Realme 9i

Realme 9i Review

The Realme 9i is a mid-range smartphone released in 2022, offering a balance of features and affordability.

Design

The device has a plastic build with dimensions of 164.4 mm in height, 75.7 mm in width, and 8.4 mm in depth. It weighs 190 grams. The phone is available in Black and Blue color options. It features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for security. The design is not foldable, with standard form factor.

Display

The Realme 9i features a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080 x 2412 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 401 ppi. The screen has a 20:9 aspect ratio, a 90Hz refresh rate and a typical brightness of 480 nits. It is protected by 2.5D curved glass. The display supports 96% of the NTSC color gamut and boasts a 1500:1 contrast ratio. It features a hole-punch notch and a 180Hz touch sampling rate.

Performance

The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G chipset (SM6225), built on a 6 nm process. The CPU is an octa-core configuration (4x2.4 GHz Kryo 265 Gold & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo 265 Silver). It uses an Adreno 610 GPU. The device comes in different configurations with 4GB or 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Storage options include 64GB or 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage. It achieved an AnTuTu v9 score of 216850. The phone doesn't feature a cooling system or gaming buttons.

Camera

The rear camera system includes a 50MP primary sensor (Samsung S5KJN1 ISOCELL) with an f/1.8 aperture, 0.64 µm pixel size, 1/2.76" sensor size, and 2x2 pixel binning. The additional rear cameras consist of a 2MP black & white sensor (GalaxyCore GC02M1) with an f/2.4 aperture and a 2MP macro lens (GalaxyCore GC02M1) with an f/2.4 aperture. The rear camera supports features like autofocus, touch focus, PDAF, continuous shooting, panorama, HDR, and 1080p video at 30fps along with slow-motion video at 120fps. The front-facing selfie camera is a 16MP sensor (Sony IMX471 Exmor RS) with an f/2.1 aperture, 1.00 µm pixel size, 1/3.13" sensor size and 2x2 pixel binning.

Battery Life

The Realme 9i is equipped with a 5000mAh Li-Ion battery, which is non-removable. It supports 33W fast charging. There is no wireless charging capability.

Software

The phone launched with Android 11, with planned updates up to Android 13.

Connectivity

Connectivity includes dual-band Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), Wi-Fi Direct, and Wi-Fi Display. It features Bluetooth 5.0 with A2DP, aptX, SBC, and AAC. GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, and Galileo are supported for location services. It uses a Dual SIM Dual Standby configuration with Nano SIM slots. 4G LTE network support includes bands B1, B3, B5, B7, B8, B20, B28b, B28a, B38, B40, and B41. 3G includes B1, B5, and B8. 2G supports B2, B3, B5, and B8. It also includes a USB Type-C 2.0 port with OTG. NFC is included.

Pricing

The Realme 9i's price varies based on configuration. The 4GB/128GB configuration has prices ranging from $162.53 to $315.88. The 6GB/128GB configuration is priced between $179.99 and $270.61.

Overall Verdict

The Realme 9i offers a large display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a capable Snapdragon 680 chipset for everyday tasks, a versatile 50MP main camera, and a large 5000 mAh battery with fast charging. However, it lacks 5G connectivity, has a plastic build, and includes a basic set of cameras beyond the main sensor. The device is positioned in the medium price range, making it a viable option for users looking for a cost-effective smartphone with a good balance of features.