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Realme 9 Pro+ review score
generalize
The Realme 9 Pro+ is a huge improvement over last year’s Realme 8 Pro. You now have an excellent balance of chipset and camera performance, and this is an ideal phone for anyone looking for an inexpensive phone that excels at photography.
advantage
- The Dimensity 920 is a major upgrade from last year’s SD720G, offering excellent general-purpose performance
- The Primary 50 MP Sony IMX766 takes photos to the same standard as a phone, three times the price
shortcoming
- Price may be too close to OnePlus Nord 2 with more powerful chipset
Launched at the end of February, Real Me 9 Pro+ is Realme’s latest camera-centric phone.
camera specs and real me GT2 So it’s an affordable option for anyone who doesn’t need the processing power of the Snapdragon 888.
It is also strikingly similar to OnePlus Nord 2 5G The price is slightly cheaper, but the chipset specs are lower. With each release, it’s getting harder and harder to differentiate Realme from OnePlus.
Specification
| Real Me 9 Pro+ | one plus north 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G | MediaTek Dimensity 1200 AI |
| exhibit | Super AMOLED, 90Hz, 430 nits (typ), 600 nits (HBM) | 90Hz 6.43″ Flat AMOLED 2400×1080 |
| memory | 8GB | 8GB |
| storage | 256GB | 128GB |
| rear camera | 50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS 8 MP, f/2.3, 119˚ (ultra wide) 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro) |
50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS 8 MP, f/2.3, 119˚ (ultra wide) 2 MP, f/2.4, (monochrome) |
| Front camera | 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide), 1/3.06″, 1.0µm | 32 MP, f/2.5, (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.8µm |
| Battery | 4500 mA | 4500 mA |
| toll | 65W wired | 65W wired |
| Price | RRP £349 | RRP £399 |
Design and Display
My review sample was Midnight Black, and the phone’s overall design is smart and inoffensive. The phone is also available in Aurora Green and Sunrise Blue, both of which will offer something more visually impressive.
The rear of the phone is plastic with a modest camera bump. One thing I like about this is that the included case seems to fit seamlessly with the phone’s design. Several times I picked it up thinking there was no phone case on it.
Targeting the affordable market, Realme includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, giving you an affordable headphone option.
The phone feels nice in the hand and works well, but there’s no water protection at all, so it’s best to keep the phone away from too much water.
As for the display, it’s a 6.4-inch 90Hz AMOLED screen, the same as the Nord 2. I think 90Hz is more than adequate at this price point, and for everyday use I can barely tell the difference between 120Hz.
camera
The star of the show is of course the 50 MP Sony IMX766 main camera, which also features optical image stabilization.
When I repeatedly refer to the Nord 2, this is the same sensor found at:
- Realme GT2 / GT2 Pro
- Honor Magic4 Pro
- OPPO Find X3 / X3 Pro / X5 / X5 Pro
- Xiaomi 12
Most of these phones cost hundreds of dollars, some over £1,000. So it’s a really great piece of hardware to use on phones that cost £299-£349.
Of course it’s not just about the hardware, the software processing makes a big difference, and I have no doubts that the £1000+ OPPO Find X5 Pro will take better pictures than this. However, it still does a great job.
When you look beyond the main camera, things are less impressive. The 8MP ultrawide does a decent job, but it’s a bit generic and boring. Then the macro lens is nothing but a gimmick.
The way Realme used to handle color was a bit overkill. In the past, green looked a little radioactive. I’m not against this approach, the images look impressive, but the Realme 9 Pro+ offers something a little more natural.
Realme 3.0 has a lot of camera features built into it. In addition to the standard Night, Portrait and full 50MP resolution modes you have: Street, Title Transition and Star Mode.
camera sample
Performance and Benchmarks
I have covered Dimensity 920 Benchmarks More broadly in a separate post. However, it’s a massive upgrade from last year’s Realme 8 Pro and the Snapdragon 720G from the previous two generations. The SD720G is a decent chipset, perfectly fine for general use, but the Realme 8 Pro feels a little lacking.
With the Realme 9 Pro+, I have more confidence in the overall performance and benchmarks reflect the improvement. Geekbench single-core and multi-core results were 40% and 37% higher, respectively, and the 3Dmark Slingshot Extreme score was 48% higher.
You can also feel the difference. As long as you’re not playing any high-end games or other intensive apps, you’ll be hard-pressed to tell the difference in performance between this phone and the flagship device.
software
Currently, I own three Realme phones at the same time, and I reviewed multiple phones last year, as well as OPPO and OnePlus phones. So I am very familiar with Realme UI.
Like all other Realme phones, there’s more bloat than I’d like. None of this is too intrusive, it’s just a bunch of apps you can uninstall. There are no built-in ads or annoying app scanning services when installing something like a Xiaomi phone.
The phone runs Android 12 out of the box, and Realme does a better-than-average job of keeping the phone up to date. The company promises two major Android updates for the phone.
Battery
You shouldn’t have much problem with the battery. The 4500 mAh battery is quite large for a power-efficient mid-range chip, and I got through the day comfortably with moderate usage. I usually end my day with more than 50% charge.
You also get an impressive 60W charging, which is only slightly slower than what Realme and other brands offer on their flagship devices. Realme claims this will serve you 100% in 44 minutes.
Price and Alternatives
The MSRP for the Realme 9 Pro+ 8GB + 256GB is £349. On launch day, however, it’s priced at £299, which I’d expect to be regularly below the MSRP.
The OnePlus Nord 2 has an MSRP of £399, but lately it’s been £369 from OnePlus and several other e-commerce stores.
I’d say the Realme 9 Pro+ is a good choice when there’s a £50 price difference, but if there’s only a £20 difference, I’d be inclined to buy the more powerful Nord 2.
The new Realme GT2 is normally £499, but 15-year-olds are on sale for £399th March and 21ststone in March. If you can stretch your budget, I’d say £100 is worth it.
The Realme GT Master Edition is currently £325, but it’s as low as £219 on Amazon. I personally prefer Realme 9 Pro+ because I want a good camera and good performance.
For those on a lower budget, the Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro 5G will be the best choice. You have a 120Hz AMOLED display, a slightly less powerful Snapdragon 695 chipset, a 108MP Samsung primary sensor, and a massive 5000mAh battery. Then the Mi 11i is the same as the Poco X4 Pro, but I’m not sure about UK availability or price. Annoyingly, both phones ship with the now-obsolete Android 11.
comprehensive
The Realme 9 Pro+ is a huge improvement over last year’s Realme 8 Pro. While I love the 8 Pro, I’m disappointed that it still uses the aging Snapdragon 720G, so I’m happy to move to the Dimensity 920.
The camera performance is excellent for a phone that’s probably under £300, and I love how a mid-range phone starts to be a great phone without having to pick and choose the specific features you want.
The main problem is that it’s hard to ignore the striking resemblance to the OnePlus Nord 2 5G and similar pricing. If we were to go with MSRP, I’d say Realme priced the Realme 9 Pro+ almost cheap enough to be more worth it than the Nord 2.
