Realme 9i: Realme’s new sub-RM1,000 challenger to the Redmi Note series

Realme Malaysia has launched its first device for the year with the Realme 9i. This is their new mid-range smartphone that claims to set a new benchmark for smartphones priced under RM1,000 and it’s their first phone to run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680.

Realme 9i Malaysia pricing and availability

The Realme 9i comes in two variants and below is the official Malaysian pricing:

• 4GB RAM + 128GB storage – RM799
• 6GB RAM + 128GB storage – RM869

Both variants are offered in two colours – Prism Blue and Prism Black. At the moment, the Realme 9i with 6GB RAM is available for pre-order via Shopee. The first 500 customers to pre-order will get complementary Realme Buds Air 2 Neo wireless earbuds. The first sale for the device is happening at authorised Realme outlets and on Shopee on the 22nd January 2022. Availability for the more affordable 4GB RAM variant will be announced at a later time.

Realme 9i Malaysia specs

The Realme 9i comes with a 6.6″ Full HD+ LCD display that has a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate. For better power efficiency, the device has a 5-level dynamic refresh rate which can go as low as 30Hz. Under the hood, it runs on a 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor that’s mated to either 4GB or 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM.

If you need more “RAM”, you can expand it virtually up to 5GB extra with Realme’s Dynamic RAM Expansion (DRE) feature. The device comes with 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage which can be expanded via microSD card.

In terms of camera, the device gets a triple-camera setup consisting of a 50MP f/1.8 main camera, a 2MP macro shooter, and a 2MP monochrome camera. The rear cameras are placed on a camera bump which looks very similar to the OnePlus 9 series. For selfies, the device gets a punch-hole on the screen which houses a 16MP front camera.

The Realme 9i is a 4G device supporting dual-SIM connectivity, 5GHz WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0. The device also features dual stereo speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and uses a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for instant unlocking.

Powering the device is a generous 5,000mAh battery that supports 33W Dart Charge via USB-C. According to Realme Malaysia, you can get a 100% charge in 70 minutes. The Realme 9i runs on Android 11 with Realme UI 2.0 skin on top.

For the specs, this looks like a serious contender to Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series. It is also worth pointing out that Xiaomi will be unveiling its Redmi Note 11 for the global market next week and it is also speculated to run on the same Snapdragon 680 processor as the Realme 9i.