After spending a few weeks with the realme 9i which launched into the Kenyan market last month, I’ve come to appreciate the gadget and the journey that realme has taken in the short time it has been around. Here are my thoughts based on my user experience.
First off, what’s in the box? The phone, a custom made silicone back cover, literature and warranty, a USB cable and a power adapter.
Design
The realme 9i has a refreshing design, with a glossy black back cover which has illusions of black horizontal lines depending on the lighting. This, along with the minimalistic look is what immediately caught my eye when I unboxed my unit. I’ve interacted with quite a number of realme phones since the brand launched in Kenya with a bang and all the time I’ve used and loved coloured phones. The black is a pleasant departure from that, and it helps that it is quite the looker. The back is made of high-quality plastic that looks and feels like glass. The phone gives off an air of quality and good finish, and this is something quite welcome for a budget phone.
Despite being glossy, the phone has good grip so those who drop their phones due to slippery finishes are in for a lucky time with this one. Something else I liked about the texture is that it is not too much of a fingerprint magnet, so that the phone maintains its looks, and stays cleaner for longer.
On the right side of the phone we have a single button for power, with the volume buttons being on the left along with the Sim Tray.
Sound
The phone features a 3.5mm audio socket earplugs are not included in the box. It also has stereo speakers with some really decent sound. I use the Pace Focus headphones for all my sound needs on this one – video calls, regular calls, music and an episode of my current series here and there.
Battery
The realme 9i really shines in the battery department, coming in with a good 5000mAh battery and a 33W fast charger. To put the fast charge in perspective, it will charge from zero to 100% in slightly over an hour. Gone are the days when we charged phones overnight. With fast charge, just 10 minutes of direct socket charge will give you about 40% charge.
With normal everyday use like social media, picking calls, a few videos here and there and lots of chatting, I was able to use the phone for day and a half without needing to charge it again. I’m not much of a gamer but obviously if I added constant gaming to the mix or if I were to give it to a child to spend time on games, then battery would last a shorter time. Maybe a full day without worries of running out.
I’m quite heavy on social media, chatting and audio music though and so anyone who is not should be able to enjoy 2 full days and even more.
Storage
Internal memory is 128GB and 6GB RAM. This is the kind of memory where a user will never be afraid of filling up the phone too fast or have it lagging when multitasking or gaming. I love how phone manufacturers are putting powerful phones in people’s palms at affordable prices. The realme 9i for instance is retailing for Kshs.25,000/- give or take.
Cameras
The phone has a whopping 50 megapixels rear camera with 2 megapixels macro and a 2 megapixel depth sensor, and the selfie camera is 16 megapixel. It has other features like time lapse, slow-mo and panorama and this is a good gesture because gone are the days when budget phone users were given barely there cameras. With a host of assorted features which the user will discover by tinkering with the settings, realme has just about put the power of professional photography in the palms of users.
Before I even used the phone at all, I took a walk about with it to capture colours and see how the camera is. Here are some shots I took at Muthaiga Golf Club.
Conclusion
At Ksh22,000/- give or take, this is certainly a good phone for its price point. Very easy on the eye and quite functional with well balanced features. With Android 11 and a snapdragon 680 Octa Core processor, this is a fast phone and users are assured of never experiencing lags and glitches even when multi-tasking like crazy.
My favourite features are the cameras and the battery system especially because of fast charge.
