Realme 3 Pro
Realme introduced its third-generation Realme 3 smartphone a few month ago during a bid to require on Xiaomi's Redmi Note 7. At the launch event, the corporate also teased the approaching arrival of a performance-oriented version of the phone, called the Realme 3 Pro. Xiaomi has long been dominating the mainstream smartphone segment in India, which makes it the most important competitor to Realme.
The Realme 3 Pro has some pretty big shoes to fill, considering its predecessor, the Realme 2 Pro was and continues to be a solid option in its price segment. Let's start .
Realme 3 Pro design
At first glance, one could mistake the new Realme 3 Pro for the Realme 2 Pro because the y both share an identical design as far as the display and button layout are concerned. Upon closer inspection though, certain differences become apparent. the foremost obvious one is that the curved back panel, which tapers towards the edges , blending in with the phone's polycarbonate frame.
The back panel on the Realme 3 Pro has small curved sides, which blends with the phone's side frame. the rear panel remains made up of injection-moulded plastic, but we do get some new colours along side a subtle pattern that's said to be inspired by a racetrack. the color option we've for review is Nitro Blue, which features a dual-tone blue and purple finish, but you'll also buy this phone during a more sober Carbon Grey, or another gradient finish called Lightning Purple.
The Realme 3 Pro isn't too wide, which makes it comfortable to grip, but it's quite tall, so reaching the notification shade is typically a two-handed affair. At 172g, it doesn't feel too heavy, and at 8.3mm in thickness, it is easy to hold around during a pocket.
The buttons are thoughtfully placed in order that they lined up with our fingers nicely, and there is a 3.5mm headphone socket, Micro-USB port, and one speaker placed at rock bottom . The Realme 3 Pro has slots for 2 Nano-SIM cards and a microSD card all directly , so there is no got to sacrifice a second SIM if you would like to expand the storage.
The 6.3-inch display has fairly slim bezels on all sides, apart from the comparatively fat chin at rock bottom . Realme has a full-HD+ (1080x2340) resolution and Gorilla Glass 5. The display produces vivid colours, has good viewing angles, and sufficient brightness for legibility under sunlight. a bit like the Realme 2 Pro, there is a notch on the highest which houses the front camera, while the earpiece sits just above it. you furthermore may get a screen guard pre-applied.
At the rear , the Realme 3 Pro features a vertically stacked dual-camera module and a capacitive fingerprint sensor. We deliberately used the phone without the bundled plastic case to ascertain how the body would delay against the wear and tear and tear of everyday use. In over every week , it delayed well but we did notice mild scuff marks along one among rock bottom corners of the phone.
The fingerprint sensor works well and there is face recognition too, which works fast a bit like on most other Realme devices. you do not get headphones within the box, but the Realme 3 Pro does ship with a quick charger, which are some things Xiaomi still refuses to incorporate with its Redmi offerings. This phone supports Oppo's VOOC 3.0 fast charging standard (20W) which is handy especially once you have an enormous 4045mAh battery.
Realme 3 Pro specifications and software
Realme's theme for the three Pro is ‘speed', and therefore the company has been super aggressive with its choice of SoC. The is that the first phone during this price segment to sport the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC. In terms of brute strength, the Snapdragon 675 within the Redmi Note 7 Pro still has slightly superior CPU power, but the 710 has a plus with its better integrated graphics capabilities and its more power-efficient 10nm fabrication. In theory, it should leave better battery life when using heavy apps like the camera and when gaming.
Realme is offering two variants of the phone. You get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage with the bottom variant and 6GB of RAM with 128GB of storage at the top-end, which is that the variant we're reviewing. While the quantity of storage you get should be plenty for many , you've got the choice of expanding it by up to 256GB by employing a microSD card. The phone also supports dual 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5, FM radio, USB-OTG, GPS, and therefore the standard suite of sensors.
