Realme 3 review

Design

We've all seen the Realme 3 before, though the name was different. Whether it was the Realme U1, the Realme 2 or even the Realme 2 Pro - it's the same all-plastic phone you know. But Realme keeps surprising us with some fabulous colors to distracts us from the otherwise recycled shell.

And with the Realme 3's Dynamic Black and Radiant Blue paintjobs, we are not just distracted - you can color us dazzled.

The Dynamic Black is something we've actually seen before on the vivo V11 marketed as Starry Night. It's a very catchy gradient from black towards sprinkled dark blue and no matter how it's called, it's simply brilliant.

Then there is the Radiant Blue, which is a bit more alien than the Dynamic Black. It mixes vibrant green and blues for one very chameleonic effect and it's mesmerizing to watch those hues change under different light.

The back, no matter the color option, is made of durable plastic with glossy finish. The Realme 3 uses a unibody design meaning the back actually wraps the whole phone all the way up to the screen. There is no standalone frame per se, though the curve on the sides is sharp enough to provide for some grip.

The dual-camera setup on the back for the first time on a Realme has a vertical alignment. The 13MP camera is on top marked with this cool yellow ring, then comes the 2MP depth sensor, and the LED flash is at the bottom. The whole setup is humping just a little bit, but not enough to make the Realme 3 wobble.

The fingerprint scanner is also at the back, always-on and very accurate as usual.

The Realme 3 looks a lot like the Realme U1 and the Realme 2 Pro at the front. It has a 6.2" IPS LCD display with one small curvy notch for the 13MP selfie camera. But unlike the models we mentioned, the Realme 3 has a lower HD+ resolution like its Realme 2 predecessor. More about that coming in a bit.

The earpiece is etched between the frame and the front glass, which is a Gorilla Glass 3 by the way.

The Realme 3 has all the essentials on its sides. The outdated microUSB port, the loudspeaker and the audio port are all at the bottom. The tri-slot is on the left and it can take two nano-SIM and one microSD cards.

The Realme 3 is as large as the Realme 2 at 156.1 x 75.6 x 8.3 mm and weighs around the same at 175g.

For a device that cheap, Realme has once again outdone itself. It's unbelievable how the maker succeeds in securing both the cool screens and eye-catchy designs. And you should know the process of making this one piece of plastic so ravishing and glass-looking is neither an easy, nor a cheap job. So as far as the Realme 3 is concerned, it's probably one of the best-looking smartphones you can buy for this amount of cash.

And yes, the Realme 3 is slippery and fingerprints do stick, but this comes with the glossy territory. The frame is sharper than on previous models, or as Realme likes to call it - narrower - which improves the grip. But if it's not your cup of tea, you can slap on the free case you get and have it all.