Realme 9 5G First impressions: More power at lesser price

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Realme 9 5G First impressions: The Indian budget smartphone consumer is spoilt for choice with new smartphones launching every other week. And with so many smartphones releasing, it often becomes difficult for brands to stand out and fall prey to the mediocre choices. But every once in a while comes a smartphone that manages to surpass expectations and redefines what a budget smartphone can be. The Realme 9 5G is that smartphone.

And I do not mean to exaggerate. In all fairness, the spec sheet of the smartphone is not that fancy. It does not have an AMOLED display that Poco M4 Pro offers in this price range, no 120Hz refresh rate like the Realme 8i or a Snapdragon 675 like the Vivo U20. And if any of those specifications are a priority for you, then you may not find Realme 9 5G very enticing. But what Realme has managed to do is  that it has brought together a series of decently performing specifications and optimized them together in a smartphone that just makes it stand out. we would have probably found it to be a good value even if it was in the sub-Rs. 20,000 category, but at its starting price of Rs. 14,999, it is definitely impressive. But, that’s still just on paper. How exactly does Realme 9 5G fare in our first impressions? Read on to find out.

The Realme 9 5G features a 6.5-inch FHD+ LCD display with a refresh rate of 90Hz. It also has a 180Hz touch sampling rate. The display takes a step down compared to its premium SE counterpart which comes with 144Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate, but like its higher specs, Realme 9 5G SE is also placed at a higher price point.

Under the hood, Realme 9 5G is equipped with MediaTek Dimensity 810 SoC, which we have previously seen in last year’s Realme 8S. However,