Realme 3 Pro is a Pixel 3a alternative at a seriously impressive price
Realme has arrived in the UK and Europe with a powerful mid-range smartphone that will compete with what Honor and Google can offer.
The Realme 3 Pro was unveiled in London on May 20 at a starting price of just £175, and it boasts a more powerful processor than the Google Pixel 3a (£399/$399), along with impressive fast-charging and promising camera technology. The device will go on sale from June 5, exclusively available from Realme.
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Realme claims the massive 4045mAh battery will last you through nine and a half hours of YouTube video streaming, or 126 hours of music playback.
Once you’ve worn it down you can juice back up using SuperVOOC 3.0 flash charging, which should fully recharge the battery in just 80 minutes. However, the 3 Pro does not support wireless charging which is something of a shame but far from a given at this price.
There is a dual rear camera on the device, comprised of a main 16-megapixel sensor with f/1.7 aperture and a secondary 5-megapixel sensor with f/2.4 aperture. This setup is complemented with a few AI tricks, such as Chrome Boost which heightens the dynamic range, Super Nightscape Mode for lowlight photography, and Ultra HD Mode which takes 64-megapixel photos via multi-frame synthesis. Video can be recorded in 4K, and also offers a 960fps slow-motion option.
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The screen measures 6.3-inches, with a 2340 x 1080 resolution, a 90.8% screen-to-body ratio, and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It has a dewdrop notch with a 25-megapixel selfie camera.
The rear of the device is supposedly inspired by the famous 24-hour Le Mans motor race, but it would take you a lot longer than a day to guess that. It has 82 carved metal lines giving a swirl pattern underneath a transparent plate. It will be available in Nitro Blue and Lightning Purple colour options. Audiophiles will be pleased to note the 3.5mm headphone jack on the base of the device.
These features are made all the more impressive by the price. The 4GB RAM 64GB storage base model costs £175 (€199), and the 6GB RAM & 128GB storage version will cost £219 (€249).
Levi Lee, head of Realme Europe, specifically called out the Pixel 3a when he revealed the price of the phone, and we expect Honor’s mid-range phones such as the upcoming Honor 20 will also be in their sights.
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Realme might be new to Europe, but it has impressive sales figures the developing markets of India and South East Asia. Their first smartphone on our shores is only available directly through Realme (in order to cut out the middleman and enable more aggressive prices at launch.)
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
