Realme 9 4G, analysis: a competitive mid-range that gives up 5G in favour of the price
Not long ago, the Realme 9 was officially presented, available in 4G and 5G versions. However, its availability was limited to India. This device can already be purchased in Spain and other countries, so at Xataka Android, we couldn’t resist trying it, and in this post, we bring you a complete review of our experience of using the 4G model.
This device stands out especially for a 108 Megapixel primary camera, incorporating a Snapdragon 680 or a Realme customization layer based on Android 12. Although at first, the most wondrous thing is its colour, from the beginning, it occurs to us to ask the following question metaphorically, will we find El Dorado with this Realme 9 4G?
It is a device with which fingerprints do not adhere easily, and therefore, you can enjoy it without a cover. It is not the only one on the market to have this feature, but we are seeing more cheap mobiles like this one with materials that call for dirt just by looking at them, so it is appreciated that this one does not. For the rest, it offers a very compact size despite its dimensions, especially highlighting its lightweight.
Under a protector already installed from the factory, we find an AMOLED panel configurable at 60 or 90 Hz and an automatic version to optimize the battery, and it looks excellent. It indeed saturates the colours slightly, but it is not exaggerated, and it becomes very appealing to enjoy video content. Of course, something happens with the automatic brightness. We do not know if it is due to poor implementation of the light sensor or the lack of a software update. Still, it tends to offer an excessively low brightness in all situations, so it is more practical to set it to manual and adjust it ourselves. In these cases, it provides a good intelligence in practically any position.
Disappointing in performance, although with excellent autonomy
Realme 9 4g screen
The Mediatek Helio G95 of the Realme 8 is not that it was terrible, but it had points to improve. And it’s not that we expected that its Qualcomm replacement would turn it into an aeroplane, but the truth is that the Snapdragon 680 of this Realme 9 4G has left us with a very bittersweet taste (more sour than sweet).
The device feels slow relatively quickly. It is not that it is not a constant either, but we often see how not even the 90 Hz of the screen allows it to feel fluid in such daily and simple actions as browsing the system. And not to mention when we demand a little of it since it also heats up and slows down the rest of the processes a lot. Without going any further, in the 3D Mark performance test, it got stuck and had to be forced to restart.
Unfortunately, the matter does not improve if we talk about your fingerprint reader. It is very well located on the screen, and although it is a bit slow in its recognition, it is something to be expected in this price range, and we do not see a very negative aspect either. However, it fails to recognize too often, something that we were only able to mitigate to some extent by setting up the same fingerprint twice.
As far as software is concerned, it mounts a Realme UI 3.0 based on Android 12. This customization layer is appreciated because it is not loaded with bloatware despite not being a pure Android. At most, some other pre-installed apps are easy to identify and do not blur an interface very similar to the one you can have in terminals that mount the Google system without add-ons.
Realme 9 4g Display
As far as autonomy is concerned, we have been pleasantly surprised. Even with 90 Hz active, it arrives with the battery at night, depending on the use. With daily use (video, social networks, browsing calls, casual games), it turned off for us arriving at 9:30 p.m. (from 7:00 a.m.). However, it dramatically improves the matter with the automatic mode or the 60 Hz mode, reaching 11:00 p.m. (from 7:00 a.m.) with 14% battery in an identical use with seven and a half hours of screen. If the service is more intensive and demanding, it hardly reaches 10:00 p.m. with 60 Hz or automatic mode.
Realme 9 Battery
Its charging times, with its 33 W adapter included in the box, are not bad. In fact, in 15 minutes, it already gives us almost 30% battery. Although this does not mean that it is one of the best charges on the market, far from it taking about an hour and a quarter to make a full charge from 0 to 100%, as you can see in this summary:
10 minutes: 19% 15 minutes: 27% 30 minutes: 49% 40 minutes: 63% 50 minutes: 77% 60 minutes (1 hour): 90% Total: 1 hour and 13 minutes
Does its job in cameras, except at night
This Realme 9 4G offers one of the complete camera apps in its price range. At least as far as modalities are concerned, having quick access to all its classic modes (photo, video, night mode), in addition to modal”Special” features of the device such as the street mode designed to capture better results outdoors, the 108M mode created for photos in their maximum resolution and the option to access more settings and even a pro model from the “More” panel.
Realme 9 4g Camera
We already anticipate that we have been quite satisfied in general terms from the results themselves. There is not something so brilliant with which to raise our hands to our heads, as is expected in this price range. However, some disappointments are inappropriate even when talking about an economical mobile. With that said, let’s look at some examples.