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MagyarRealme 3 Smartphone Hands-on Review — Helio P70 mid-ranger for not-so-deep pockets
Having started from humble beginnings as an Oppo sub-brand, Realme's rise in the Indian smartphone market has been meteoric. The company has been launching smartphones left, right, and center and it has now started catering to the upper mid-range segment as well with the Realme 3 Pro. The Realme 3 was launched in March this year — just six months after its predecessor, the Realme 2, became available. The Realme 2 was well-received but was in dire need of some makeover. The Realme 3 hopes to ride on the back of its predecessor's sales by offering a new premium-ish look, a capable MediaTek Helio P70 SoC, and several software improvements.
With phones such as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7, Asus ZenFone Max Pro (M2), Samsung Galaxy M10, Asus ZenFone Max (M2), and its own sibling, the Realme U1, vying with each other to offer the best bang for the buck, the Realme 3 finds itself behind the eight ball in the sub-₹10,000 (~US$150) segment. Despite the cut-throat competition, this phone is unique in its own right, so without further ado let's find out whether Realme still gets to call the shots in the third generation.
Note — This is more of an extensive hands-on than the typical smartphone review you are used to seeing on Notebookcheck. We've incorporated most of the performance benchmarks that we think will give a fair performance estimate of the phone. All tests were done on the latest software version RMX1825EX_11_A.16 with Android Security Patch dated May 5, 2019.
Design
In the box, we find the Realme 3 smartphone itself, a regular 10W USB charger, SIM eject tool, and a TPU case. There are no earphones bundled.
The design of the Realme 3 is in-tune with what is expected from 2019 smartphones. The unibody design feels good to hold even though the phone itself tips the scales at 175 g. The design is essentially reminiscent of the Realme U1, but we get to see some new colors such as Dynamic Black, Classic Black, and Radiant Blue. We have the Dynamic Black variant with us for review, and the color does its part in lending a premium look despite being a fingerprint magnet. The back houses the 13 MP + 2 MP vertical camera arrangement with an LED flash and a capacitive fingerprint sensor.
On the left, we find the volume rocker and a triple-slot SIM tray that can take two nano SIMs and a microSD card at once. Moving on to the right, we just have a power button that also doubles-up as a Google Assistant invoke button when configured in the Settings. The top of the phone is clean while the bottom houses the speaker grill, a microUSB port, microphones, and a headphone jack.
The Realme 3 sports a 6.22-inch HD+ display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. Our unit came with a pre-applied screen protector as well. While not as jarring as the Realme U1, the transition from frame to glass is still not very seamless, but at this price we aren't really complaining; you can slap on the TPU case if the grip bothers you. Despite a prominent bottom chin, the rest of the bezels are slim. On the top of the display, we find a teardrop-shaped notch that houses the 13 MP selfie camera with the earpiece sandwiched just above the notch between the frame and the glass.
For the price, the Realme 3 does its best to stand apart from the sea of mid-range phones out there. It sure could use some improvements such as having a not-so-slippery grip and a camera alignment that is flush with the surface, but not all phones at this price focus on the design as much as Realme does so we'd give a thumbs-up for that.
Features
Like the Realme U1, the Realme 3 is also powered by the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC. The Helio P70 variant is currently available only in India with the rest of the world getting a Helio P60 chipset. The differences between the P70 and P60 aren't too drastic apart from a 100 MHz increase in CPU and GPU clocks in the P70 compared to the P60 along with some AI goodies thrown in. The Realme 3 is available in 3 GB/32 GB and 4 GB/64 GB RAM storage options. Our review unit is the Helio P70 variant coupled with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of storage. Internal storage can be expanded up to 256 GB via a microSD card.
Connectivity options are similar to the Realme U1 and we once again find that the Realme caps Wi-Fi speeds only up to 802.11n despite the Helio P70 being fully capable of wireless-AC. All the usual sensors are available. Fingerprint and face unlock work lightning fast. Although the phone does not have a front LED flash, the OS offers a screen brightness compensation as an alternative to use face unlock in the dark.
