realme 9 Pro+ Full Review
Officially launched in the Philippines last March 15 via a livestream event, the realme 9 Pro+ is designed to disrupt the mid-range category. Since I already finished with the unboxing and first impression of the realme 9 Pro+, this review will further explore its capabilities and help you in deciding if this smartphone is the one you are looking for.
Design and Walk Around
realme is pushing the boundaries when it comes to product design with the realme 9 Pro+. In the Aurora Green color, the phone glass back glitters with a star-like effect when light is reflected, giving the phone a premium, modern look. However, the phone’s glass back is very prone to fingerprint smudges, so it’s best to use the free protective silicone case right away. The phone’s frame is still made of plastic, but it is solidly built and sturdy.
The realme 9 Pro+ is also available in Midnight Black and Sunrise Blue options.
On the front, the realme 9 Pro+ is equipped with a 6.4-inch FHD+ (1080x2400) Super AMOLED screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and comes with a pre-installed screen protector. There’s also a punch-hole camera located at the upper left and the earpiece which doubles as a speaker is quite thin and discretely etched within the screen enclosure. While on the lower part of the screen is an in-display fingerprint scanner.
At the back is a rectangular-shaped camera module that houses the triple-camera set-up along with the single LED flash. The three cameras are the 50MP OIS main, the 8MP ultrawide, and the 2MP macro.
Found on the left are your standard volume rocker button and dual nano-SIM card tray. There is no microSD expansion on the realme 9 Pro+.
On the right is the power/lock button.
The top is clean with only the secondary noise-canceling microphone present.
At the bottom, you can find the USB Type-C charging port, downward-firing speaker, primary microphone, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
In addition to its premium design, the realme 9 Pro+ is also the brand’s slimmest Number Series smartphone yet with a width of 7.99mm or 0.3 inches. It is also light to hold at 182g, perfect for go-getters and people who prefer handy devices.
Display and Multimedia
realme 9 Pro+'s 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen comes with a Full HD+ (2400x1080) resolution with a 90Hz refresh rate and a touch sampling rate of up to 360Hz for better responsiveness when gaming.
The AMOLED display panel produces vivid colors; viewing angles are good and the screen can get bright at 430 nits and can go up to 600 nits of peak brightness; still, a bit more boost could be used so you can use it outdoors comfortably.
The display also supports an experimental DC-like Dimming function found inside the realme labs section, which effectively reduces eye fatigue.
The audio quality of the realme 9 Pro+ stereo speakers is very good, it can get loud but has no bass. I recommend using headphones or an external speaker via Bluetooth and the 3.5 mm jack for better audio quality.
Camera
Rear Cameras
As for the camera, realme is positioning the realme 9 Pro+ as photography champ in the mid-range category. The phone boasts a triple-camera set-up—consisting of the 50MP F1.8 primary camera with Optical Image Stabilization and uses a Sony IMX766 sensor with a Quad-Bayer filter and 1.0µm pixels. There's also an 8MP 119° F2.2 ultrawide camera and a 2MP F2.4 macro lens with a 4cm shooting distance.
The realme 9 Pro+ also features new updates from realme’s Street Photography Mode 2.0. This includes the Long Exposure Mode, Peak and Zoom, and the new 90's Pop filter.
Quality from the rear cameras under bright lighting conditions is superb as you get vibrant colors and sharp detail, though dynamic range can be better.
The 50MP main camera with Sony IMX766 camera sensor, OIS, and advanced processing brings the phone’s low light and night photography to the next level and is one of the best in its class. The quality of the images taken is very impressive with plenty of detail, even with night mode turned off.
Front Selfie Camera
realme 9 Pro+ uses a 16MP in-display front camera with an F2.4 aperture and a Sony IMX471 sensor with 1.0µm pixels. The camera also supports different features such as AI Beauty, Portrait Mode, and Night Mode.
The realme 9 Pro+’s front camera produces good photos in its class, especially in bright conditions. Background blurring for portrait selfies isn’t that perfect but good enough.
Video
For video, realme 9 Pro+ now supports up to 4k at 30fps for the rear main camera and up to 1080p at 30fps for the front camera, there’s also an always-on EIS across all cameras and OIS for the main camera. 4k videos shot with the main camera are pretty good, with low noise and a lot of detail.
realme UI, Apps, and Security
realme 9 Pro+ runs on realme UI 3.0, based on Android 12 out of the box. realme UI 3.0 offers an improved and smooth user interface. It also brings more customization options, floating windows, edge lighting, enhanced privacy, and security options. Pre-installed are the standard realme and Google suite of apps, as well as some bloatware apps.
In terms of security, realme 9 Pro+ is equipped with an in-display fingerprint scanner and facial recognition for unlocking the device. Both work well---the fingerprint scanner is pretty fast, and the accuracy is close to excellent. However, the face unlock feature can slow down in situations where there isn’t much light.
