Interview: Realme's Madhav Sheth talks 108MP camera, phones with notchless displays, and rapid product expansion

26 July 2020
Sheth also talks about plans to launch more affordable smartphones and cutting-edge IoT products.

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  • M
  • MrKong
  • xZI
  • 26 Jul 2020

wonderingsoul114, 25 Jul 2020Realme's initial smartphones were topp notch. Later th... moreSame goes with build quality and OS. When it was still under Oppo brand, it was solid, and the OS was fine. The X2 Pro was very good that time.

Now realme decided to part themselves and quality has gone down drastically, with a LOT of (some unnecessary) models being released.

As what Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, or maybe Indian users have experienced: Poor and bugged OS (worst is when device force resets without reason), bad plastic quality (can get mouldy easily), unreliable battery (mentioned about C3 and XT battery explosion tragedy previously), screen retention issue in some LCD models, a ton of adware, and poor resale value.

We don't need the Narzo if the realme 6 exists.

    Yawn..

      Realme's initial smartphones were topp notch. Later they seemed to lose focus, merely launching half baked phones and ioT products in a hurry. Powerbanks are overpriced, buds neo are unattractive, newer smartphone series are just relaunches that actually makes a fan move away. Rralme needs to stand away from the crowd, not merge into the crowd. Goodluck.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • nYE
        • 25 Jul 2020

        Fine phones but this is more a ad than a interview

          poor interview not addressing elephant in the room - no bootloader unlock unless your wanna lost FPR, this is especially bad with color os, Redmi has bootloader unlock with custom ROMs even if you would have problem with okay MIUI

            • D
            • AnonD-909757
            • pZQ
            • 25 Jul 2020

            VS3, 25 Jul 2020Just wait till he justifies removing the battery because th... moreSay the guy who complain about camera hump thickness.
            That's BECAUSE peoples like you complain of the thickness of Smartphones that all those things happen (and that the camera hump appeared in the first place).
            Ironically almost everyone agree that a too thin smartphone isn't pleasant in the hand, yet they all want ultra thin smartphones for some reasons.
            A good thickness would be between 10 and 15mm, which is basically the thickness of a human finger, there are not a single benefit at having something thinner than 10mm.

              • D
              • AnonD-909757
              • pZQ
              • 25 Jul 2020

              AnonD-641645, 25 Jul 2020If it's infeasible, Xiaomi must have performed a mirac... moreBut there are compromises, literally the K30 Pro is one of the first, if not the first, to stack multiple board to gain space, also depending on the internal design, what is possible for a brand may not be for another one.
              It also come down to how they integrate 5G.
              If you compare the K30 Pro 5G bands to the Realme X50 Pro, both are closely priced and have a comparable release data with the Realme being the same thickness but slightly shorter and slimmer.
              K30 Pro : N1, N2, N41, N78 and N79, the Poco F2 only have the two latter.
              X50 Pro : N1, N3, N5, N7, N28, N38, N40, N41, N77 and N78...

              So they probably want to put more antenna.

              So it doesn't shock me.
              Mainly considering that you can't place antenna where you want, you need to plan the interference, hand positions, case, etc...

                • D
                • AnonD-641645
                • Kx1
                • 25 Jul 2020

                AnonD-909757, 25 Jul 2020He said that the reason why they STOPPED making pop ups, wi... moreIf it's infeasible, Xiaomi must have performed a miracle with the Redmi K30 Pro (5G, pop-up camera, 8.9 mm thickness).

                  • F
                  • Finn
                  • JcU
                  • 25 Jul 2020

                  What i have read reviews about Realme phones i could recommend some of their phones for my friends who ask for advice but most are going to buy phones from the carriers where they can pay it in 12-36 months.

                  Oneplus is going strong in Finland but i hope Realme will come because most of my friends are buying phones which cost 150-400 euros and additional options to recommend is always nice.

                    • V
                    • VS3
                    • 7k3
                    • 25 Jul 2020

                    Just wait till he justifies removing the battery because there was 'not enough space' for the 432 mp camera

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                      • AnonD-909757
                      • pZQ
                      • 25 Jul 2020

                      CompactPhones5ever, 25 Jul 2020I'm not saying he needs to bash his company, but look ... moreLets break it down :

                      Q) First question literally say what they do is great and ask about support.
                      A) He answer and confirm what is said is true than give FACTS about his products while simply saying they have as many teams as required to make sure everything is done well.
                      X) The answer is given and doesn't go to unnecessary details but only confirm that they gave options, have really frequent updates and that customers like it, I see no problems here.

                      Q) Naming
                      A) Simple explanations
                      X) Not a single point where he promote anything, only raw explainations.

                      Q) Ask about price
                      A) Literally answer about price segments and strategy.
                      X) Here too not a single promotion or anything, only talking about offer and demand.

                      Q) Ask about pop up
                      A) Answer about first pop up phone and say it was popular, which is highly relevant to the answer, as it indicate that it isn't because of lack of popularity they stopped producing phones with pop up.
                      Then he talk about why.
                      X) So a solid answer where he humbly say that one phone was well received, which is a relevant information to the question.

