Realme 9 5G Speed edition hands-on review

Software

The Realme 9 5G Speed runs Realme UI 2.0 out of the box, which is a familiar sight. Unfortunately, it sits on top of the older Android 11, which is not ideal.

The overall UI has a certain distinctive look and feel to it, but all the while doesn't stray too far away from the AOSP look. Clean, usable and straightforward.

Realme UI 2.0

That doesn't mean that it's light on customization, though. There are themes, icons, colors, notification shapes, layouts, text font, and size, all freely customizable.

Realme UI customization

Behavior is deeply customizable and configurable as well. Everything from a simple choice of button or gesture navigation to advanced motion shortcuts and gestures.

Convenience tools

Realme UI 2.0 has no shortage of what it deems "convenience tools".

Performance

The Realme 9 5G Speed edition is pocking a Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset which Realme raves about in the press materials. While not a chart-topping chip in an absolute sense, we do have to agree that it is increasingly hard to see a chipset of quite this caliber at this particular price point. The Realme 9 5G Speed is punching a bit above its weight class, and we love to see it.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme GT Master
  2917
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  2801
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  2753
• Poco X3 Pro
  2574
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  2063
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  2063
• Realme 9 Pro
  2020
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  1900
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  1891
• Poco M4 Pro
  1836
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  1797
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  1729
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  1673
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  1662
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  588

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  795
• Realme GT Master
  785
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  771
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  743
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  742
• Poco X3 Pro
  735
• Realme 9 Pro
  694
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  688
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  687
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  597
• Poco M4 Pro
  523
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  511
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  505
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  376
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  153

Rocking a 4x2.4 GHz Kryo 670 & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo 670 CPU configuration the Snapdragon 778G places the Realme 9 5G Speed comfortably in the top part of the CPU performance bracket for its price range. Even Samsung went back on its inclusion of the more powerful chip from the Galaxy A52s last year and downgraded to a weaker in-house solution for this year's A53.

AnTuTu and its compound benchmarks are equally favorable towards the Realme 9 5G Speed. This is a much fuller overall performance picture since AnTuTu takes into account things like memory size and speed and had GPU tests as well.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Poco F3
  631850
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  477632
• Poco X3 Pro
  453223
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  429675
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  354420
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  335353
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  329802
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  296721
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  288914
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  261309
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  228044
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  226561
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  122822

Devices like the Poco F3 and Poco X3 Pro still have the Realme 9 5G speed beet, but both are older models that have come down in price by now, making them more competitive. The point is that the Realme 9 5G Speed stands a neck above the crowd among its current piers.

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Poco X3 Pro
  38
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  28
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  28
• Realme GT Master
  27
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  20
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  19
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  17
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  17
• Realme 9 Pro
  16
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  13
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  12
• Poco M4 Pro
  12
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  6.8
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  5.2

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Poco X3 Pro
  45
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  33
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  33
• Realme GT Master
  33
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  23
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  23
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  20
• Realme 9 Pro
  19
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  19
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  16
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  14
• Poco M4 Pro
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  8
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  6.2

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Poco X3 Pro
  67
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  50
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  49
• Realme GT Master
  46
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  35
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  35
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  30
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  30
• Realme 9 Pro
  29
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  23
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  22
• Poco M4 Pro
  21
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  12
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  8.3

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Poco X3 Pro
  75
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  57
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  56
• Realme GT Master
  56
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  38
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  38
• Realme 9 Pro
  35
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  34
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  34
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  26
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  24
• Poco M4 Pro
  24
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  9.4

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Poco X3 Pro
  93
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  69
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  59
• Realme GT Master
  57
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  56
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  55
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  42
• Realme 9 Pro
  41
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  41
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  37
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  34
• Poco M4 Pro
  33
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  18
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  14

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Poco X3 Pro
  102
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  79
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  77
• Realme GT Master
  77
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  60
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  60
• Realme 9 Pro
  47
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  47
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  47
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  40
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  37
• Poco M4 Pro
  37
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  21
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  16

3DMark agrees with this general assessment as well. We can clearly see the Realme 9 5G Speed holding its own against modern competitors and even some of the older heavyweights that have depreciated in value a bit.

