realme 9 Pro series launched: A color-changing mid-ranger with a flagship camera

Realme has been one of the few companies to consistently go toe-to-toe with Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series in terms of bang-for-buck. More specifically, the company’s numbered series of budget phones have offered comparable specs for the price.

The company released the realme 8 series in early 2021 but was forced to delay the realme 9 series from 2021 to 2022. Thankfully, it’s finally launched the realme 9 Pro and Pro Plus today.

realme 9 Pro Plus

The realme 9 Pro Plus in particular ships with a color-changing glass back for the Sunrise Blue variant that changes from blue to red when exposed to sunlight. It’s not the first time we’ve seen color-changing backs on smartphones, but it’s still pretty cool to see this feature on a mid-range device.

As for the core specs, you can expect a Dimensity 920 5G SoC, a 6.43-inch 90Hz FHD+ OLED panel, and a 4,500mAh battery. The new realme phone also delivers 60W wired charging, stereo speakers, dual 5G SIMs, and an in-display fingerprint sensor that doubles as a heart-rate sensor.

Switching to the camera experience, the realme 9 Pro Plus serves up a 50MP IMX766 main shooter with OIS (the same main sensor seen on the OPPO Find X3 Pro), an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP macro sensor.

realme is also claiming that its so-called ProLight imaging tech results in better low-light snaps, being a combo of the large sensor, OIS, and better AI noise reduction. In fact, it showed a comparison between the Pro Plus and an iPhone 13, as seen above.

realme 9 Pro

Fancy a more sensibly priced realme device? Then the realme 9 Pro might be up your alley. The phone makes a few cutbacks to reach this price point, offering the Snapdragon 695 SoC, a less impressive camera system (64MP+8MP+2MP), and a 120Hz LCD screen.

The realme 9 Pro also delivers a 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging, making for slower charging but a larger battery than the Plus variant.

Other notable specs include a 64MP+8MP+2MP rear camera system and realme UI 3.0.

realme 9 Pro and Pro Plus pricing

The Chinese brand confirmed that the realme 9 Pro Plus will have a starting price of $379 for the 6GB/128GB model. Meanwhile, the realme 9 Pro will have a starting price of $319 for the 6GB/128GB variant.

realme also revealed UK pricing for the phones, saying that the realme 9 Pro Plus will have a starting price of £349 (~$473) for the 8GB/256GB model, while the realme 9 Pro 8GB/128GB variant will set you back £299 (~$405).

In India? Then you can expect to pay a starting price of Rs 24,999 (~$333) for the 6GB/128GB Pro Plus, while the realme 9 Pro starts at an introductory price of Rs 17,999 (~$240) for the 6GB/128GB variant.

The Plus variant will launch in the UK on March 4, while the Pro model will be available from February 23. Indian users can get the Pro Plus from February 21 and the Pro variant from February 23. There’s no word on European or wider timelines otherwise.