The rear camera is a 13 MP + 2 MP setup with a focus on improved low-light performance thanks to the f/1.8 aperture. The selfie camera is a 13 MP sensor with a 1.12 micron pixel size and an f/2.0 aperture. Unlike the Realme U1 that sports a 25 MP selfie camera, the Realme 3 does not overly emphasize about selfies but still manages to perform decently as we will see shortly. Video-recording is possible at up to 1080p 30 fps along with 90 fps slow-motion capture at 720p.
All of this is powered by a 4,230 mAh battery that offers excellent runtimes thanks to the lower resolution display and power-efficient chipset. There is no fast-charging provided so expect considerably longer charging times.
Software
The Realme 3 runs on the latest ColorOS 6 based on Android 9 Pie. Realme has been offering regular feature and security updates so software support does not seem to be a worrying point at this moment. Bloatware has been kept to a minimum and all extra apps such as ShareChat and UC Browser can be uninstalled if not needed. ColorOS 6 still feels like quite a departure from stock Android so new users might take some time to get used to all the features. The UI has been made a bit more colorful with some of the UI elements such as notification shade shortcuts now sporting large icons. You also get an app drawer that was missing from earlier iterations of ColorOS.
The latest FOTA update added some of the features found in phones such as the Oppo R17 Pro including lock screen magazine, updated Themes app, Realme App Market similar to Oppo App Market, Game Center for finding popular games, and a Realme Community app. You also get standard ColorOS features such as the so-called Smart Assistant, Sidebar for quick shortcuts, a Realme Secure Keyboard, and gesture-based navigation. The default OS image offers the options of using Gboard or TouchPal keyboard.
ColorOS 6 does not offer Google's Digital Wellbeing feature at the moment, but the company plans to offer it in a future update. It is also possible to manually add Digital Wellbeing to ColorOS 6 by following the instructions here.
Telephony, Networking, and GPS
Call quality on the Realme 3 was nothing to scoff at. The phone does basic telephony well with no disconnects even in areas with inconsistent signal strength. The noise-cancellation microphone works well to cut out background noise but we did hear some disturbances occasionally when on call with the other party. As mentioned earlier, the phone does not support wireless-AC and the speeds over wireless-N could touch only about 28 Mb/s on our 50 Mb/s line.
The phone offers GPS, A-GPS, and Glonass. We set the GPS to 'Device Only' mode to ensure that it does not rely on the Internet for location tracking accuracy. There was no signal lock possible indoors, but the phone managed to have an accuracy of up to 2 m outdoors, which is very good. Battery drain while using GPS was as expected and not too drastic.
Display
The Realme 3 sports a 6.22-inch 19:9 1520x720 HD+ IPS display with a 270 PPI pixel density. With the competition offering FHD+ screens in the same price range, we feel that Realme should not have cut corners here. That being said, the display is very much usable for day-to-day workflows. Text and icons are sharp enough and the deep blacks make videos look good. However, keen-eyed users will notice some blurriness in text and icons upon close inspection. The brightness levels are a tad low at 385 nits, but sunlight legibility is fine for the most part. Reading in direct sunlight is possible but colors appear washed-out. Colors in ambient light cannot be ascertained to be the most accurate especially when you have better displays side-by-side, but it is not really a deal breaker.
The Realme 3 does not include an ambient display so you will have to unlock the phone for a quick glance at notifications. There are no color-tuning utilities onboard apart from Night Shield that helps minimize blue wavelength emissions.
Like other Oppo and Realme phones, the Realme 3 lacks Widevine CDM L1 support, which means you can only stream Netflix and Amazon Prime in SD resolutions.
Cameras
For a mid-ranger, the Realme 3 does fare well in the imaging department. The camera app is much improved compared to the Realme U1 with easy access to various shooting modes and settings. Similar to the Realme U1's Super Vivid mode, the Realme 3's camera app offers Chroma Boost mode for saturating colors. You also get a dedicated Nightscape mode for low-light shots and a Portrait mode for bokehs.
The camera app makes use of the Helio P70's AI capabilities to identify the scene and adjust settings accordingly. The app even offers to control the extent of AI utilization especially when using the beautification modes with the selfie camera. Of course, there's also an Expert mode for the rear camera should you wish to take matters into your own hands.
