Realme 9 4G Review Summary
Editor’s Rating- 3.8/5
Design
Display
Connectivity
Performance
Battery
Camera
Pros
- Good FHD+ display
- 108MP primary camera
- Android 12
- 5000mAh battery, 33W fast charging
Cons
- No HDR support
- Ultrawide camera average
- No 5G connectivity
Realme has launched quite a few smartphones that are a part of the Realme 9 Number series in India. These include Realme 9 5G, Realme 9 SE, Realme 9 Pro and Realme 9 Pro+. Now, the company has launched the 5th member of this family with the Realme 9 4G.
Realme 9 4G is the cheapest device in the 9 Number series and what’s attractive about it is that it gives you a 108MP camera at an affordable price. Apart from the camera, it has an AMOLED display, 5000mAh battery, 33W fast charging, and more. Although on paper, the specs look good but is this 4G phone really worth it? Let’s find out.
JUMP TO
Unboxing | Specs | Price & Availability | Design | Display | Performance | Camera | Battery | Verdict
Realme 9 4G: Unboxing
Realme 9 4G comes in a regular cardboard box which is yellow in color and has 9 and Realme written on the front. At the back of the box are written some specs and information, whereas the box contains-
- Realme 9 4G device
- USB Type-C cable
- Charger
- TPU Cable
- SIM tool
- Quick Guide/Documentation
Realme 9 4G: Specs
- Display- 6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display
- Refresh rate- 90Hz
- Brightness- 1000 nits
- Chipset- Snapdragon 680
- GPU- Adreno 610
- RAM- up to 8GB
- ROM- up to 128GB
- Rear camera- 108MP+8MP+2MP
- Front camera- 16MP
- Battery- 5000mAh
- Fast charging- 33W
- OS- Android 12 based Realme UI 3.0
- Dimensions- 160.2×73.3×7.99mm
- Weight- 178 grams
Realme 9 4G: Price & Availability
Realme 9 4G comes in 2 storage variants in the country-
- 6GB RAM+128GB storage- Rs. 17,999
- 8GB RAM+128GB storage- Rs. 18,999
The device will be available in 3 colors- Sunburst Gold, Stargaze White, and Meteor Black.
Realme 9 4G: Design
The Realme 9 4G comes in a polycarbonate (plastic) body. It comes in 3 colors- Sunburst Gold, Stargaze White, and Meteor Black. The variant we have is in Sunburst Gold color which may evoke contrasting feelings in different people. I personally have no problem with the phone’s striking colors and glossy finish. When light falls on the Realme 9 4G back panel, it emits different hues of orange color. The glossy finish ensures it catches smudges easily which is a bummer. This can be solved if you use the TPU cover that comes with the device.
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The rear panel has a transparent camera module that has 3 lenses and an LED flash. The backside of the phone also has Realme branding. The front has a 6.4-inch screen, the left side of which has a punch hole selfie camera. The phone has a silver frame on all 4 sides with the right edge having the power button and the left one includes a SIM tray. The tray has 3 slots- 2 for SIM and 1 for microSD card.
The bottom edge of Realme 9 4G has a 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, Type-C port, and speaker grille. The top side also has a microphone. When held in hand, the device feels smooth and soft. The screen size allows you to operate easily with one hand and the device feels lightweight (178 grams) as well.
The Gold variant we have is apt for the young generation, but if you are someone who looks for simple colors for smartphones, then you can go for white or black variants. Overall the design is beautiful to look at and its 7.9mm thickness makes it sleek.
Realme 9 4G: Display
The Realme 9 4G has a 6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling rate, and 1000 nits peak brightness. The display comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection and looks bright. The colors look beautiful but the dynamic range is a little less. The screen is visible even under bright sunlight but the brightness has to be kept full for it. The screen reflects outer light and one can see their face on the display screen, as it is a mirror. It works well with auto-brightness as well.
The screen has a 90Hz refresh rate which can be bought down to 60Hz as well according to needs. When you use the device with a 90Hz refresh rate, it remains the same during scrolling as well. But during gaming, and video streaming it adjusts itself to 60Hz on its own. The experience of watching video content was decent, but there is no HDR support that is visible. However, looking at the price, this drawback can be ignored. The display has Widevine L1 support as well, so you can watch content from OTT apps in Full HD.
