Realme Narzo 30 Pro offers a gradient back design.
Realme has unveiled its Narzo 30 Pro, which is one of the cheapest 5G smartphones in the market. Seems like that title is changing hands every few weeks. Add to that high refresh rate, a large battery and a powerful Mediatek Dimensity 800U processor. This seems like a recipe for a feature-packed phone.
However, we all know that the numbers on paper aren’t always a true measurement of the device’s power. Continue reading 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 an aspect ratio of 20:9. It is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 800U processor paired with 6/8GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of onboard storage. The storage is expandable using a hybrid dual-sim card slot. It runs on Android 10 based RealmeUI 1 out of the box. All of this is backed by a 5,000mAh battery.
On the optics front, the Narzo 30 Pro features a triple rear camera setup including a 48-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. Upfront, there is a 16-megapixel selfie snapper.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Design and Display
Realme Narzo 30 Pro’s design is nothing extraordinary. The rear has a triple camera setup on the top left with a glass enclosure that looks like any other mid-range smartphone. The smartphone is plastic backed and has plastic sides which feel normal in hand partly thanks to the matte finish on the body.
On the front, the Narzo 30 Pro sports a 6.5-inch panel with a punch-hole camera on the left. It has thin top and side bezels offering a seamless display experience even with the punch hole camera.
As for the placements, Narzo 30 Pro sports a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge surrounded by the speaker grille and the primary 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 apart from the secondary microphone.
It also gets a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.
Coming back to the display, it is a 6.5-inch AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels. The IPS LCD doesn't offer such a great colour accuracy, however, the 120Hz refresh rate makes up for it. The smartphone also sports Wideline L1 certification meaning you can stream HD Netflix and Prime Video on your phone, however with only an LCD display, the experience won’t be as good.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Performance, Software and UI
Realme Narzo 30 Pro is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 800U processor paired with 6/8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Our review unit came with 8GB of RAM. With the phone being priced below Rs. 20,000, the all-new Mediatek Dimensity 800U seems to be a good choice. During the review period, I installed multiple social media apps on the phone and did not notice much of the performance issues. Even during long gaming sessions, I did not notice much lag.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro comes with an AMOLED panel.
With heavy gaming, the smartphone runs perfectly without any hiccup. While playing heavy games such as Asphalt 8 and the Call of Duty Mobile, the game ran without any issue for long durations. However, the 800U got a bit warm.
The Narzo 30 Pro runs on Android 10 based RealmeUI 1 out of the box. The RealmeUI 1 is based on Oppo’s ColorOS v7 which can be noticed easily while using the phone. The same is also mentioned in the About Device in settings. The user interface feels smooth. But it does bring in some features including a system-wide dark mode, a themes store and much more. Overall, the software experience is really smooth partly thanks to the powerful Dimensity 800U.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Cameras
Realme Narzo 30 Pro sports a triple-camera setup at the back. The setup comprises a 48-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 2-megapixel macro. For the Selfies, it sports a 16-megapixel sensor. The smartphone also gets Portrait Mode, Night Mode, Time-Lapse, Slo-Mo and other features.
It sports a triple rear camera setup.
The camera app is straightforward and offers a good amount of features. The sensor can be changed easily, which is a plus point. The 2-megapixel macro sensor is there just to increase the camera count for marketing material. Taking photos from the 48-megapixel sensor and cropping them afterwards provided better shots than the 2-megapixel macro sensor.
During our tests, the Narzo 30 Pro managed to click some decent shots. In daylight, you get a surprisingly natural shot, with nice colours and good details. The AI Scene enhancer has a tendency of over colouring the images so it's better to leave it off. The portrait shots 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. The 2-megapixel macro sensor, as expected, is useless.
The front 16-megapixel camera has beauty mode turned on and set to 30%. You can turn it to 0%, but there is still some amount of AI beautification happening. However, the software enhances the skin tone and brightens the colour. Apart from the few purists, most of the companies do this and the users prefer this. When shooting in low light, it messes up the skin tones way too much.
Overall, the camera experiences nothing out of the ordinary for this price point.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Battery
The battery segment is the most important for any smartphone. The handset comes with a massive 5,000mAh battery. During my time with the device, light to medium usage got more than a day of usage. Even with heavy usage, the phone lasted a little around a day which is acceptable.
With the battery being so huge, the charging speeds take a hit especially when this supports 30W charging compared to 65W on the Narzo 20 Pro. The included charger drives the phone to a full charge in just a little over an hour which is expected. I don’t know what the effect will be when it's running on 5G. As there is no 5G support in India yet, I would like to wait and see how it affects the battery life of this smartphone.
Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review: Verdict
The company has also slapped Narzo branding at 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 storage which we had costs Rs 19,999. For the price it offers a decent design, along with great performance and a great battery with fast charging, the camera is also good. The support for 5G future proofs the phone. Overall, it's a good package.
However, it is India’s most affordable 5G smartphone and the 5G part is yet to be tested in India. However, the LCD display is subpar. If you are ready to spend a bit more, you can go for the Realme X7 which offers the same SoC, AMOLED display with in-display fingerprint sensor 50W charging support with a 65W charger in the box, a better design and materials and losses on the higher refresh rate. If you are planning for the 6GB RAM variant, it is one of the better deals out there in the market, but if you are going for the higher end 8GB RAM variant, i would recommend to spend a bit more and go for the Realme X7.
