realme 9 Pro Smartphone review - Finally mid-range with 5G
Possible competitors in comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Drive | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80.5 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2022 | Realme 9 Pro SD 695 5G, Adreno 619 | 195 g | 128 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | 6.60" | 2412x1080 | |
| 82.2 % v7 (old) | 04 / 2021 | Realme 8 Pro SD 720G, Adreno 618 | 176 g | 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.40" | 2400x1080 | |
| 78.6 % v7 (old) | 02 / 2022 | Samsung Galaxy M32 Helio G80, Mali-G52 MP2 | 180 g | 128 GB eMMC Flash | 6.40" | 2400x1080 | |
| 84.1 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2022 | OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G Dimensity 900, Mali-G68 MP4 | 173 g | 128 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | 6.43" | 2400x1080 | |
| 86 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2021 | Xiaomi Poco F3 SD 870, Adreno 650 | 196 g | 128 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.67" | 2400x1080 |
Case and features - RAM surcharge hardly pays off
The realme 9 Pro, which we want to take a closer look at in this review, has been replaced with the higher-quality model realme 9 Pro+. Does this mean that compared to the realme 8 Pro we have to accept some compromises? Yes and no: on the one hand, there is now 5G, but on the other hand, you have to do without the AMOLED screen.
If you are not an expert, you will have a hard time comparing the realme 9 Pro and the 9 Pro Plus to tell them apart: the casing looks almost identical at first glance, but the 9 Pro with its 6.6-inch screen is a bit bigger and also heavier than its sister model with 195 grams. Realme offers the same color variants for both devices: Aurora Green, Midnight Black, and Sunrise Blue, although the latter is difficult to get in Central Europe at the time of testing.
Our black test device lets light reflections dance across the back which is also quite susceptible to fingerprints. Bright spots appear in the IPS display when twisting, but the chassis is otherwise has a stable built.
Realme offers 2 configuration variants:
- realme 9 Pro 128 GB mass storage / 6 GB RAM: 319 Euro
- realme 9 Pro 128 GB mass storage / 8 GB RAM: 349 Euro
Is it worth paying 30 euros more for 2 GB more RAM? Probably not, because 6 GB should be completely sufficient for the vast majority of apps. The possibility to allocate virtual RAM from mass storage is probably more of a marketing trick. Although the chipset supports Bluetooth 5.2, realme only specifies Bluetooth 5.1, and an NFC chip for near-field communication is present.
Memory expansion via microSD card is possible, but one of the two SIM slots has to be sacrificed for that. The card reader is rather slow overall.
| SD Card Reader - average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Samsung Galaxy M32 (Angelbird V60) | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G (Angelbird V60) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (7.7 - 77, n=77, last 2 years) | |
| Realme 9 Pro (Angelbird V60) | |
Cross Platform Disk Test (CPDT)
Communication, software and operation - Stable, but not so fast WLAN
5G is on board and realme promises that you can use both SIM cards in 5G mode at the same time. In addition, 5G Standalone is supported, which enables even higher speeds. The supported LTE frequency range is generous, so the smartphone can be used for mobile Internet in many countries. In terms of reception, the phone performs on an average level in the 4G network in a short sample test.
In terms of WiFi, realme also does not use the full potential of the Snapdragon 695 which is officially capable of WiFi 6, but the manufacturer leaves it at WiFi 5 in the realme 9 Pro. Thus, the maximum achievable speeds in our test with the reference router Asus GT-AXE11000 are significantly slower than in the OnePlus North CE 2, or Xiaomi Poco F3, but still on par with other class representatives. Thus, the realme 9 Pro is not slow for its price range in terms of WLAN, but it does not stand out positively either.
realme UI 3 is based on ColorOS, which in turn is based on the current Android 12. The security patches are from February 2022 at the time of testing and are thus quite up-to-date. The software is clean and offers many settings, but some advertising apps are preinstalled. At least these can be easily deleted when they are not needed.
The touchscreen offers good gliding properties and the adaptive 120 Hz display makes the handling very smooth. The fingerprint sensor on the right side of the casing unlocks the smartphone very quickly, but it is not always reliable in recognizing the registered fingers. Face recognition can also be used for unlocking.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| Xiaomi Poco F3 | |
| Samsung Galaxy M32 | |
| Realme 8 Pro | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Xiaomi Poco F3 | |
| Samsung Galaxy M32 | |
| Realme 8 Pro | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G | |
| Realme 9 Pro | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G | |
| Realme 9 Pro | |
Cameras - Flexible, but mediocre system
Compared to the predecessor realme 8 Pro the main camera loses megapixels and the support for blur effects, but the latter was only of dubious use anyway. In contrast to the realme 9 Pro+, there is no optical image stabilization. However, realme still manages to install a flexible camera system with a wide-angle and macro camera in the 9 Pro.