Rear Camera
The rear camera is a 13 MP + 2 MP arrangement with the primary autofocus lens sporting an f/1.8 aperture. The secondary lens only comes into play while shooting portraits. Pictures with the rear camera turn out to be serviceable for daily use. In daylight, photos turn out to be good, although there is some loss of highlights in certain parts of the image. This can be fixed to a large extent by turning on HDR. However, we found that HDR can sometimes over-highlight some of the darker areas of the image so the results are highly scene-dependent. Alternatively, you can also enable Chroma Boost to add some color saturation and improve the dynamic range but be prepared for some loss in fine details. There isn't much noise in daylight shots and photos come out pretty sharp. However, at 100% zoom, we find that a lot of details are missing, especially at the edges. This is one area where Realme can fine-tune its software.
Night shots are strictly passable. They are better than what we saw with the Realme U1, but you'd do best to enable the Nightscape mode to allow for longer shutter times. For some scenes, a combination of HDR and Chroma Boost might yield better results than Nightscape. The noise levels in low light are on the higher side and a significant loss of detail can be observed at when you zoom in 100%. Overall, we feel that there is still ample scope for improvement on the software side of things and hope that Realme addresses these in future updates.
The maximum possible resolution for videos is 1080p 30 fps despite the Helio P70 being fully capable of 4K recording. At least a 1080p 60 fps option would have been good to have. That being said, videos come out well with good detail and colors. There is no EIS/OIS support so steady hands are needed to minimize shaky footage.
Front Camera
The front camera in the Realme 3 is a 13 MP f/2.0 sensor with a large 1.12 micron pixel size. The front camera also supports HDR and uses AI for beautification and face unlock. There is no soft LED flash, but you can use the Screen Brightness Compensation option to make up for it. Selfies come out well with discernible details and good separation of the background in portraits albeit a tendency to brighten the image more than needed.
You don't get the option of applying live stickers or using any sort of animated emojis but there are options to adjust beauty and set different color modes. The beauty adjustments don't really make a huge difference to be honest and you'd do just fine without them. In short, selfie aficionados won't be disappointed with the Realme 3, although there is still some scope for improvement.
Performance
The MediaTek Helio P70 SoC is the brain powering the Realme 3. The combination of a fast mid-range SoC with a lower resolution display and larger battery bodes well for the Realme 3. Overall performance is smooth and responsive for the most part. There are occasional UI stutters, especially in apps such as the Play Store or while pulling down the notification shade with many notifications. We feel these could be due to optimizations needed in ColorOS 6 rather than the chipset itself. Multitasking should pose no issues as long as you have the higher RAM variant.
CPU and GPU Benchmarks
For the most part, the Realme 3 and Realme U1 are within 10% of each other in most CPU and GPU benchmarks. The Helio P70 in the Realme 3 seemed to offer strong single-core and decent multi-core performances compared to the Snapdragon 660 and led the charts in PCMark Work tests. The differences start to widen in GFXBench tests, specifically the Onscreen ones in which the Realme 3 performed much better than the competition overall, even edging out the Snapdragon 660 in the Asus ZenFone Max Pro (M2). It must be noted here that the ZenFone Max Pro (M2)'s SoC was clocked lower than factory default, which explains the lower scores.
Going by the benchmark scores alone, it seems as if Realme could still do more to extract maximum performance out the Helio P70. That being said, it is a close call between the Mali-G72 MP3 GPU in the Helio P70 and the Snapdragon 660's Adreno 512. This should translate into good real-world gaming performance as we'll see shortly.
| Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 | |
| Compute RenderScript Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2053 - 14785, n=64, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL | |
| Oppo Realme 3 | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Compute OpenCL Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (5236 - 11087, n=6, last 2 years) | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| 64 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2630 - 21505, n=78, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL | |
| Oppo Realme 3 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 | |
| 64 Bit Single-Core Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (783 - 8424, n=78, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | |
| Oppo Realme 3 | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 | |
| GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7 | |
| T-Rex Onscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (22 - 165, n=187, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | |
| Oppo Realme 3 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| 1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (19 - 497, n=187, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro | |
| Oppo Realme 3 | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| GFXBench 3.0 | |
| on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL | |
| Average of class Smartphone (6.8 - 161, n=188, last 2 years) | |
| Oppo Realme 3 | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 | |
| 1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (9.2 - 331, n=189, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | |
| Oppo Realme 3 | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| GFXBench 3.1 | |
| on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (3.7 - 143, n=189, last 2 years) | |
| Oppo Realme 3 | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 | |
| 1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen | |
| Average of class Smartphone (6.2 - 223, n=189, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL | |
| Oppo Realme 3 | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
We also evaluated throttling aspects of the SoC by running GFXBench Long Term T-Rex ES 2.0 and Long Term Manhattan ES 3.1 for about 30 iterations. Temperatures hovered around a reasonable 40 °C during both runs. Although the same Helio P70 is used in the Realme U1 as well, we find stark differences when it comes to how each phone handles sustained performance under load.
