Smart Android And Trik-Commenting on Andorid indeed never endless, because smart devices this one is often updated every certain amount of time. So that the market can always be garapnya menerinya with pleasure. And it is not denied if this device has become the lifestyle of each society. To not wonder if the 6th business information and many are turning to mobail smartphone. With Android which thoroughly dominated the mobile industry, choosing the best Android smartphone is almost identical to choose the best smartphone, period. But while Android phones have few real opponents on other platforms, internal competition is intense.
Introduction
Realme has been putting out phones at least every other month and in less than a year the company's portfolio has grown to 9 devices. It's the latest one we have here today - the Realme 3 Pro.
The Pro moniker carries a lot of meaning here - it's not just some extra RAM or storage. For starters, the Realme 3 Pro comes with a 1080p display as opposed to the 720p panel of the non-Pro and the waterdrop-notched 6.3-inch screen appears to be the same one from the 2 Pro.
Then there's the chipset - the Snapdragon 710 is one of the most potent mid-tier SoCs and its presence in a device as affordable as the Realme 3 Pro is more than welcome. Same goes for the VOOC fast charging support - previously reserved for more upmarket Oppos.
There's fair dose of other upgrades over the Realme 3. The base model starts off at 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, where the non-Pro peaks, although gone is the 8GB RAM version we saw on the 2 Pro. The main camera appears the same 16MP f/1.7 unit from the 2 Pro, but in fact it isn't - instead it's based on the same IMX519 sensor from the OnePlus 6T. There's also a 5MP depth sensor as opposed to the basic 2MP one of the 2 Pro and the plain 3. The 25MP front-facing cam marks a return too - we saw it on a Realme U1 late last year.
Realme 3 Pro specs
- Body: Multi-layer plastic back, polycarbonate frame, Gorilla Glass 5 front; 156.8x74.2x8.3mm, 172g.
- Screen: 6.3-inch, 19.5:9 aspect, 1080x2340px resolution, 409ppi, IPS LCD.
- Rear Camera: Primary 16MP, f/1.7 lens; secondary 5MP depth sensor; LED flash; 2160@30fps video recording.
- Front Camera: 25MP, f/2.0; 1080p@30fps video recording.
- Chipset: Snapdragon 710, octa-core CPU (2x2.2 GHz 360 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver), Adreno 616.
- Memory: 4/64GB, 6/64GB, and 6/128GB RAM/storage versions, dedicated microSD slot for up to 256GB expansion.
- OS: Android 9 Pie; ColorOS 6.0 on top.
- Battery: 4,045mAh, 20W VOOC charging.
- Connectivity: Dual SIM (4G), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, FM radio, microUSB 2.0, 3.5mm jack.
- Misc: Rear-mounted always-on fingerprint scanner.
The Realme 3 Pro doesn't skimp on the basics either and comes with dual SIM support and a microSD slot, there's a 3.5mm jack and when you plug in headphones it'll use them as the antenna for the built-in FM radio receiver. The handset boots the latest Android 9.0 with Oppo's custom Color OS layered on top, so the software is up to date as well. Let's see what hardware we'll pull out of the box.
Realme 3 Pro unboxing
The Realme 3 Pro ships in virtually the same gray-and-yellow package as the Realme 3, only there's a (Pro) marking to show it's not quite the same thing inside. The phone is different alright, but so is the charger - the one in this box is a powerful 20W VOOC adapter. There's also a cable to go with it, as the proprietary charging solution won't work with your non-VOOC cables (though you'd still be able to charge albeit more slowly).
And then there's a clear bumper case bundled so you can protect the nice-looking back of your Realme 3 Pro.
Design and 360-degree view
The Realmy 3 Pro follows closely in the footsteps of its non-Pro stablemate in the overall design, though there are differences. Most notable is the brand new styling of the back panel with its two opposing patterns of converging waves meeting to form a curvy S-shape in the middle. Say what now? Well, this:
This specific effect is most pronounced on the Nitro Blue and Carbon Gray color variants. The Lightning Purple has it too, but in that instance the black-to-purple gradient prevails over the S. Whichever paintjob you choose for your Realme 3 Pro, it likely won't go unnoticed.
