Realme 3 launched with Helio P70, Android Pie-based ColorOS 6 and 4,230mAh battery: Specs, features and everything to know

Oppo spinoff brand Realme launched the Realme 3 budget phone in India on Monday. The Realme 3 which is a follow-up to the successful Realme 2 from last year brings an updated gradient design and a teardrop/waterdrop-style notch, in addition to packing newer hardware (a Helio P70) and software (Android Pie-based ColorOS 6). And yet, the Realme 3 costs just about the same as the Realme 2.  

Realme has launched the Realme 3 in India at a starting price of Rs 8,999 for the base variant with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, going all the way to Rs 10,999 for the top-end variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.  

The Realme 3 boasts of a fresh design language. Even though the Realme 1 and Realme 2’s diamond-cut design had kind of become a signature for the company, Realme opted to shake things up quite a bit with the Realme 3 – the phone features a unibody design with a gradient back. Realme, in fact, is offering three distinct styles here. While the dynamic black variant of the Realme 3 has a black+blue/purple shimmery effect, the radiant blue variant metes out a blue+green mirror-like effect. The Realme 3 will also be available in regular black, for those who like it simple and sober. 

The Realme branding on the back also sees an overhaul in the Realme 3 – it has a new font and a new vertical alignment in line with the dual rear cameras up-top.  

Underneath, it’s all plastic though which is understandable considering the price – but competing products from Xiaomi and Asus have moved on to glass and metal now, so that’s that. Overall, the Realme 3 does manage to stand apart from competition with its unique blend of colour options – clearly, budget phones are getting really exciting by the day. 

Realme 3 specs and features 

The Realme 3 has a 6.2-inch 720p+ IPS LCD display with a teardrop/waterdrop-style notch and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is powered by a MediaTek Helio P70 – a processor that Realme says offers more value for money at its price point over the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660. Based on a more efficient 12nm process, the Helio P70 offers 40 per cent lower power consumption in heavy loading games and 3 per cent better CPU performance in multi-core tasks over Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 which is a 14nm-based processor. This is paired with up to 4GB RAM and up to 64GB storage which is expandable by up to 256GB via a dedicated micro-SD card slot. The Realme 3 further packs a sizeable 4,230mAh battery with micro-USB charging (no fast charging).  

The dual-SIM phone runs Oppo’s new ColorOS 6 which is based on Android 9 Pie. The ColorOS 6 update brings an all-new ‘borderless’ design and newer fonts, but its ability to allow users to switch to an app drawer interface will invariably be its most talked-about feature in the days to come – Oppo and Realme say the feature was seemingly requested by many users. 

On to the optics, the Realme 3 has a dual rear camera system on the rear consisting of a 13MP f/1.8 sensor and another 2MP sensor for depth sensing aka portrait photography. On the front, the Realme 3 comes with a 13MP camera. 

While the Realme 3’s dual rear camera system (and also its front camera) supports AI-based scene recognition, Realme is touting two features as highlights. One being Nightscape which is Realme’s take on the night mode we’ve come to see on many phones lately (Realme says the Realme 3 is the first phone at its price point to get it) - for cleaner low-light photos with more detail. The other being Chroma Boost – for achieving greater dynamic range and more balanced exposure under different lighting scenarios.  

Additionally, Realme says that the Realme 3’s front camera supports group selfie beauty (for up to 4 people) that can “automatically identify genders in the same photo to apply the most suitable beautification solutions.” 

Realme 3 India price and availability 

The Realme 3 starts at Rs 8,999 for the base variant with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, while the top-end variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage will cost Rs 10,999. The Realme 3 will be available for buying from March 12 from Flipkart. 

Realme will launch a Pro varaint of the Realme 3, aka the Realme 3 Pro, in India in April, the company announced while launching the Realme 3.

Also Read: Realme 3 First Look: Quite A Starry Budget Affair