In Long Term T-Rex ES 2.0, the Helio P70 in the Realme 3 seemed to record a higher number of frames than the Realme U1 but the peak performance does not sustain for long. CPU clocks range between 1.3 and 1.5 GHz with occasional highs of nearly 2 GHz.
Similar results were obtained in the more stressful Long Term Manhattan ES 3.1 loop as well. We saw an overall higher frame count than what the Realme U1 managed but the CPU suffered a significant drop in performance closer to the 10th iteration even though it somewhat tried to sustain performance for the remainder of the test. The P70 could reach or even cross the 2 GHz mark frequently.
We reached out to MediaTek to check what could be the reason for these dips and will update the article once we receive a reply. Overall, we feel that the Helio P70 in the Realme 3 could benefit from some software optimizations for better sustained performance. That being said, we don't find it being an issue in daily use or even for gaming as the target demographic for this device is unlikely to push the SoC this hard.
Web Benchmarks
Realme includes Opera Mobile and UC Browser along with Google Chrome in the base image. Opera Mobile offers features such as a personalized news feed, built-in VPN, ad-blocker, and a Crypto Wallet. Nevertheless, we ran all our web benchmarks on Google Chrome as it is likely to be the browser of choice for the majority of users.
Similar to the Realme U1, the Realme 3 did not really shine in browser benchmarks save for Mozilla Kraken with even Helio P60 phones posting higher scores. However, web-browsing on Chrome poses no issues and since there's enough RAM onboard, you can easily open a dozen tabs and not worry about the browser slowing down. Graphics-heavy websites and FHD streaming perform without issues. We also played a game of Interland in the Chrome browser and didn't have issues with fluidity or touch responsiveness in the game.
| JetStream 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (26.7 - 414, n=79, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 (Chrome 72) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite (Chrome 71) | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro (Chrome 69) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 (Chrome 71) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| Oppo Realme 3 (Chrome 74) | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus (Chrome 71) | |
| Oppo Realme U1 | |
| Jetstream 2 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (16.9 - 282, n=165, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 (Chrome 73) | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro (Chrome 74) | |
| Oppo Realme U1 (Chrome 74) | |
| Oppo Realme 3 (Chrome 74) | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (4633 - 74261, n=194, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 (Chrome 72) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite (Chrome 71) | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus (Chrome 71) | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro (Chrome 69) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Oppo Realme 3 (Chrome 74) | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 (Chrome 71) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 (Chrome 73) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| Oppo Realme U1 (Chrome 73) | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total Score | |
| Oppo Realme U1 (Chrome 74) | |
| Oppo Realme 3 (Chrome 74) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 (Chrome 73) | |
| Motorola Moto G7 Play | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus (Chrome 71) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Ulefone Armor 6 (Chrome 71) | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro (Chrome 69) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 (Chrome 72) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite (Chrome 71) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (414 - 10797, n=168, last 2 years) | |
| WebXPRT 2015 - Overall Score | |
| Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 (Chrome 72) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite (Chrome 71) | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro (Chrome 69) | |
| Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL (Chrome 71) | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus (Chrme 71) | |
| Oppo Realme 3 (Chrome 74) | |
| Oppo Realme U1 (Chrome 74) | |
| WebXPRT 3 - --- | |
| Average of class Smartphone (28 - 292, n=145, last 2 years) | |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite (Chrome 71) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 (Chrome 72) | |
| Xiaomi Redmi 7 (Chrome 73) | |
| Umidigi Z2 Pro | |
| Nokia 5.1 Plus | |
| Oppo Realme 3 (Chrome 74) | |
| Oppo Realme U1 (Chrome 74) | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Benchmarks
The Realme 3 uses a similar eMMC flash storage as the Realme U1. Our unit came with 64 GB of storage of which around 49.6 GB is available to the user. Random Write speeds were on par with most phones with eMMC storage and so were the Random Reads. Sequential Write and Read were also on par or sometimes even better than the competition. While the Realme 3 won't be breaking any storage speed records, it offers enough performance to load games or large files quickly.
