realme 9i Hands-on

realme unveiled its newest budget smartphone that comes with a 90Hz display, 33W fast charging support, a 50-megapixel primary camera, and a stylish design, the realme 9i. If you’re curious about this device, just keep on reading!

Looking at the realme 9i itself, it is a slim and light device and we found it comfortable to hold and use. The back is made out of polycarbonate material with a “Stereo Prism” effect. The realme 9i will be available in two color options: Prism Blue and Prism Black.

More on its back, you’ll find the protruding triple camera setup at the top-left corner, as well as the realme branding below.

Upfront, we have a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display with 2412 x 1080 resolution with a pixel density of 400ppi. Unlike the realme 8i, realme decided to go for a 90Hz refresh rate rather than a 120Hz refresh rate. There’s a punch-hole for the selfie camera in the upper-left corner. So far, the display is good and remains legible even under direct sunlight.

For buttons and ports, located on the right side is the power button that also doubles as the fingerprint sensor.

On the left side, you’ll see the volume rockers and the SIM card tray. Buttons are well placed and easy to reach.

Up top, there’s a secondary microphone, while at the bottom there’s the USB Type-C port, 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker grille, and the primary microphone.

For internals, the realme 9i is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 with an Adreno 610 GPU, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, and realme UI 2.0 that’s based on Android 11. Battery-wise, it packs a large 5,000mAh capacity with 33W fast charging.

Looking into its cameras, the realme 9i packs a triple setup at the back consisting of a 50MP ultra-high pixel main camera for clearer photos, a 2MP secondary black & white lens for professional portrait mode, and a 2MP Macro Lens. Meanwhile, for selfies, we have a 16MP front shooter.

As for the price, realme is yet to announce its official price tag, we’ll surely update you once it’s available. We’ll be using this device more in the next couple of days, so definitely stay tuned for our full review.

realme 9i specs:
6.6-inch FHD+ (2412 x 1080) display, 401 PPI
90Hz refresh rate, 180Hz touch sampling rate
Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor
Adreno 610 GPU
6GB LPDDR4X (+5GB virtual RAM)
128GB UFS 2.2
Expandable up to 1TB via microSD
Triple rear cameras:
• 50MP F1.8 (main)
• 2MP F2.44 (macro)
• 2MP F 2.4 (B&W)
16MP F2.1 front camera
4G LTE
Dual-SIM (nano)
WiFi
Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, GALILEO
Dual stereo speakers
3.5mm audio jack
realme UI 2.0 (Android 11)
USB Type-C
5,000mAh battery w/ 33W fast charging
164.4 x 75.7 x 8.4mm
190g
Black, Blue

The realme 9i will launch in the Philippines on May 4, so stay tuned for the price.

So what do you think about the realme 9i? Do let us know in the comments.