realme 9 Pro 5G Hands-on

realme welcomes not one but two Pro models for its latest smartphones in the Philippines, the realme 9 Pro and realme 9 Pro Plus. We will look at the realme 9 Pro that sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor, a liquid cooling system, 64MP Nightscape Camera, and 120Hz Display.

Out of the box, the first thing you’ll notice is that the Realme 9 Pro and the Pro+ have an identical design, but differ in material. The 9 Pro is made out of glossy polycarbonate material, while the Pro+ version has a glass back. Either way, both attract a lot of dust and fingerprint smudges. Luckily, the phone also comes with a protective case included in the box that will help solve that. The flat side frame is also plastic but aesthetically looks like aluminum with a matte finish.

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

The realme 9 Pro will be available in Aurora Green, Midnight Black, and Sunrise Blue. All of the design has a shimmering glitter, but the Sunrise blue option changes color from light blue to red when exposed to sunlight. The company calls it their Light Shift “Chameleon” design.

In the hands, it’s not too light, but not too heavy either considering it has a massive battery. At the same time, the realme 9 Pro is a good size for most people.

Upfront, we have a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display with 2412 x 1080px resolution with a pixel density of 400ppi. Unlike the 9 Pro Plus, realme decided to go for a higher refresh rate rather than a 90Hz AMOLED, so it’s capable of up to a 120Hz refresh rate. There’s a punch-hole for the selfie camera in the upper-left corner. So far, it feels super smooth to use and viewing angles look great.

For buttons and ports, located on the right side is the power button. Unlike the realme 8 Pro which has an in-display fingerprint scanner, realme 9 Pro uses a side-mounted scanner this time, which we think is a downgrade.

On the left side, you’ll see the volume rockers and the hybrid 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 9 Pro is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 with an Adreno 619 GPU, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, and realme UI 3.0 that’s based on Android 12.

Battery-wise, it packs a large 5,000mAh capacity with 33W fast charging.

Looking onto its cameras, the realme 9 Pro packs a triple setup at the back consisting of 64MP main, 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro. 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 9 Pro 5G specs:
6.6-inch(2412 x 1080)IPS LCD
Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor
Adreno 619 GPU
6GB / 8GB LPPDR4X RAM
128GB UFS 2.1
Triple rear cameras:
• 64MP Nightscape (main)
• 8MP (ultrawide)
• 2MP (macro)
16MP front camera
4G LTE, 5G
WiFi
Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, BEIDOU, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS
USB Type-C
3.5mm audio jack
realme UI 3.0 (Android 12)
5,000mAh battery w/ 33W fast charging
164.3 x 75.6 x 8.5 mm
195g
Aurora Green, Midnight Black, Sunrise Blue