The Realme 3 Pro runs on ColorOS 6, which is predicated on Android 9 Pie. It even comes with the March 2019 Android security patch. ColorOS 6 features a New Look , and that we saw it recently once we tested the Realme 3. you'll change the navigation keys to a Google Pixel 3-style swipable button, or get obviate them altogether in favour of gestures.
A quick swipe up from the house screen allows you to access your app drawer, and like previous iterations of ColorOS, you get many motion and screen gestures to fiddle with. Realme continues to preinstall quite few third-party apps like a Webnovel, NewsPoint, ShareChat, etc, but all of them can in uninstalled if needed.
Realme Share is that the company's answer to Apple's AirDrop. It allows you to quickly share files between compatible Realme devices. you will see this feature once you attempt to share any file from the gallery. We tried it between the Realme 3 Pro and therefore the Realme 3, and it worked well.
Realme 3 Pro performance, cameras, and battery life
We used the Realme 3 Profor a touch over every week , and located general performance to be solid.
One of the promised fixes is Widevine L1 DRM certification (our unit currently only has L3 certification) which can allow you to stream videos from apps like Netflix, etc, at resolutions above HD. We were also promised a 960fps slow-motion video mode (which we later received via an update) and improved bokeh within the camera app within the final firmware.
Media playback is handled well, and videos are rendered with punchy colours. Black levels are acceptable. the only speaker gets loud enough for media playback although we might have liked a second speaker for a correct stereo effect. the world to either side of the notch is usually hidden when watching videos but you'll force apps to refill all available space from within the Settings. Being a ‘Pro' model, we were expecting Realme to travel with USB Type-C, but sadly we're still cursed with Micro-USB port.
Heavy games run just fine too. PUBG Mobile defaulted to the High graphics preset and gameplay was smooth with none stuttering or lag. Other titles like F1 Mobile and Asphalt 9: Legends also ran smoothly. The phone doesn't heat an excessive amount of even after prolonged sessions, which is good .
The Realme 3 Pro might lack the massive sensor of the Redmi Note 7 Pro but it still packs during a decently sized 16-megapixel Sony IMX519 sensor with an f/1.7 aperture. this is often an equivalent sensor utilized in some premium phones like the OnePlus 6T ₹ 31,999 (Review). There's also an option of secondary 5-megapixel depth sensor for the phone's Portrait mode.
The Realme 3 Pro captured excellent details in landscape shots taken in daylight. Colours were slightly boosted, but this provides pictures a touch more ‘pop' especially when shooting in overcast conditions. We found the sharpness to be lacking a touch , even in some portions of a topic that was focused , but this is often only noticeable if you concentrate all the way. Macros were sharp and well detailed too, and therefore the phone's AI scene recognition was quick to recognise commonest objects like flowers.
In low light, the camera reduces its shutter speed considerably, all the way right down to 1/10th of a second sometimes , thanks to which it isn't easy to capture moving subjects like pets. When your subject is still though, details are good enough. Landscapes on the opposite hand didn't look all that great when shooting in Auto mode.
However, the phone's Nightscape mode comes in handy here. It takes a second or two longer than usual to capture your shot, but the top result's a sharper image with far better detail. Zooming in still reveals slightly blurry edges and washed-out textures, but as long as you are not cropping your image an excessive amount of , the pictures are generally very usable. The depth sensor does a really good job with edge detection, and even in low light, we got a really pleasing bokeh effect.
The Realme 3 Pro features a 25-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture. Under good light, we managed to urge some good shots, and HDR works well too if you're shooting against the sunshine . However, in low light, images generally looked flat and a touch grainy. The phone does a reasonably poor job applying bokeh effects for selfies, making them encounter as artificial.
