Realme X review: Redmi killer or cheap Reno?

The mobile phone market in the first half of this year was really lively. First there was Redmi, then iQOO, and today Realme came out. Major manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OV have frequently released mobile phones, injecting passion into the current slightly dull mobile phone market.

Realme, OPPO's overseas brand, officially returned to the domestic market and released its first new phone in China, Realme X, on May 15. The first new product after returning to China has the slogan "dare to leapfrog". Let's find out how this phone "leaps over the top".

The cheapest true full screen

Realme X has chosen the real full screen design, and its front camera has chosen a lifting design, similar to vivo NEX. The transition of the four rounded corners of the screen is relatively natural. It is a pity that the chin is relatively large, which is similar to the chin of the water drop screen of Redmi Note7 Pro. The screen-to-body ratio is only 91.2%, which is the level of water drop or bangs screen. Fortunately, the top and left and right borders are relatively narrow, and there is still a lot of visual impact when you only look at the upper half of the screen.

The hard indicators of this screen are similar to those of its brother Reno Standard Edition. It uses a 6.53-inch Samsung AMOLED screen with a maximum brightness of 430nit. The screen can be clearly seen outdoors. It also uses Corning Gorilla 5th generation protective glass and supports DC dimming, etc. It is actually very comfortable to watch with the naked eye, similar to the viewing experience of Reno, and its performance in this price range is beyond the level.

Realme X has two colors: Steam White and Punk Blue. We got the Punk Blue version. The back cover is made of plastic and adopts the popular gradient color design. The purple on the top and blue on the bottom are a bit flashy. The overall design of the back is not ugly, but it is indeed unrememberable. Although the back cover is made of plastic and has no AF Coating, it is easy to get fingerprints, but fortunately, a protective case of good quality is randomly sent. It is recommended that you put on this case as soon as possible, because this machine is not only made of plastic back cover, but also plastic frame. The strength of the whole machine is definitely not as strong as that of the mobile phone with metal middle frame. The protective case can effectively strengthen the body strength and prevent the body from deformation.

OPPO-style leapfrogging performance

Realme X is equipped with the sub-flagship processor Snapdragon 710. Yes, our old friend 710 is here again. This processor has a perfect balance between performance and power consumption, especially the Hexagon 685 DSP, which is Qualcomm's third-generation artificial intelligence engine. The Snapdragon 845 is also equipped with this. The AI ​​performance has been greatly improved, and the recognition speed can be faster in portrait cutout and scene recognition.

The gaming performance of Snapdragon 710 is obvious to all. It is the king of full frames, and it can play PUBG without lag. The AnTuTu score is about 170,000. In terms of memory, Realme X has three options: 4GB+64GB, 6GB+64GB, and 8GB+128GB. All of them use LPDDR4x+UFS2.1 solution. In terms of storage, Realme X is a flagship configuration.

Realme X uses a new gel cooling technology, with multiple cooling components such as aluminum foil, graphite patch, and aluminum alloy. The official claims that the temperature can be reduced by up to 15.2% after one hour of gaming. According to our actual test, this heat dissipation is still at an average level, not as exaggerated as the official claims. In particular, the plastic body exacerbates the accumulation of heat. Although the heat is conducted out, it is slow to dissipate. If it is in a shell, the heat accumulation on the surface of the body may be more serious. The cost of this leapfrog is self-evident.

Realme X has a built-in 3765mAh battery and is equipped with OPPO's latest VOOC flash charging 3.0, but the fast charging compatibility of Realme X is relatively poor. Currently, there is only one VOOC protocol, VOOC charging cable + VOOC charging head, both are indispensable. Thanks to VOOC low-voltage fast charging, the charging heat is mainly concentrated in the charging head, the body temperature is moderate and stable at a relatively low level, and the speed of charging with the screen on is also very impressive, which is a blessing for users who like to play while charging. The battery life is one charge a day, and at least 30+ when you go home. The big battery is reliable. The charging speed of VOOC is much faster than QC, and the phone does not get hot. The advantage of low-voltage fast charging is that the charging speed is basically not reduced while playing.

