Realme has launched its first Speed Edition smartphone in the country – the Realme 9 SE. This new number series phone hopes to lure the customers with a 144Hz refresh rate, 778G processor, triple camera setup, and 30W fast charging. With a high refresh screen and a capable processor, it seems that Realme is targeting budget gaming enthusiasts. Does that Realme 9 Speed Edition offer a good experience? Is Realme 9 SE any different from other mid-range smartphones? Is it worth your money? We started work on the Realme 9 SE review a couple of days back. So it’s too early for us to answer those questions. Rest assured, we will answer those questions in the full review.
Based on that limited experience with the Realme 9 SE 5G here’s our hands-on experience of the phone:
Realme 9 SE 5G Quick Review: Display
Realme 9 SE 5G sports a huge 6.6-inch FHD+ LCD screen which has been termed as ‘Ultra-Smooth Display’ by the company. One of the prime reasons for this marketing tagline is the 144Hz refresh rate and It does make a difference. You will especially feel the swiftness while scrolling through the social feeds or surfing the web. This combined with a 360Hz touch sampling rate ensures the user has a good experience with the screen. Sometimes just a little flick of fingertip initiates actions. It is advertised to offer 600 nits of peak brightness. Well, in my real-world experience, I am quite satisfied with the brightness of the screen. I tested it under the direct sunlight and it was legible without any strain in my eyes.
Watching videos and streaming content on OTT is smooth and immersive on Realme 9 SE. The visuals have paunchy colors and look lifelike. It does support HD streaming on OTT platforms.
Realme 9 SE 5G Quick Review: Design
The first thing anyone notices when he/she opens the box of a new smartphone is its back panel design. At, least I am someone who gives brownie points to a device based on their color and design. This was the reason I was floored by Realme 9 SE. The back panel of the Realme 9 SE has a unique starlight design that looks like it is inspired by galaxies and space ships. The variant I got was named Starry Glow and it did look like a twinkling star when in sunlight. The hues of white, silver, and grey kept fluctuating when I took it out in sunlight. It has a vertically stacked rectangular camera module at the top left side which houses a triple camera setup and LED flash. The bottom left side has Realme branding in the silver-greyish font.
The Realme 9 SE has a fast fingerprint scanner on the right side which doubles as a power button as well. The bottom has speakers, a USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack while the left side has volume rockers and 3 card slots for SIM and SD cards. The feel-in-hand is good as the phone seems lightweight and sleek. It weighs just under 200 grams (199 grams) and is 8.5mm thick.
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Realme 9 SE 5G Quick Review: Camera
Realme 9 SE has a triple camera setup on the rear like most of its competitors. The setup includes a 48MP Ultra HD primary camera with 6P lenses which claims to give professional photos. It also has a B&W portrait lens and a 4cm Macro lens but Realme doesn’t disclose its megapixels or sensor details.
The phone has a 16MP AI Beauty Selfie camera with an F2.1 aperture that supports modes like bokeh flare and smart beauty which keep the skin and color tones as natural as possible. The focus is good as the background seems unimportant when the subject is in the frame.
I haven’t tested the main camera setup too well till now, so I will have much more to say and camera samples to show in a few days.
Realme 9 SE 5G Quick Review: Battery
Realme 9 SE comes with a 5000mAh battery which lasts for an entire day when the user has a light to moderate usage. It comes with 30W Type-C Dart Charge which charges the phone rather rapidly. 75% of devices got charged within 32-35 minutes which was decent. Switching on the Smart 5G Power Saving mode helped save battery life once when I had forgotten to charge the phone before stepping outside.
Realme 9 SE 5G Quick Review: Performance
Realme 9 SE 5G comes with Snapdragon 778G SoC which features for the first time in a smartphone in this category. The unit that Realme loaned me for the review has 8GB RAM which is combined with 128GB storage. In my limited duration of usage, the Realme 9SE performed as per my expectations. Apps loaded quickly, and I was able to able to switch between apps running in the background seamlessly. The phone has a host of connectivity options like Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, and 5G connectivity.
The phone runs Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11 which is not the latest iteration of Google’s smartphone OS. The UI comes with a lot of bloatware with apps like Snapchat, Spotify, phonepe, daily hunt, and more pre-installed. Thankfully, most of these apps can be uninstalled which is a relief. The sound quality is immersive and compliments the display well. I am yet to run benchmark tests and play games on the phone so will be able to talk about the performance in detail in our Realme 9 SE 5G review.
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Realme 9 SE 5G Quick Review Verdict
Whatever limited time I managed to spend with the Realme 9 SE 5G, it has managed to leave a positive first impression on me. Its appealing design, good display, and capable processor make it a good package for the price. I am yet to put the Realme 9 SE camera to real-life test but rest assured soon I will be updating you about the cameras as well. With good battery life and excellent charging speeds the Realme 9 SE looks like a good choice for budget range buyers.
