Realme 9 5G Speed edition hands-on review

Introduction

The Realme 9 5G Speed Edition is currently exclusive to the Indian market. It is actually a re-branded Realme Q3s from the Chinese market and comes in as sort of a successor to the Realme 8s 5G and the Realme 8 5G before that. Though, it is admittedly quite hard to follow the company's lineup these days.

The Realme 9 5G Speed is an ambitious device that pushes the company's feature set to new levels as a whole, while also punching a bit above its price grade in some ways. Its 144Hz IPS display officially marks the first time the company has reached such a high refresh rate on one of its devices.

Realme 9 5G Speed specs at a glance:

• Body: 164.4x75.8x8.5mm, 199g; Glass front (Panda Glass), plastic back.
• Display: 6.60" IPS LCD, 144Hz, 480 nits (typ), 600 nits (HBM), 1080x2412px resolution, 20.1:9 aspect ratio, 400ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM7325 Snapdragon 778G 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (4x2.4 GHz Kryo 670 & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo 670); Adreno 642L.
• Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.2; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
• OS/Software: Android 11, Realme UI 2.0.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/2", 0.8µm, PDAF; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.1, 26mm (wide), 1/3.09", 1.0µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 30W, 50% in 25 min (advertised).
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); 3.5mm jack.

The Snapdragon 778G chipset is also great to see in this segment. It is a truly potent chip both in terms of raw CPU and GPU performance, as well as advanced connectivity - both network and local and extra features.

Compared to its Realme 9 5G Indian sibling, the Realme 9 5G Speed clearly punches up a notch. Beyond the major specs advantages we already mentioned, the Speed Edition also has 4K video capture, UFS 2.2 storage, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and faster 30W charging for its big 5,000 mAh battery to outpace its sibling.

Unboxing

The Realme 9 5G Speed Edition has a pretty rich retail package by modern standards. It ships in a sturdy bright-yellow box, which is quite eye-catching and gets the job done when it comes to protecting its contents.

Speaking of contents, beyond the phone itself, Realme also bundles in a 30W (5V@6A) DART charger in the box so you can use the full 30W fast charging the phone is capable of. There is a thick USB Type-A to Type-C cable alongside it which is rated to handle 6A of current and is hence not exactly standard. You should hold on to it.

Realme is also nice enough to throw in a thick and solid transparent TPU protective case in the box. It's a great little addition that lets you start using the phone worry-free immediately.