Realme 9 4G: Performance
Realme 9 4G is powered by Snapdragon 680 6nm octa-core chipset. It has 4 Kyro Gold cores with a clock speed 2.4GHz and 4 Kyro Silver cores with a clock speed of 1.9GHz. There is an Adreno 610 GPU as well.
The smartphone performs daily tasks easily. We ran apps like YouTube, Prime for video watching, social media apps like Instagram and Facebook, and all of these loaded and opened quickly, making multitasking seamless. Calling, messaging, scrolling everything went well. If we talk about gaming, then gamers will be disappointed with this phone.
We tried playing call of duty and it could not be played with high graphics and frame rates. If we choose high graphics, the frame rate gets down to medium and vice versa. Gaming is not at all smooth. You can play games at medium graphics and frame rates if you want to. The thermal performance also disappoints as the phone heats up after a long gaming session. The phone heats up around the rear camera module which is worrisome.
We performed some benchmark tests on Realme 9 4G and the results are as follows-
Coming to audio performance, the device comes with only 1 speaker which is loud enough. The video on screen and audio from the speaker gives an immersive experience. You will not feel the need for another speaker. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack too, which is useful for those who like to use wired earphones for listening.
Calling on Realme 9 4G is decent. The voice of the person on the other end is clearly audible and there is never cracking of voice.
The OS is something that earns brownie points for this device. At this price, Realme gives us the latest Android 12 version with Realme UI 3.0, while Moto G60 and Redmi Note 11 Pro give Android 11 at this price. The UI is clean and simple. Although there is bloatware those apps can be uninstalled if you don’t want them.
The phone’s right side has a smart sidebar wherein you will find recently used apps, but you can change these apps at your convenience as well. Sliding from left to right side opens Google Discover Feed.
Realme 9 4G: Camera
Realme 9 4G has a triple camera module on the rear end. It includes a 108MP primary camera which gives well-detailed images in daylight. The colors are well captured and the images look lifelike. The photographs clicked a are crisp, but sometimes colors look slightly artificial. The leaves in the images below look extra green and the black looks extra black as well.
The smartphone has an 8MP ultrawide sensor as well. The clicks from this lens look natural but the detailing is a little less. Photos taken in low light have too much noise.
The third sensor is the 2MP macro lens which gives decent shots in good daylight.
There is a 16MP front camera in Realme 9 4G which takes above average shots in natural daylight. Detailing in selfies is good but indoor selfies appear grainy and full of noise. Low light performance is strictly average.
There is a street photography mode in the device which takes photos with natural color and looks. As per the price, the performance of this mode is ok. There are portrait, 100MP mode, Night Mode, Pro Mode, and Time Lapse modes as well.
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Realme 9 4G: Battery
The Realme 9 4G has a 5000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support. The phone’s battery backup is good. After an entire day’s use, there was still about 25-30% battery remaining. Even if one is a heavy user, the battery will last for an entire day. The charger that comes with the device charges the battery from 0 to 55% in 30 minutes and 100% in 1 hour 15 minutes. As per the PC Mark battery test, this phone gives 13 hours 39 minutes battery life, which is really good for this price range.
There are devices that give higher fast charging support, but there is not much of a difference when you use them. Overall, the battery life and fast charging in Realme 9 4G are good.
Realme 9 4G: Verdict
The Realme 9 4G is one of the better smartphones under Rs 20,000 in India. The phone has an AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. Although you have options like Redmi Note 11 Pro 4G which have a 120Hz refresh rate, you won’t find much of a difference between 90 and 120Hz refresh rates. Also, the Realme 9 4G gives Android 12 whereas Redmi Note 11 still has Android 11. Adding to it are a 108MP main camera, 5000mAh battery, 33W fast charging, 16MP selfie lens, and more. Currently, all thanks to special launch offers, Realme 9 4G is available at a discount of Rs. 2000 which makes it an affordable 4G phone.
However, if you don’t consider a 108MP main camera, then you can go for Realme 9 SE 5G, Realme 9 Pro, Poco X4 Pro, and more in the same price range.
