The Realme 9 Pro and Realme 9 Pro Plus have been officially announced, bringing a bold pair of colour-changing contenders to the mid-range market. Meanwhile, the Realme 9i adds another strong budget phone to the roster.
It’s interesting how different the specs are between the two Pro models. The Realme 9 Pro comes with a 6.6-inch IPS LCD FHD+ display and a 120Hz refresh rate, while the Realme 9 Pro Plus gives you a 6.4-inch AMOLED FHD+ display and a 90Hz refresh rate. While the Pro Plus display gives you an in-display fingerprint sensor, the Pro uses a more utilitarian side-mounted alternative.
On the power front, the Realme 9 Pro Plus supplies a Dimensity 920 chip, while the Realme 9 Pro gives you a Snapdragon 695. Both phones come with dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support.
The Realme 9 Pro Plus packs a 4,500 mAh battery and supports 60W charging, while the 9 Pro comes equipped with a 5,000 mAh battery and 33W charging.
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We already knew that the Realme 9 Pro and Pro Plus would launch with a chameleonic Sunrise Blue option, which switches from blue to red when subjected to sunlight in just a few short seconds. It looks mighty pretty.
But the headline news here belongs to the Realme 9 Pro Plus alone. It’s the cheapest phone yet to pack in the flagship Sony IMX766 image sensor, backed by OIS. This is the same huge 50MP sensor that so impressed in the Oppo Find X3 Pro last year. True, we’ve since seen it appear in the mid-range OnePlus Nord 2, but the Realme 9 Pro Plus is even cheaper.
The Realme 9 Pro Plus starts at £349 for 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and will be available to purchase from February 23. The Realme 9 Pro, meanwhile, starts at £299 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and will be available from March 4.
Realme has also announced the Realme 9i, a sub-€200/£200 smartphone packing the Snapdragon 680 and a 90Hz display.
Realme will be running a flash sale at launch, with £50 off the 9 Pro and Pro Plus, and £30 off the 9i for the first day.
Trusted Take
Despite the eye-catching chameleon colour scheme boasted by this handset, the selling points are by no means just skin-deep. The battery and charging specifications seem impressive, and the in-display fingerprint heart rate monitor looks intriguing, but we’re most keen to test out whether there really is a “flagship level” camera in this mid-range phone. If so, Realme might manage to beat the Google Pixel A series at its own game.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
