Realme 3 Price in India: Buy at Rs.2000 off

The Realme 3 is fairly a decent upgrade and the price it does almost everything well. The design is attractive, rear-camera is pretty good with new features and tricks, though being a 720p panel, the display is bright and vivid, and the battery, though it is not the best we have seen, can get the job done. The software is upgraded with a few very interesting features, and we have no complaints about the performance. However, though the cameras get new features, the performance can still be better. We would have liked a USB Type-C port with fast charging support and better build quality. With Realme U1 offering similar chipset and a better front camera, we’d suggest you have a look at it as well.

Started an on OPPO sub-brand in India, RealMe has come a long way in India in a short time. The aggressive pricing, easy availability, competitive hardware made it grab the attention of the masses. While it isn’t closing in on Xiaomi just yet, but it sure is inching closer. The Realme 2 was a slow successor to the sensational Realme 1, but the Realme 2 Pro put back the company into the race again. Following the same path, the company has now launched the Realme 3 in the sub Rs. 10,000 price segment which, at least, on a paper is a bang for the buck considering the specifications and pricing. After testing the device for a while, we put our thoughts together and present you the review to see if the Realme 3 is a worthy successor or not. Read on.

The Realme 3 sports a 6.2-inch HD+ (1520 x 720 pixels) 19:9 FullView display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It is powered by the MediaTek Helio P70 12nm SoC clocked at 2GHz Octa-Core processor with 900MHz ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU. It packs 3GB RAM with 32GB storage and another variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage that is further expandable up to 256GB with microSD.

It runs on Android 9.0 Pie with ColorOS 6.0 on top. In terms of camera, the Realme 3 features a 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, 2MP secondary camera with f/2.4 aperture. On the front, it has a 13MP selfie-shooter with f/2.0 aperture. The phone comes with a Fingerprint sensor, and a face unlocks. Connectivity features include Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, and GPS. A 4230mAh battery.

We are way past the metal unibody designs, I mean the regular rectangular candy bar designs are getting monotonous even for the budget segment phones. However, this doesn’t make plastic a perfect alternative. To solve the design issues, Realme has combined the glass+plastic design which is slightly better than being just one. Though being plastic, the glass finish at the back looks premium for the pricing. It doesn’t slip from your hands quickly. However, it is not glass; the back is made of injection moulded plastic rather than glass, but as said, it is solid and comfortable to hold. At 175 grams, it is not entirely light-weight but is not too heavy either, and the weight distribution is excellent.

After using the phone for a couple of days, we started noticing scuff marks and hairline scratches at the back which is annoying when you are paying around Rs. 9,000. There is no workaround for this than install a back case. Apart from the Radiant Blue color trim, the Realme 3 is also available in Black and Dynamic Black color. Thanks to the presence of the Waterdrop notch, we get a higher screen-to-body ratio for media consumption and gaming. Though you can use the phone with one hand, it is not very easy to reach all corners of the phone unless if you have massive hands.

Moving to placements, up front, the RealMe 3 packs a water-drop like a notch on the front where the 13MP selfie shooter is present, along with earpiece in the frame The phone comes with an 88.30% screen-to-body ratio and a 19:9 aspect ratio. The power button is present on the right side, and the volume rockers along with the dedicated dual SIM and microSD card slot are present on the left. The loudspeaker grill, micro USB port, and the 3.5mm audio jack are present on the bottom. On the back, it has a 13+2MP dual cameras, LED flash, RealMe logo, and fingerprint sensor. Overall, the Realme 3 design and build are decent enough, but when you put against the likes of the Zenfone Max Pro M2, Redmi Note 7 is just average.

The Realme 3 sports a 6.2-inch HD+ (1520 x 720 pixels) 19:9 FullView display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. Though Realme doesn’t reveal which version of the Corning Gorilla Glass it is using, it still is a decent addition to the budget phone. Now to the display, considering the pricing of Rs. 9,000, the HD+ display seems more like a cost-cutting since most smartphone manufacturers these days are opting a 1080p panel. Despite being HD+ panel, the color output is vivid, and the viewing angles are decent enough. We didn’t notice any color shift while tilting or distortion when viewing from extreme angles.

The Realme 3 also has a teardrop notch consuming very little space on top. The almost bezel-less display offers a fantastic experience while playing games or watching videos. It was able to play 1080p videos, and the playback was smooth. Since it comes with Corning Gorilla Glass protection, it can prevent scratches and smudges to some extent, but not entirely. However, since it is a 720p panel, we were able to notice slight pixilation and images didn’t look so sharp and crisp when browsing or looking at pictures on your phone. It comes with an auto-brightness sensor, so you don’t have to adjust the brightness all the time once it is enabled. Overall, the display of the Realme 3 is decent, but a good quality of 1080p panel would have been better.

The Realme 3 is powered by the MediaTek Helio P70 12nm SoC clocked at 2GHz Octa-Core processor with 900MHz ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU and 4GB RAM. The updated software and the powerful enough P70 make the performance of Realme 3 a delight. The phone breezed through most tasks and was also able to handle relatively high applications such as video rendering and editing. We didn’t notice any heating or lag while running quite some apps in the background too, and it is a good thing. Apps open up fast, and they load pretty fast as well. As said, we didn’t notice any lag or stutters in the interface while switching between apps or when navigating through the interface.