The back is home to the dual camera assembly in the top left corner, the modules sharing a bump with the LED flash. This imaging department sticks out by about a millimeter and makes the phone a little wobbly when on a table. The Realme 3's camera sticks out less and that one is less prone to wobbling.
S-shape effect on the Nitro Blue • Camera and fingerprint sensor on the back • Camera bump
The depth sensor has a couple of accent rings around it as a purely decorative element, and another one of those is the Realme logo down below. At least there are no camera specs and regulatory markings scattered around the back. The fingerprint reader is on the back as well, a touch too high and requiring a bit of a stretch, but nothing overly dramatic.
The frame that keeps things together is made of polycarbonate and is colored to go with the back panel's paintjob - it's dark gray for the Carbon version, has a purple tint on the Lightning one, and is blue on the Neon.
The power button is alone on the right, while the two separate volume buttons are on the left. All three are very well sized and positioned, and click nicely. If you were to ask us which is the correct button placement, we'd pick this one.
Also on the left, above the volume buttons, is the card slot and it's our favorite type too - the tray has cutouts for two nano SIMs and a microSD slot.
We're not as excited about the microUSB port on the bottom - let's all agree that the whole industry should switch to USB-C and be done with it. To the left of the port is the primary mic and a bit more towards the edge is the 3.5mm headphone jack. The loudspeaker is on the other side.
In the hand • Sadly, that's a microUSB port on the bottom • The triple card slot is nice, though
Over on the front we find the Gorilla Glass 5-covered 6.3-inch display with a small waterdrop-like notch up top. The cutout houses the camera and the ambient light sensor, the earpiece above them. The proximity sensor isn't quite here - instead, it's a bit to the right in what's left of the top bezel.
The bottom bezel of the Realme 3 Pro is slimmer than the one of the plain Realme 3 - in true Pro fashion. Overall, for a phone in this class, the Realme 3 Pro is keeping the bezels really thin.
Realme 3 Pro on the left, Realme 3 on the right
The whole phone is reasonably compact too - having in mind its display size, of course. The Realme 3 Pro measures 156.8x74.2x8.3mm and it's a a couple of millimeters shorter than both the Honor 8X and the Redmi Note 7 Pro and still half a mil shorter than the Vivo V15 Pro. It's also the narrowest of this bunch, even if the differences are in the fractions of a millimeter.
Weighing in at 172g, the Realmi 3 Pro is very light too, some 13g less than the Redmi and the Vivo, and a less noticeable 3g lighter than the Honor.
The 6.3-inch display is not bad, not bad
The Realme 3 Pro is equipped with a 6.3-inch IPS LCD display with a waterdrop notch - by all accounts, it's looking like the same panel as on the Realme 2 Pro and the Oppo F9 before that. The resolution is 1080x2340px in a 19.5:9 aspect ratio making for a pixel density of 409ppi.
We measured a maximum brightness of just over 500nits on the Realme 3 Pro and with its deep blacks (for an LCD) contrast turned out very good too. The Realme 2 Pro and the Oppo F9 were apparently tuned to go an extra couple of dozen nits higher, but it's not a huge difference. The Redmi Note 7 is slightly dimmer than the Realme 3 Pro and the Honor 8X maxes out at even lower nits. The vivo V15 Pro isn't as bright as the Realme either, but its OLED display offers superior contrast due to the technology's inherent advantages.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.285 | 508 | 1782 | |
| 0.306 | 537 | 1755 | |
| 0.263 | 385 | 1464 | |
| 0.29 | 526 | 1814 | |
| 0.346 | 427 | 1234 | |
| 0.358 | 479 | 1338 | |
| 0 | 429 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 424 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 551 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 410 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 548 | ∞ | |
| 0.3 | 400 | 1333 | |
| 0.315 | 493 | 1565 | |
| 0.322 | 468 | 1453 | |
| 0.344 | 441 | 1282 | |
Outdoor visibility isn't spectacular, and it isn't aided by the 3 Pro's general tendency to get all smudged up. If you wipe it clean, however, you'd be more than okay outside - we certainly had no problems framing our outdoor test shots.
Color reproduction is decent out of the box with lively if not super accurate colors. The grayscale swatches we measured against sRGB targets were all around a deltaE of 6 and visibly shifted towards blue in the default display mode, where the overall average deltaE is 4.6 with a 6.8 maximum.
