Realme 9i With Snapdragon 680 SoC, 90Hz Refresh Rate Display Debuts in India

Realme 9i was launched in India on Tuesday. The new Realme phone comes as the successor to the Realme 8i that debuted last year. The Realme 9i carries an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC and 33W fast charging as the two key distinctions over last year's model. The smartphone also comes with dual stereo speakers as well as triple rear cameras. However, as a downgrade over last year's model, the Realme 9i has a 90Hz display - the Realme 8i came with a 120Hz refresh rate screen. The Realme 9i will compete against the likes of the Redmi Note 10S and Samsung Galaxy M32. The higher variant of the phone will also compete with the Redmi Note 11T 5G.

Realme 9i price in India, availability

Realme 9i price in India has been set at Rs. 13,999 for the base 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. The phone also has a 6GB + 128GB model that is priced at Rs. 15,999. The phone comes in Prism Black and Prism Blue colours and will go on sale starting January 25. The Realme 9i will be available for purchase through Flipkart, Realme.com, and offline retailers in the country. Also, there will be an early sale that will be held only on Flipkart and Realme.com on January 22.

Last year, the Realme 8i was also launched at the same price of Rs. 13,999 for the 4GB + 64GB option and Rs. 15,999 for the 6GB + 128GB variant.

The Realme 9i was also launched in Vietnam last week. It came with a price tag of VND 6,290,000 (roughly Rs. 20,500) for the lone 6GB + 128GB model.

Realme 9i specifications, features

The dual-SIM (Nano) Realme 9i runs on Android 11 with Realme UI 2.0 and features a 6.6-inch full-HD+ (1,080x2,412 pixels) display with a 20.1:9 aspect ratio and a 90Hz refresh rate. The display also has a 180Hz touch sampling rate and is protected by a Dragon Trail Pro glass. Under the hood, there is the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC, along with Adreno 610 GPU and up to 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Realme has also promised to introduce its Dynamic RAM Expansion support on the Realme 9i through a software update. The proprietary technology uses the built-in storage on the phone to virtually expand RAM by up to 5GB. This will help enhance multitasking to some extent.

For photos and videos, the Realme 9i has the triple rear camera setup that houses a 50-megapixel primary Samsung sensor, with an f/1.8 lens. The camera setup also includes a 2-megapixel portrait shooter and a 2-megapixel macro shooter — both with an f/2.4 aperture.

The Realme 9i also carries a 16-megapixel Sony IMX471 selfie camera sensor at the front, with an f/2.1 lens.

On the storage front, the Realme 9i comes with up to 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage that can further be expanded via microSD card (up to 1TB) through a dedicated slot. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, ambient light, proximity sensor, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

The Realme 9i comes with dual stereo speakers. It packs a 5,000mAh battery that supports 33W Dart Charge. The proprietary fast charging technology is claimed to provide zero to 100 percent charge in 70 minutes. The inbuilt battery is also rated to deliver up to 48.4 hours of talk time or 995 hours of a standby time on a single charge. The phone measures 164.4x75.7x8.4mm and weighs 190 grams.

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