The Redmi Note 9 Pro is officially launched by Xiaomi in India and this phone is a powerhouse when we talk about the performance, camera, and battery included. The phone comes in as the new generation in the Redmi Note series but the major disappointment is when we compare the phone with the Redmi Note 8 itself, where you can easily see that the Redmi Note 8 Pro was also a great device, and the Note 9 Pro even though is a good phone, it isn’t really a great upgrade. But at the same time, the competitor brand Realme has offered its Realme 6 with similar specs and some differences. Let’s compare the three phones to see which phone is actually a better device for the money you would want to spend on.
Design and Display Comparison
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro comes with a little bigger display, and the display technology and resolution don’t change except the display getting a little taller with the 20:9 aspect ratio. The Redmi Note 9 Pro has a 6.67-inch display in comparison to the 6.53-inch display on the Note 8 Pro, but it is the same IPS LCD display with the Gorilla Glass 5 protection on both the devices. The Note 9 Pro had the popular-at-the-time notch display while the Note 9 Pro has the now-popular punch-hole display with the camera not making a notch on the top. Functionally, there’s no difference but aesthetically, the newer look indeed is better. Realme 6 also houses the punch-hole display on the front and even it has the same IPS LCD display with the Full HD+ resolution, but the screen size is 6.5-inch, which makes it smaller than the newly launched Redmi device. Also, the screen protection, in this case, is Gorilla Glass 3, which can keep it protected only from scratches.
On the back, the way the phones look is quite different now, as the Redmi Note 9 Pro has a quad-camera setup in a square-shaped bump, while the Note 8 Pro had a vertical camera arrangement and the macro camera being on the right of the main camera module. The same vertical arrangement had a fingerprint sensor on the bottom, but now, the Redmi Note 9 Pro has the fingerprint sensor on the side, within the power button. While these two devices have a glass back with the Gorilla Glass 5 cover, Realme chose to go with the plastic back and no protection, with a different gradient finish. Even the Realme 6 has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and it is no different in the performance when compared to the back fingerprint sensors.
Performance Comparison
Now, moving on to what the devices are powered by, there’s a lot to talk about because this rather creates confusion in the user’s mind about the decision made by Xiaomi for the new phone. The Note 8 Pro was powered by the MediaTek Helio G90T chipset, which was quite powerful but it also came with the heating issues. The Note 9 Pro now has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor, which even though it might seem like an inferior one to the Helio G90T, is a much better battery efficient chipset, with the 8nm manufacturing process when compared to the 12nm one on the Helio G90T. Of course, it might seem like the Redmi Note 8 Pro is a better performer based on the specs, there’s a lot to check out here, including the battery efficiency and heating issues. But what if you are a gamer? In that case, we’d easily say that the Note 8 Pro has better options and graphics settings in games like PUBG Mobile when compared to the Note 9 Pro that probably might get the same in the future when the chipset maker works with the game developers, but you don’t get 60fps gameplay on the new device.
Not a lot of difference is between the Realme 6 and the Redmi Note 8 Pro as they are powered by the same processor, so you can keep in mind the fact that Realme 6 won’t be able to get the same battery efficiency that you would see on the Redmi Note 9 Pro.
Camera Comparison
This is where the new Note 9 Pro might feel like a downgrade because of the primary camera used here. The phone has got the 48-megapixel Samsung GM2 sensor to capture 12MP pictures (though you can always take 48MP shots as well), while the predecessor had the Samsung GW1 sensor that had the 64MP resolution. While the sensors are important, the picture processing is as important and the Qualcomm chipsets usually have a good ISP for the post-processing of the pictures.
So, we will know which performs better in the end when we get to use the two devices together extensively. With the other three cameras, while the 8MP wide-angle camera is retained, the macro camera’s resolution is bumped from 2MP on the Note 8 Pro to 5MP in the Note 9 Pro.
Now, if we bring the Realme 6 into the picture, it is coming with the 64-megapixel shooter that is the same on the Note 8 Pro from Redmi, and the other cameras are similar as well, and we have seen the Redmi phone to do well, which is the case even with the Realme 6.
So, with the cameras, there is surely something interesting changed with the new lower-resolution sensor but still, this is not a sensor used in many devices so there would be some wait before we check out the camera performance.
Even on the front, there is a difference in the sensor and resolution offered. Earlier, the Redmi Note 8 Pro had a good 20-megapixel camera for selfies and it was resting in the notch area, but now, the Note 9 Pro houses a 16-megapixel camera in the punch-hole area. Realme is also offering a similar 16MP selfie shooter on the front.
Battery Comparison
Xiaomi has done a rather big upgrade here with the battery, as the tag of highest-battery capacity is now given to the Note 9 Pro from the Note 8 Pro that was having a 4500 mAh battery, but now it is a 5020 mAh battery on the Note 9 Pro. While the capacity is higher, the optimization and the efficiency due to the Snapdragon 720G makes the battery life better on the Note 9 Pro for sure, and the standby battery life would rather be a lot more comparatively.
The fast charger that you are getting on both the phones and even the fast charging is the same on the Redmi Note 9 Pro and 8 Pro, i.e. 18W fast charging.
Here, Realme clearly takes it away with the fast charging support. While it has a lesser capacity battery of 4300 mAh, the Realme 6 has a 30W fast charging support, which takes much lesser time to fully charge the phone when compared to the Redmi counterparts.
User Interface and Updates
Since both the brands have their own customized user interfaces, the official Android version isn’t really important unless there are features from there to be used in the interface. Still, having the latest Android means a lot for app compatibility. The Redmi Note 8 Pro has Android 9 based MIUI 11, while the Redmi Note 9 Pro runs the same MIUI version but it is based on the latest Android 10 OS. The Realme 6 has the custom Realme UI that is based on Android 10.
As far as the updates are concerned, these phones are sure to get some regular OS updates but they won’t be major updates, and they would rather be intended to fix any issues, alongside the security updates that would be arriving on a timely basis. But, currently the Note 8 Pro is on the previous Android version and that might not change in the future as well.
