Realme 9 Pro series launches in Europe; hitting UK soon with pricing starting at £249
The flagship Realme 9 Pro+ comes with a high-end Sony image sensor and optical image stabilisation, as well as clever AI tech to further improve image quality.
Realme has today stepped up its game with the launch of three new Realme 9 series phones (although the entry level model may not be part of this for UK customers).
The top two models offer the usual emphasis on mobile photography, with the flagship Realme 9 Pro+ coming with a number of features to continue to offer high-end photography capabilities to those with tighter budgets – especially in low light.
The handsets are still packed with other cool features, and no longer will the top-spec models lack 5G and require the purchase of a separate 5G model; both the Pro and Pro+ have 5G chipsets this time around. The Pro using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 SoC, and the Pro+ using MediaTek’s new Dimensity 920 SoC.
The Realme 9i remains limited to 4G, but using the new 6nm Snapdragon 680 platform that should allow for excellent power management.
High-specs
The Realme 9 Pro will come with a 64-megapixel primary camera, as part of its triple camera setup, and also gets Street Mode 2.0 (you can see more on the street photography mode here), liquid cooling, Android 12 and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Realme 9 Pro+ gets the biggest new spec bump though, in the form of the 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 image sensor with dual image stablisation (optical and electronic), Realme’s new ProLight imaging technology, and AI Noise Cancellation 3.0 – which takes multiple shots to use machine learning to reduce noise and blurriness on photos taken in less than ideal circumstances.
The IMX766 is currently used in 15 phones, typicalling retailing for over $600, and consists of a 1/1.56-inch sensor that captures 45% more light than the iPhone 13. You can learn a bit more about Realme’s camera tech below.
MediaTek’s new Dimensity 920 chipset allows for impressive performance for gamers too, with a AnTuTu benchmark score of over 500,000. You also get the now almost defacto standard for Realme 65W fast charging support too.
High-fashion
The new phones will be part of Paris Fashion Week, being introduced by fashion brand HELIOT EMIL, guest designers at Realme’s design studio.
Amongst other things, this appearance will help show off another unique feature of the new 9 series phones: a light shift colour design on specific colour variants that sees the back of the phone completely change colour in different types of light. Realme attributes this as being like watching the sun rise.
Realme’s design studio has recently worked with other designers, such as Naoto Fukasawa and José Levy, to create unique designs to help Realme stand out from the crowd.
Pricing and Availability
- The Realme 9 Pro+ will start at £349, with 8+256GB – available to buy from March 4th.
- The Realme 9 Pro starts at £249, with 8+128GB – available to buy from February 23rd.
More about the Realme 9 Pro+ camera
