Realme U1, the first Helio P70 phone, debuts with a 25MP selfie camera

The Realme U1 is the first selfie-focused phone in the young brand’s line-up. Its claim to fame is the 25MP selfie camera nestled in the teardrop notch. This camera uses an IMX576 sensor with 0.9µm pixels that can be binned for better low-light performance.

The teardrop notch – the whole screen, actually – was borrowed from the Realme 2 Pro. It’s a 6.3” IPS LCD panel with 1,080 x 2,340px resolution and (according to official numbers) covers 90.8% of the front. The top bezel measures 2.05mm, the side ones are just 1.7mm.

Realme U1 from the front and back

The screen is guarded by 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 while the back is made of acrylic with a special coating to make it look like glass. The advantages of acrylic are that it’s less prone to shattering and is lighter than glass.

Anyway, also on the back is a 13+2MP dual camera, like the one featured on the Realme 2. Unfortunately, 4K video capture is not supported, not even 1080p/60fps.

Realme U1

The Realme U1 is the first phone to use the new Helio P70 chipset, which has faster image processing hardware. With it the cameras can render depth of field in real time as well as do HDR and multi-frame noise reduction.

The chipset features four big Cortex-A73 cores (plus for A53), along with a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU. The U1 will come in two configurations: 3/32GB and 4/64GB. There’s a dedicated microSD card slot for memory expansion (along with a dual nano SIM slot).

The P70 chipset promises a steady 60fps in games thanks to gaming optimizations by Realme. For improved multitasking, there are Sidebars that offer quick access to key apps. The phone launches with Color OS 5.2 (based on Android 8.1 Oreo).

The Realme U1 packs a 3,500mAh battery. The 12nm chipset features a revamped resource allocation system that keeps usage power and temperature in check.. The phone supports standard 10W charging over microUSB. Realme is clinging to the dead port, but at least it kept the 3.5mm jack as well.

Other goodies include an FM radio receiver, dual VoLTE, support for India in the ORoaming app, offline text scanning and translation between Hindi and English.

The Realme U1 comes in Ambitious Black, Brave Blue and Fiery Gold. The 3/32 GB version costs INR11,999 ($170/€150), while the 4/64 GB variant is INR14,999 ($215/€190), with the first sale scheduled for December 5.

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