Realme 9i is Oppo spin-off brand Realme’s brand new budget phone in India. This is a follow-up to the Realme 8i. The 9i has an updated design, a faster chip, and can charge faster. This one also gets dual speakers, something that was missing out in the 8i. Pricing is broadly same, which is to say, the 9i is a phone that costs around Rs 15,000. It will compete against the Redmi Note 10S. The Redmi Note 11S is also on the verge of launch, so it would be interesting to see how that pans out. We’ve spent some time with the Realme 9i. Here’s our first look and impressions. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The Realme 9i boasts of a brand-new design. Realme calls it “stereo prism.” The back panel has this layered look that glistens when light hits it at different angles. It’s very electric, very retro, and just goes to show how far budget phones have come from being cheap and bland to being fun and unique. The 9i’s rear camera array would remind you of Realme’s more expensive phones like the Realme GT Neo 2, and even the Realme GT 2 Pro. Underneath, it’s all plastic, obviously, but Realme has done a good job with the fit and finish. The phone comes in blue and black hues. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The Realme 9i is a sleek and light budget phone. It weighs about 190g and measures 8.4mm in thickness. The Redmi Note 10S is even lighter and thinner, but you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference. Redmi does give you proper IP53 splash resistance, though, which is a major point in its favour. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The Realme 9i’s display is of the same size as the 8i. This is 6.6-inch. The resolution is also the same. This is 1080p. The panel, which is again IPS LCD like before, tops out at 90Hz though. The 8i came with 120Hz refresh rate so that’s kind of a downgrade. The real dealbreaker though is that the 9i doesn’t get as bright as the 8i, either. Realme says it is using Dragon Trail Pro glass in the 9i. The Redmi Note 10S can get even brighter, in comparison, and gets you an AMOLED panel. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
Under the hood, the Realme 9i has a 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chip. This is a good upgrade over the 12nm Helio G96-based 8i across the board. Realme offers up to 6GB RAM and 128GB UFS2.2 storage, so that’s also nice. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The Realme 9i runs Android 11-based Realme UI 2.0 software. Our review unit runs the December 5, 2021 security patch at the time of writing. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
Cameras are same as the 8i. This means, the Realme 9i also comes with a triple camera setup on the rear with a 50MP main (Samsung JN1), 2MP depth, and another 2MP macro sensor. On the front, it has the same 16MP camera as the 8i. Notably, Realme uses the same Sony IMX471 sensor that OnePlus uses in the OnePlus 9RT, a phone that costs upwards of Rs 40,000. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
Biometrics are handled by a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. It’s fast and mostly reliable. There are also dual speakers in this phone. The earpiece doubles as the secondary speaker. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The Realme 9i packs a large 5,000mAh battery, a size that’s now common among most budget phones in this category. The 8i also came with a 5,000mAh battery but while it topped out at 18W, the 9i supports 33W fast charging. Realme ships a compliant charger in the box. Fast charging speeds aside, the 9i is a battery champion. The phone pulled 21 hours and 55 minutes in our battery loop test which is very impressive. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The Realme 9i is an attractive budget phone with a stand-out design and good hardware, mostly. It basically goes on to show, there was some scope left to make an already fantastic budget phone (the 8i) even better. The only area where it seems falling short, is the display. Rest of the deal, seems solid. The Realme 9i price in India starts at Rs 13,999 for a version with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. A version with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage will set you back by Rs 15,999. The phone will be available starting January 25. Watch this space for our full review of the Realme 9i. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
