Launched last February 16, the new realme 9 series is finally coming to the Philippines. Leading the pack is the realme 9 Pro+. Today, I am going to quickly take a look at the device, and give you my thoughts about it. My full review will be out on March 15, so be sure to check back by then to see benchmark results and more sample photos. I will also publish a video about the realm 9 Pro+ by then.
Unboxing
In case you’re wondering what’s inside the box of the realme 9 Pro+, you can check out the list I prepared below or watch the video I released over Tiktok and YouTube shorts.
- realme 9 Pro+
- Jelly case
- Sim tray ejector
- 60W SuperDart Charger
- USB-C cable
- Manual and Warranty card
Build and Display
The realme 9 Pro+ has a very interesting design. It comes with noteworthy “firsts” in realme’s numbered series – it has a photochromism design and it’s the slimmest in the series. While these things do not affect performance, it tells something about how realme is setting this series far different from its predecessors.
vivo V23 5G gave all of us a neat introduction about how photochromism works, but it seems that it works differently on the realme 9 Pro+. realme mentioned that when UV or sunlight shines on its back panel with photochromic layer, it is supposed to work in about 3 seconds. I was told that “it will work on the Sunrise Blue variant only and it has to be placed where the sun’s rays are really strong and the rays should hit it directly also. So like lunch time at BGC or at a beach, even the late morning’s rays by the window should work.” This is the reason why this specific feature did not work on my realme 9 Pro+.
realme 9 Pro+ is also the slimmest number realme smartphone. while it isn’t a major incremental increase from the realme 8 Pro, it’s interesting to see how realme managed to cram everything it’s slim profile.
The device has rounded edges and chamfered bezels. Its volume rockers and sim tray are located on the left side while the sleep/wake button is on the right side. You’ll find 3.5mm headphone jack, secondary microphone, type C port and speakers at the bottom, while the primary mic is at the top.
In terms of display, the realme 9 Pro+ sports a 90Hz Super AMOLED display with 360Hz touch sampling rate. This makes it very responsive, which can be a big deal for a lot of competitive mobile gamers. Honestly, I would rather have this kind of display specs than having one with over the top refresh rate because of two reasons: (1) there is a limited number of games that can support 120Hz; (2) and displays with very high refresh rate usually has lower touch sampling rate thereby has relatively reduced responsiveness.
The smartphone has a prominent camera bump and shows two of its major features: 50mp main camera and OIS, which are the top billing specs of Sony IMX766 sensor. I’ll talk more about its camera later.
Hardware
The new realme 9 Pro+ is powered by a 6-nanometer MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G. This relatively new octa-core chipset is very capable in terms of gaming. It is packed with two cores of 2.5 GHz Cortex-A78 and six cores of 2.0 Ghz Cortex-A55. The phone is also installed with a Mali-G68 GPU with 8GB (+3GB virtual) RAM.
Camera
Now, how about camera? The realme 9 Pro+ is pretty stacked in this department. One of its best features is its Sony IMX766 OIS Camera, which has all the neat stuffthat make the phone perform like a flagship camera smartphone. Check out the specs below:
Rear Camera
- 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 2.0µm, PDAF, OIS
- 8 MP, f/2.2, 119Ëš, 16mm (ultrawide), 1/4.0″, 1.12µm
- 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
Front Camera
- 16 MP, f/2.4, 27mm (wide), 1/3.09″, 1.0µm
Quality of the photos I took is amazing. Colors are captured very well and the level of contrast is on-point provided that you tweak the exposure level down prior to taking the photo. At default, some photos you’ll take will have blown out exposure value but it can easily be tweaked on the fly.
The camera app supports shooting photos in HEIF and has dedicated 50MP mode so you can maximize it to your heart’s content. Expert or Manual mode has the essential UI switches available, including shooting RAW, histogram, shutter speed, ISO, EV and white balance.
The phone is also very stable when taking videos. You can shoot from 720P to 1080P up to 60fps; and 4K up to 30fps using the rear cameras. Meanwhile, you only have 30fps option when shooting 720P and 1080P using the front facing camera.
Battery Specs and Charging
The realme 9 Pro+ has a 4500mAh battery. Included in the box is a 60W SuperDart charger, which can fully charge the phone within 44 minutes. In theory, this smartphone should last for more a day at moderate usage; but I recommend that you wait for my full review to see its performance based on actual usage.
Initial Verdict
It’s definitely a step up from the previous generation. It has amazing set of camera, thanks to its Sony sensor; and additional performance features that ultimately sets it apart from the realme 9 Pro and its predecessors.
However, I find such a statement unfair because this is a more upscaled version of the realme 9 series. In this regard, I encourage you to check out Emman’s first impressions of the realme 9 Pro.
Read our full review of the realme 9 Pro and 9 Pro+ here on our website very soon. Meanwhile, be sure to check realme’s official livestream launch of realme 9 series on March 15, 6PM at their official Facebook page.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