| Oppo Realme 3 Mali-G72 MP3, Helio P70, 64 GB eMMC Flash | Oppo Realme U1 Mali-G72 MP3, Helio P70, 32 GB eMMC Flash | Ulefone Armor 6 Mali-G72 MP3, Helio P60, 128 GB eMMC Flash | Umidigi Z2 Pro Mali-G72 MP3, Helio P60, 128 GB eMMC Flash | Nokia 5.1 Plus Mali-G72 MP3, Helio P60, 32 GB eMMC Flash | Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Adreno 512, SD 660, 64 GB eMMC Flash | Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2 ZB630KL Adreno 512, SD 660, 64 GB eMMC Flash | Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite Adreno 512, SD 660, 128 GB eMMC Flash | Xiaomi Redmi 7 Adreno 506, SD 632, 32 GB eMMC Flash | Motorola Moto G7 Play Adreno 506, SD 632, 32 GB eMMC Flash | Asus Zenfone Max M2 ZB633KL Adreno 506, SD 632, 32 GB eMMC Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | -1% | 7% | 9% | 4% | 2% | 116% | 2% | -17% | 81% | -16% | 511% | |
| Sequential Write 256KB SDCard | 60.1 | 58.9 | 59.6 | 59.5 | 66.2 | 64 | 63.3 | 64.1 | ||||
| Sequential Read 256KB SDCard | 75.6 | 76.1 | 76.6 | 83.2 | 86.3 | 85.9 | 85.9 | 84.7 | ||||
| Random Write 4KB | 15.4 | 26.72 74% | 19.87 29% | 20.34 32% | 25.65 67% | 16.06 4% | 88.2 473% | 18.75 22% | 14.4 -6% | 73 374% | 17.11 11% | 217 ? 1309% |
| Random Read 4KB | 76.5 | 48.7 -36% | 81.3 6% | 86.2 13% | 77.7 2% | 82.9 8% | 74.9 -2% | 81.3 6% | 73.6 -4% | 74 -3% | 50.4 -34% | 207 ? 171% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 205.5 | 121.7 -41% | 188.4 -8% | 188.1 -8% | 88.9 -57% | 204.7 0% | 198.9 -3% | 172.4 -16% | 84.7 -59% | 111 -46% | 121.1 -41% | 741 ? 261% |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 293.5 | 296.5 1% | 290.8 -1% | 292.9 0% | 301.6 3% | 283.4 -3% | 285.5 -3% | 282.6 -4% | 298 2% | 289 -2% | 291.2 -1% | 1180 ? 302% |
AI Benchmarks
As outlined in our Realme U1 and Oppo R17 Pro reviews, comparing AI performance among phones is not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison and the extent of AI support in the OS can skew the numbers irrespective of the SoC's raw power. MediaTek claims improved AI performance in the Helio P70 thanks to a dedicated multi-core AI Processing Unit (APU) running at 525 MHz, so we decided to compare how the Realme 3 fares in comparison with SoCs powering some of the phones we have with us currently, including the Snapdragon 660, Snapdragon 632, and the Snapdragon 710. We tested AI performance using AI Benchmark and AnTuTu's AI benchmark, AITuTu.
From the results, we clearly see that the combination of the Helio P70's APU and improved AI capabilities in Android 9 help the Realme 3 to offer better AI performance than the competition. While ColorOS does make use of AI to facilitate fast face unlock, camera scene detection, and optimized battery performance, we feel that there's still scope to better leverage the Helio P70's AI capabilities.
Gaming
Gaming on the Realme 3 is a pleasure despite the low-res display. The phone didn't show any signs of heating even during prolonged gaming sessions. Games such as PUBG Mobile and Asphalt 9: Legends could hit 30 fps although we did see frequent frame drops in Asphalt 9: Legends when too many cars were in the scene. Shadow Fight 3 easily hits 60 fps while Arena of Valor offered a consistent gaming experience at 30 fps. Touch response during gaming was excellent and we didn't experience any missed inputs.
