It was the year 2018 when a new brand was born in China, created by Sky Li, with a clear focus on offering one of the best quality-price ratios on the market. So much so, that when it arrived in Spain a year later, it gained such a market share that it was placed among the top five in the sector. 5 years have passed since its creation: let’s see how their mobiles have progressed according to mid-range and top.
Although May 4, 2018, was the date chosen to lay the foundations of the company, it was not until November 2019 that it arrived in Spain with a landing of three models, the Realme 5, Realme X2, and Realme X2 Pro.
That is why we are going to compare those first three mobiles that passed through our hands and analyze them with the equivalent models in the range that the company has this year 2023.
Will the price of equivalent models have changed a lot in 4 years? And the specifications?
Taking into account that there has been a pandemic involved, the chip supply and manufacturing problem, and the growing inflation that we are currently experiencing, surely more than one is surprised.
And yes, we already told you that Realme is one of the companies that has best managed to maintain its original focus in the last 5 years.
More ranges and diversification, mobiles for any type of user
If there is something that he has really known how to do, it is to evolve since his arrival with line 5 and the X2 family in Spain. In 2019 they entered fully into the mid-range and climbed to the high-end with the X2 family.
As we can see, it was a modest entry but with all the sense in the world, an economic line and a top line, of the moment, at a reasonable price.
Today the brand has established 3 categories: the C range, for entry, the number line as a mid-range model, this year it is Realme 10, and the GT range as the top mobiles, replacing the X2 line. In fact, we saw the launch of the Realme GT 3 in the past MWC 2023, which we exclusively accessed beforehand and analyzed just for the launch.
And well, we have an extra category that falls between the C range and the number range, the Narzo line, which was launched as an exclusive and cheap line for India but has ended up reaching the Spanish market and is going for the Narzo 50 model.
Evolution of the mid-range – Realme 5 vs Realme 10
We have the analysis of both terminals, and you can review it on our website (Realme 5 vs Realme 10). Let’s compare their specifications and price. And keep in mind that there are between 4 and 5 years of difference between both models.
| Realme 5 | Realme 10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 164.4 x 75.6 x 9.3mm | 160.2 x 73.3 x 7.95mm |
| Weight | 198g | 178g |
| Screen size | 6.5 inch 20:9 | 6.4″ 20:9 |
| Panel | IPS LCD 60Hz | AMOLED 90hz |
| Resolution | 1,600 x 720px | 2,400 x 1080px |
| Notch | yes drop type | hole in screen |
| Processor | snapdragon 665 | MediaTek Helio G99 |
| RAM | 4GB | 8GB |
| Internal storage | 128GB | 128GB |
| Micro SD | Yes | Yes |
| OS | Android 9.0 + ColorOS 6 Realme | Android 12 + realme UI 3.0 |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh Charge 10W (5V 2A) | 5,000 mAh 33W charge |
| Rear camera | 12 Mpx f/1.8 8 Mpx Ultra Wide Angle f/2.25 2 Mpx Depth 2 Mpx Macro | 50 Mpx f/1.8 2 Mpx f/2.4 B&W |
| Frontal camera | 13MP, f/2.0 | 16MP f/2.45 |
| Price | From 169 euros | From 279 euros |
The first thing we can see is how the thickness has been reduced in these new generations, much of the help is provided by the AMOLED screen that avoids that extra thickness of the screen backlight.
We are talking about practically 1.5 mm thinner in 2023 and yes, with an equivalent battery and a similar screen of 6.4 vs 6.5 inches in 2019, 20 grams less. Therefore, over the years, Realme has lightened its mid-range mobile and made it thinner.
Realme 5
Speaking of the screen, it is curious to note that we are talking about a very notable change. We are talking about the change from 720p to 1,080p and the change from IPS 60Hz technology to AMOLED 90 Hz in Realme 10. That is, in a similar physical size, the change for the better in quality, definition, and contrast is notorious.
We have gone from that period in which we saw a drop-type notch on all mobiles to a hole design on the screen in 2023 and yes, the fingerprint reader goes from being on the back to having it on the power button on the Realme 10, and not under the screen with the majority of current mobiles.