                      Q) Why no 108MP camera ?
                      A) Explain because they want to be ready rather than rushing it.
                      X) Literally doesn't want to compare to the other brands while he could have bashed them and doesn't once say anything other than they want to make the best possible by avoiding to jump on some techs too soon.

                      Q) Ask about first appearance on an European industry exhibition and is their any teasers.
                      A) Say the European market was a successful one for them, which is why they decided to showcase stuff there, and basically say that they have big things coming but no spoilers.
                      X) Stating facts, not comparing with any other brand or anything, just explaining why they will appear there.

                      Q) What next
                      A) Saying what's next, or at least what type of products.
                      X) Again, nothing than a good answer without any promotion or anything.

                      Q) What will be the AIoT.
                      A) Saying they've already disclose what they plan and just summarize it.
                      X) They didn't say anything about them except they WANT to become the most popular brand, which isn't self promoting or anything, they only state their ambitions.

                      Q) Buds Air silicone tips question and ANC possibilities.
                      A) Explaining why it doesn't have it, and saying they will bring ANC.
                      X) Here appart from the "industry-leading ANC", also a completely neutral text with only explanations, and for the "industry-leading" for all we know they could have partner with an industry leader, so we can't assume anything from that.

                      Q) Messages for the fans.
                      A) A message for the fans.
                      X) Literally he THANKS THE FANS and say this is thanks to them that they have archived some important milestones, which aren't bold claims, but real facts, which in this context is more a thanks to the fanbase and users than brand promotion as they acknowledge this is thanks to the fans and not themselves, that is actually quite respectful and humble for such achievements.
                      Then they say they are highly ambitious for the future.

                      So actually, when broken down, it is FAR from what you said, almost the opposite actually.
                      Literally without those points, the answers wouldn't even make senses...
                      So this isn't "we are doing so damn great" more than explaining how and why they are doing so damn great, and it is not even on half the answers (10/4).
                      Edit : Forgot the 108MP

                        • A
                        • Ashu
                        • 7kk
                        • 25 Jul 2020

                        What rapid product expansion?! Its 'cut', 'copy' and 'paste' from Oppo/Vivo/OnePlus.
                        Anyone comes up with new tech like rapid fast charging, other just changes name and schedules launch event for that.
                        In India, Realme/Oppo/Vivo/OnePlus are even manufactured in one place.
                        Change name of product with software tweaks which people rejected from Oppo and Vivo and then sell them cheaply.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • XRg
                          • 25 Jul 2020

                          CompactPhones5ever, 25 Jul 2020I'm not saying he needs to bash his company, but look ... moreWell they are doing really well.
                          Top 7 in 2 years and top 5 in many markets.
                          40 million phones sold in 2 years while companies like Sony struggling to sell half a million in a single quarter.

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                            • Foz
                            • XR2
                            • 25 Jul 2020

                            Don't buy realme .... After 3 month my c3 display got some vertical lines & blue glitches...

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • pQr
                              • 25 Jul 2020

                              "What are your thoughts on the 108MP vs the latest 48MP sensor with larger pixels as seen on the Oppo Find X2 Pro and OnePlus 8 Pro?"
                              The Oppo Find X2 Pro and OnePlus 8 Pro do not really have a 48 megapixel sensor. They use a 12 megapixel quad pixel sensor (one microlens per 4 subpixels). So when you count all subpixels, Google and Apple use 24 megapixel sensors and Huawei uses a 100 megapixel sensor because they use dual pixel sensors (one microlens per 2 subpixels).

                                AnonD-909757, 25 Jul 2020Sure, as if the CEO of a company would say "Yeah, we ... moreI'm not saying he needs to bash his company, but look at the interview, there's some "we're doing so damn great" element in literally every single answer he gives, it's not an interview it's an advertisement.

                                It's his job after all, I'm just saying it's super pretentious and annoying.

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-909757
                                  • pZQ
                                  • 25 Jul 2020

                                  CompactPhones5ever, 25 Jul 2020Man, I hate these "commercial interviews" so f*ck... moreSure, as if the CEO of a company would say
                                  "Yeah, we are such a lame company"
                                  "We've accomplished nothing, we are so bad"
                                  And other things, seriously, WHO wouldn't promote his own brand ?

                                    Man, I hate these "commercial interviews" so f*cking much... It's basically one huge advertisement full of "I'm glad we achieved so much, it's great to see our products being enjoyed by our customers" etc.... But the best part of these interviews ALWAYS is this "the reason we don't use the technology that our competitors do is because it's just not that good" hahahahaha.

                                    Always full of bullsh*t, these people can talk "we're doing so great" gibberish for hours without giving a single relevant information.

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-909757
                                      • pZQ
                                      • 25 Jul 2020

                                      AnonD-641645, 25 Jul 2020His answer doesn't make sense. If 5G modules already m... moreHe said that the reason why they STOPPED making pop ups, with good compromises, slightly thicker phone and improved tech (as with time, most tech are able to shrink down) it may be that it is now faisable while it wasn't last years.

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-641645
                                        • Kx1
                                        • 25 Jul 2020

                                        His answer doesn't make sense. If 5G modules already make phones thick, it's all the more room for pop-up cameras. He must think people are stupid.

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