Moving to the gaming department, we played a range of games including PUBG, Asphalt 9, Nova 3, Hay Day, Leo’s Fortune and more. With Asphalt 9 and Nova 3, we were able to achieve high frame rates even with the graphics set to the ‘High' preset. However, we had to set graphics to low/medium for PUBG since it is a very resource intensive game. However, while gaming, the phone did get warm, but nothing unbearable. It features a fingerprint sensor on the back, and it unlocks the phone almost instantly. Overall, the performance of the Realme 3 is quite impressive considering the pricing.

In terms of camera, the Realme 3 features a 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, 2MP secondary camera with f/2.4 aperture. On the front, it has a 13MP selfie-shooter with f/2.0 aperture. The secondary rear camera is used to click depth when shooting in Portrait mode. With the new ColorOS 6.0, Realme is also introducing new camera features; Nightscape and Chroma Boost. According to Realme, Nightscape uses AI and multi-frame exposures to give a brighter image in low-light. In practice, this is partially true. It did deliver good results in most scenarios, but very much in extremely low-light situations. You will need to keep your hands steady for a second or two while clicking photos in Nightscape, and this made also sharpens the image slightly. As for the shots clicked without Nightscape, they were a little soft and washed out.

As for the day-light regular shots, they were a bit of a hit or miss, especially when shooting landscapes. Though few images turn out good, this isn’t consistent throughout. Despite the presence of HDR, colors can look a bit oversaturated which might appeal to a section. Macro images are sharp and have good details in them as well. But then again, the phone seems to be suffering from 'focusing' issues where the phone refuses to focus properly.

There is portrait mode and the edge detection is handled well for the most part. The background blur is a little aggressive, and it doesn’t give you the ability to adjust the background blur before or after you have taken the shot. The Chroma Boost, when enabled boosts the dynamic range of an image. As for the 13MP front-camera, it was able to capture detailed selfies outdoors and in good lighting conditions. The Realme 3 can record 1080p videos at 30fps, and the video quality was good when shot under good light. However, the lack of any stabilization makes the footage shaky. Overall, the camera of the Realme 3 is pretty decent and gets the job done.

The company didn’t include earphones within the box, meaning you will have to shell out some more bucks on a pair of earphones. Moving along, the sound experience is decent when tested with the headphones we had with us. The loudspeaker which is present on the bottom was able to cover an entire room, and we never missed a call. The default audio player was able to play most audio formats without any issues, and for the rest, you can install a third party player for the better experience. We didn’t hear any distortion in audio when volume levels are maximum.

Moving to video, the Realme 3 was able to handle 1080p videos without any heating or freezing issues as mentioned above. We installed MX Player to adjust the aspect ratio better. Even with 4G turned on, we didn’t notice any heating issues. Overall, the multimedia experience was quite good, invest some more on headphones for better audio and video experience.

The Realme 3 packs a 4230mAh battery with no support for fast charging. With such a huge capacity battery, we really wish Realme had included some fast charging tech, but then again, given the price, you can’t ask for much. Moving along, the 4230mAh battery though being a high-capacity unit performs slightly above average. One shouldn’t expect two-day straight battery life on a single charge since it is capable of lasting close to one day, at best. There is no drastic idle battery drain, but once you start using the phone, it drops quite fast. This problem can be attributed to the improper optimization of the chipset and the software.

With very essential to casual usage, the phone can last slightly over a day, but on moderate to heavy usage, you will have to charge once again before you end the day. With a continuous video loop test, the phone lasted close to 10 hours which is pretty average for such a high capacity battery. We managed to get a screen on time of around 5 to 6 hours at best. Since it doesn’t have any fast charging support, with the bundled charger, the phone took close to 3 hours to charge fully from 1% to 100%. Overall, the battery department of the Realme 3 is decent but it can be better considering Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2, and the Redmi Note 7 offers better battery backup.

Unlike the previous Realme phones, the Realme 3 runs on Android 9.0 Pie with Color OS based on 6.0. ColorOS hasn’t been our favorite, to be frank, but the 6th iteration fixes a few things that might change the user’s perspective. Icons have received an overhaul, and they are much smaller compared to the previous iteration. Most importantly, it finally brings an app drawer where you can access all the apps. ColorOS 6.0 misses out on Google’s Wellbeing feature and also the much-needed battery graph which shows a visual representation of your usage rather than the app you used. The software ships with a few pre-loaded apps, but they can be uninstalled if you wish to. Additionally, the phone comes with a theme store where you can download themes and change the look and feel of the U.I if you get bored with the existing interface.

It has a new Riding Mode' which when enabled, mutes all notifications except for incoming calls. It also features a new game space which mutes all the notifications, calls, and improves the gaming performance. Other features include quick switching, multi-window, and iPhone X style full-screen gestures. The phone comes in two variants one with 3GB RAM and another with 4GB. If you were to pick the phone, we suggest you go with the 4GB RAM variant as it also brings double the storage. The 4GB RAM helps in smooth multitasking and also keeps most apps in memory. Thanks to new ColorOS 6.0, apps don’t run out of memory or crash while using the phone. It was able to handle most of your essential daily tasks without any issues. Overall, the software experience of the Realme 3 is good.