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Realme 9i vs Realme 8i

42 out of 100
Realme 9i
VS
43 out of 100
Realme 8i
Realme 9i
Realme 8i

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.6-inch Realme 9i (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 680) that was released on January 10, 2022, against the Realme 8i, which is powered by MediaTek Helio G96 and came out 4 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

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Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments (2)

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Realme 9i
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 680
  • Stereo speakers
  • More recent OS version: Android 14 versus 13
  • Supports higher wattage charging (33W versus 18W)
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
Reasons to consider the Realme 8i
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
  • 30% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (500K versus 385K)
  • 33% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 730 and 548 points

Review

Evaluation of Realme 9i and Realme 8i crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
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Value for money (Beta)

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Currency
4 / 64 GB
VS
4 / 64 GB
18.6
(Bad)
Value Index
175.4
(Excellent)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Realme 9i
vs
Realme 8i

Display

Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Size 6.6 inches 6.6 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2412 pixels 1080 x 2412 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 401 ppi 401 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 480 nits 600 nits
HDR support No No
Touch sampling rate 180 Hz 180 Hz
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 84.5% 84.9%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 98.2% -
PWM Not detected -
Response time 26 ms -
Contrast 847:1 -
Peak brightness test (auto)
Realme 9i
511 nits
Realme 8i +5%
539 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 164.4 mm (6.47 inches) 164.1 mm (6.46 inches)
Width 75.7 mm (2.98 inches) 75.5 mm (2.97 inches)
Thickness 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) 8.5 mm (0.33 inches)
Weight 190 g (6.7 oz) 194 g (6.84 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors Black, Blue Black, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-button
Screen-to-body ratio
Realme 9i
84.5%
Realme 8i
84.9%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Realme 9i and Realme 8i
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 MediaTek Helio G96
Max clock 2400 MHz 2050 MHz
CPU cores 8 (4 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Kryo 265 Silver (Cortex-A53)
- 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 265 Gold (Cortex-A73)		 - 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.05 GHz: Cortex-A76
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 6 nanometers 12 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 686 MediaTek APU
GPU
Graphics Adreno 610 Mali-G57 MC2
GPU shading units 128 64
GPU clock 1114 MHz 950 MHz
FLOPS ~285.2 GFLOPS ~121.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Realme 9i and Realme 8i
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Realme 9i
548
Realme 8i +33%
730
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Realme 9i
1599
Realme 8i +18%
1882
Single-core score 548 730
Multi-core score 1599 1882
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Realme 9i
385682
Realme 8i +30%
500517
CPU 161598 186872
GPU 34892 40086
Memory 85368 120709
UX 103824 152850
Total score 385682 500517
Samples Less than 3 [3 tests]
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 96% 98%
Graphics test - 1 FPS
Graphics score - 317
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Realme 9i
8597
Realme 8i +19%
10225
Web score 8739 8509
Video editing 4280 5411
Photo editing 19463 26493
Data manipulation 6443 6927
Writing score 10212 12668
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Realme 9i
No benchmark results yet
Add
Realme 8i
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-03-08 (Nathaniel)AnTuTu512142
📘 2026-02-21 (bogdan1337)AnTuTu497585
📘 2026-01-23 (sp4wai)AnTuTu500517
Add View all (3)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 64 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 2.1
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 512 GB Up to 512 GB

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM Realme UI 5.0 Realme UI 4.0
OS size 17 GB -

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 33 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (27% in 15 min) Yes (30% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:12 hr 2:21 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 08:17 hr
Watching video - 13:08 hr
Gaming - 05:22 hr
Standby - 143 hr
General battery life
Realme 9i
n/a
Realme 8i
24:45 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8700 x 5800 8700 x 5800
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No No
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion - 120 FPS (720p)
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Macro: 2 MP
3) Depth: 2 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Macro: 2 MP
3) Depth: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KJN1 Samsung S5KJN1
Sensor size 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 0.64 micron 0.64 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution 2 MP 2 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Sensor GalaxyCore GC02M1 GalaxyCore GC02M1
Sensor size 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch) 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch)
Pixel size 1.75 micron 1.75 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 30 -
Preview 57 -
Zoom 36 -
Samples Photo samples of Realme 9i from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 16 megapixels 16 megapixels
Image resolution 4920 x 3264 4920 x 3264
Aperture f/2.1 f/2.1
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX471 Hynix Hi-1364Q
Sensor size 1/3.13" (≈ 0.32 inch) 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 micron
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5.1
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC
NFC* Depends on the region Depends on the region
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 13
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
Headphone audio jack Yes Yes
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speakers test
Max loudness
Realme 9i
88 dB
Realme 8i
n/a

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced January 2022 September 2021
Release date January 2022 September 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $230 $230
Successor - - Realme 9i
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Yes, 33 W -
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display and performance are more important to you, then choose the Realme 8i. But if the camera, battery life, software, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Realme 9i.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
242 (25.2%)
717 (74.8%)
Total votes: 959

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User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
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Avatar
Jess January 20, 2022 at 09:37 PM
So I'm confused on AliExpress it says Realme 9i comes with NFC but your review says it doesn't. If it comes with NFC does it work in all countries?
+4 Reply
Avatar
Sergey January 21, 2022 at 10:30 AM
It depends on the country where it will selling.
+6 Reply
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