Realme Narzo 30 Pro offers a gradient rear design.
Realme has unveiled its Narzo 30 Pro, which is one of the cheapest 5G smartphones on the market. Looks like this title changes hands every few weeks. Add to that high refresh rate, a large battery and a powerful Mediatek Dimensity 800U processor. It sounds like a recipe for a feature-rich phone.
However, we all know that numbers on paper aren’t always a true measure of how powerful the device is. Read on to find out whether you should buy this affordable 5G phone or not.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Specifications
Realme Narzo 30 Pro sports a 6.5 inch FullHD + IPS LCD display with 20: 9 aspect ratio. It is powered by Mediatek Dimensity 800U processor paired with 6/8 GB of RAM and 64 GB / 128 GB built-in storage. Storage is expandable using a hybrid dual SIM card slot. It runs on Android 10 based on RealmeUI 1 out of the box. All of this is backed up by a 5000mAh battery.
On the optics front, the Narzo 30 Pro has a triple rear camera setup that includes a 48-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. Up front, there’s a 16-megapixel selfie snapper.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Design and Display
The design of Realme Narzo 30 Pro is nothing out of the ordinary. The rear has a top left triple camera setup with a glass casing that looks like any other mid-range smartphone. The smartphone is covered in plastic and has plastic sides that feel normal in the hand in part thanks to the matte finish on the body.
Up front, the Narzo 30 Pro sports a 6.5-inch panel with a hole-punch camera on the left. It has thin top and side edges providing a seamless viewing experience even with the hole punch camera.
As for placements, Narzo 30 Pro sports a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge surrounded by the speaker grille and main microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The right edge houses the power button which is also a fingerprint sensor. The left edge houses individual volume buttons and the hybrid dual SIM card tray. The top edge of the phone is left clean except for the secondary microphone.
It also gets a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.
Coming back to the screen, it’s a 6.5-inch AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. The IPS LCD display doesn’t offer such great color accuracy, however, the 120Hz refresh rate makes up for it. The smartphone also sports the Wideline L1 certification, which means you can stream HD Netflix and Prime Video to your phone, but with just an LCD screen, the experience won’t be as good.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Performance, Software, and User Interface
Realme Narzo 30 Pro is powered by Mediatek Dimensity 800U processor paired with 6/8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Our review unit comes with 8 GB of RAM. With the price of the phone being less than Rs. 20,000, the all new Mediatek Dimensity 800U seems like a good choice. During the review period, I installed several social media apps on the phone and didn’t notice a lot of performance issues. Even during long gaming sessions, I didn’t notice much lag.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro comes with an AMOLED panel.
With heavy games, the smartphone works perfectly without any problems. While playing heavy games like Asphalt 8 and Call of Duty Mobile, the game ran smoothly for long durations. However, the 800U got a little hot.
The Narzo 30 Pro runs on Android 10 based on RealmeUI 1 out of the box. The RealmeUI 1 is based on Oppo’s ColorOS v7 which can be easily noticed while using the phone. The same is also mentioned in About device in settings. The user interface is fluid. But it does bring some features, including a system-wide dark mode, a theme store, and more. Overall, the software experience is really smooth in part thanks to the powerful Dimensity 800U.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Cameras
Realme Narzo 30 Pro sports a tri-camera setup on the back. The setup includes a 48-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2-megapixel macro. For selfies, it sports a 16-megapixel sensor. The smartphone also has portrait mode, night mode, time lapse mode, slow motion and other features.
It sports a triple rear camera setup.
The camera app is straightforward and offers a fair amount of functionality. The sensor can be changed easily, which is an advantage. The 2-megapixel macro sensor is there just to increase the number of cameras for marketing material. Taking photos from the 48-megapixel sensor and subsequently cropping them provided better photos than the 2-megapixel macro sensor.
In our testing, the Narzo 30 Pro managed to click some decent shots. In broad daylight, you get a surprisingly natural photo, with pretty colors and good detail. The AI scene enhancer tends to over-color images, so it’s best to leave it turned off. The portraits are also good. The low light performance is also good. The wide-angle camera lens works well in good lighting, but struggles in low-light conditions. The 2-megapixel macro sensor, as expected, is unnecessary.
The 16-megapixel front camera has beauty mode on and set to 30%. You can set it to 0%, but there is still some AI beautification. However, the software improves skin tone and brightens color. Aside from the few purists, most companies do and users prefer it. When shooting in low light conditions it spoils the skin tones way too much.
Overall, the camera doesn’t know anything fancy for this price.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Battery
The battery segment is the most important for any smartphone. The handset comes with a massive 5000mAh battery. During my time with the device, light to medium use had more than a day of use. Even with heavy use, the phone lasted a bit about a day which is acceptable.
With the battery being so huge, charging speeds take a hit, especially if it supports a 30W charge versus 65W on the Narzo 20 Pro. The included charger takes the phone to a full charge in just over an hour, which is expected. I don’t know what the effect will be when it works on 5G. Since there is no 5G support in India yet, I would like to wait and see how this affects the battery life of this smartphone.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Verdict
The company also slapped the Narzo branding on the back of the device.
The Realme Narzo 30 Pro costs Rs. 19,999 for the 6GB RAM 64GB storage variant, while the 8GB RAM variant with 128GB of storage we had cost Rs 19,999. For the price it offers a decent design, great performance and a great battery with fast charging, the camera is also good. Support for 5G ensures the longevity of the phone. Overall a good package.
However, it is India’s most affordable 5G smartphone and the 5G part has yet to be tested in India. However, the LCD screen is below average. If you are willing to spend a little more, you can go for the Realme X7 which offers the same SoC, AMOLED display with integrated fingerprint sensor Supports 50W charging with a 65W charger in the box, a better design and materials and losses on the higher refresh rate. If you’re planning on the 6GB RAM variant, this is one of the best deals out there, but if you go for the high-end 8GB RAM variant, I would recommend spending a bit more and ‘opt for the Realme X7. .
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