We say display mode, but it's a slider that is set to the 'Default' middle position with 'Cooler' and 'Warmer' at the extremes. The coolest position makes things even worse with the already bluish whites, but setting it to the warmest yields better results (average deltaE of 3.2 and a maximum of 6.5, grayscale around 3). We measured the lowest shift of the grays around the position in the screenshot below, but it's only a marginal improvement over the warmest setting.
Display color settings
Realme 3 Pro battery life
The Realme 3 Pro is powered by a 4,045mAh battery because 4,000 flat would have been too mainstream. The Redmi Note 7 relies on a 4,000mAh power pack, while other potential competitors like the Honor 8X and vivo V15 Pro hover around the 3,700mAh mark.
In out testing, the Realme 3 Pro clocked an excellent 15 full hours of video playback and close to 14 hours of browsing the web over Wi-Fi. We also measured more than 30 hours of 3G voice calls. The overall Endurance rating worked out to 92 hours.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSer App. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Realme 3 Pro for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
For comparison, the Redmi Note 7 did 14 hours in each of the screen-on disciplines and 32+ hours of voice calls, while the vivo V15 Pro was good for 15 hours of looping videos, 11:22h on the web browsing script and 28 hours talk time. The Honor 8X has the lowest video playback time of this bunch at (a still respectable) 12:13h, it did 11:24h in web browsing and 32+ hours on a 3G voice call.
One of the pro-est bits about the Realme 3 Pro is its VOOC fast charging capability. It ships with a 20W charger and cable that support Oppo's proprietary tech, which can fully charge a depleted battery in one hour and fifteen minutes, with the battery indicator showing 48% at the 30-minute mark.
Loudspeaker
The Realme 3 Pro has a single bottom-firing loudspeaker, which is really the norm outside of the high-end segment (and even there stereo speakers aren't guaranteed). The 3 Pro's speaker proved very loud in our testing easily making it to the 'Excellent' bowl. It's a bit louder than the Realme 2 Pro and an even bigger step up from the Realme 3. The output is also full-bodied, there's some bass too, and there's no distortion at high volume.
Single loudspeaker on the bottom
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 68.9 | 71.8 | 81.1 | Very Good | |
| 67.2 | 72.5 | 84.5 | Very Good | |
| 70.1 | 74.2 | 81.6 | Very Good | |
| 66.6 | 69.8 | 90.0 | Very Good | |
| 74.3 | 70.2 | 82.6 | Very Good | |
| 70.3 | 73.4 | 83.8 | Very Good | |
| 77.5 | 71.7 | 81.1 | Excellent | |
| 76.9 | 74.8 | 79.3 | Excellent | |
| 71.8 | 69.2 | 91.0 | Excellent | |
| 68.0 | 74.5 | 92.0 | Excellent | |
| 70.9 | 73.8 | 90.9 | Excellent | |
| 83.2 | 75.6 | 83.5 | Excellent | |
| 82.2 | 74.9 | 85.5 | Excellent |
Audio quality
The Realme 3 Pro started off brightly in our audio test, posting excellent scores with an external amplifier while maintaining very high volume levels.
Plugging in the headphones caused quite a lot of damage to the audio output though, dropping the loudness to just above average. We also saw a notable increase in stereo crosstalk and some intermodulation distortion appearing. Not a bad showing per se, but nowhere near as impressive as the first part.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.03, -0.04 | -92.9 | 92.7 | 0.0018 | 0.0078 | -91.1 | |
| +0.40, -0.27 | -92.7 | 92.5 | 0.011 | 0.411 | -50.2 | |
| +0.07, -0.04 | -93.5 | 93.4 | 0.0010 | 0.0067 | -91.6 | |
| +0.50, -0.17 | -92.1 | 92.2 | 0.011 | 0.401 | -52.0 | |
| +0.02, -0.02 | -90.5 | 90.4 | 0.0050 | 0.015 | -91.7 | |
| +0.17, -0.25 | -90.8 | 91.0 | 0.087 | 0.256 | -58.9 | |
| +0.07, -0.01 | -90.0 | 90.1 | 0.0019 | 0.015 | -92.9 | |
| +0.16, -0.10 | -92.3 | 92.5 | 0.0069 | 0.164 | -64.8 | |
| +0.02, -0.02 | -93.1 | 93.0 | 0.0039 | 0.0088 | -81.9 | |
| +0.64, -0.38 | -88.6 | 91.9 | 0.0069 | 0.606 | -50.6 | |
| +0.01, -0.04 | -92.3 | 92.4 | 0.0041 | 0.0085 | -80.7 | |
| +0.45, -0.54 | -92.2 | 92.8 | 0.0084 | 0.492 | -51.5 |
Realme 3 Pro frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Android Pie and Color OS 6
The Realme 3 Pro runs Oppo's latest Color OS 6 - the same version we're already familiar with from the Realme 3 non-Pro. The ROM is based on Android 9 Pie and features a lot of improvements since v.5.2.
