Realme to release the budget Realme 9i this 4th of May

May the fourth be with Realme

On a Facebook post by Realme Philippines, it is revealed that the budget-oriented variation of the Realme 9 series, the Realme 9i will debut on Star Wars Day, aka 4th of May. Sadly, there’s no Star Wars edition of the phone. Would have been a great opportunity.

In comparison to the Realme 8i, the Realme 9i is actually a downgrade. The display is still the same, a 6.6in. FHD+ IPS LCD but the refresh rate has been reduced to 90Hz instead of 120Hz. The processor is also a massive downgrade. Right from the Helio G96 down to the Snapdragon 680. Sure, one may claim that the SD680 has a better manufacturing process (6nm vs 12nm) but this is not just a factor in determining the performance of a chipset. For instance, the SD680 actually uses older Cortex-A53 and A73 CPU cores, whereas the Helio G96 uses a combination of Cortex-A55 and A76 cores. The SD680 is designed with power efficiency in mind, not performance.

In terms of cameras, the two phones are roughly similar. The main lens is 50mp combined with two auxiliaries, namely the 2mp macro and depth sensors that are no different if you just draw two circles at the camera array. The front camera is also identical, 16mp on a dot notch, although Realme calls this an “in-display camera”.

While the refresh rates and chipset are downgraded, these have been offset by giving the Realme 9i faster charging. It still uses the same 5000mAh battery but also the charging rate has been upgraded from 18W to 33W. It feels like the Realme 9i is catering to power users, mainly, people who like to keep their phone running for as long as possible.

In terms of connectivity, there is Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, and 4G LTE services. It has a headphone jack, a dedicated MicroSD slot and dual Nano-SIM card slots.

Realme is yet to announce its price. We may get the same Prism Blue and Prism Black colours that are available for Indian users.

SPECS:

• 6.6in. FHD+ (2400x1080px) IPS LCD, 90Hz refresh rate, 401ppi
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 (6nm)
• CAMERAS:
  • 50mp (main), f/1.8
  • 2mp (macro), f/2.4
  • 2mp (depth), f/2.4
  • FRONT: 16mp (main), f/2.1
• 5000mAh, 33W fast charging
• RealmeUI 2.0 based on Android 11
• Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, 4G LTE
• Dual Nano-SIM, Dedicated MicroSD slot (up to 1TB), 3.5mm jack
• Prism Blue, Prism Black
• PRICE:
  • 4/64: TBA
  • 6/128: TBA