It’s that time of the year when we see a new realme Number Series and this year we’ve got the Realme 9 series for budget customers. In this article, we’ll focus on the top-end model in the lineup, the realme 9 Pro Plus. So let’s see what upgrades are available in this new plus model.
Before we start this review, we want to add that we are giving away one unit of the Realme 9 Pro to one of our lucky readers. If you guys want it, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and then click on the link here.
Realme 9 Pro Plus Review: Design & Display
The design of the realme 9 Pro Plus is still similar to the previous realme phones. In fact, the lens design is basically the same as the GT 2 series.
The SIM Card Tray can hold two SIM cards, but not a Micro SD card. There is an NFC and headphone jack, but no IR blaster. The vibration motor has been upgraded to an X-axis linear motor and when you are typing, it feels very crisp.
The speakers have also been upgraded to stereo dual speakers. Remember that fluorescent back cover of realme 8 pro?
This time the 9 Pro Plus has a new technology on the back cover as well. The realme 9 Pro Plus comes in a new Sunrise Blue shade, which we’ve got here. This is the first time realme has used a Chameleon Design. This Light shift design allows your back cover to change color when exposed to sunlight.
If you are indoors or in a place without sunlight, this phone looks just plain blue. Shiny and sparkly, like the sky at night. When you are exposed to the sunlight for a while, this phone will turn red. It’s like the sun slowly rising in the morning, very beautiful. I am sure there will be many people who will like this design.
Who wouldn’t like a phone that changes color, right?
The screen of realme 9 Pro Plus has not changed much compared to last year’s 8 Pro. It’s still a 1080P resolution AMOLED Display, but the refresh rate has been upgraded to 90Hz. And there is also DC dimming. The lower bezel is still as thick as ever, I personally hope realme can make the lower bezel a little narrower. The fingerprint recognition type is In-display fingerprint recognition, and heart rate measurement is possible. The colors are vibrant and it also has AOD. But you can’t say the realme 9 Pro Plus screen isn’t improved, after all it has an upgraded refresh rate. But it’s really not a big upgrade. At least you won’t be buying this phone for this screen.
Realme 9 Pro Plus Review: Hardware & Gaming
The realme 9 Pro Plus is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 920, a mid-range processor that we’ve seen in the Redmi Note 11 Pro and Pro Plus China versions, and has a Benchmark score that compares side-by-side with the Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus China version. Antutu is close to 500,000 points. 3D Mark 2300 points. GeekBench 5 scores are also a bit higher than the 11 Pro Plus for both single and multi-core. Probably because realme 9 Pro plus uses the Vapor Chamber Cooling System, the larger heatsink area allows the 9 Pro plus to unleash even more performance.
The actual gaming performance is also in line with my expectations. PUBG Mobile only runs at Extreme Frame rate on Smooth Graphics. Like the Redmi model, it runs at 60fps throughout.
Brightridge is locked at 22fps on the realme 9 Pro Plus, and the phone’s temperature is only 36 degrees Celsius. So we can’t see the real gaming performance of realme 9 Pro Plus either.
The Genshin Impact without locked frame rates averaged 41 fps, a full 7 fps higher than the Note 11 Pro Plus, and the body temperature was only 42 degrees Celsius. But that’s not to say that the 9 Pro Plus is suitable for Genshin, as the large frame rate fluctuations doesn’t make for the best gaming experience either.
So although it is an improvement over the previous realme 8 Pro’s Snapdragon 720G, the Dimensity 920 is still an under-performing processor.
If you’re a devoted gamer, consider realme’s GT series.
Realme 9 Pro Plus Review: Camera
We thought using HM2 sensor as the main camera on a mid-range phone was already a luxury. But realme 9 Pro Plus actually uses IMX 766 as its main camera at this price point, and it also has OIS, which means it has flagship-level photo potential.
Main Camera
In fact its main camera does manage to reach close to top flagship levels as well. The daytime colors are vibrant, and the dynamic range is excellent. Thanks to this excellent sensor, you can get an excellent picture even if you use 2x digital crop to take a picture in good light. If the scene being photographed is not too complicated, even a 5x image is sufficient for most people. When night falls, the IMX 766’s strength can only be fully realized. Every photo is very clear and sharp. Both exposure, dynamic range and noise control are top level. And because of the addition of OIS, there is basically no blurring of photos due to hand shake. I’ll put a photo comparison with Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus in the same scene here, and you’ll see how good realme 9 Pro is. To be honest, this is the first time I’ve gotten such good photos on a Budget phone. If you showed me these photos and asked me to guess which phone took them, I would never guess that it would be a mid-range phone that could take these photos.
Although it has a great main camera, it doesn’t mean it’s perfect. The biggest drawback is that its lens coating is not good enough. It causes the reflection of the light to appear in your picture. And there is also a lot of flare, which will ruin your photos.
Realme 9 Pro plus’s night mode will improve the dynamic range of your photos, but it will also reduce the exposure and make the photos darker. This bug has also appeared in previous realme phones. They may fix this problem in new system version after sale.
Ultra Wide Camera
The ultra-wide camera doesn’t perform as well against the main camera. If there is enough light, the ultra-wide camera performs quite well, at least the colors are pleasing and the dynamic range is okay. But when there is not enough light, this 8 MP ultra wide angle camera is not so good. Whatever you shoot is blurred, like a layer of fog in front of the lens. The quality of photos will be much better when you turn on the night mode.
Of course, it may be because our system version is not the final official version, so realme still needs to optimize the photo effect in auto mode of ultra wide angle camera before sending the phone to the users.
This is the main camera 4k 30 fps video recording footage, you can see the picture is very clear and natural colors. But you must have noticed that the footage is very shaky. Because of its weak performance, there is no way to add EIS in the 4K resolution, only rely on OIS is no way to do a stable image. Dynamic range is also very dependent on the performance of the processor, so dynamic range is actually not particularly good. The ultra-wide camera can only record 1080P 30fps video. The low quality of the video made me wonder for a while whether I had chosen a 1080P resolution. My advice is to try to avoid using ultra-wide camera video.
Charging & Battery Life
This time the box is designed to look better than the previous one. Inside the box there is a charger, charging cable and phone case. The charger is 65w, but the phone only supports up to 60w. Ten minutes to charge 41%, half an hour to charge 90%, and only 40 minutes to fill to 100%. The battery capacity is the same as realme 8 Pro’s 4500mAh.
Half hour online video consumes 4%, Tiktok consumes 5%, playing the three games consumes 6%, 6%, and 10% power respectively. Since the performance is not powerful, the battery life should be very long.
Realme 9 Pro Plus Review: Verdict
realme 9 Pro Plus is designed with the same idea as the realme 8 Pro. Performance is a lower priority and the focus is on enhancing the camera. The other specs are as good as you can get. It is not for those who like to play games, but for those who like to take pictures but don’t have much budget, it may be the most suitable choice.
As the old saying goes, there is no perfect phone, only the most suitable phone for you.
I have to remind you again we are giving away one realme 9 Pro. Participate in the giveaway using the link here.