Version 6 is based on a light color scheme, mainly mixing a white backdrop with light color gradients. Oppo says the choice of white is meant to create an airy atmosphere. A major part of Color OS 6 is the new universal font - Oppo Sans - which Oppo has developed in cooperation with known Chinese typeface firm Hanyi.
An actual functional change with the latest iteration is that Color OS now has an app drawer. While this is just an option for the upcoming Oppo phones, it's on by default on the Realme 3 Pro.
The user interface of the Realme 3 Pro is virtually identical to that of the non-Pro, in turn very similar to the pre-Pie releases from the brand.
Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • Smart assistant • App drawer
The fingerprint sensor is always-on and it's fast and accurate. It takes quite a few steps to enroll a print, but that typically ensures less issues with the recognition as is the case here.
You can also set up face unlock in addition to fingerprint security - it's equally fast as the Realme 3 Pro wakes up the moment you pick it up. It relies on 120 recognition points and supposedly can't be fooled by a picture. There's also a setting that requires your eyes to be open for the phone to unlock.
Biometric security
There's still no theme store on the Realme 3 Pro as we observed on the Realme 3. We're starting to wonder if there is such capability planned at all and it's simply a matter of software update, or there'll be none at all.
The drop-down shade features notifications, quick toggles, and a brightness scrubber and has been redesigned for Color OS 6. The task switcher is reminiscent of Apple's, though it has an End All button. Split-screen multitasking is available for all compatible apps, and you can resize the windows and swap the two apps - do try that last bit on a Pixel.
Notifications • Toggles • Task Switcher • Split screen • Split screen • Split screen
There are all sorts of navigation options on the Realme 3 Pro. Several types of gesture-based navigation, the usual nav bar, and Pixel's pill - they're all there. By the way, if you are keen on launching the Google Assistant with a hardware key instead of a virtual one, you can assign a short press on the Power Key to summon it.
Navigation settings
There is a Phone Manager quite similar to what Huawei and Xiaomi have on their phones under the same name. It handles memory cleaner functions, app permissions and encryption, and virus scanning, among other things.
Game Space allows you to handpick which notifications to pass through when you are playing games and you don't want to be interrupted. There are also different performance modes and an option to lock the brightness only for certain games.
Oppo provides multimedia apps of all sorts - Gallery, Music, Video, and even an FM radio.
Phone Manager • Gallery • Music • FM radio • Files • Game Space
Synthetic benchmarks
The Realme 3 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 710 chipset - one of the most powerful SoCs you can find outside of Qualcomm 800 series. Yes, it was just replaced by the S730, but it'll take a while before that makes it to the 3 Pro's price range, if at all. Then there's the S675 which has a slight advantage in the CPU department, but the way Qualcomm segments its lineup means the 710 still has the superior GPU.
The Realme 3 Pro will be offered in 4GB/64GB, 6GB/64GB, and 6GB/128GB versions and our review unit is the highest-specced one with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
Indeed, as we expected, the Realme 3 Pro's single core results in GeekBench are nothing impressive. In fact, it's apparently been tuned rather conservatively as the Oppo RX17 Pro and the Mi 8 SE we previously saw with an S710 put out a significantly higher scores. The Realme 3 Pro's numbers are virtually identical to those of the Realme 3 (Helio P60) and the Realme 2 Pro (Snapdragon 660).
