With its strong camera, quick performance, long battery life, and built-in fast charger, the Realme 3 Pro leaves a lasting influence. The lack of NFC, a micro USB connection, and dividing software only marginally diminish this.
Realme 3 Pro Key features
The Realme 3 Pro has a number of features that are intended to win any spec war at the price point, just like many other devices that are coming to the UK from Chinese manufacturers.
In other words, it has a fast octa-core Snapdragon 710 chipset, a huge screen with a teardrop notch, a dual-lens camera with a lot of advanced camera technology, a 4,045mAh battery, and an eye-catching design with colors that change depending on the light.
The Snapdragon 710, a relatively new 10nm chipset with remarkably potent multi-core performance that can nearly rival the Snapdragon 835, is the most unexpected addition among these given its pricing. In comparison to devices like the Redmi Note 7 (Snapdragon 660) and Moto G7 Plus (Snapdragon 636), the Realme 3 Pro’s presence here serves as a powerful distinction.
Beyond its huge capacity, the 4,045mAh battery offers a big advantage because to the “VOOC” rapid charger that comes with it. With just the charger and cable that come with it, this is based on Oppo’s well-known fast charging technology and can reach a 50% charge in about 30 minutes, which is outstanding by anyone’s standards.
The Realme 3 Pro’s camera, which has an incredibly huge f/1.7 aperture and is 1/2.6″ in size, has the same primary sensor as the Oneplus 6T. Though more on the effectiveness of this later, it has a proprietary night mode, HDR picture stacking, and other features to assist produce detailed and aesthetically beautiful shots.
Realme 3 Pro Design
The Realme 3 Pro is a device whose qualities become apparent gradually, therefore the initial impression that one may acquire from it isn’t really remarkable.
That’s not to say it’s poorly made; made of polycarbonate, it seems resilient enough to withstand a few bumps and continue to rock. Going back to the plastic fantastic’s heyday was, in fact, almost therapeutic for us. This device isn’t as brittle as glass or as likely to break as metal.
That’s not to say it doesn’t slip, though, since when it doesn’t, it looks for a floor with an almost obsessive determination. Additionally, the plastic tends to gather fingerprints readily, so it’s recommended getting a portable microfiber cloth.
While the 6.3-inch screen is undoubtedly quite immersive, the Realme 3 Pro weighs 172g, making it a big monkey even though it doesn’t feel that so in the hand.
There are two color options for the back; we were given the “Nitro Blue” version, but you can also get Lightning Purple. These many paint works all change between different angles to capture the light in intriguing ways.
Along with a number of other little details, there are also tiny colored accents surrounding the back camera housing. Even though it is in the budget range, this gadget makes an effort to prove that it is a premium product despite its plastic exterior.
However, some minor details are a bit strange and annoying. The microUSB port’s existence is confusing, and the factory-installed screen protector appears to have some problems with its oleophobic coating—it isn’t fingerprint-free.
Although the lack of NFC is unexpected considering how common contactless payments have grown, we did appreciate the dual-SIM functionality and microSD card support.
Like the Pocophone F1, the Realme 3 Pro feels like a gadget designed to handle life’s hardships, which makes it a breath of fresh air even though it doesn’t feel nearly as polished as the iPhone XS. Despite its beauty, glass is undoubtedly less useful.
Realme 3 Pro Screen
With its 6.3-inch screen and 1080 x 2340 resolution, the Realme 3 Pro is about on par with the majority of contemporary phones. In comparison to QHD+ phones, this entails a minor resolution trade-off in exchange for a commensurate increase in battery life and performance.
We noticed that the Realme 3 Pro’s colors were a bit warm at their default settings, but not in a disagreeable way. Most people will be satisfied with the way it looks right out of the box, but there is a color calibration tool in the settings for those who prefer to make adjustments.
Regarding brightness, we experienced no problems with the device in most settings, and it is definitely bright enough for indoor use. Although it has trouble in direct sunshine, it does a fairly good job considering the price. As one might anticipate with an IPS display, viewing angles are also great.
The variety of options made available through the “Night Light” mode may also be of interest to some people. This provides the ability to manually adjust the color temperature for seeing at night and even provides the choice to read in grayscale.
Realme 3 Pro Battery life
With a 4,045mAh battery and a power-efficient chipset, the Realme 3 Pro undoubtedly has everything needed to achieve long battery life. However, as is always the case, both the correct hardware and software improvements are needed for success in this area.
Therefore, it is fortunate that ColorOS, the Android overlay, is so economical. The onboard battery manager makes every effort to minimize activity in order to conserve power, regardless of the background task.
When taken too far, this can limit a smartphone’s potential intelligence by limiting its ability to receive notifications and other information. Although users of the extreme power saving modes may have a completely different experience, we generally found that this wasn’t the case.
Realme 3 Pro Camera
The Realme 3 Pro is unique among 48MP cameras because it offers what may appear to be far less. It doesn’t appear to be making as much of an effort as the competitors, with a 16MP and a 5MP depth sensor.
Perceptions frequently mislead reality, as usual, and this is a really intriguing tiny phone in terms of the camera. Although the sensor itself is mediocre, Oppo has been able to use sophisticated software techniques thanks to the addition of a new chipset.
We have the standard ‘HDR’ mode, which combines photos from various exposures to enhance detail, saturation, and noise reduction, as well as a ‘portrait’ option that blurs the backdrop surrounding your subject.
Additionally, there is a “nightscape” option that, in low light, combines multiple long exposures for a more noticeable effect, as well as “chroma boost,” which turns colors radioactive.
Since the app is essentially a straight clone of the one created by Apple for the iPhone, it is simple to use and modify. Finding what you need is generally easy, while some settings are hidden away in difficult-to-reach locations.
This camera has been carefully designed for its price point, but does this translate into its performance?
Yes, somewhat unexpectedly. Once more, considering the cost, this is among the greatest cameras we’ve seen.
Nearly every picture has a lot of detail, and auto HDR does a fantastic job of preserving a somewhat contrasty appearance while elegantly recovering the highlights. While chroma boost does make things a bit cartoonish (but better for social media), the colors generated by default are on the good side of saturated.
Thankfully, low light performance is also at the highest level for the budget range, with the nightscape mode outperforming Xiaomi’s counterpart on the Redmi Note 7 in terms of lowering noise in low light photos.
Essentially, it accomplishes this while retaining some saturation and detail, however its unique night mode falls far short of competing with devices like the Google Pixel 3.
With a 25MP resolution and a variety of software effects, the selfie camera produces respectably high-quality images.