The Realme 9 Pro+ is a midrange smartphone with – on paper – impressive specifications. Is the device such a hit in practice? You can read it in this Realme 9 Pro+ review.
Realme 9 Pro+
Price From € 380,-
Color Green, Black, Blue
OS Android 12
Screen 6.4 inch OLED (2400 x 1080, 90 Hz)
Processor MediaTek Dimension 920 5G
RAM 6 or 8 GB
Storage 128 or 256 GB (expandable)
Battery 4,500 mAh
Camera 50, 8 and 2 megapixels, 16 (front)
Connectivity 5G, 4G, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, GPS, NFC
Format 16 x 7.3 x 0.8 cm
Weight 182 grams
Other dualsim, fingerprint scanner under screen
Website www.realme.com/eu 8.1 Score 81 
- Pros
- Design and screen
- Battery life and fast charging
- Powerful hardware
- Update Policy
- Negatives
- Not water and dust resistant
- Poor video quality wide angle camera
Realme is a sister brand of Oppo, OnePlus and Vivo and is growing fast in countries like India. The manufacturer is also trying to gain a foothold in the Netherlands. Realme smartphones are available in all price ranges. I’ve been testing the Realme 9 Pro+ for the past few weeks, a slightly better and more expensive version of the 9 Pro. Pay close attention to the name (or not +) if you want to purchase one of the two smartphones.
Design
The Realme 9 Pro+ is made of glass, although it feels more like plastic. More importantly, the housing has a solid appearance and is comfortable to hold. Realme sells the smartphone in various colors, including the Aurora Green I tested. The back is colored light and dark blue and changes slightly to green when sunlight shines on it. A nice color if you ask me.
Keep in mind that the phone does not lie completely flat on the table because the camera module protrudes slightly on the back. This point of concern disappears with the supplied cover.
The smartphone weighs 182 grams – usual – and is difficult to operate with one hand due to its 6.4-inch screen. Please note that the phone does not like water and dust. In this price segment, some smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy A33, are water and dustproof. The Realme 9 Pro+ has – fortunately – a 3.5mm headphone jack and charges via a USB-C port.
Screen quality
The screen has a small hole in the top left corner, where the selfie camera is located. The screen is an AMOLED display that shows beautiful colors and shows black as real black. The Full HD resolution delivers a sharp display and the refresh rate of 90 Hz makes the image smoother than a 60 Hz screen. In this price segment, however, a 120Hz screen is almost standard.
In a direct comparison, the difference between 90 Hz and 120 Hz is noticeable, but in everyday use the display of the Realme 9 Pro+ looks just smooth. With the added advantage that a 90Hz screen is more energy efficient than a 120Hz screen.
The screen has a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 5 finish (usual) and contains an optical fingerprint scanner. So you don’t see it, unless you have to scan your finger. The scanner is accurate and nice and fast. Keep in mind that the scanner will not work properly if you have wet fingers – a problem that all optical fingerprint scanners suffer from.
Complete specifications
The Realme 9 Pro+ has all the specifications you would expect from a midrange smartphone in 2022. From support for WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and an NFC chip for contactless pinning in shops to support for 5G internet and a fast MediaTek Dimensity 920 processor. In terms of performance, it is comparable to the competition and can – on paper – last for years.
The RAM of the Realme 9 Pro+ is 6 GB or 8 GB. Depending on the configuration, you have access to 128 GB or 256 GB storage memory. The 6/128GB model costs 380 euros, the 8/256GB variant 430 euros. You cannot expand the storage memory with a micro SD card.
In practice, the Realme 9 Pro+ is a smooth smartphone on which you can also play a modern game.
Battery life and charging
The Realme 9 Pro+ has a 4500mAh battery. Not very big compared to the competition, which more often uses a 5000mAh battery. Yet you hardly notice it in practice. The 9 Pro+ also lasts a long day with normal use. Two days is possible if you take it easy.
