Realme recently introduced its ambitious mid-range smartphone in India, the Realme X, that earlier debuted in China. The Realme X conforms to most modern trends and pushes the envelope, detailing what one would expect of an affordable phone, a lot further.
On the face of it, the Realme X has a full-view display, a pop-up camera, VOOC 3.0 fast charging, and the famed 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor – seemingly more-than-perfect ingredients for the affordable phone recipe. But can the practical experience keep up? Let’s discuss in our detailed Realme X review.
Realme X Specs and Price in India
| Model | Realme X |
| Display | 6.53-inch, Full HD, 1080 X 2340, Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Processor | 10nm octa-core Snapdragon 710 |
| RAM | 4GB/8GB |
| Storage | 64GB/128GB |
| Battery | 3765mAh, VOOC 3.0 fast charging |
| Rear Camera | 48MP primary (f/1.7)
5MP ultra-wide (f/2.4) |
| Front Camera | 16MP (f/2.0) |
| Software | Android 9.0 Pie, Color OS 6.0 |
| Dimensions and Weight | 161.2 x 76 x 8.6 mm, 191 grams |
| Price | Rs. 16,999/ Rs. 19,999 |
Design and Build
The Realme X has a 3D-curved design, which is to say that it has a curved glass-finish back that looks appealing and is comfortable to grip. The material used is actually polycarbonate, but that’s an acceptable corner to cut to accommodate the lower price.
What really helps the X stand out is the available gradient options. The Space Blue color feels fairly regular, but the Polar White, Onion, and Garlic color options are really elegant. Realme also sells a spider man edition which is the Polar white variant with Spiderman theme, Spiderman packaging, and Spiderman case. Speaking of which, all Realme X variants come with a good quality case cover bundled in the box.
The handset comes with a USB Type-C port for data transfer and charging, and retains the audio jack as well. The fingerprint sensor is under the display and it’s consistent and fast if not the snappiest we have seen.
The pop-up camera facilitates a seamless full-view screen, which we will talk about more in the next section. The Realme X isn’t compact or light, but it’s still quite ergonomic and comfortable to wield.
All said and done, the Realme X is a very stylish phone and it’s solidly built. We do recommend using a case with the phone to protect the back from getting scratched.
Display
Realme uses a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display that has high contrast and deep blacks. The display has the option to turn on DC Dimming, which will make the phone lighter on eyes for people sensitive to PWM flicker.
The color temperature feels close to neutral and users may switch to warmer tones from display settings. Automatic brightness works well and the phone is comfortably visible outdoors. This is a great display to enjoy multimedia content on.
Performance and Software
The Realme X is powered by Snapdragon 710 octa-core chipset. While this isn’t exactly a new chip, but it’s still an excellent choice for an affordable phone as Realme X. All high-end games we tried ran smooth and we didn’t face any issue with regular day-to-day usage either.
The Color OS software also adds a useful gaming mode that will help users boost gaming performance and experience.
The Realme X is available in two configurations with up to 8GB RAM and up to 128GB storage. All configurations give enough assurance of durable performance in the long run. There is no support for microSD card slot though.
The Color OS software on the Realme X isn’t as big a let down as it has been made out to be, but yes, it isn’t in line with our individual preferences. The software is still stable and customizable, and this being an Android phone, you can easily tweak most aspects of the interface that you need to frequently deal with.
The in-display sensor is fast and consistent and so is the face unlock. The phone supports dual SIM dual VoLTE and other relevant connectivity options.
Camera
The Realme X has dual cameras on the rear – one 48MP primary sensor paired with a 5MP depth sensor. On the front, the Realme X has a 16MP elevating camera.
The camera app is pretty basic and simple to navigate. It does include all essentials including the portrait mode, night mode, and HDR. The camera also has a Chrome Boost mode which feels magical when it works, but some times it tends to oversaturate colors in the captured images.
Realme X managed to capture great shots in proper outdoor lighting. The dynamic range was great and the metering was accurate. In low light, the camera visibly struggles but the end result was still quite good.
Edge detection in portrait mode works well for the rear camera. The night mode can be used to salvage lowlight shots. The selfie camera isn’t as impressive as the rear shooter, but the quality is certainly above average.
Battery and Audio
The 3765mAh battery on the Realme X supports VOOC 3.0 fast charging. This is perhaps the fastest charging tech currently available in the under 20K price segment and can take your phone from 10 to 100% in about 75 mins.
The battery backup is above average and manageable but not steller, but the VOOC 3.0 fast charging almost makes up for the gap.
The Realme X has Dolby Atmos-enabled by default for the mono loudspeaker. The quality of audio via speaker is fairly decent. Audio via headphones is great.
Review
Realme X is an easy recommendation. It has a powerful chipset, comes in some elegant finishes, an awesome AMOLED display, and remarkable fast charging technology. Not to forget the flagship-grade IMX586 sensor for the rear camera and new technologies like in-display fingerprint sensor & pop-up camera.
On the downside, the Color OS software is perhaps not the finest available, and it does not support micro SD card. Additionally, the front camera performance could have been better. We’d say these are acceptable cons in this budget.
Overall, we were quite impressed with all that Realme has managed to deliver for such a competitive price.
Summary
Overall, we were quite impressed with all that Realme has managed to deliver for such a competitive price.
