Realme 9: everything is focused on camera and autonomy | Review

May 14, 2022

0 6 7 minutes read

Trio of news for Realme, which just yesterday presented its new products dedicated to the Italian and European market. These are Realme 9, Realme 9 5G and Realme Pad Mini, or two smartphones that fall in the price range between 200 and 300 euros and the light version of the tablet of the house.

If Realme 9 5G focuses on connectivity with a Qualcomm Snpadragon 695 octacore processor with 5G modem (in Italy in the 4GB RAM and 64GB or 128GB storage version), the “brother” Realme 9 has its strengths in the 108 MP camera with Samsung HM6 sensor, in the 6.4 ” Super AMOLED display and in autonomy thanks to the 5000 mAh battery coupled with a low energy processor such as the Snapdragon 680.

Of the two smartphones we had the opportunity to try the Realme 9 in the characteristic yellow gold color for a few days, and the conclusion we reached is that it succeeds well in the objectives it sets itself, while the processor needs some tricks to make the most of it. Here because.

INDEX

DESIGN AND DISPLAY
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPARTMENT
AUTONOMY AND RECHARGE
PRICE AND CONCLUSIONS

DESERT INSPIRED DESIGN AND GOOD DISPLAY

The first thing that catches the eye is the holographic effect of the back cover which, made with a layered procedure, gives the final result a texture with a 3D look that changes according to the light. Inspired by the desert dunes, it is enhanced to the maximum in the golden yellow color that I tried; the black and white-silver alternatives are also available, more sober but probably less impactful.

The back cover is in plastic material, as well as the contrasting frame; the feel isn’t particularly premium, but having a matte finish doesn’t hold fingerprints too much either I appreciated the choice of placing the photographic module on a transparent plate able to give chromatic continuity to the whole.

Along the frame are the 3.5mm jack for headphones, the mono speaker, the volume and power buttons, the USB-C socket for charging and the triple slot in which you can insert up to two nanoSIMs and one microSD, which is an excellent feature.

Ergonomics are good: the Realme 9 is rather thin and light (we are talking about 7.9 mm thick and 178 g in weight) and it holds well in the hand, even if the diagonal is already wide enough, as far as I’m concerned, to have to use also the other hand to get to the other side of the display, where there is the punch hole that houses the front camera.

Also the display is something I particularly appreciated considering the price range of the product: it is a super AMOLED with a frequency of 90Hz which, with its 6.4 ” and 2400×1080 FHD resolution, is well suited for various activities, from browsing to gaming, to viewing multimedia content. These features have allowed us to install a fingerprint recognition sensor under the display that hits us 9 times out of 10, therefore quite accurate.

It can be seen fairly well even in direct sunlighteven if the fact that the lower frame is a little thicker than the others, as happens on many mid-range and low-end smartphones, is not particularly appealing from an aesthetic point of view.

Positive that however the bezels are overall quite thin, with a proportion of 90.8% of the display to the surface, all protected by Gorilla Glass 5.

It comes with a pre-applied film with a pretty good oleophobic treatment and in the package, in addition to the charger, there is also a transparent silicone cover.

GOOD SOFTWARE, PROCESSOR TO BE ENHANCED

Alongside a hardware equipment available in two versions of 6 GB or 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor with 6nm manufacturing technology.

A component, this, which shines above all for optimization of autonomy, which in fact is very satisfying as I will say later. Precisely for this, experience out of the box it is not exciting in terms of fluidity despite the 90Hz of the display: being able to count on a 5000 mAh battery, my advice is to set the mode Maximum Performance from the settings, and in this case the music changes totally, giving you a much more snappy user experience.

The software also deserves a mention: it comes in the Realme UI 3.0 version based on Android 12 with Fluid Space Design and I found it practical, with a series of typical home customizations and goodies such as flexible windows, the ability to switch to split screen view, the smart sidebar containing a series of shortcuts for screenshot, record screen, translation and calculator. There is also the option to virtually increase the RAM up to 5GB.

The sensors include the one for automatic brightness adjustment, the proximity one, the gyroscope and the accelerometer, and I must say that I have not encountered any problems whatsoever in managing calls and listening to voice messages, passing from the speakerphone to the earpiece and vice versa. Good audio quality in calls and stable 4G connection.