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- vivo V15 Pro
2386 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
1890 - Oppo RX17 Pro
1835 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
1650 - Honor 8X
1618 - Oppo F11 Pro
1560 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
1497 - Realme 3
1482 - Realme 3 Pro
1471 - Realme 2 Pro
1462 - Samsung Galaxy M20
1313
Things are more in line with expectations in the multi-core test where the Realme 3 Pro matches the RX17 Pro and the Mi 8 SE's numbers. Under such loads, the 3 Pro inches ahead of the Honor 8X with the Redmi Note 7 further down. The Galaxy M20 (and by extension the M30) is on the bottom of this list. Meanwhile, the vivo V15 Pro's Snapdragon 675 with the newer and more powerful Kryo 460s is in a league of its own in both single- and multi-core tests.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- vivo V15 Pro
6527 - Oppo F11 Pro
6020 - Oppo RX17 Pro
5944 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
5908 - Realme 3 Pro
5881 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
5673 - Honor 8X
5651 - Realme 2 Pro
5531 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
5411 - Realme 3
4936 - Samsung Galaxy M20
4160
Moving on to Antutu, the Realme 3 Pro is once more ahead of the Honor 8X and the Redmi Note 7, though keep in mind that the Redmi Note 7 Pro will likely be up top with the vivo V15 Pro which it shares a chipset with. Again, expect the Galaxy M30 to place around the bottom of this chart where the M20 is.
AnTuTu 7
Higher is better
- vivo V15 Pro
180774 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
170218 - Realme 3 Pro
155647 - Oppo RX17 Pro
150218
139075
137276
132958
132764
108658
And as we proceed to GPU tests, the Realme 3 Pro shows its strengths. In GFXBench it routinely manages to post some 50% higher framerates than the Redmi Note 7, Honor 8X and even the vivo V15 Pro (by extension also the Redmi Note 7 Pro). Perhaps logically as that's been the case in the other benchmarks, the Mi 8 SE is able to squeeze some extra performance from the same chip, though the Oppo RX17 Pro is on par with the Realme.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Realme 3 Pro
23 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
23 - Oppo RX17 Pro
23 - vivo V15 Pro
17 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
15 - Realme 2 Pro
14 - Honor 8X
14 - Oppo F11 Pro
14 - Realme 3
13 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
12 - Samsung Galaxy M20
8
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Realme 3
26 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
22 - Realme 3 Pro
20 - Oppo RX17 Pro
19 - vivo V15 Pro
14 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
13 - Honor 8X
13 - Realme 2 Pro
12 - Oppo F11 Pro
12 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
11 - Samsung Galaxy M20
7.1
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Realme 3 Pro
13 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
13 - Oppo RX17 Pro
13 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
9 - vivo V15 Pro
8.8 - Oppo F11 Pro
8.5 - Realme 3
8 - Honor 8X
7.6 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
7.5 - Samsung Galaxy M20
5
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Realme 3
15 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
12 - Realme 3 Pro
11 - Oppo RX17 Pro
11 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
7.7 - Oppo F11 Pro
7.4 - Realme 2 Pro
7.2 - vivo V15 Pro
7.1 - Honor 8X
6.7 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
6.5 - Samsung Galaxy M20
4.4
Overall, the Realme 3 Pro delivers predictably great results for performance across the board, save for a relatively low for the hardware single-core CPU result. The Redmi Note 7 Pro and the vivo V15 Pro do outperform the Realme in raw CPU power, but the Realme has a substantially more potent GPU, which could easily be a decider for mobile gamers.
16MP main camera with a 5MP sidekick for depth info
The Realme 3 Pro is equipped with a 16MP main camera and a 5MP secondary module for depth detection. The primary cam uses the Sony IMX519 sensor you'd find on a OnePlus 6T - it's a Type 1/2.6" imager with 1.22µm pixels. The lens has a bright f/1.7 aperture and while Realme doesn't specify an equivalent focal length, we're speculating it's 25mm as on the OP. There's no OIS, however, which the 6T does have. The depth sensor's specs are nowhere as important and Realme's with us on this one as it's not providing them.
The camera app offers AI scene recognition - you'll see a small icon when a scene is successfully recognized, and the software will tweak all settings accordingly. Food, snow, pets, sunsets, grass, among other scenes, are detected mostly correctly.