The realme 9 Pro+ in-display fingerprint scanner also doubles as a heart rate measurement. The experimental heart rate measurement can be found inside the realme lab section.
Hardware and Performance
The realme 9 Pro+ comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G processor. This processor is made using a 6nm process and is equipped with two high-performance Cortex-A78 cores at up to 2.5GHz and six high-efficiency Cortex-A55 cores at up to 2.0GHz, along with Mali-G68 MC4 GPU. The realme 9 Pro+ is equipped with a Vapor Chamber Cooling System which significantly reduces temperatures from core heat sources around the phone.
With the combination of the CPU, GPU, and 8GB RAM, the performance of the realme 9 Pro+ is buttery smooth, and resource-intensive apps have no problem at all. When it comes to gaming, it brings a smooth gaming experience and seamlessly supports a wide variety of games like Asphalt 9, Genshin Impact, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and many more.
The realme 9 Pro+ also supports Dynamic RAM Expansion technology, Dynamic RAM Expansion lets you expand your phone's RAM from 2GB up to 5GB virtually by using the phone's internal storage. This feature is active by default and 3GB for the default setting.
The realme 9 Pro+ is available in the Philippines in one storage variant - 256GB UFS 2.2 storage, with 231GB of available storage (25GB used out of the box). There is no microSD expansion on the realme 9 Pro+.
Below are the benchmark scores from this device:
- AnTuTu v9.3.4 – 505,871
- AnTuTu Storage Test v9.3.4 – 44,567 (1,013.1 MB/s Seq. Read, 836.2 MB/s Seq. Write)
- Geekbench 5.4.4 – 815 (Single-core), 2,321 (Multi-core)
- PCMark – 10,802 (Work 3.0)
- 3DMark – 3,937 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 3,942 (SSE – Vulkan)
Battery Life, Charging, and Connectivity
The 4,500mAh battery of the realme 9 Pro+ can easily last you a whole day of moderate usage without an additional charge. In the PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life Test, the unit yielded a score of around 17 hours and 12 minutes.
With realme 9 Pro+’s 60W SuperDart Charge, the 4,500mAh battery can be charged up to 100% in 45 minutes and 50% in only 15 minutes.
Deep software optimization like App Quick Freeze, Optimized standby, Optimized Night Charging, Power Saving Mode, and Super Power Saving Mode are also available in realme 9 Pro+ which could make a big difference in battery life.
In addition, realme 9 Pro+ also supports 5G connectivity with Smart 5G Power Saving. In Smart 5G Power Saving the phone intelligently switches between 4G and 5G depending on usage scenario to save battery.
Aside from the 5G connectivity, the realme 9 Pro+ has your usual connectivity features, including dual-band WiFi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, a 3.5mm audio jack, and USB Type-C 2.0.
realme 9 Pro+ Specifications
6.4-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2400) super AMOLED display
90Hz refresh rate / 360Hz touch sampling rate
MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G Processor, 6nm
Mali-G68 MC4 GPU
8GB RAM
256GB UFS 2.2 storage
Triple-rear cameras (50MP F1.8 Sony IMX766 OIS main + 8MP F2.2 ultrawide + 2MP F2.4 macro)
16MP f/2.4 front camera
Dual-SIM (nano) / 4G LTE / 5G
Wi-Fi 6 / Bluetooth 5.2
Fingerprint scanner (in-display)
USB Type-C / Dolby Atmos Dual Stereo Speakers
4,500mAh battery with 60W SuperDart Charge
realme UI 3.0 (Android 12)
160.2 x 73.3 x 7.99mm (dimension)
182g (weight)
Colors: Sunrise Blue, Aurora Green, and Midnight Black
What’s inside the box
If you haven't seen the unboxing of the realme 9 Pro+ yet, the signature yellow-colored box contains the realme 9 Pro+, USB Type-C Cable, 60W SuperDart Charger, SIM card ejector tool, protective silicone case, quick guide, and important information guide with warranty card.
Price and Availability
The realme 9 Pro+ (8GB+256GB) retails for Php23,990 SRP and is now available nationwide on both offline and online channels.
The realme 9 Pro+ will also be available for purchase through Home Credit for either 6 or 9-month installment options, and can also be purchased via major credit cards for either 6 or 12-month installment options at 0% interest.
Verdict
Is this the smartphone you are looking for? The answer is YES! Even if it is a bit pricey at Php23,990 compared to its competition, realme 9 Pro+ is a very solid and powerful mid-range smartphone that managed to offer very competitive features such as a 90Hz Super AMOLED screen, a MediaTek Dimensity 920 processor, surprisingly good triple-camera setup, stereo speakers, excellent battery life, incredibly fast charging and 5G connectivity — all in one slim, lightweight and premium design package.
No comments: