It’s difficult to realize that the first Realme phone was introduced in 2018. In just 4 years, the business has released 44 phones, though not all of them have been made accessible internationally. The current Realme 9 series, on the other hand, is well-represented in the UK & Europe. Five of the six phones have arrived in the UK, including the standard Realme 9 4G. It’s still in budget phone territory at £249/€279. However, the Realme 9 5G smartphone is available for the same price.
Even within the existing Realme lineup, the Realme 9 risks being lost in the crowd, and that’s before you compare it to other smartphones in this price category, such as the Oppo A74 5G as well as the Samsung Galaxy A33 5G. It’s a difficult segment of the market to break into, and you might say that the Realme 9 falls short.
Without the 5G cost, Realme can improve numerous other features of the phone, like display quality and charging speed. However, these enhancements aren’t enough to compete with competing phones like Xiaomi, Samsung, and even Realme.
Realme has kept the price for the Realme 9 in the UK & Europe simple. There is only one configuration available for £249/€279. It comes with 8GB of RAM & 128GB of internal storage.
It may be purchased straight from the Realme webpage. The Realme 9 is unlocked and so compatible with all UK networks, although it is not available in the United States.
At that price, it’s still in the cheap phone category. At this price range, though, competition is severe. Xiaomi leads the pack in this category, with the Poco X3 Pro, Redmi Note 10 Pro, plus Poco M4 Pro 5G all available for around the same price. However, devices like the Samsung Galaxy A13 and Oppo A54 5G also are worth considering.
The Realme 9’s design has no major surprises or advances – nor does it do anything to turn you off the phone. With the narrow bezels all-around display, the punch hole cutout in the corner of the screen, the softly rounded edges & corners, and the rear camera module mounted on the back up in the top left corner, it’s about as conventional as a smartphone gets in 2022. The fingerprint sensor is also incorporated into the screen for quick unlocking.
The Realme 9 4G smartphone is made of polycarbonate (plastic). It is available in three colors: Sunburst Gold, Meteor Black, and Stargaze White. The hue Sunburst Gold may elicit conflicting emotions in different people. When light strikes on the Realme 9 4G rear panel, it emits various shades of orange. The shiny coating attracts smudges readily, which is a shame. This may be remedied by using the device’s included TPU cover.
If you’re wondering if the phone will fit in your pocket, it measures 160.2 mm x 73.3 mm x 8 mm and weighs 178 grams. It feels substantial and comfy in the hand, and it isn’t a phone you’ll drop. One best feature is the presence of a thin protective covering on top of the screen when you take the Realme 9 4G out of its box, despite the fact that the phone itself is neither waterproof nor dustproof.
The phone’s sides aren’t very noteworthy, with volume buttons on one side and a power button on the other. By default, the latter activates the Google Assistant instead of the power controls, although this may be readily altered in Settings.
At the bottom, there’s a USB-C connector and a downward-firing speaker, as well as a 3.5mm headphone socket. It’s uncommon these days to find the ability to attach wired headphones, but I like their existence here.
When the 5G model of the Realme 9 lacks an AMOLED display, the 4G variation covers the void. The Realme 9’s 6.4-inch AMOLED display provides a superb viewing experience with a brilliant display that offers a peak brightness of 1000 nits.
At full brightness, the screen is bright enough to read and check for alerts even in direct sunshine. Furthermore, with its 90Hz refresh rate display, navigating through websites and social media feeds is more fluid. The Realme 9 display also offers Widevine L1, so you can binge-watch all of the HD stuff on OTT without worry. It also has in-display fingerprint sensors that function as a heart rate monitoring sensor, as seen on the Realme 9 Pro+.
If you’re being fussy, you may claim that the screen could be larger, but it’s basically a matter of personal choice. The OLED technology used here performs admirably, and we don’t believe anyone who chooses the Realme 9 as their next phone will be dissatisfied with the display.
The camera setup on the Realme 9 is a little strange. The primary sensor has a resolution of 108MP, while the Snapdragon 680 only allows a maximum resolution of 64MP. Realme has yet to explain how it accomplished this feat. The camera app includes a 108MP option. However, the images are no more detailed than the standard 12MP mode.
The primary camera of the Realme 9 shoots some nice-looking photographs in daylight with colors that are closer to what you see. The photos lack an unnaturally vibrant, oversaturated appearance, which may irritate some people. The phone captures good skin tones and has a good dynamic range, catching a lot of information in darkened regions, but it struggles to maintain a constant white balance in low-light situations.
On closer inspection, the photographs from the primary camera appear hazy and mushy along the edges, regardless of how excellent the surrounding light is. This issue is worse inside and in low light, when the phone struggles to even lock the focus. If you normally snap and go, you might want to double-check the snapshot before going on. When utilizing night mode, the camera gets the focus perfect with a little additional recording time, however, this might result in fuzzy photos.
The companion 8MP ultrawide camera produces useless images. The images have a watercolor look and little to no information is maintained, however, this is good for outdoor photographs and distant vistas.
The photographs shot by the 16MP selfie camera have a little muted tone, but they don’t appear overprocessed unless you use its many beauty functions.
When you buy the Realme 9, you receive a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. That isn’t exactly scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of specifications for an Android phone, but in terms of sheer speed, it lags well behind the luxury phones on the market. The Realme 9 has Geekbench 5 ratings of 381, 1566, and 43, indicating that it is not a powerful smartphone.
That being said, the Realme 9 will be able to run anything you need it to, even high-end games. There’s no lag or delay as on lesser phones like the Realme 9, and everything runs smoothly – you could notice a little speed dip if you open up hundreds of browser tabs, or after a year or two of use.
Unlike the other phones in the Realme 9 series, this ordinary variant does not include 5G. While this may not be a deal-breaker given that 4G speeds are quite enough, it does seem unusual to see phones debuting without 5G capabilities at this time.
The phone runs the Realme UI 3.0 skin on top of Android 12. Realme’s software approach differs somewhat from Google’s, including noteworthy alterations to quick settings, the app tray, and the camera app. All of them feel straightforward and simple to use, although there is a noticeable learning curve if you’re arriving from a Pixel or Samsung phone.
Realme has also opted to offer its own versions of a number of stock apps, such as a picture gallery, voice recorder, and calculator. None of them can be removed, so you may be stuck with software you’ll never use. However, many Android phone manufacturers are guilty of this.
According to Realme, the phone will receive two Android upgrades and 3 years of security patches. That implies the Realme 9 will receive Android 13 & 14, but that may be all – though it’s still the strongest software support available at this price right now.
With a moderate usage of the smartphone for texting, music listening, and 1-2 hours of calling, it may last for more than a day on its 5000mAh battery. Even with extensive usages like gaming, photography, and movie viewing, it may easily last a day. Inside the package is a 33W charging option that can charge the battery from 10% to 100% in around 1 hour and 20 mins.
There really are no stereo speakers, only one bottom-firing speaker. Overall, RealMe 9 smartphone is not worth buying for the price of £249/€279, and it also does not justify the price tag; RealMe could have utilized a better CPU.
Despite the lack of 5G, the conventional Realme 9 provides a decent all-around smartphone experience. The 90Hz OLED display is stunning, and the battery life is among the finest of any smartphone. A good camera can take some great images, and the superior design & lightweight build make it a pleasure to use.
However, inconsistent performance detracts from the overall experience, and the software as well as in fingerprint sensor should both be improved. For most people, it’s the greatest phone in the Realme 9 series, but it doesn’t imply you must buy it over some other outstanding phones available for a comparable price.
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