Realme 10 Pro
As for power , we see how the Snapdragon 665 of Realme 5 seems to us to be a very fair chip for today. It also came with 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM compared to 8 GB of the fastest LPDDR4X of the Realme 10 and it shows.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 665:
- Made in 11nm
- Octacore 64-bit: 5 x Kryo 260 @ 2.2 GHz (Cortex A73) + 4 Kryo 260 (Cortex A53) @ 1.8 GHz
- Adreno 610 GPU
- LPDDR4 and eMMC 5.1 support
Mediatek G99 4G:
- Manufacturing 6nm TSMC
- Octacore 64-bit CPU: 2x 2.2GHz Cortex-A76 + 6x 2GHz Cortex-A55
- Mali G57 MC2 GPU
- LPDDR4X + UFS 2.2
As we can see, on paper, there doesn’t seem to be much difference, but it must be made clear that the Mediatek G99 chip is more efficient, consumes less, has more effective performance cores per clock cycle, that is, at the same GHz they are capable of of executing more instructions and has a more balanced configuration towards current multitasking.
We also have to talk about double the bandwidth of RAM and a much faster writing and reading speed of internal memory thanks to the UFS 2.2 standard. Although they have the same 128 GB of internal memory, there is a big difference in performance. And well, after all these years, really it is one of the few brands that continues to offer microSD support.
If we turn to the cameras section , we find the current trend in this range of offering a better main sensor, supported by a secondary one, compared to the four rear sensors of 4 years ago. We lose the wide angle, and the zoom, although we can replace the latter with a 50 Mpx camera cutout vs. the 16 Mpx of the Realme 5.
The front camera also improves in resolution, although it loses some aperture. This may seem to force us to have to be a little more still during night selfies, but the AI integrated into the chips that has evolved over the years alleviates this problem.
The penultimate point is the battery , and it is that after 4 years, we remain at the same 5,000 mAh. The difference is the speed and charging power. Realme goes from 10 W to 33 W and this has reduced the load to a third of the time.
The Realme 5 took 3h and 35 minutes to charge compared to 1h and 5 minutes for the Realme 10, that is, we have a greater autonomy for the same mAh due to better screen and SoC efficiency and a much faster charge.
In terms of software , the brand has evolved from using a customized Realme version of ColorOS (used in Oppo mobiles) based on Android 9 to having the third generation of Realme UI based on Android 12 for the realme 10 model. It is true that these layers of customization are very light, but, of course.
It should also be made clear that Realme has updated the Realme 5 model to Realme UI 1.0 (Android 10), with version RMX1911EU_11_C.68 released in September 2021.
And to finish the price : 4 years ago we saw this range as the most basic of the company, today Realme 10 is the pure mid-range. And yes, there is a difference in price, we are talking about 110 euros in these models, but it is not as notable an increase as we have noticed in this time in higher ranges.
Evolution of the top range – Realme X2 Pro vs Realme GT 3
Here we are going to compare the jewel in the crown at the time of its arrival in Spain against the top model that was announced during MWC 23. At the moment it has not reached the Spanish market, but we have already been able to test it.
Realme X2 Pro
The Realme X2 Pro is a new high-end Chinese mobile model that comes to compete with Xiaomi, and these are all its technical characteristics.If we go by design, we don’t find anything particularly special. The front of the Realme X2 Pro is very, very similar to any other mobile with a drop-type notch and narrow frames. In the part…
Realme GT3
Realme GT3 comes equipped with a 240W fast charge and a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor that comes packed to get the best performance in the mid-range.
