9 of the times

It crams in some good specs for the cash, but will the Realme 9's weaknesses hold it back in a field of very stiff competition?

- By Basil Kronfli

£249 / stuff.tv/Realme9

• The Realme 9’s Snapdragon 680 chipset feels just a little underpowered for 2022. Realme has tried to make up for that with 8GB of memory, which can be upped to 13GB using a trick called Dynamic RAM. It’ll smoothly jump between apps, but intense games struggle even at base settings.

• The 108MP main camera is paired with an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro… although that last one should be ignored in all but the very best-lit environments, as can the 16MP camera on the front.

• Photos snapped in bright outdoor locations look good, with vibrant colours, warm skin tones and a fair amount of detail, but blur creeps in if there’s any hint of camera wobble. Clarity also drops when the light does, with things starting to look muddy.