In terms of system, Realme X uses OPPO's Color OS 6. Realme X is the same as Reno, with voice assistant and game space. There is no lag in the overall experience, and the visual experience is still comfortable. However, the system animation is very long, which delays things. It always feels not keeping up with the hand. Fortunately, you can turn off the animation to solve this problem.

The real leap forward is in the camera

As mentioned earlier, the lifting camera, the front camera of Realme X uses the same 16-megapixel Sony IMX471 as Reno, supports four-pixel merging, supports portrait blur, and has an aperture of F2.0. Compared with Reno, it only lacks a front fill light. The rear camera is where Realme X really leaps forward this time, equipped with the same 48-megapixel + 5-megapixel combination as the standard version of Reno. It should be noted that the 5-megapixel depth of field lens does not participate in imaging, and only measures depth of field information in portrait mode. In other words, except for portrait mode, it is a single-camera mobile phone, without ultra-wide angle and optical zoom. In terms of video, Realme X supports 960 frames of slow motion, but like Huawei, it is a difference, and the clarity is only 720P. There may be no other application scenarios except for taking vibrato.

The performance of Realme X during the day is basically similar to that of Reno we tested before. The white balance and resolution are both at the flagship level, with no obvious purple fringing and natural color transition. Thanks to the larger unit pixel area, the dynamic range is also better than the 12-megapixel IMX363, the picture is more impactful, and the resolution is also good. The lines of the building are clear and there is no obvious noise.

However, in the sample photo of the little yellow duck, there is obvious overexposure. Realme X prioritizes retaining the details of the black part of the motorcycle, but loses the details on the little yellow duck's hat. We think that Realme X's HDR algorithm can be more aggressive.

Since Realme X does not have a telephoto lens for portraits, its portrait mode is equivalent to 28mm like the iPhone XR. The actual shooting effect is also in line with the level of OPPO. There is nothing wrong with the cutout and the processing effect is relatively natural.

When it comes to night shooting, we introduced the well-known single-camera flagship Google Pixel 2 for comparison, and turned on the super night scene mode for comparison.

The first group was taken in the evening. Except for the white balance, the performance of Realme X and Pixel 2 is almost the same. There is no obvious noise in the sky, the details of the building walls are very rich, and the overall picture is very clean.

In the second set of samples, the real night scene begins. First of all, the brightness of the picture is half a level lower than that of the Pixel 2. The purity of the picture is comparable for both, and the clouds in the sky are also realistically presented, but the dark details of the Realme X need to be improved, especially the building on the right. The Pixel 2 can see the details of the window more clearly, while the Realme X can't see it clearly, and the overall color loss is also more obvious.

In the third set of samples, the ambient light is not as low as in the previous set, so Realme X and Pixel 2 have the same exposure and dark details. In terms of white balance, Realme is slightly more accurate than Pixel 2, but the overall level is still relatively close.

Overall, the camera performance of Realme X is still remarkable. Every photo taken during the day is a flagship-level one. At night, the brightness is basically the same as Pixle 2, with no obvious highlight overflow. The details in the dark area cannot bring out the advantages of the hardware. Although the resolution is slightly insufficient, it is completely sufficient for posting to Moments. In general, the success rate of Realme X is relatively high, and the super night scene mode is also of practical use. It is still very outstanding in the same price range.

Summarize:

In less than a week of use, I did not clearly feel that this is a phone priced at less than 2,000 yuan. The leap in camera and processor is indeed impressive. In the 1,500 yuan range, the only phone with Snapdragon 710, IMX586, 20W fast charging, lifting camera, and under-screen fingerprint recognition may be Realme X. The Redmi Note 7 Pro, which competes in the same level, is a bit lacking in sincerity in terms of configuration.

From the product level, Realme X and OPPO Reno are not far apart, and you will feel like you are using an OPPO phone, and in fact, this is true. Except for the plastic body, they are almost identical. However, the shortcomings of Realme X in software may be a major problem for Realme in the face of Redmi competition.

As for which one should I buy compared to Redmi Note 7 Pro? Both Realme X and Redmi Note 7 Pro focus on cost-effectiveness, and both are comparable to flagships in terms of experience. They are absolutely sufficient for daily use. I am a little better than you in hardware, and my software is a little better than yours. On a mobile phone of this level, it does not affect the overall experience. In the end, which one to buy depends on your preference.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.