Most of the specifications of Realme 3i are the same as Realme 3. But the main difference between the two phones is the processor and design. Will Realme 3i be successful in gaining a special place for itself in the crowd of budget smartphones? Let us know…
realme 3i design
The dimensions and weight of Realme 3i completely matches that of Realme 3. The weight of 175 grams cannot be called much and it is easy to grip in the hands. The new handset comes with a diamond pattern and matte finish on the back. The diamond pattern is like Realme C2. We have reviewed the Diamond Black finish unit of Realme 3i. It feels more like royal blue than black. The phone is also available in Diamond Blue and Diamond Red colors.
There is a 6.2-inch HD+ (720x 1520 pixels) panel on the front panel. It has the protection of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The bezels are very thin. But the border at the bottom is a little wider. The phone has a dewdrop notch due to which it looks modern. The brightness of the display is good. The colors are punchy and the viewing angles are also quite good. There is no problem with low resolution. But when compared with higher resolution displays, the lack of sharpness in Realme 3i is clearly visible.
The power and volume buttons in Realme 3i give good response. Their position is also good. There are three slots on the left side. It has space for two nano SIMs and a microSD card. There is also support for dual VoLTE. There is a speaker, micro-USB port and 3.5 mm headphone jack at the bottom.
The diamond pattern finish provides good grip. Fingerprints are not easily visible. The fingerprint sensor is easily accessible and works well. It also has face recognition and works as fast as other Realme smartphones.
The retail box comes with the Realme 3i along with a silicone cover, 10-watt power adapter, Micro-USB cable, SIM ejector tool, and some important documentation.
realme 3i specifications and software
MediaTek Helio P60 processor has been used in Realme 3i, while Realme 3 comes with Helio P70 processor. This isn’t a huge reduction, as the Helio P60 is a capable octa-core chipset. At the time of launch, Realme had introduced two variants of the phone. The 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage variant of Realme 3i is priced at Rs 7,999, while the 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage variant is priced at Rs 9,999. We have reviewed the powerful variant.
Talking about other specifications, Realme 3i comes with single-band Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, USB-OTG, FM radio and other common sensors.
Like Realme X, Realme 3i is also equipped with the latest software. It has ColorOS 6 based on Android 9 Pie. It has the security patch of June 2019. At the same time, there is no change in the features of ColorOS.
Now the app drawer is already enabled. But if you want, you can switch to single layered UI. Many apps are already installed in the phone. All of these third party apps can be uninstalled. You will get shortcuts like Smart Sidebar.
Google’s Digital Wellbeing feature is still not in place. Apart from this, Realme has not yet given access to the battery graph of Android 9.
Realme 3i performance and battery life
We used the 4 GB RAM variant of Realme 3i for several days. Apps loaded smoothly. There was no problem in accessing the menu. The phone didn’t even heat up. The phone definitely gets hot during gaming. But not so much that it becomes a problem.
Even in gaming, Realme 3i cannot be considered weak. You have to play powerful games like PUBG Mobile on lower settings. But there is no effect on the gameplay. We managed to win a 40-minute PUBG Mobile round on this phone. But during this period there were no complaints regarding battery consumption and heating of the phone. ColorOS has a feature called Game Space that automatically locks the screen brightness and transfers system resources to the game.
We faced only one problem while gaming. The position of the loudspeaker is such that it gets easily blocked. The same happens while watching videos also. The speaker of Realme 3i produces loud sound. But the audio quality is very average. If you use a wired headset, you can control the volume through Realme Power Sound customization.
Now let’s talk about the camera. Here too there is not much difference from Realme 3. Realme 3i has a 13-megapixel primary camera with F/1.8 aperture and is equipped with phase detection autofocus. Along with this, there is a 2 megapixel sensor which works to assess depth for portrait.
Landscape shot taken with Realme 3i in ChromaBoost mode. Tap to view full-size image.
Photo taken in portrait mode on Realme 3i. Tap to view full-size image
Tap to view full-size Realme 3i camera samples
PDAF makes the camera focus faster. But for this there should be sufficient light on the subject. Landscape shots come out with decent detail. But details of small leaves or distant trees are not captured. We also encountered chromatic aberration when taking photos in contrasting light.
Close-up shots generally turned out well. But some macro shots were quite flat. The 2-megapixel secondary sensor does a good job of assessing depth. But on some occasions, while taking portraits of humans, the phone did not define the edges properly.
Image taken in ChromaBoost on Realme 3i. Tap to view full-size image
Image taken in Nightscape mode on Realme 3i. Tap to view full-size image
The phone also has creative modes like Chroma Boost and Nightscape. Would recommend not to use chroma boost when shooting trees. Because the green tone becomes too exaggerated. However, landscape shots could benefit from a boost of color.
Nightscape works. But Realme X not so much. Probably this happens because of the sensor. Night scenes look brighter. But there are complaints of grain and chroma noise. When nightscape is enabled, the camera lags in focusing in close-up shots and the lack of detail in landscapes is clearly visible.
Tap to view Realme 3i camera samples in full size
Photo taken in portrait mode on Realme 3i. Tap to view full-size image
The 13-megapixel selfie camera isn’t too bad. If you are patient and the lighting is adequate you will be able to get workable shots. There is portrait mode here too. But the blur effect is very aggressive and looks artificial. You can’t even control it.
With Realme 3i you will be able to record videos of 1080 pixels. But there is no stabilization. Even at 720 pixels, the video is not stabilized which is disappointing. Image quality is very average. But the focusing speed is not bad. At least in adequate light.
The battery of the phone is 4,230 mAh. It lasted 16 hours and 59 minutes in our HD video loop test. Which will be considered good. We were easily able to use the phone for about one and a half days.
There is no support for fast charging. With the charger provided in the retail box, it gets charged 48 percent in one hour. It takes about 2 hours to charge 100 percent.
our decision
Realme 3i has been launched in the market because realme c2 ,review) And realme 3 ,review) gap can be bridged. Its starting variant of Rs 7,999 is a good option. Because it is Rs 1,000 cheaper than Redmi 7. Apart from this, there is no reason left to buy the top-variant of Realme C2, because its price is equal to Realme 3i.
It is not easy to recommend buying the 4 GB variant of Realme 3i. Even though its price is about Rs 1,000 less than Realme 3. but its conflict Redmi Note 7S ,review, Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 And Realme U1 ,review) like from the handset. All these handsets come with higher resolution displays, better cameras and more powerful processors.
If your budget is limited and you can compromise with an average camera, then you can consider purchasing the 3 GB RAM variant of Realme 3i.