Realme X3 SuperZoom review

Competition

The Realme X3 SuperZoom does zoom in a lot, but just how super is it compared to rival offerings? With an official price tag of €500, it needs to be a little more than just okay to win over the consumers' hearts.

Since zoom is the name of the game, let's start off with a Huawei P30 Pro when we look at potential alternatives to give some context to the Realme X2 SuperZoom. The Huawei flagship may be a year old and then some, but that means it comes from better times for the Chinese maker when Google was still a friend, plus the Realme uses a year-old chipset anyway. The P30 Pro does 5x zoom since way back then, has an OLED display, IP68 rating, wireless charging, and a memory card slot (if NanoMemory as opposed to microSD) - all for just €550. The Realme counters with an ultra-wide selfie cam, better video recording, and sometimes-120Hz display, but our money would be on the Huawei in this bout.

A Poco F2 Pro can be had for about the same price as the X3 SuperZoom, and it comes with a few advantages - the current high-end Snapdragon, the OLED display, and the longer battery life stand out. The Poco also has a rather unique macro cam with a long-ish 50mm lens that makes for some stunning closeups. The X3 SuperZoom zooms, though, all the way to 5x, and the Poco doesn't, not one bit. The F2 Pro is also short on ultra-wide selfie cams.

Samsung put out a couple of Lites at the start of the year, and the Galaxy Note10 Lite can be had for about as much as an X3 SuperZoom. That puts it a headphone jack and microSD card slot, but also an S-Pen ahead of the Realme, not to mention the Galaxy's superior Super AMOLED display. The X3 SuperZoom does get you closer to the action with its periscope, and its ultra-wide selfie cam remains without an answer from the Samsung, but the Note's camera system is very capable itself and does better in the dark.

We're not even certain the SuperZoom would be our choice within Realme's own lineup. The 5x periscope is great, but a 2x zoom module can be more useful more often, and both the X50 Pro and the 6 Pro have one. We'll dismiss the X50 Pro on grounds of its €100 higher price, but the 6 Pro can even get you the ultra wide selfies, and it'll come in at €150 less than the new model. Sure, the X3 SuperZoom has the more powerful chipset, but the 6 Pro will do just fine outside of the heaviest of gaming. Alternatively, the X2 Pro starts at €100 less than the SuperZoom, comes with the same Snapdragon 855+, has a vastly superior display, stereo speakers, faster charging, nicer build. No periscope and no ultra wide selfies, sadly.

Huawei P30 Pro • Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro • Samsung Galaxy Note10 Lite • Realme X2 Pro

Verdict

Part of the problem with releasing a new phone every couple of months that competes in the same-but-different-but-same segment is that your other offerings are still there on the proverbial shelf. A balancing act of segmentation in an attempt to make just the right product for just the right type of customer and do so within a fixed budget.

Realme X3 SuperZoom next to the Realme X2

Well, the Realme X3 SuperZoom is precisely that kind of a niche product. You need to value the 5x periscope zoom above everything else to be able to see past the phone's shortcomings and also turn a blind eye to how the others are better.

It's this camera alone that sets the SuperZoom apart (aptly named then) from all other Realmes and most other handsets in the price range. Perhaps the ultra-wide selfies are a bonus, or that's the exact specific set of features you're after. Good for you, the X3 SuperZoom meets those demands.

For a broader audience with more general requirements, there are superior overall packages. Realme itself makes a bunch of those too.

Pros

• 120Hz-capable display, settings menu scrolling is smoooth, sRGB accuracy is excellent.
• Excellent battery life, fast charging.
• Clean yet feature-rich software, excellent performance for the class.
• Properly good image quality across the board with minor exceptions.
• 5x periscope telephoto and a ultra wide angle selfie cam make for a unique combo.

Cons

• Dim display, quirky refresh rate limitations.
• No headphone jack or microSD slot.
• Some throttling under GPU-intensive loads.
• Uninspiring low-light performance.