Realme includes the Game Space app that allows for customizing performance levels per game along with options for blocking notifications and other distractions. We set the performance mode to Balanced as that is likely to be the default setting. We didn't notice much gain in enabling High Performance, though. All said and done, the Realme 3 should not disappoint gamers on a budget and the performance in most games is at least at an upper mid-range level if not better.
| PUBG Mobile | |||
| Settings | Value | ||
| HD | 29 fps | ||
| Asphalt 9: Legends | |||
| Settings | Value | ||
| High Quality | 21 fps | ||
| Shadow Fight 3 | |||
| Settings | Value | ||
| high | 59 fps | ||
| Arena of Valor | |||
| Settings | Value | ||
| min | 30.5 fps | ||
Emissions
Temperatures
The Realme 3 was easy to handle even under load as the temperatures were largely kept under check. Measuring the temperature using CPU-monitoring apps wasn't really accurate. For example, AnTuTu reported a CPU temperature of 60 °C in idle, which is not a correct reading. We asked MediaTek if it's an issue of apps not being able to tap into any unexposed thermal sensor APIs and we'll update this article once we have a response. However, the GFXBench stress tests revealed normal operating temperature to be around 30 °C that rose to a maximum of 40 °C under load. Anecdotally speaking, handling the phone during stress tests or gaming wasn't an issue at all.
Speakers
The Realme 3 sports a single loudspeaker near the microUSB port. The volume gets loud enough for indoor use and has good clarity especially with the vocals and calls. The loudspeaker does distort when the volume is set to maximum, but the output is serviceable for most occasions.
Audio output on our SoundMagic E10C earphones was great (for the price) with well-represented mids and highs, and adequate lows. Like several other Oppo and Realme phones, the Realme 3 also offers a system-wide EQ that the company refers to as the Real Original Sound Technology developed jointly by Dirac Research AB.
Battery Life
The Realme 3 is endowed with a generous 4,230 mAh battery that should easily see you through a typical workday and still have enough juice before you hit the bed. There is no fast charging so you'll have to make do with the included 5V 2A charger, which should be able to top-up the battery from zero to 60% in about 1.5 hours. ColorOS offers good power management features and can diligently learn to turn off unnecessary background services over time. The low-res screen further helps in power saving as well.
In the PCMark Work 2.0 battery test, the Realme 3 recorded a battery life of 11 h 22 m with the screen brightness at approximately 200 cd/m2 and all connections on. This is an excellent runtime, although your actual mileage will vary depending on the apps and services used. Suffice to say that if battery life is a primary purchase criterion for your next mid-ranger, the Realme 3 certainly deserves a consideration.
Pros
Cons
Verdict
We have been using the Realme 3 as a daily driver phone for over two months now and found it to be a highly reliable smartphone. The design language is in line with what is expected from a 2019 product and the software offers most features one would need albeit being a bit loaded and tangential for some tastes. The Realme 3 offers great gaming performance, excellent battery life, acceptable cameras, and timely software updates that few in its category can stake claim to.
However, being the sub-₹10,000 (~US$150) phone that it is, cut corners are clearly evident starting with the display. While not really bad, the competition has graduated to FHD+ displays in this price range and the phone's fraternal twin, the Realme U1, offers a great FHD+ IPS panel and a somewhat better 25 MP selfie camera. We would also like to see improvements to both front and rear camera imaging along with fine-tuning of sustained CPU performance and UI speed in general. The MediaTek Helio P70 can, in theory, offer comparable or even better performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, but it seems as if the Realme 3 doesn't fully harness the potential of this chip.
The Realme 3 merits a consideration if you are in the hunt for a capable mid-ranger at a budget price and can overlook some of its deficiencies. While the competition does offer better specs in some areas, the Realme 3 seeks to offer a better overall smartphone usage experience for the dough.
The Realme 3's primary competitor is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 that offers an FHD+ display, Snapdragon 660, a capable 12 MP + 2 MP camera setup, USB Type-C, and a 4,000 mAh battery. The Samsung Galaxy M20 is also a worthy contender in this segment, albeit being slightly higher priced.
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