The app has three major modes - Photo, Portrait and Video - and you can swipe between those. The new Chroma Boost toggle is on the other end, accompanied by the HDR and flash settings. Chroma Boost is an advanced HDR mode, which stacks a couple of images and offers even further improvements in the dynamic range and occasionally - better color saturation.
There is also a hamburger menu with a few more shooting modes - Expert (manual settings), Pano, Time-lapse, Slow-mo, and Nightscape. The latter is a pseudo-long exposure handheld mode for night photos akin to Huawei's Night mode and the Pixel's Night sight. There is also a 2X zoom toggle, but it does a simple digital zoom - there is no telephoto lens on the Realme 3 Pro.
In the Expert mode you get to tweak exposure (ISO in the 100-3200 range and shutter speed in the 1/8000s-16s range), white balance (by light temperature, but no presets), manual focus (in arbitrary 0 to 1 units with 0 being close focus and 1 being infinity) and exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV in 1/6EV increments). It's in this Expert mode that you'll find the toggle for Ultra HD mode, which creates composite 64MP images.
Camera UI
Image quality
The Realme 3 Pro takes very good pictures indeed, particularly so for the asking price. There's a ton of detail captured and there's no noise to complain about. We also appreciated the wide dynamic range in the overcast days we got to shoot our samples on - the Realme dealt very well with the clouds.
Camera samples, good light, AI on
Images in full auto with the AI scene recognition enabled have very likable colors without going overboard with the saturation as we've seen with some others on occasion.
Camera samples, good light, AI on
There's the Croma boost toggle that enhances saturation slightly, again to a reasonable extent, and makes for livelier shots. Oddly enough, it's the HDR mode that tends to produce the most out-of-this-world colors dialing up saturation all the way to 11.
Regular • Chroma boost • HDR
Overall, having in mind the mature approach of the AI scene recognition, the color rendition peculiarities in the various modes, HDR's little effect on dynamic range and the already good dynamic range without HDR, we'd happily leave the Realme 3 Pro in its default state - AI on, Croma boost off, HDR auto (or off, either way).
The viewfinder also offers a 2x toggle, so we'd gave it a shot. Predictably, the results aren't great on a pixel level as what the Realme does is zoom in digitally and then upscale to 16MP.
Camera samples, 2x zoom
Then there's the Ultra HD option which outputs 64MP images. We struggled to find it as a standalone mode, instead it's a toggle in the Expert mode. There's no magic - the photos look no different than what you'd get by upscaling a 16MP regular photo and applying a touch of sharpening.
Camera samples, Ultra HD
The overall great performance of the Realme 3 Pro continues into the night. Low-light photos in the regular photo mode are sharp and detailed, exposure is handled well, and there's no loss of saturation.
Low-light samples, Photo mode
Nightscape is Realme's answer to the various pseudo long exposure night modes you'd find on higher-end smartphones. It crops in a little and outputs 12MP photos. There's a boost in the shadows and a somewhat unnatural reddish cast in well lit areas where the phone is working hard to keep the highlights from clipping. Overall, we're really liking the Nightscape shots.
Low-light samples, Nightscape mode
Portraits
The Realme 3 Pro takes really good portraits with competent subject detection and pleasingly convincing background blur. Of course, a messy haircut against a light background will always reveal the blur wasn't created by optics only, so as usual results will very depending on subject and background, and their relation to each other.
Portrait samples, human subject
Unlike some other phones who rely on finding a face for making blurry background shots, the Realme 3 Pro works just fine on non-humans as well.
Portrait samples, non-human subjects
Selfies
The Realme 3 Pro's selfie camera packs a 25MP 1/2.8" sensor behind an f/2.0 aperture lens. There are all sorts of beatification enhancement like skin smoothing and eye enlargement and face thinning, and whatnot.
We didn't find a world of difference between shots taken with the enhancements at the default level and others with everything turned off, so it's likely a conservative algorithm until you crank things up yourself. Also, we didn't find HDR to work at all, which isn't ideal.
Anyway, selfies from the Realme 3 Pro pack a lot of detail and noise is kept in check. Colors are excellent as well. Dynamic range isn't quite as amazing and contrasty scenes will end up with detail lost at both extremes, which also means blown out spots on your forehead, though you'll be just fine in more balanced light.
Selfie samples, all enhancements off
Now, dial in some corrections and you can easily achieve the alien look below.