DATA SHEET

Screen: 6.4 inches AMOLED FullHD, 90 Hz, integrated fingerprint sensor, 360Hz touch sampling rate
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 octacore (CPU: Cortex-A73 2.4GHz * 4 + Cortex-A53 1.9GHz * 4)
GPU: Adreno 610
RAM: 6 GB or 8 GB LPDDR4x
Internal memory: 128GB (UFS 2.1)
Rear cameras: 108 MP (f / 1.75) with Samsung HM6 sensor, super-wide (119 ° and f / 2.2), macro (f / 2.4)
Front camera: 16 MP, Sony IMX471
Connectivity: 4G, Wi-Fi 2.4 / 5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS / GLONASS / Galileo, NFC
Audio: mono speaker
Drums: 5000mAh with 33W fast charging
Software: Android 12 with Realme UI 3.0
Dimensions: 160mm x 73.3mm x 7.99mm
Weight: 178 g

PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPARTMENT

Realme’s philosophy is to make it available to all customers – and not just high-spirits – smartphones with high quality components at affordable prices. However, since you want to aim with a device like the Realme 9 at a low-medium price range, you need to choose what aspects to invest in.

Without a doubt, in the case of this smartphone we have chosen to focus on the photographic sector, rather than on the 108 MP camera – and we know that megapixels are not everything for taking good photos; in this regard, have you seen our tips for night photography with the Realme 9 Pro Plus? – side by side a Samsung HM6 sensor, an ultra wide angle lens and a macro lens.

As for the main camera, it must be said that actually the sensor does not disappoint expectations and gives satisfaction: the photos taken during the day are rich in details, defined and recall in the fairly saturated color and warm tones the yield of the typical Samsung shots. The portrait mode provides a healthy complexion and an average accurate bokeh effect, which is put in difficulty by the curly hair which is always a little more complicated to cut out; the same goes for shooting in selfie mode.

The situation changes a bit in the night photos, where some less illuminated areas are more mixed but always above expectations and of the average of this range; the light sources are not burned too much and even in the presence of particularly intense lights a discreet balance is maintained with the dark parts.

The ultra wide angle lens has a slight aberration which can be seen at the edges of the photos, as seen in the shot of the church in the park, and the macro is fixed focus, and therefore requires you to get closer to 4 cm from the subject for the best result.

Turning to the video side, the maximum quality is 1080p 30fps but they are not particularly defined or stable, as seen in the short clip in which I walk in the park. The camera app is the one already seen on the latest Realme, quite intuitive; in addition to the classic photo, video, landscape, portrait, night mode, it also has timelapse and street photography, in short, the same menu as Realme 9 Pro Plus (which, however, is able to better exploit the pro mode at night thanks to optical stabilization).

EXCELLENT AUTONOMY AND FAST CHARGING

As anticipated, autonomy is one of the strengths of the Realme 9which can count on a 5000 mAh battery that comfortably takes you to a day and a half of average use, considering that I used it as a hotspot all day having to work on the move and I set it to Maximum Performance, so definitely promoted from this point of view.

There is also 33W charging, not lightning-fast like on the high-end brothers but that allows you to recharge it completely in an hour and fifteen minutes and to recharge it by 50% in just thirty minutes; the difference in proportions between the two times is due to the presence of safety systems for recharging which, among other things, slow down the process as it approaches 100%. In short, a package of interesting and not discounted features for the price range in which it falls, even if the wireless charging is obviously missing.

PRICE AND CONCLUSIONS

Realme 9 is available at 279 euros in the cut 6 GB / 128 GB ea 299 euros in that 8 GB / 128 GB; the cheaper version will be available at a promotional launch price from May 17-21 on Amazon a 249 euros.

Summing up, is a smartphone that takes beautiful pictures for its price range with an autonomy that does not leave you on foot when you least want it, a pretty good display and an allocation of slots that allows you to use two physical nanoSIMs and even a microSD memory card, against a very economical processor. even if not lightning-fast.

So as always happens, you have to do the calculations according to your needs; surely I would see it well in the hands of a user who wants a camera and autonomy to trust and maybe is not too interested in performance. My impression is that the ideal solution would have been a combo between the two new smartphones presented by Realme in this round: if the Realme 9 had been equipped with the processor of the 5G version, it would have been a truly remarkable alternative.

Net of these considerations, at this list price – but also considering the launch price – the market is quite competitive, there are several other smartphones that offer a complete package by adding a few tens of euros, even from Realme itself such as the GT Master Edition, the GT Neo 2, the Realme 8 Pro or the evergreen Galaxy A52s. So a little overpriced, it will become a good alternative for those who find themselves in the above description if it falls to around 220 euros with the street price or some offer.

AutonomyMain cameraDouble SIM + microSD