With its first Realme 9 Pro Plus phone, Realme demonstrates its dominance in the mid-range market. Its unique color-changing back and integrated heart rate monitor set it apart from competitors of the same price. Its camera, processing power, and charging speed also surpass those of its competitors. We have had to nitpick to discover any issues; this phone is a must-have if you’re on a tight budget.
Realme 9 Pro Plus Camera Review
The Reamle 9 Pro Plus has three rear cameras. A 50MP primary camera sits at the forefront, followed by a 2MP macro and an 8MP ultra-wide camera.
We were pleasantly impressed by how well the cameras captured images. Snaps appeared vivid and striking, with distinct contrast and fine detail, particularly in ultra-wide images.
Standard and wide images have remarkably identical color profiles, avoiding a problem that many smartphones with multiple cameras have. Regarding “avoided problems,” ultra-wide images showed very little distortion.
Low-light and nighttime photos were fantastic, probably because of the Sony IMX766 sensor in the primary camera, which is rather large and hence captures more light. Images captured in night photography mode were clear, detailed, and well-exposed, with light sources in the frame not overpowering the surrounding area.
But the ordinary Photo mode was also no slouch for this type of shot, so we could still get a good shot even if we didn’t have the time to hold the camera motionless for a few seconds, as Night mode demands.
Since low-cost phones rarely perform well in low light, we were pleasantly impressed by the Realme 9 Pro Plus’s capabilities.
Selfies from the 16MP front-facing camera appeared fine, but we thought they were a bit washed out. We would have preferred to see more colorful selfies, but perhaps the bright images captured by the primary camera spoilt us.
Although 4K video recording is quite typical for every modern smartphone, it only records at 30 frames per second; lowering the resolution to 1080p allows you to record at 60 frames per second. Though we discovered that autofocus during filming might be choppy, jumping to refocus on different objects instead than gliding smoothly, the video quality was on par with photography.
Street is a brand-new camera mode that we haven’t seen before. It appears to be for street photography and offers a few different filters. In actual use, it provided no advantages above the default camera settings and filters. Additionally, there is a tilt-shift option, which we have seen a few smartphone cameras do in the past. However, we have consistently discovered that AI software is unable to accurately replicate the intricate camera hardware trick, and this time was no exception.
Macro, panorama, pro, slo-mo, document scanning, time-lapse, and dual-view video capabilities are among the typical array of modes.
Realme 9 Pro Plus Design
The rear design pattern of the Realme 9 Pro Plus is both innovative and strange. Even though it doesn’t appear that way in the pictures that go with this review, it’s strange, we assure you.
This is due to what Realme refers to as their “Light Shift Design.” This phone is more akin to the Vivo V23 than it is to the many that have color-changing backs that change color as you rotate them.
The easiest way to describe it would be to compare it to one of those color-changing mugs. The first time we exposed the phone to sunlight, we were shocked to see that it progressively changed from blue to brilliant red. After being exposed to the sun for a few minutes, it returns to blue.
The first few times we attempted this stunt, it was a lot of fun to watch. However, it should be noted that the hue shift only occurs under specific conditions and requires direct sunshine rather than artificial or indirect light. You will only be able to utilize this feature roughly three times a year if, like us, you reside in the UK.
Apart from that striking feature, this is just another Android phone. Along with a 3.5mm headphone connector and USB-C port, the device has a power button on the right edge and a volume rocker on the left.
There are black and green versions of the phone in addition to the Light Shift Design model that we tested.
Realme 9 Pro Plus Display
In the context of Android phones, the 6.43-inch Realme 9 Pro Plus is a pretty medium-sized device. Its 1080 x 2400 resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate are likewise typical for a phone at this price.
Since most apps only support that resolution, it’s a perfectly good screen for streaming videos or playing games. Although we did discover that the maximum brightness was a bit less than ideal, it is also quite colorful.
A punch hole for the camera cutout at the upper left corner of the display breaks it apart.
The fact that this phone’s in-display fingerprint sensor also functions as a heart rate monitor is one of its interesting features. Although it’s obviously not as exact as either of them, it’s a nice addition that could be helpful for folks without a fitness tracker or specialized equipment for the purpose.
We’d like to see a home screen widget or better placement for the feature because it’s a little hidden on the phone and we had to look for it in the Settings app.
Performance and specs
The previously stated color-changing Vivo V23 was the first phone to use the MediaTek Dimensity 920 chipset, and the Realme 9 Pro Plus is the second. This mid-range chip outperforms Snapdragon equivalents by a small margin.
The phone’s multi-core score was 2258 when we ran it through the Geekbench 5 benchmark test. That puts it on par with previous top phones like the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Nubia Z20, and iPhone XR, and it’s better than the Vivo V23, which came out in 2079.
For further reference, the Realme 9 Pro Plus is fairly powerful for its price. Modern mid-range CPUs typically reach 1800, while top-end ones reach the low 3000s or occasionally the high 2900s.
The phone functioned wonderfully during our lengthy gaming sessions; games loaded swiftly and, on average, allowed us to run high graphics settings without experiencing any issues. Furthermore, the phone took a long time to warm up while playing games, most likely as a result of the unique cooling technology that Realme has implemented.
We tested a phone model with 8GB of RAM, but by default, RAM expansion is enabled. This allows you to increase the RAM by a little amount using storage space, and the Realme allows you to obtain up to 5GB more. Our evaluation unit had a storage capacity of 128GB.
If you reside in a region that offers 5G, you can connect the Dimensity 920 to the best connection networks because it features a 5G modem.
The Realme 9 Pro Plus has two stereo speakers, which is useful for streaming media or gaming because it makes it more difficult to inadvertently cover the speaker grilles with your hands.
Realme 9 Pro Plus Software
The company’s own Realme UI is installed on top of Android 12 on the Realme 9 Pro Plus. Although the appearance and theme have changed significantly, Realme’s user interface does include some bloatware.
The Material You feature, which allows you to alter app icons to match your home screen background, is the main selling point of Android 12. However, like most Android 12 forks, this wasn’t accessible on Realme UI when the 9 Pro Plus was released. (However, it is likely that Material You has been brought to the phone if you are reading this review months after it was initially published.)
Bloatware is a bit of an issue here, as was previously discussed. LinkedIn, Booking.com, and Amazon Shopping are pre-installed on the Realme 9 Pro Plus. Realme isn’t the worst for this by any means, but it’s still a little annoying because we’ve seen other phone UIs with a lot more bloatware.
We discovered that using the phone’s UI was fairly quick; there was hardly any lag when we swiped between menus or between open and closed apps.
Realme 9 Pro Plus Battery life
The Realme 9 Pro Plus’s battery life is also mediocre for this type of phone, much like the display.
Whether the day involved extended periods of mobile gaming and streaming movies or the occasional social media post, the 4,500mAh battery lasted for a full day. You can count on this phone to continue working even if you push it.
Although you would need to significantly adjust your behavior to keep the phone running that long, we wouldn’t go so far as to state that it has a two-day battery.
At 60W, the charging speed is quite remarkable for a phone in this price range. The Samsung Galaxy S22 is one of the top phones that lingers behind that.
It should take roughly 30 minutes to charge the phone from empty to full at that speed, but considering how long the battery lasts, you shouldn’t be at 0% very often.