Realme 3i review: Most stylish smartphone under 10,000 that delivers decent performance

Realme 3i review: Realme has recently launched its new sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone - the Realme 3i in India. The smartphone was launched with company's first premium smartphone -the Realme X last week. The Realme 3i fits between the previous two models of the company, Realme C2 and Realme 3. Amid huge competition in this price segment, Realme 3i aims to disrupt the market with its elegant design, smart features, sturdy display and power-packed performance. The phone serves all the basic purposes of but has an edge over its rivals because of its attractive design and smooth interface. 

On paper, the phone offers everything from dual rear camera to octacore processor. It comes with a powerful 4,230 mAh battery to deliver decent backup for an average user. So is it worth to invest your money in this new hot cake from Realme's garage? Read to find out.

Realme 3i design and display: Stylish and attractive

On the first look, Realme 3i gives you the impression of a premium device that offers full screen display with a dew drop for the front camera. At the back, it has a diamond cut texture that comes with gradient matte finish, which could have been replaced by a metal or glass finish. Nevertheless, the phone has a nice look and feels comfortable in hands. However, the placement of speaker at the bottom sometimes block phone's sound while playing games or watching videos. 

It has a 88.3% screen-to-body ratio which offers you an indulgent view of content on a 15.74 cm (6.2'') screen with HD+ (720x 1520) resolution. The display of the phone comes protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which safeguards it from potential damage(s) from daily usage. The bezels of the phone are quite slim but the chin is still noticeable at the bottom. 

Overall, the display has decent colours, brightness and, viewing experience is quite fair from all angles. The low resolution isn't a big issue but there is a slight lack of sharpness which can be ignored.

Realme 3i specs and performance: Too much at too low

The phone offers impressive specifications for a budget smartphone, right from 4GB RAM to latest MediaTek Helio P60 processor. The phone can accommodate two 4G Nano SIMs and a microSD card for expandable storage. Though, Realme 3 uses MediaTek Helio P70 which gives it a slightly upper hand on the front of performance, but P60 used in Realme 3i does not disappoint at all. 

The phone smoothly runs all high end games at medium settings. At high resolution settings, you may face some issues but this isn't a gaming phone anyway. Even after continuous 1.5 hour usage, the phone did not show any heating issues and only drained 20% battery.

Though the phone does not feature fast charging, but can deliver up to 50% charge in an hour using the bundled charger. While to charge 100%, it takes slightly over 2 hrs. The Realme 3i runs on ColorOS 6, based on Android 9 Pie and has a smooth UI. 

Realme 3i camera: Click sharp images with smart features

For optics, Realme 3i does a fair job with its main 13-megapixel sensor with a f/1.8 aperture and phase detection autofocus (PDAF). There's a second 2-megapixel sensor for depth calculations when shooting in Portrait mode. The smart camera features like Chorma Boost, Night Scape and 2X Optical Zoom enhance the photography experience on Realme 3i. 

(The second photo was clicked in a normal mode, while first one was taken with a chroma boost mode)

However, the pinched in zoom images and low light images could be more sharper and the colours could have been more realistic as well. Overall the phone does a decent job, when it comes to click good quality images.

On front it has a 13 MP single camera, that offers sharp and clear selfies. It also has a portrait mode but the blur effect looks a bit fake at times. Though it can shoot 1080P videos, there is no stabilisation mode on phone.  

Realme 3i: Should you buy this stylish handset?

Realme 3i has a lot to lure a user, right from the camera department to design. It does not disappoint with its performance either and provides a value for money usage at a price point below Rs 10,000. Realme 3i comes in two variants starting from Rs 7,999 for a 3GB and 32GB version to Rs 9,999 for a 4GB and 64GB variant. The pricing is highly competitive given the features you get.  

Watch this review of Realme 3i on Zee Business:

The phone shares a rivalry with Redmi Note 7S, Realme U1, Infinix Hot 7, LG W30 and Asus Zenfone Max Pro M2. Overall, the 3GB version can be bought if you are not a heavy user, which not only save you Rs 2,000 but does a fairly similar job as compared to its higher version. 

The review is based on our opinion, as a user you need to figure out before placing a buy order!