Realme is changing the landscape of affordable smartphones again as they launched their newest smartphone in the Philippines – the Realme 3. The smartphone packs a lot of features for an affordable smartphone including nightscape mode which enables you to shoot brighter images even at dim conditions. Interested? Check out our review of the Realme 3 below.

Design and Construction

One of the best things about the Realme 3 is its design. It may not be perfect but you’ll definitely love the look of it especially for its price range. Remember, the smartphone starts at Php6,990, so it is expected to have smartphone polycarbonate plastic but the gradient color is something that you should definitely take a look at.

No, it’s not just gradient as this one has this starry effect design at the back that shines whenever the light passes in it. Something that really adds wonder to the Realme 3.

The Realme 3 isn’t the thickest nor the thinnest smartphone in the market but you’ll definitely like the curves of the smartphone which makes it ergonomic to the hand but most of you will probably use the included case in the box so you don’t have to worry about dropping the smartphone.

The Realme 3 is still using a Micro USB in the world full of USB-C phones but it’s quite reasonable as the price range of this smartphone is really damn low and of course, we still have the b jack and the triple card tray which can house the two sim cards and also a microSD card. Oh and speaking of the headphone jack, be sure to use that one always as I’m not a fan of the speaker quality of the Realme 3.

Unlike other smartphones, the Realme 3 still got a fingerprint scanner at the back which works well and then there’s the face unlock. This is actually a surprise as most of the smartphones in its price range opted not to have a fingerprint scanner.

Display

The Realme 3 sports a 6.2-inch IPS dewdrop display with an HD+ resolution. A lot of you might be disappointed with it but the colors look fine despite the low pixel density. It’s actually brighter than I expected and the colors were really fine and before we forgot, the Realme 3 actually uses Gorilla Glass 3 for its protection.

Overall, the display of the smartphone isn’t perfect but it does its job well when it comes to colors and viewing angles, however, the low pixel density is really noticeable if you look closely and when I’m watching Netflix. Personally, I don’t find it a dealbreaker for its price range.

Long Battery Life

One of the things that we love on the Realme 3 is the long battery life thanks to its 4230mAh battery. It’s not as long as we got on the Realme C1 which is by far, the longest lasting smartphone that we’ve ever reviewed based on our PC Mark Battery Life Benchmark.

But in our test, the Realme 3 still managed to get a score of ______ at PC Mark which is still definitely good for me. In my normal usage, the smartphone got a day and half of the usage which is really good.

Fast and Optimized software

Another thing that Realme has emphasized in their smartphone is their software with a near Stock Android experience and in our usage, the ColorOS 6.0 on Android Pie of the Realme 3 does a pretty fine job. One of the new things is that we got an app drawer now which isn’t present before and then there’s the revamped notification center that looks cleaner and a lot better. Oh, and yes, you can now change the navigation bar similar to other Android Pie smartphones.

Performance

The Realme 3 got an Helio P60 chipset inside with 3GB or 4GB of RAM. The one that we got comes with 4GB of RAM so you know, we can get better performance on this one compared to the most affordable variant.

AxE
PUBG – HD Graphics with Anti-aliasing with High Framerate

Nonetheless, the Realme 3 is still the cheapest smartphone around with Helio P60 processor inside and in our benchmarks, the Realme 3 proved that the smartphone is definitely awesome in a lot of ways.

Even in gaming, the Realme 3 shines in this department. So basically, the Realme 3 makes it one of the best gaming smartphones at sub-Php10,000.

You can check out the GameBench Benchmarking app at (https://www.gamebench.net)

You can also download the app at the Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gamebench.metricscollector)

Surprising camera

We got a 13-megapixel rear camera with a 2-megapixel depth sensor. And as expected, we got AI scene recognition on the smartphone that lets us capture better shots on the smartphone.

We were actually surprised that Realme 3 can capture really great photos. How great? It feels like the Realme 3’s camera belong in the more than Php10,0000-segment phone. The shots that we took were great and most of it was brighter than I expected. Speaking of brighter, we got the nightscape mode on the Realme 3 and boy oh boy, it does its job well. Not the best one that I’ve seen but still great for a smartphone that starts at Php6,990.

Another highlighted feature on the Realme 3 is Chrome Boost which adds more color and vividness to the shots. This one is really cool if you think that the subjects are dull and lacks some life. Check out the difference between these photos with Chroma boost and without chroma boost.

With Chroma boost
Without Chroma Boost

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some shots that we took using the Realme 3:

 

Verdict

The Realme 3 surprised us in a lot of ways. We never expected the Realme 3 to start at Php6,990 and I didn’t expect that the Realme 3 will have a beautiful design and a still powerful processor. Yes, the chipset is not new but this one is the one that was used on the OPPO F9 so yeah, I still wouldn’t complain and it’s still pretty damn powerful.

The camera and battery life of the smartphone are still good as expected but I didn’t expect that the camera of the smartphone would be that good.

However, the Realme 3 only got an HD+ display which is a disappointment for some people. Nonetheless, the Realme 3 is still a great smartphone for its price. Yes, there might be some compromises but the Realme 3 is damn affordable. Actually, the Realme 3 might be the best one in its price range right now.

The Realme 3 is now available in the following variants:

  • 3GB+32GB – Php6,990
  • 3GB+64GB – Php7,990
  • 4GB+64GB – Php9,990

Realme 3 Specs (Global Version)

  • MediaTek Helio P60 Octa-Core processor
  • 6.28-inch HD+ IPS Display, gorilla glass
  • 3GB/4GB RAM
  • 32GB/64GB Internal Storage expandable via MicroSD
  • 13-megapixel + 2-megapixel rear camera
  • 13-megapixel front camera
  • WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
  • LTE, Dual SIM
  • Android 9 Pie with Color OS 6.0
  • 4230mAh Battery

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