Realme 9 Pro+ review

The competition

The Realme 9 Pro+ is an impressive all-around smartphone and one that's easily likable. It has a fluid AMOLED screen, there is a powerful chipset with a 5G modem, the main camera is of premium quality, the battery life is great, and the charging is blazing fast. We do appreciate the recent Android version and Realme UI, too.

Realme has been known for pricing its mid-rangers quite competitively, and that's once again the case. The market has gone through a lot of struggles lately, though, and while the €380 price tag of the Realme 9 Pro+ is in line with the competition, it may come as a shock to some of its core customers that probably expected the phone to cost about €280-€300.

So, let's explore what the market has to offer around the €380 mark.

The first smartphone that comes to mind is the Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G. It is an IP67-rated smartphone with a faster 120Hz Super AMOLED screen, a slightly more powerful Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset, and a similarly versatile camera on the back with a stabilized lens for the primary. The A52s, in addition to the ingress protection, beats the Realme with a better 12MP ultrawide camera, a microSD slot and a €20 lower price. The 25W Galaxy charging is nowhere near as fast as the Realme's, though.

Then there is Xiaomi's Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G, which has just launched, and it is €10 cheaper than the Realme. The Note 11 Pro 5G has a larger and faster Super AMOLED screen, splash protection, and a 108MP primary camera over the 9 Pro+. On the other hand, the Realme trumps it with much faster graphics performance, OIS lens on the main camera - and if we were to choose between those two - the faster performance and better camera would have easily swayed us to choose the Realme 9 Pro+ over the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G.

OnePlus Nord 2 5G costs as much as the Realme 9 Pro+. In fact, the Realme 9 Pro+ seems like a repacked Nord 2 as it has a similar screen, camera setup, battery and charging capabilities. The Nord 2 is a faster smartphone with its flagship-like Dimensity 1200 5G chipset, and we urge you to consider the Nord 2 before deciding on the Realme 9 Pro+.

The Motorola Edge 20 is another offer with a similar (or slightly cheaper) price. It has a much faster 144Hz OLED screen, a water-repellent design; it runs on the more powerful Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset, and offers a 3x telephoto with OIS on its back in addition to the 108MP primary and the 16MP ultra-wide cameras. The clean Android 11 with Ready For perks is something to think about, too. Overall, the Realme 9 Pro+ tops the Edge 20 only at a few places - stereo speakers, the audio jack and charging speed.

Finally, there is one more smartphone worth considering - it's the €290 Poco X3 GT. It has a larger 120Hz LCD screen, a more powerful Dimensity 1100 5G chipset, and splash protection. The Realme 9 Pro+ on the other hand, has a better primary camera and an OLED screen, even if slower. The cheaper price tag and more powerful hardware can easily convince many customers to choose this Poco over the 9 Pro+, and we'd surely support their decision.

Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G • Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G • OnePlus Nord 2 5G • Motorola Edge 20 • Poco X3 GT

We cannot but look within Realme's store, too. The Realme GT Master is a worthy opponent that's priced around €350. It offers a faster 120Hz AMOLED and more powerful Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset but lacks OIS for its camera, and there is no second speaker. You need to decide which aspect is more important to you - camera quality or performance.

Realme GT Master

Our verdict

The Realme 9 Pro+ is a well-executed and powerful mid-range smartphone with competitive features across the board. It is a worthy upgrade over the Realme 7 Pro and Realme 8 Pro.

We liked almost everything about this handset - the 90Hz Super AMOLED screen, the powerful Dimensity 920 5G chipset, the battery life and the incredibly fast charging, not to mention the loud stereo speakers. The triple rear camera turned out a really good surprise with excellent quality and reliable performance.

The Realme 9 Pro+ base version has 128GB storage, which is yet another reason to like it. And the showstopper design surely helps its case. Finally, the fast Android 12 and powerful Realme UI 3.0 are some easy favorites.

However, the Realme 9 Pro+ is not a bargain bin purchase, that's for sure. It is priced closely to most of the similar phones in the market, but because of the ongoing chip and distribution crisis and the pandemic, the prices are higher than we'd expect. And that's the first thing to consider.

Then there is the lack of any sort of ingress protection, the retired microSD slot, and the disappointing ultrawide video capturing. These are all features that are available across many of the competing offers.

So, at the end of this review, we can safely conclude the Realme 9 Pro+ is an excellent smartphone despite a couple of setbacks - but hey, no phone is perfect. Its price is not what we expected.

We'd recommend this Realme 9 Pro+ immediately after its first price cut/promo deals go live, and we all know those are coming sooner rather than later - Realme does these all the time. Until then, we suggest keeping this phone on your shortlists and exploring all available offers that fit your budget before deciding on your next smartphone.

Pros

• Excellent AMOLED display, 90Hz refresh rate.
• Brilliant glass design, unique photochromatic back.
• Outstanding battery life and charging speed.
• Loud stereo speakers, good sound.
• Gaming-capable chipset, 5G, 128GB base storage.
• Superb primary camera day and night.
• Android 12, Realme UI 3.0, 3.5mm jack, Wi-Fi 6, NFC.

Cons

• A bit pricey at launch.
• No microSD slot.
• No splash protection.
• The FoV of the ultrawide camera in videos is absurd.
• No HRR gaming.