Realme 10

Realme has to be one of the most prolific smartphone makers around. It was just four years ago when they introduced Realme 2, and now they are introducing the Realme 10. Well, just like its predecessors, this new phone is intended to appeal to the entry level market with an emphasis on sleek looks and camera performance that punches above its price range. As for its design, Realme 10 is a relatively small Android phone, with a 6.4-inch OLED display and a weight of 179g with 7.9mm thickness. The overall shape takes on a flatter profile, straying from the usual dual curved sides of Android devices. While it is a design similar to the iPhone’s blocky vibe, but much more comfortable to hold because as it is lighter, thinner, and the corner where the edges meet are slightly curved. Apart from that, the back plate gives a rather plastic vibe with glittery coating but it does reflect light in different ways depending on angle. In addition, the front side is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. However, there are a few things that keep this screen from being a flagship panel which includes the refresh rate which is just 90Hz, and the noticeably thicker chin bezel. Having said that, the screen still displays vibrant colours and gets bright enough.

As for the cameras, the Realme 10 features a 50-megapixel main camera which is very good for its price range. It is rather fast to focus and captures images with above-average dynamic range along with accurate colours. However, it is worth noting that the secondary camera on the back is a useless 2-megapixel black-and-white sensor. This is a space usually reserved for an ultra-wide camera lens, which this phone does not offer one at all. Well, not including an ultra-wide camera in 2022 feels rather restricting, particularly since previous Realme phones in this series did in fact gave an ultra-wide camera. Due to the pixel-dense main sensor, one can easily pull off a solid 2x to 3x zoom at digital crop and the image looks respectable without much loss of details. The users can even zoom up to 10x but the images begin to look soft though. In terms of its performance, Realme 10 has been incorporated with a MediaTek Helio G99 chip with 8GB of RAM, both of these are fine components for this price range, and performs well. However, it is undeniable that there is a 5,000 mAh battery which then in turn is excellent and can power this thing all day, easily. In addition, the included 33W charging brick tops up the phone at a reasonable rate. In a nutshell, it is definitely a great phone to be explored, depending on the need and preference of the user.

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam