the high among its peers .
In the table below , you ’ll see that itsCPUscores ( assess by Geekbench ) are unimpressive , while an even more important gap open up with respect to theGPUscores ( measure by 3DMark ) . We can conclude that the Realme 9 is n’t the unspoilt gadget around for mobile gaming , and you should probably discipline out handset such as thePoco X4 Pro 5Gor , of course , theRealme 9 5Gif you ’re primarily await for power at an appealing price .
Test Data
Comparison tests are one matter , indicating a phone ’s maximum potentiality , but how does the Realme 9 admit up when you ’re really using it on a day - to - twenty-four hours basis ?
I found that the Realme 9 mostly guide smoothly , without noticeable problem when melt demand apps such as games . However , on occasion I did notice a slender hiccup when reopening apps or switching between apps that were run at the same time .
The Realme 9 runs onAndroid 12software , and the custom skin is Realme UI 3.0 . There are a few pre - installed apps here that you ’re unlikely to use – I ca n’t honestly say that Tile Master 3-D did anything but waste space as far as I was concerned , and the same goes for TikTok and Booking.com – but there are worse offender where bloatware is concerned , most observably Xiaomi handsets runningMIUI . In price of useful tools , you ’ll find there ’s a sidebar here that you could get at by swiping at the right wing of the screen , which provides easy access to the apps that you use most often .
Battery Life
The Realme 9 comes with a decent - sized shelling , boasting the 5000mAh capacity that ’s more or less the naturalized diligence bench mark at this point . Despite the fact that many devices offer a similar capacity , they can all still do very differently depend on the demand of the screen and the efficiencies of the C.P.U. , among other thing . Fortunately , I can report that this one admit up well .
Using my phone frequently during the course of the daytime – for browsing social medium apps , watch YouTube videos , and now and then pack some pictures – I always found myself with enough charge left at the end of the daylight ( often more than 20 % ) to end me from ever fretting about reaching a charging larboard in clock time .
To give a few real - world good example , I obtain that one hr of streaming Netflix set the Realme 9 back by just 5 % of its barrage fire ; streaming Spotify for an minute wipe out 2 % , and play half an hour of intensive games ate through 3 % of the battery .
When it ’s sentence to turn on the earphone back up quick for a young day , this French telephone stick out 33W tight - charging for speedy topups . This does n’t agree the blacken speeds we ’ve seen from some flagships , but it ’s still telling for a phone of this price . I found that charging swiftness were very standardized to those of theOnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5 G , with a 50 % thrill take 31 minute of arc and a full rush taking 1hr 14mins . It ’s a weight off your brain to know that you may appoint up your gimmick fairly rapidly if you ’re ever interested about being catch short .
Not surprisingly , the Realme 9 does n’t boast wireless charging .
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Should you buy it?
During our tests the Realme 9 ’s camera easily matched , if not beat , more expensive French telephone , with its radical - wide in particular being best in category at this cost .
Although this handset flow OK for every solar day use , the phone struggled with demanding tasks such as gambling .
Final Thoughts
The Realme 9 delivers in many key areas , offering good picture taking results for the Mary Leontyne Price , great battery life , and an excellent screen , too . That may well be enough to fulfil many potential buyers , but do n’t ignore the downside to this equipment . The first is the want of 5 guanine , and related to that , the French telephone ’s by and large underwhelming carrying out . What ’s more , the design of this French telephone is also a bit on the lurid side .
Still , if you may go with these flaw ( for case , if you ’re not a peachy roving gamer ) , and you ’re scant on bundles of cash to throw out around , then this phone is for sure suitable of your retainer .
Trusted Score
How we test
We prove every mobile sound we review thoroughly . We use industriousness standard tests to compare features decently and we habituate the phone as our main machine over the review point . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to critique a mathematical product .
FAQs
No , there ’s no stated informatics evaluation , so we do n’t know how the French telephone will deal with potential water or rubble ingress .
No , the Realme 9 does n’t have 5 G connectivity
It ’s uncommitted in Meteor Black , Sunburst Gold and Stargaze White .
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