The main camera has a resolution of 64 megapixels, but only uses 1/4 of the resolution by default and creates larger pixels with higher light sensitivity. The fact that the camera is not first-class can be seen immediately in the comparison photo with the flower: red is traditionally a difficult color for cameras, but the high-quality comparison smartphones manage considerably more details than our test device. The surrounding image still looks colorful and also quite sharp, but large areas like the sky are displayed much less cleanly than in higher-quality cameras.
The autofocus quickly gets into trouble in low light, but the basic imaging performance is still there, so you can still see colors. The camera software is extensive with many modes and filters.
Videos can be recorded in 1080p and 30 fps at most, exposure adjustment and autofocus work quite reliably here. It is great that the digital zoom can be executed at different speeds.
The rest of the lenses do a passable job, but wide-angle shots should not be enlarged too much. The same applies to selfies with the front-facing camera, although they are usable for web use.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Main cameraMain cameraLow lightWideangle camera
Display - IPS instead of AMOLED in the realme 9 Pro
The realme 9 Pro has to make do with an IPS display; the AMOLED screen is now reserved for the realme 9 Pro+. The screen is reasonably bright with an average of 541 cd/m², but it lacks a brightness boost mode like Samsung's or Xiaomi's that facilitates outdoor use.
The brightness distribution is quite even, but the color reproduction in "Nature" mode is only averagely accurate. Particularly bright colors suffer from a blue cast. We did not notice PWM flickering.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 96 %
Center on Battery: 541 cd/m²
Contrast: 1230:1 (Black: 0.44 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.42 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.88
ΔE Greyscale 6 | 0.5-98 Ø5.1
97.6% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.074
| Realme 9 Pro IPS, 2412x1080, 6.6" | Realme 8 Pro AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.4" | Samsung Galaxy M32 Super AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.4" | OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G OLED, 2400x1080, 6.4" | Xiaomi Poco F3 AMOLED, 2400x1080, 6.7" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | 74% | 66% | 65% | 89% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 42 | 8 ? 81% | 10 ? 76% | 6 ? 86% | 3.6 ? 91% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 18 | 6 ? 67% | 8 ? 56% | 10 ? 44% | 2.4 ? 87% |
| PWM Frequency | 114.7 | 362.3 ? | 354.6 | 490.2 ? | |
| Screen | 7% | 38% | 16% | 61% | |
| Brightness middle | 541 | 581 7% | 712 32% | 601 11% | 889 64% |
| Brightness | 541 | 563 4% | 720 33% | 596 10% | 902 67% |
| Brightness Distribution | 96 | 86 -10% | 95 -1% | 98 2% | 95 -1% |
| Black Level * | 0.44 | ||||
| Contrast | 1230 | ||||
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.42 | 4.34 2% | 1.94 56% | 3.35 24% | 0.9 80% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 8.77 | 7.15 18% | 5.81 34% | 6.72 23% | 1.9 78% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 6 | 4.9 18% | 1.5 75% | 4.6 23% | 1.3 78% |
| Gamma | 2.074 106% | 2.327 95% | 2.089 105% | 2.363 93% | 2.26 97% |
| CCT | 8049 81% | 7658 85% | 6593 99% | 7372 88% | 6614 98% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 41% /
23% | 52% /
45% | 41% /
28% | 75% /
68% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 18 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ ms rise |  |
| ↘ ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 37 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.8 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 42 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ ms rise |  |
| ↘ ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 65 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.6 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8556 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance, emissions and battery life
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 is a relatively new mid-range SoC. It brings decent performance to the realme 9 Pro, but cannot quite keep up with the best representatives of the class. Thus, the results in most benchmarks are good, but not outstanding. The performance is usually sufficient for smooth navigation in the system and a somewhat more complex app in everyday use.
The maximum temperature of 43.2 °C under load is quite noticeable and could increase even more in higher ambient temperatures.
The mono speaker on the bottom edge does a decent job, but overemphasizes trebles very strongly and thus leads to a somewhat unpleasant sound at high volumes. At least the speaker can get quite loud. Better sound is achieved via the 3.5 mm audio output, whose DAC is even Hi-Res Audio certified. Audio signals can also be output via Bluetooth, where all important current codecs are supported.