The high-end in 2019, and in particular this model, had a very good value for money, between 150 and 200 euros below mobile phones with similar characteristics. In terms of design evolution, we see how the sides and top have flattened out from those more ergonomic designs of 4 years ago.,
| Realm X2 Pro | Realme GT3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | 6.5″ Full HD+ 2,400 x 1,080 pixels Super AMOLED HDR10+ 90 Hz | 6.74″ FullHD+ 2,772 x 1,240 pixels OLED HDR 10+ 144 Hz |
| Processor | Snapdragon 855+ | Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| GPUs | adreno 640 | adreno 730 |
| RAM | 6 | 8 | 12GB LPDDR4X | 16GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 128 | 256GB UFS 2.2 | 256GB UFS 3.1 |
| main chambers | Main lens: 64 Mpx (f/1.8) Telephoto lens (x2): 13 Mpx (f/2.5) Wide angle lens: 8 Mpx (f/2.2) Depth lens: 2 Mpx (f/2.4) | Main: 50 Mpx f/1.88 (Sony IMX890) Ultra wide angle: 8 Mpx f/2.2 Macro 2 Mpx f/3.3 |
| Frontal camera | 16MP f/2.0 | 16MP f/2.45 |
| Battery | 4,000 mAh 65 W fast charge | 4,600 mAh 240 W fast charge |
| OS | Color OS 6.1 Android 9 | RealmeUI 4.0 Android 13 |
| connectivity | 5G WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5 USB-C Minijack AGPS, Glonass, BDS, Galileo | 5G WiFi 6e (802.11 ax) Bluetooth 5.3 NFC USB-C 3.2 A-GPS, Glonass, BDS, Galileo |
| Dimensions and weight | 161 x 75.7 x 8.7 millimeters 199 grams | 163.8 x 75.8 x 8.9mm 199 grams |
| Additional features | Minijack Dolby Atmos stereo speakers | Stereo sound |
| Price | 449 euro | 650 dollars |
The change that has occurred in these years in this range is a larger screen size going from 6.5 to around 6.7 – 6.8 inches.
We are talking about OLED technology, although a new generation, with a higher refresh rate than the 90 Hz of the 2019 model.
In fact, the Realme GT3 reaches up to 144 Hz, above the default 120 Hz in this range. In terms of brightness they are very much on par, and, as we have already said, it already offered a very good screen in 2019.
If we talk about the chip that they integrate, Realme X2 Pro mounted the Snapdragon 855+, the top at the time of its arrival in Spain, although a month later the Snapdragon 865 saw the light of day. However, the Realme GT3 bets directly on the top generation, before the time of its launch, Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Here we see one of the differences, it is no longer the latest.
Although of course, if we stop to break down both chips, we go from 2019 technology to mid-late 2021 technology. We are talking about the step from 7 nm to 4 nm with the consequent energy savings.
The Realme GT3 manages to double the score in Antutu than the Realme X2 Pro and that is that it has support for faster RAM and also faster internal memory (UFS 3.1). To this we also have to add that the realme X2 Pro came with up to 12 GB of LPDDR4x RAM while the realme GT3 comes directly with 16 GB LPDDR5 .
In the cameras section we see the same trend of simplifying that mode of one sensor for each type of photo, and that is that we went from a configuration of 4 cameras (3 if we remove the depth) to a configuration of 3 cameras (2 if we remove the testimonial macro).
The Realme GT3 eliminates the telephoto sensor because the main sensor is much larger in size and thanks to the 50 Mpx it can perform a 2X crop, which was the optical zoom of the Realme X2 Pro model, without any problem.
It is one of the sections where the difference over the years, the quality of the camera and video, is most noticeable. The front camera improves slightly but it is not the strongest point of these Realme phones.
Let’s talk about the battery and it is that here I really put all the meat on the grill in 2019 with its 65 W and 4,000 mAh charge in the Realme X2 Pro, which could charge from 0 to 100% in just 27 minutes , the fastest of its generation .
Just to make hateful comparisons, a mobile phone from 5 years ago already charged faster than the iPhone 14 or, for example, the Galaxy S23 Ultra, mobile phones of more than 1,000 euros.
The Realme GT 3 follows that same trend, it is the fastest on the current market with 240W charging support and charging from 0 to 100% in around 10 minutes. And here we also have to mention that we have 12% more capacity than the X2 Pro model, reaching 4,600 mAh.
If we talk about software, we are very close to the difference in the mid-range, and that is that we see the arrival of the Realme X2 Pro with a customized version of ColorOS, and a subsequent jump through updates to Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11. The Realme GT3 arrives with Realme UI 4.0 out of the box based on Android 13 .
And finally, in terms of connectivity, they are very similar except for the support of WiFi 6e in the new generation or the arrival of a more advanced subversion of Bluetooth, on a day-to-day basis any user will not notice it.
Let’s go to the price, because here you can see how time and inflation have done their work and we see a price that goes from 449 euros for the 2019 model to more than 650 dollars, which in euros surely exceeds 700 euros . As we can see, the positioning does not pull as much towards the quality-price ratio, as they had in 2019.
The prices in general have increased and it is not strange to see mobiles of more than 1,000 euros, in fact this mobile would be a range behind these, in a price range of equivalent models that are around 800 euros.
Although we are talking about a notable price increase, in 4 years for a mobile of an equivalent category, they are still below the competition.