Selfie samples, all effects at max
Selfie portraits are quite good too, even though they don't get the benefit of a dedicated depth sensing camera. The resolution for these is 8MP, which is still plenty. Subject separation is very competent, there are no clipped ears and blur is natural-looking as well.
Selfie portraits
Video recording
The Realme 3 Pro records video up to 4K at 30fps and there's 1080p at both 30fps and 60fps. You have a resolution setting in the viewfinder and a frame rate setting in settings, which is sub-optimal. You can also choose between the h.264 and h.265 codecs. There's no mention of video stabilization in the menus or the viewfinder but the slight crop in 1080p/30fps suggests its stabilized.
4K videos are encoded with a generous 50Mbps while 1080p/30fps gets a similarly above average 20Mbps when using the h.264 codec. It's then a little odd that the audio bit rate is just 96kbps (though it's still stereo, which is nice).
4k footage looks excellent, with flagship-grade detail level. The colors are just right, exposure is on point and dynamic range is quite good as well. 1080p/30fps videos aren't half bad either, but they do have a pronounced overprocessed look. 1080p/60fps clips are nearly the same quality as 30fps, which is a welcome surprise given the fact that the bit rate is the same 20Mbps as in 30fps.
We did our usual video stabilization test and the footage isn't looking very stable at all. There's some improvement over the 4K capture which doesn't have stabilization, but walking and filming isn't really a good idea.
Competition
Realme's intentions with the 3 Pro are clear - offer the best value in an already super competitive segment. The Realme 3 Pro is aimed at various levels of competition but we're pinpointing the Samsung M30, Redmi Note 7 (and its Pro version), vivo V15 Pro and the Honor 8X.
Samsung Galaxy M30 • Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 • vivo V15 Pro • Honor 8X
This particular Galaxy we haven't seen yet, but the M20 gave us an idea what to expect in terms of performance, and the difference between the M30 and the Realme 3 Pro is night and day. The camera of the M30 (same as on the M20) is not a match for the Realme shooter either, though the ultra wide module on the Galaxy is a wild card, we'd admit. The M30 is running Android 8.1 with a Pie update just maybe coming, while the Realme is on Pie from day one. Perhaps the biggest selling point of Galaxy is the superior AMOLED display and to a lesser extent the price.
The Redmi Note 7's greatest advantage is price, but it's also a very competent package for the money. In fact, it's a match for the Realme in battery life, display, and camera, but not performance - the Realme's Snapdragon 710 is more potent than the Redmi's 660. Then there's the slightly more expensive Redmi Note 7 Pro that almost fixes that last bit - its 675 even outperforms the Realme's 710, but the Realme's GPU remains unmatched in this class.
In fact, the significantly more expensive vivo V15 Pro has the same Snapdragon 675, so the Realme 3 Pro offers the better 3D performance in this unevenly priced matchup. Of course, the vivo packs niceties like an elevating selfie camera, an uderdisplay fingerprint sensor, an OLED display - it's a more premium device overall.
The Honor 8X is more affordable than the vivo, yet still a bit pricier than the Realme 3 Pro. The 3 Pro's display is slightly better, and its battery lasts longer with that display on, plus it charges way faster. Then there's the clear advantage of the Snapdragon 710 against the Kirin 710 - the Realme's GPU is vastly more powerful, and its CPU inches ahead of the Honor's too.
Verdict
Pros and Cons lists for midrangers are typically a straightforward thing to write - in most cases we're dealing with okay camera, okay battery life, okay display, okay everything, and then stuff that's missing and we complain about it. If only Realme is kind enough to come up with a software update that improves video stabilization, we'd be left with almost nothing to complain about, and that's quite the achievement.
But the thing is, while the Realme 3 Pro does have an okay display, it not merely checks all the other important boxes - it straight up excels at camera, battery life, and performance. We'd call that some serious value for money.
Pros
- Eye-catching color schemes make an otherwise ordinary design stand out.
- Battery life among the best in class, VOOC fast charging is class-leading.
- Good display for the money - sharp, decently bright and with high contrast, potentially color accurate.
- Top performance for the market segment in both CPU and GPU centric tasks.
- Excellent image quality in both daylight and low light, superb portraits, nice selfies too.
Cons
- MicroUSB port.
- Poor video stabilization.
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