3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  5030
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  5010
• Realme GT Master
  4988
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  3631
• Realme 9 Pro
  2946
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  2638
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  1316
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  886

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  4231
• Realme GT Master
  4020
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  3989
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  3570
• Realme 9 Pro
  2773
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  2509
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  1267
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  931

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Poco X3 Pro
  3401
• Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  2491
• Realme GT Master
  2481
• Realme 9 5G Speed Edition
  2476
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  2292
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  2260
• Poco M4 Pro 5G
  1232
• Realme 9 Pro
  1211
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  1211
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  1204
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  1185
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  1101
• Poco M4 Pro
  1099
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  510
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  439

The Realme 9 5G Speed is not just an excellent performer when it comes to quick burst loads either. We made sure to test its thermal-throttling performance too and put its through its paces in proper endurance performance runs.

Thermal-throttling behavior

It passed these with flying colors, only losing a fraction of its maximum performance by the one-hour mark and doing so in a nice, gentle, controlled manner. The absence of sudden jarring dips is great since those cause stutters in the game.

Overall, the Realme 9 5G Speed edition left us very impressed in the performance department. The Snapdragon 778G is an excellent upper mid-range chip that is truly hard to find in this price range. It manages to stand a neck above the competition and chew through every gaming and general task we threw at it.

Battery life and charging

The Realme 9 5G Speed ships with a 5,000 mAh battery, which should easily last most people through the day on moderate usage, Wi-Fi connection and a 144Hz screen refresh rate. According to Realme the battery is good for 53 hours of call time, 19.5 hours of video playback, 91.5 hours of music and 683 hours of standby on a single charge. It also has smart 5G power saving, which promises up to 30% lower battery consumption by automatically dropping to LTE as needed.

It can charge at a maximum rate of 30W (5V@6A) thanks to DASH technology. With the included charger and cable, we were able to get it from dead to 93% in 60 minutes, with a full charge taking a total of 1 hour and 13 minutes.

Camera

The Realme 9 5G Speed is part of the current wave of BBK devices that go a bit light on the camera department. What we mean by that is that there is no ultrawide nor a dedicated telephoto on the device. Once you get down to it, the Realme 9 5G Speed just has a single 48MP main camera on its back. The other two 2MP snappers are supplementary.

This can be interpreted as a deficiency or simple practicality, though, since one could argue that no ultrawide at all is better than a basic one that simply diverts budget away from other bits of the phone.

There is nothing particularly noteworthy about the camera app UI.

Camera app

In any case, we had time to take a few quick snaps with the main 48MP camera. You can judge the quality of the stills for yourself.

Realme 9 5G Speed edition: 12MP main camera samples

And here are the same scenes captured at the full 48MP resolution.

Realme 9 5G Speed edition: 48MP main camera samples

Wrap-up

The Realme 9 5G Speed edition lives up to its name quite well. It's a phone that offers excellent all-around specs, including a 144Hz display, a Snapdragon 778G chipset and a large 5,000 mAh battery with 30W charging at a very competitive price point. Those advantages are not just on paper either. It managed to really impress us for the short time we had to spend with it.

The Realme 9 5G speed is a well-rounded and competitive offer that is hard to beat at its price point. It is sure to make prospective owners happy and is particularly geared towards those looking for the best possible performance and connectivity on a budget.

Pros

• Attractive, eye-catching design.
• 144Hz refresh rate - a first for Realme.
• Snapdragon 778G chipset punches above the price bracket in terms of performance and has great connectivity.
• Great battery life and fast charging.
• Solid overall camera quality.
• microSD, 3.5mm jack, and NFC.

Cons

• A bit difficult to hold and unwieldly.
• Single loudspeaker.
• Launches with the older Android 11 OS.
• High refresh rate gaming does not work in the current state of the OS.
• Rather basic camera setup: no ultrawide or telephoto.
• No ingress protection.