The Realme 3 Pro can shoot video at up to 4K resolution but there is no stabilisation. In daylight, image quality is sweet , with decent colour reproduction. At night, the standard drops a touch but noise remains handled well. At 1080p resolution though, video is stabilised. The camera app features a simple design and is straightforward to use. the extra shooting modes that are available include Timelapse, Expert, Pano and Slo-mo. The phone also features a Chroma Boost mode, which bumps up the colors and brightness when shooting a backlit subject.
The Realme 3 Pro had received another firmware update shortly. There wasn't any changelog but the camera app did get the 960fps shooting mode. once you switch to Slow-mo from within the camera app, you'll now choose from 120fps or 960fps. the previous is shot at 1080p resolution while the latter is captured at 720p resolution.
However, videos shot at 960fps don't scale to suit the screen when played back, even in landscape mode, leaving you with black bars on all sides of the video. You'll even have to time your shots well as there is no auto-capture feature and a couple of seconds worth of footage is stretched to a ten second clip. Overall, the camera quality is decent when shot under ample light.
Battery life is solid. The 4045mAh battery lasted for 14 hours and 13 minutes in our HD video loop test, which is extremely good. With normal usage, which usually involved a touch of gaming, watching videos, using chat apps and surfing the online , we easily managed to travel beyond a full day on one charge. In fact, even gaming or using the camera didn't make an enormous dent in battery life, which was good to ascertain .
The VOOC fast charger can top up the battery from zero all the thanks to 90 percent in about an hour, which is impressive. One thing worth noting is that VOOC charging requires the bundled Micro-USB cable, and regular ones won't work with it.
One of the promised fixes is Widevine L1 DRM certification (our unit currently only has L3 certification) which can allow you to stream videos from apps like Netflix, etc, at resolutions above HD. We were also promised a 960fps slow-motion video mode (which we later received via an update) and improved bokeh within the camera app within the final firmware.
Media playback is handled well, and videos are rendered with punchy colours. Black levels are acceptable. the only speaker gets loud enough for media playback although we might have liked a second speaker for a correct stereo effect. the world to either side of the notch is usually hidden when watching videos but you'll force apps to refill all available space from within the Settings. Being a ‘Pro' model, we were expecting Realme to travel with USB Type-C, but sadly we're still cursed with Micro-USB port.
Heavy games run just fine too. PUBG Mobile defaulted to the High graphics preset and gameplay was smooth with none stuttering or lag. Other titles like F1 Mobile and Asphalt 9: Legends also ran smoothly. The phone doesn't heat an excessive amount of even after prolonged sessions, which is good .
The Realme 3 Pro might lack the massive sensor of the Redmi Note 7 Pro but it still packs during a decently sized 16-megapixel Sony IMX519 sensor with an f/1.7 aperture. this is often an equivalent sensor utilized in some premium phones like the OnePlus 6T ₹ 31,999 (Review). There's also an option of secondary 5-megapixel depth sensor for the phone's Portrait mode.
The Realme 3 Pro captured excellent details in landscape shots taken in daylight. Colours were slightly boosted, but this provides pictures a touch more ‘pop' especially when shooting in overcast conditions. We found the sharpness to be lacking a touch , even in some portions of a topic that was focused , but this is often only noticeable if you concentrate all the way. Macros were sharp and well detailed too, and therefore the phone's AI scene recognition was quick to recognise commonest objects like flowers.
In low light, the camera reduces its shutter speed considerably, all the way right down to 1/10th of a second sometimes , thanks to which it isn't easy to capture moving subjects like pets. When your subject is still though, details are good enough. Landscapes on the opposite hand didn't look all that great when shooting in Auto mode.
However, the phone's Nightscape mode comes in handy here. It takes a second or two longer than usual to capture your shot, but the top result's a sharper image with far better detail. Zooming in still reveals slightly blurry edges and washed-out textures, but as long as you are not cropping your image an excessive amount of , the pictures are generally very usable. The depth sensor does a really good job with edge detection, and even in low light, we got a really pleasing bokeh effect.
