Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G hands-on review

Introduction and specs

The Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G is the first 5G-enabled smartphone from Realme's Narzo series but more importantly, the company claims that this is the fastest mid-range gaming smartphone to hit the market. It was announced back in February, but this is our first close encounter with the device. We've prepared a couple of benchmarks in the following pages to see if the device is really the fastest one in its class.

The Dimensity 800U is no laughing matter indeed. At just around INR 17,000, the India-exclusive Narzo 30 Pro 5G is one of the cheapest 5G-enabled devices around. It sports some gaming-specific features like a 120Hz display with a 180Hz touch sampling rate.

Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G specs at a glance:

• Body: 162.2x75.1x9.1mm, 196g; Gorilla Glass 3 front, plastic body.
• Display: 6.50" IPS LCD, 120Hz , 480 nits (typ), 600 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 405ppi.
• Chipset: MediaTek MT6853 Dimensity 800U 5G (7 nm): Octa-core (2x2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G57 MC3.
• Memory: 64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.1; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
• OS/Software: Android 10, Realme UI.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/2.0", 0.8µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.3, 119˚, 1/4.0", 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.1, 26mm (wide), 1/3.09", 1.0µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 30W, 50% in 25 min, 100% in 65 min (advertised), Dart Charge, Power Delivery 15W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); 3.5mm jack, no NFC.

We couldn't spot but notice that the Narzo 30 Pro 5G is far from a completely new device. The device is based on the Realme 7 5G with little to no difference. However, it kind of makes sense since the latter didn't reach India, and it was made available only for certain markets. And India is the key market for the Narzo 30 Pro 5G.

Unfortunately, in an attempt to adjust the price point better for the Indian market, Realme had to slash a couple of features. There's no depth sensor, which isn't a big loss anyway, but the base model starts at 6GB/64GB compared to 6GB/128GB in Europe. And NFC is now gone, but NFC contactless payments are not an important feature in India anyway.

We had a chance to go hands-on with the Narzo 30 Pro 5G, so join us as we see what this phone is all about