It is nice that Realme includes a much faster charger with the 9 Pro+. We know this 65 watt adapter from competing smartphones from OnePlus and Oppo, for example. Remarkably, Realme has limited the charging speed of the 9 Pro+ to 60 watts. Why is not clear. Although charging happens quickly (from 0 to 75 percent in thirty minutes), there are devices that are full faster. Because in that same half hour, last year’s OnePlus Nord 2 (65 watt adapter) can be fully charged, for example. Is that disturbing? I don’t think so for many people, because the charging speed is impressive in itself.
Cameras
On the back of the Realme 9 Pro+ you will find three camera lenses. The main camera (50 megapixels) has an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera and a 2 megapixel macro camera. By default, the main camera shoots photos in 12.5 megapixels via a quad-bayer technique, which fuses four pixels into one for better results. That works, also aided by optical image stabilization (OIS). Not all smartphones in this price segment have OIS. Thanks to the OIS, the Realme 9 Pro+ makes less blurry images than some competitors, especially in the dark.
The photo quality is very good. The device shoots realistic pictures, handles bright sun and clouds well and offers twice the zoom with limited loss of quality. Please note the color difference between the main camera and zoom mode in the photos below. The portrait mode is also fine, especially because the Realme 9 Pro+ does not have a depth sensor and therefore relies entirely on smart software. And in the dark, the Realme 9 Pro+ takes sharper and clearer photos than many of its competitors. That’s definitely a plus.
The wide-angle camera holds its own in terms of photos because it shoots excellent images that capture a much wider part of the environment. But when filming, something stands out. The quality is below average, especially due to the smaller (yes) field of view than the main camera. Something that the colleagues of GSMArena noticed. Besides that, the video quality of the wide-angle camera is also mediocre. So you prefer to use the main camera for videos.
The 2megapixel macro camera is of average quality and can come in handy for flowers and small animals, for example. But you won’t take really nice photos with it, and that is mainly due to the washed out color reproduction and low resolution. See below three examples.
The 16-megapixel selfie camera is fine, also for taking video calling†
Software and Update Policy
Out of the box, the Realme 9 Pro+ runs on Android 12. That is the latest version, so it’s nice that Realme is up to date. Some brands, including sister manufacturer OnePlus and Motorola, released equally expensive smartphones with Android 11 around the introduction of the Realme 9 Pro+. In this area, Realme scores a – simple – plus. Not only because you benefit directly from Google’s innovations in Android, but especially because you are assured of a clear and genuine update policy.
Realme promises two version updates (Android 13 and 14) and three years of regular security updates. A similar OnePlus smartphone with Android 11 will also receive two version updates, of which Android 12 is already one. That feels like a fake update. It’s good that Realme takes the update policy of the 9 Pro+ seriously. However, it can be even better, because a brand like Samsung gives equally expensive smartphones five years of security updates. Such devices can therefore be used safely for a longer period of time.
Realme’s software shell (Realme UI 3.0) on Android 12 is good. Although the software is slightly different from the standard Android version, the changes are subtle and do not get in the way. Extra options are nice, such as adjusting the animation of the fingerprint scanner and the content on the lock screen, just to give two examples. I think it’s a shame that Realme comes with a handful of commercial apps. I quickly removed it.
Conclusion: Buy Realme 9 Pro+?
The Realme 9 Pro+ is a beautiful smartphone with a good screen, complete and powerful specifications and a long battery life. Charging is also fast, the cameras are good and Realme supplies the device neatly with Android 12 and a full update policy. The smartphone has no real downsides, but it does have some points of attention. Think of the housing that is not waterproof and dustproof and the mediocre video quality of the wide-angle camera.
Bottom line, the Realme 9 Pro+ is one of the best smartphones that you can buy for less than 400 euros. You will find bold alternatives in our up-to-date buying guide of the best smartphones between 300 and 400 euros.
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