The 9 SE launches alongside the 9 5G as a new Realme phone with a 144Hz display

In previewing its latest pair of Android smartphones, Realme indicated that one of them would come with the stove-top style camera hump of yesteryear, whereas the other would get a more on-trend inverted-L lens arrangement. Now, it has revealed that the former corresponds to the 9 5G, whereas the latter is found on the back of the 9 5G SE - which has also been freshly introduced as the "Speed Edition" among the two.

This is because it has launched with the promised 144Hz display, which Realme touts as its marquee feature in its market tier. Then again, the spec is part of an LCD display with a 240Hz touch-sampling rate. It is FHD+, at least, as is that of the 9 5G.

The vanilla model has a slightly more standard 90Hz refresh rate, and has a 6.5-inch LCD panel as opposed to the 6.6 inches of the SE. That delta might give the 9 5G the edge in terms of screen-on time, as the 2 phones have the same 5,000mAh battery.

Then again, the 9 5G SE will be coining its new name again here as it can charge at 30W, whereas the 9 5G has been left on a mere 18W standard. Another variable that might affect battery life within this pair is their difference in SoC.

The 5G SE has now been revealed as the one with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G, saving the newer MediaTek Dimensity 810 for the 9. They will run the same Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11, however.

Then again, (despite the 9 5G's appearance) they both have the same 48+2+2MP rear cameras and 16MP punch-hole selfie camera. However, the SE is the only one with an 8GB RAM/128GB internal storage SKU, along with the 6/128GB configuration also found in the 9.

Conversely, the 9 is the only one to offer a basement-model 4/64GB option. It starts at INR 14,999 (~US$199), or INR 17,499 (~$232) for the top-end option. The 9 5G SE, on the other hand, goes for either INR 19,999 (~$265) for the 6GB variant or INR 22,999 ($305) for a top-end 8GB unit.

The new 9-series smartphones will be available from March 14, 2022 on Realme.com/in, Flipkart and some selected physical retailers.