To give some competition in the sub-Rs 10,000 price segment aiming at Redmi 6A, smartphone player Realme recently brought a budget device 3i to the Indian market.
Realme 3i comes in two variants -- the 3GB RAM+32GB model priced at Rs 7,999 and 4GB RAM+64GB at Rs 9,999.
Realme 3i is the first smartphone in the new Realme "i" series and is available in three colours -- Diamond Black, Diamond Blue and Diamond Red.
We tested 3GB+32GB device (Rs 7,999) in Diamond Blue. Let's see how it fares.
The overall look is impressive. The use of 3D blue diamond-cut design gives it an aesthetic feel.
The fingerprint sensor, placed at the back, was fast. On the lower-left corner at the back, Realme logo is placed vertically in style.
The left edge of the device hosts a dual-SIM slot. The SIM tray hosts a dedicated space for SD card and the users can expand in-built 3GB memory up to 256 GB. The lock button is placed at the right edge of the phone.
Realme 3i features 6.2-inch touchscreen HD display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection to increase the level of protection. We had no trouble in accessing the device with the face unlock feature.
On full brightness, the display worked well both indoors and outdoors; colours on the screen appeared brighter even under direct sunlight.
The 13MP+2 MP dual rear camera is placed at the upper left corner alongside the LED flash.
The rear camera has some interesting image-enhancing features like Artificial Intelligent (AI)-filters, AI scene recognition, slow motion and time-lapse photography, among others.
The "Nightscape Mode" helped capture detailed and quality pictures even in dim-light conditions. The camera app also comes with "Chroma Boost" mode that produced good images.
The 13MP front camera was also decent.
Powered by MediaTek Helio P60, the device runs ColorOS 6 based on Android Pie.
Helio P60 brings a significant improvement in the device, making sure that the power consumption drops by 15 per cent, thus resulting in better performance and user experience.
The smartphone houses 4,230mAh battery -- outpacing premium ones like OnePlus 7 Pro and Redmi K20 Pro that offer 4,000mAh battery. On a full charge, the phone lasted for a day and a half.
The good thing about the device was it did not heat up during use and charging. While playing video games like PUBG mobile and streaming videos, the device worked OK.
Conclusion: Realme 3i comes with premium features like fingerprint sensor and face unlock. This phone has good battery backup, better camera and stylish design.
