Realme today announced the Realme 9 Pro series globally, introducing the Realme 9 Pro and Realme 9 Pro Plus to international markets, including the Philippines, where both phones will probably launch at a later date.

(Update, March 15: Our Realme 9 Pro review is up! Our Realme 9 Pro Plus review should be up soon, too.)

(Update, March: Realme Philippines has revealed the local launch date of the Realme 9 Pro series!)

(Update, March 4: Realme Philippines has teased the launch of what we believe is the Realme 9 Pro Plus 5G!)

In India, the Realme 9 Pro and Realme 9 Pro Plus have the following price tags:

• Realme 9 Pro
  • 6GB/128GB: ₹17,999 (around $240 or P12,304)
  • 8GB/128GB: ₹20,999 ($280 or P14,355)
• Realme 9 Pro Plus
  • 6GB/128GB: ₹24,999 ($333 or P17,090)
  • 8GB/128GB: ₹26,999 ($360 or P18,457)
  • 8GB/256GB: ₹28,999 ($387 or P19,824)

There’s currently no timetable when the company’s latest number series will be available in the country, but we expect things to change within weeks if last year’s release window for the Realme 8 handsets is any indication. In India, the Realme 9 Pro series is set to go on sale from February 23.

As expected, the Realme 9 Pro and Realme 9 Pro Plus are 5G-capable devices powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 and MediaTek Dimensity 920 chips, respectively. The recently announced Vivo V23 5G also packs a Dimensity 920 5G processor, which can run modern games at medium to high graphics settings, including Genshin Impact. It’s also among the fastest chipsets in the midrange, according to the latest Antutu rankings.

On the display front, the Realme 9 Pro packs an LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate, while the Realme 9 Pro Plus sports a Super AMOLED screen that maxes out at 90Hz. It is also equipped with a fingerprint reader that can detect your heart rate.

The lineup will have three color options at launch, namely Aurora Green, Midnight Black, and the color-changing Sunrise Blue with a Light Shift Design feature. The latter uses a fluorite-glass material, giving it the ability to shift from a light-blue shade to a pinkish-red color when exposed to sunlight and UV light. Vivo’s V23 5G, which is under BBK Electronics as well, has adopted a similar chameleon-like design quirk, except the phone features a gold primary color.

Video: Realme 9 Pro 5G series launch

Both handsets in the lineup will boot Realme’s latest Realme UI 3.0 user interface based on Android 12 out of the box.

Besides the difference in raw performance and panel quality, the most notable distinction between the two is the camera system at the back. As previously announced, the top-of-the-line Realme 9 Pro Plus boasts a flagship-level 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 main image sensor with optical image stabilization or OIS. You might recall that the OPPO Find X3 Pro, a fantastic shooter in nearly all lighting conditions, has the same exact sensor.

An earlier head-to-head comparison between the 9 Pro Plus and the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, Xiaomi 12, and Google Pixel 6 showed that Realme’s newest premium midranger can match or even outperform the competition at a fraction of the cost.

The Realme 9 Pro, on the other hand, packs a 64-megapixel camera on the rear, with a focus on nighttime photography. It also comes with a 5,000mAh battery that supports 33-watt fast charging, whereas the Realme 9 Pro Plus tops out at 60 watts.

Realme 9 Pro specs

• 6.6-inch LCD display, FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling
• 6nm octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor with 5G
• Adreno 619 GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB UFS 2.2 storage
• Triple 64-megapixel main, 8-megapixel ultra-wide, 2-megapixel macro rear cameras
• 16-megapixel front camera
• Fingerprint reader
• 5,000mAh battery with 33-watt USB-C charging
• Realme UI 3.0 based on Android 12
• Color options: Sunrise Blue, Midnight Black, and Aurora Green

Realme 9 Pro Plus specs

• 6.4-inch AMOLED display, FHD+ resolution, 90Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling, 1,000 nits peak brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
• 6nm octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 920 processor with 5G
• Mali-G68 MC4 GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB UFS 2.2 storage
• Triple 50-megapixel main, 8-megapixel ultra-wide, 2-megapixel macro rear cameras
• 16-megapixel front camera
• Under-display fingerprint reader with heart-rate sensor
• 4,500mAh battery with 60-watt USB-C charging
• Realme UI 3.0 based on Android 12
• Color options: Sunrise Blue, Midnight Black, and Aurora Green

Realme Philippines’ press release

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