Is Realme 9 Pro+ 5G the New Mid-Range Smartphone King?

Realme 9 Pro+ 5G and Realme 9 Pro 5G — launched in India this week — are designed to appeal to young smartphone users, with their colour-changing back panel that shifts from Sky Blue to Red under direct sunlight or ultraviolet light. Plus, it's got triple rear cameras, one of which has optical image stabilisation (OIS). That's very rare in the under Rs. 30,000 segment. On top of that, the Realme 9 Pro+ 5G has a 90Hz AMOLED display, 60W fast charging, and stereo speakers — all very good under Rs. 30,000 where phones such as the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge and OnePlus Nord 2 are mostly ruling the market.

On this week's episode of Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital, host Akhil Arora speaks with Senior Reviewers Sheldon Pinto and Aditya Shenoy to talk about the Realme 9 Pro+ 5G and Realme 9 Pro 5G — and to understand what the Realme 9 Pro+ 5G offers against the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge 5G and the OnePlus Nord 2.

Realme 9 Pro+ price in India starts at Rs. 24,999 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. The phone also comes in an 8GB + 128GB model that is priced at Rs. 26,999 and the top-end 8GB + 256GB option at Rs. 28,999. The Realme 9 Pro 5G, on the other hand, starts at Rs. 17,999 (introductory pricing) for the 6GB + 128GB model and goes up to Rs. 20,999 for the 8GB + 128GB option.

Both phones come with a "Light Shift Design" that is exclusive to their Sunrise Blue colour option and is responsible for offering the colour-shifting back panel. It is, however, not that valuable if you prefer covering the phone with a case. Naturally.

Realme is also not the first brand to offer the colour-changing back as its sibling Vivo — under the same parent company BBK Electronics — offered a similar experience on the launched Vivo V23 Pro 5G last month. That said, it does make both models stand apart on design from the competition.

Realme 9 Pro+ Review: Excellent Value for Money

The Realme 9 Pro+ 5G is also equipped with an upgraded camera setup that features a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 primary sensor, with an f/1.8 lens. As I said previously, the primary sensor is also equipped with OIS to provide better stability. Further, it is paired with a proprietary lightning technology called ProLight Imaging as well as AI Noise Reduction Engine 3.0 that both are touted to help deliver an enhanced camera experience — especially in low-light photography.

Apart from the camera side of things, the Realme 9 Pro+ 5G carries a heart rate sensor within its in-display fingerprint sensor that is claimed to help provide heart rate detection and recording. The technology has not been medically approved, though it could help Realme to deliver some uniqueness over the competition.

The feature is, though, not turned on by default as users need to enable it by going to the Realme Lab from the phone. Also, it takes some seconds to detect your heart rate and is not as instant as recognising your fingerprints.

The Realme 9 Pro+ 5G, as well as the Realme 9 Pro 5G, are also available with Android 12 out-of-the-box, with Realme UI 3.0 on top. The latest Android version brings a list of software features that you would not get on the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge and OnePlus Nord 2 — owing to the fact that both are currently running on Android 11. Both phones are, though, upgradable to Android 12 in the future.

That said, Realme's fast charging on the Realme 9 Pro+ 5G is not as quick as the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge that supports whopping 120W charging. However, 60W support is good too — given the likes of Apple and Samsung don't go over 45W on their flagship phones.

We also speak about how the Realme 9 Pro+ 5G and Realme 9 Pro 5G perform against models including the Vivo T1 5G and Google Pixel 4a. This is to find out whether the new Realme phones can potentially be your preference if you were looking to buy any of those models.

You can listen to all this and more by play button on the Spotify player above.

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