Realme Narzo 30 5G hands-on review

Introduction

The Narzo 30 5G is yet another entry into the affordable 5G space from Realme - essentially a repackaged Realme 8 5G with a flashier design. You'd think it would at least be aimed at different markets, but that's not necessarily the case as both phones are being sold in Europe and India.

We got our hands on a Narzo 30 5G unit, and we'll give it a quick look here. For more detailed findings, a trip to the Realme 8 5G in-depth review should mostly answer your questions about the performance of the Narzo as well.

A rundown of the specs will tell you that the Narzo 30 5G is powered by the Dimensity 700, Mediatek's lower-end 5G-capable chip. The phone is available in a single 128GB storage version, and RAM can be either 4GB or 6GB - compare that to the Realme 8 5G, which starts at 64GB/4GB and tops out at 128GB/8GB.

The display is a decent 6.5-inch LCD with FullHD resolution and 90Hz refresh rate, and we had no reasons to complain about it on the sister phone - within its market context, of course. A relatively basic rear camera system consisting of a 48MP primary unit and two 2MP sidekicks is complemented by a 16MP selfie camera, and we found those to be pretty good on the 8 5G, so no issues here either.

Other welcome bits include the large 5,000mAh battery, a dedicated memory card slot and a headphone jack. One omission on this model is NFC - that's one of the key differences between the Narzo and the Realme 8 5G, though there do tend to be variation in this respect from market to market, so it could be worth checking what the situation is in your country.

Realme Narzo 30 5G specs at a glance:

• Body: 162.5x74.8x8.5mm, 185g.
• Display: 6.50" IPS LCD, 90Hz, 480 nits (typ), 600 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 405ppi.
• Chipset: MediaTek MT6833 Dimensity 700 5G (7 nm): Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G57 MC2.
• Memory: 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
• OS/Software: Android 11, Realme UI 2.0.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, PDAF; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.1, 26mm (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 18W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); 3.5mm jack.

Realme Narzo 30 5G unboxing

The Narzo 30 5G ships in a blue Narzo box - not the yellow packaging of your regular Realmes. The contents are the same we received with the Realme 8 5G, though. You get an 18W charger, a USB-A-to-C cable, and a smoked soft silicone case.

The handset itself looks extraordinary on the outside, so let's see what that's all about.