The Realme 3 Pro features a 25-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture. Under good light, we managed to urge some good shots, and HDR works well too if you're shooting against the sunshine . However, in low light, images generally looked flat and a touch grainy. The phone does a reasonably poor job applying bokeh effects for selfies, making them encounter as artificial.
The Realme 3 Pro can shoot video at up to 4K resolution but there is no stabilisation. In daylight, image quality is sweet , with decent colour reproduction. At night, the standard drops a touch but noise remains handled well. At 1080p resolution though, video is stabilised. The camera app features a simple design and is straightforward to use. the extra shooting modes that are available include Timelapse, Expert, Pano and Slo-mo. The phone also features a Chroma Boost mode, which bumps up the colors and brightness when shooting a backlit subject.
The Realme 3 Pro had received another firmware update shortly. There wasn't any changelog but the camera app did get the 960fps shooting mode. once you switch to Slow-mo from within the camera app, you'll now choose from 120fps or 960fps. the previous is shot at 1080p resolution while the latter is captured at 720p resolution.
However, videos shot at 960fps don't scale to suit the screen when played back, even in landscape mode, leaving you with black bars on all sides of the video. You'll even have to time your shots well as there is no auto-capture feature and a couple of seconds worth of footage is stretched to a ten second clip. Overall, the camera quality is decent when shot under ample light.
Battery life is solid. The 4045mAh battery lasted for 14 hours and 13 minutes in our HD video loop test, which is extremely good. With normal usage, which usually involved a touch of gaming, watching videos, using chat apps and surfing the online , we easily managed to travel beyond a full day on one charge. In fact, even gaming or using the camera didn't make an enormous dent in battery life, which was good to ascertain .
The VOOC fast charger can top up the battery from zero all the thanks to 90 percent in about an hour, which is impressive. One thing worth noting is that VOOC charging requires the bundled Micro-USB cable, and regular ones won't work with it.
Verdict
The Realme 3 Pro may be a good iterative update over the Realme 2 Pro , and for an identical launch price because the last model, you get to see a much bigger battery, with slightly improved cameras, some new colour options, and a more efficient SoC. Existing owners of the Realme 2 Pro shouldn't feel needing to upgrade, because the gains aren't that significant.
While the improvements we saw are welcome, Realme could have done a touch more to really crush the Redmi Note 7 Pro . we might have liked to ascertain a USB Type-C port, a glass back, and perhaps even an AMOLED display. Low-light camera performance for both the front and rear cameras could are better too.
If you are looking for a smartphone that's great for gaming for fewer than Rs. 20,000 then the Realme 3 Pro may be a good place to start out . you furthermore may get an honest set of cameras, solid battery life, and a feature-packed OS, making it an honest choice to consider. In some respects, the Realme 3 Pro is best than the Redmi Note 7 Pro because the UI isn't spammy and there's not any heating issues. On the opposite hand, the Redmi Note 7 Pro does feel tons more premium because of the glass back.
We're within the process of doing an in depth comparison of both the phones, so stay tuned for that also , if you would like help deciding between the 2 smartphones.
While the improvements we saw are welcome, Realme could have done a touch more to really crush the Redmi Note 7 Pro . we might have liked to ascertain a USB Type-C port, a glass back, and perhaps even an AMOLED display. Low-light camera performance for both the front and rear cameras could are better too.
If you are looking for a smartphone that's great for gaming for fewer than Rs. 20,000 then the Realme 3 Pro may be a good place to start out . you furthermore may get an honest set of cameras, solid battery life, and a feature-packed OS, making it an honest choice to consider. In some respects, the Realme 3 Pro is best than the Redmi Note 7 Pro because the UI isn't spammy and there's not any heating issues. On the opposite hand, the Redmi Note 7 Pro does feel tons more premium because of the glass back.
We're within the process of doing an in depth comparison of both the phones, so stay tuned for that also , if you would like help deciding between the 2 smartphones.
0 Comments
Please put spam free comments only