Capture the Light With The realme 9 PRO 5G! Full Review

Looks like the long wait is over as realme Philippines officially released the much anticipated realme 9 PRO series. Among the releases of realme, this series is actually the one I’m following closely as I got familarized with its predecessors, (8 PRO and 7 PRO). Last March 15, the new realme 9 PRO 5G and the realme 9 PRO+ were introduced and was very happy to test it and it looks like it was worth the wait. This review will focus on realme 9 PRO 5G. Let’s take a look.

Not that it is important but I noticed realme changed its box design for this release from their usual center-label smartphones. Prior to launch I wrote my first impression blog (check it out HERE). It detailed basically what’s inside the box and what to expect. Today I’m focusing on performance and sample shots to help you decide whether this is for you.

The realme 9 PRO is considered the brand’s 5G-capable photography powerhouse. It is wiser to have this release on 5G. I’ll tell you why later.

Design wise, it has an impressive vibrant build. This one is Sunrise Blue colorway. If you’re holding the unit, its color shifts from blue to red under direct sunlight exposure. Will post IG stories about that so you’ll check.

The realme 9 PRO is available in two colors: Sunrise Blue and Aurora Green. The Light Shift design is only available to this color. Very modern in approach.

5G connectivity

Since the introduction of 5G in PH, I got to shift from my usual 4G phone to this. Well this is me being so dependent on smartphone as content creator. Thanks to realme because as everyone gears up to make user experience better, 5G capable 9 PRO series is the way to go. With 5G enhanced performance, I noticed that this realme 9 PRO is really adaptive when it comes to downloading a lot of apps I need. As in literally super fast!

With its high-powered Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G Processor, I think moving from one app to another is another leap of improvement. Its performance increased by 15%. Not to be technical about it but this unit features two Cortex-A78 Cores that can clock up to 2.2 GHz, (and six Cortex-A55 Cores that can clock up to 1.8GHz.) Most of the apps are pre-downloaded already and even if there’s a lot of apps installed and opened, the performance remains faster.

I tried playing some games and still faster as it should be. I tried mobile legends but the speed didn’t permit me to be better LOL. Maybe that’s not for me. So I resorted to racing and other games.

This performance segue me to let you know that it has 120Hz Ultra Smooth Display! You will love its 1080 x 2412 pixels and by the way the phone size 6.6 inches.

For someone like me who is a heavy user of social media, almost every social media apps for me are  open all at the same time. Good thing the realme 9 Pro also features a Liquid Cooling System for sustained peak performance as it keeps the core areas of the device cool to make it work harder for longer. Cool isn’t it!

As a bonus the realme 9 Pro also boasts the same Dynamic RAM Expansion with 5GB of additional virtual RAM. So use the phone all you want without worrying its adaptability!

No need to worry if you will go outside and forgot your charger. It has a massive battery (5000mAh). And as a fan of fast chargers, realme 9 PRO is capable of dart charge (33W), not the upgrade we saw from its predecessor but enough to make your charging experience faster.

Camera Performance / Photo Samples

This is actually one of the features that we consider is the camera. Ofcourse, with how competitive the market is, everyone wants to be at par with photography. As I have mentioned, I let go of using DSLRs and really heavily on smartphones for my content. Do not fret, the realme 9 PRO 5G didn’t disappoint. It has 64 MP rear camera with f/1.8, 26mm (wide); another PDAF 8 MP, f/2.2, 119˚and 16mm (ultrawide) camera plus 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro). It’s selfie cam has 16MP.

Of course I tried first the street photography. Though currently I’m at the area where there are no cars that much, I was able to test its neon lights feature. This one is actually after 6pm. The phone enhances the color!

I went to the mall instead to test its 64MP and I can say that it is clearer from taking photos even if I somehow move a bit while taking the shots.

At home I noticed the camera is vibrant as well.

There’s also the starry night feature similar to realme 8 PRO. I took a photo below though I think you will enjoy more of this feature if you are taking a video. Please check my sample video shots at my realme 8 PRO review.

As I have mentioned, one of the features of the street photography is light pointing. So I tried it and with more than 5 seconds long exposure you can actualy play with flash lights or anything.

I think this is perfect if you’re taking fireworks shots or fire dancers performing.

The normal shots are actually vibrant already. No need to enhance to saturate or whatever.

I also test the ultra macro which ideally you’ll get better results if you position the phone 4cm away from the subject. This one is a moving object so I have to catch em faster LOL.

This one is taken using the regular 64MP shot. The photo below this is the panoramic view of the area.

And the next two photos are panoramic view shots. Halfway and full panoramic angle.

Over-all I am satisfied with its camera feature alone not to mention its 5G performance and connectivity that gives me faster app launch. realme 9 PRO has six different refresh rates so for heavy smartphone users like me, I am very okay with its ultra smooth display. And did I mention that this release is now upgraded to realme UI 3.0. No wonder it makes the experience ultra faster.

Check my blog articles of previous realme smartphones!

realme C1 | realme C3 | realme 6i | realme C12 | realme 7 PRO | realme C25 | realme 8 PRO