realme 9 4G Hands-on

realme is adding a new offering under the realme 9 series in the Philippines, the realme 9 4G. Yes, 4G, because there’s a 5G version launched in India. This will site alongside the already available realme 9i, 9 Pro, and 9 Pro+. Check out our initial thoughts below.

From the front, the realme 9 4G looks like any other smartphone. It has 6.4-inch screen with Full HD+ resolution and a Super AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate. There’s no mention of any special glass protection but it already comes pre-installed with a screen protector.

It’s got slim bezels with a small punch hole on the upper left for the 16MP selfie camera. Placed above the screen in the bezel is the earpiece.

On the left, we have the volume buttons and the card tray for the two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card.

On the right is the power/lock button. The buttons are placed in the middle of the frame so they’re easy to reach.

Up top is the secondary microphone.

Down at the bottom are the 3.5mm audio port, main microphone, USB-C port, and loudspeaker.

At the back, we have the protruding camera module that houses the 108MP main, 8MP ultra-wide, and 2MP macro.

It has a premium build with a metallic frame with chamfered edges. The back panel has a frosted finish that curves to the sides so it feels nice when gripped. We also like the Sunburst Gold color which reminds you of the realme brand. It also has this effect that looks like flames coming from the sun. It’s pretty and eye-catching.

Powering the realme 9 4G is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset with an Adreno 610 GPU, up to 8GB of RAM, and 128GB UFS 2.2 storage. It runs on realme UI 3.0 based on Android 12, and a large 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging.

realme Philippines is yet to announce the price of the realme 9 4G, but we’re expecting it to be priced between the realme 9i (PHP 11,990USD 204INR 17,321EUR 195CNY 1,488) and the realme 9 Pro (PHP 16,990USD 290INR 24,544EUR 276CNY 2,108). Stay tuned for that.

realme 9 4G specs:
6.4-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080) Super AMOLED display
90Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling rate
Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC
Adreno 610 GPU
6GB, 8GB RAM
128GB UFS 2.2
microSD up to 256GB
Triple-rear cameras:
• 108MP Samsung HM6 F1.75 main
• 8MP F2.2 ultra-wide
• 2MP F2.4 macro
16MP F2.45 front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
WiFi 5
Bluetooth 5.1
GPS, A-GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS
3.5mm audio jack
USB-C
Fingerprint scanner (in-display)
realme UI 3.0 (Android 12)
5,000mAh battery w/ 33W Dart Charge, reverse charging
160.2 x 73.3 x 7.99 mm
178 g
Sunburst Gold, Stargaze White, Meteor Black