Realme provides its smartphone with the in-house charging technology Dart Charge with a maximum power of 33 watts. Thus, it charges noticeably slower than the realme 9 Pro+ with 60 watts, but also significantly faster than, for example, the Samsung Galaxy A52s with its weak power supply. The larger battery compared to the realme 8 Pro is noticeable, but not as much as one would expect. Nevertheless, the realme 9 Pro clocks a very good 17:27 hours in our Wi-Fi battery test, which should allow for a few days without a power outlet when used sparingly.
| GFXBench | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Realme 9 Pro | |
| Realme 8 Pro | |
| Samsung Galaxy M32 | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G | |
| Xiaomi Poco F3 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (18 - 38, n=23) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (5.5 - 166, n=204, last 2 years) | |
| 1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Realme 9 Pro | |
| Realme 8 Pro | |
| Samsung Galaxy M32 | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G | |
| Xiaomi Poco F3 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (21 - 23, n=23) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (3.4 - 321, n=204, last 2 years) | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins High Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Realme 9 Pro | |
| Realme 8 Pro | |
| Samsung Galaxy M32 | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G | |
| Xiaomi Poco F3 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (11 - 24, n=23) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 144, n=205, last 2 years) | |
| 2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Realme 9 Pro | |
| Realme 8 Pro | |
| Samsung Galaxy M32 | |
| OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G | |
| Xiaomi Poco F3 | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (7.7 - 8.2, n=23) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (1.2 - 129, n=204, last 2 years) | |
| Realme 9 Pro | Realme 8 Pro | Samsung Galaxy M32 | OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G | Xiaomi Poco F3 | Average 128 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 4% | -12% | 241% | 203% | 132% | 490% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 494 | 474 -4% | 297.3 -40% | 999 102% | 1378 179% | 725 ? 47% | 1971 ? 299% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 105.3 | 191.7 82% | 178.7 70% | 857 714% | 684 550% | 523 ? 397% | 1586 ? 1406% |
| Random Read 4KB | 148.3 | 98.5 -34% | 98 -34% | 253.4 71% | 208 40% | 191.9 ? 29% | 280 ? 89% |
| Random Write 4KB | 120.4 | 84.8 -30% | 68.8 -43% | 212.9 77% | 170.6 42% | 184.1 ? 53% | 321 ? 167% |
Temperature
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 42.5 °C / 109 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 43.2 °C / 110 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 30.8 °C / 87 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speaker
Realme 9 Pro audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 32.2% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (10.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.7% away from median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (7.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 1.6% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (2.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (20.7% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 33% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 58% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 53% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 39% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Xiaomi Poco F3 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (89.4 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 28.2% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.7% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (17% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 8% of all tested devices in this class were better, 6% similar, 86% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 28% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 65% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Battery life
| Realme 9 Pro 5000 mAh | Realme 8 Pro 4500 mAh | Samsung Galaxy M32 5000 mAh | OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G 4500 mAh | Xiaomi Poco F3 4520 mAh | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | ||||||
| WiFi Websurfing | 1047 | 1006 -4% | 1098 5% | 962 -8% | 805 -23% | 1015 ? -3% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict
The realme 9 Pro has a few highlights: the battery life is good, the casing looks nice, and the processor has a lot of power. However, it is never really enough for realme's mid-range phone to achieve top rates in the class, and thus it remains a solid phone that cannot inspire. The somewhat inaccurate fingerprint sensor and missing features like optical image stabilization also contribute to that.
At the same time, the realme phone does not have any serious weaknesses, so it can be quite worthwhile at a low price: the stable chassis, hardly fluctuating WLAN speeds and the good performance rates, as well as the 120 Hz screen with adaptive frame rate, make the smartphone well usable in everyday use.
Realme brings a solid mid-range phone with long runtimes with the 9 Pro, but there are strong alternatives in its price range.
Compared to the realme 9 Pro Plus you have to accept some compromises: the weaker IPS screen, slightly lower performance, slower charging, a much lower-quality speaker, and no Wi-Fi 6. Thus, you should consider investing 50 Euros more in the sister model. It might also be worth taking a look at the Xiaomi Poco F3 which has considerably more power.
Price and availability
The realme 9 Pro can be ordered directly from the manufacturer but only in green and black. The variant with 6 GB of working memory is available for approximately 320 Euros (~$320) at the time of testing, and the device with 8 GB of working memory costs 349 Euros (~$349). You can get the smartphone cheaper at amazon.de, notebooksbilliger.de, or cyberport.de.
Realme 9 Pro
- 03/28/2022 v7 (old)
Florian Schmitt
Price comparison
