Up to now, realme has delivered smartphones with great price-to-performance ratio. The brand, however, has always stuck to the midrange and entry-level segment. That time is about to end as realme is introducing their first flagship in the Philippines, the realme X3 SuperZoom. With all the hype backing it, will the X3 SuperZoom become realme’s flagship killer?
realme X3 SuperZoom
| Realme X3 SuperZoom | |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ |
| Screen | 6.6-inch IPS, 2400 x 1080, 120Hz, Gorilla Glass 5 |
| RAM | 8GB/12GB |
| OS | Android 10 with Realme UI |
| Rear Camera | 64MP f/1.8 Main, 8MP f/3.4 Telephoto, 8MP f/2.3 Ultrawide, 2MP f/2.4 Macro |
| Front Camera | 32MP f/2.5 Main, 8MP f/2.2 Ultrawide |
| Storage | 128GB/256GB UFS 3.0 |
| Network | Dual-SIM, 4G LTE |
| Connectivity | Dual-band WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C, NFC |
| Battery | 4,200mAh, 30W Dart Charge |
| Others | Side-mounted Fingerprint Scanner |
| Colors | Glacier Blue, Arctic White |
In terms of packaging, the realme X3 SuperZoom does not distinguish itself from its lower-priced peers. As with its contemporaries, it is packed inside the brand’s unmistakable yellow box with the X3 SuperZoom logo plastered at the front.
Inside the box is a quintessential set of accessories expected from the brand: a USB Type-C cable, a 30W VOOC charger, documentation, a SIM pin ejector, and a silicone case. Frankly, we are rather disappointed that the handset did not come with its own pair of earphones, even basic ones.
We understand that realme is also trying to entice its customers to buy their accessories to complement your new smartphone. At this price point, however, an incomplete set of extras is almost unforgivable.
Screen and Design
At the fore of the realme X3 SuperZoom is one of its selling factors: a fast screen. It comes with a 6.6-inch IPS display at 2400 x 1080 resolution with Gorilla Glass 5. The real crowd-pleaser of the screen is its 120Hz refresh rate. With double the refresh rate of most smartphones in the market, its display is able to show more fluid animations and gives you a more satisfying experience while playing.
Although the blacks found on its display are not as deep compared to AMOLED screens, it’s still able to provide a radiant viewing experience. Colors are generally vibrant and punchy and its brightness is pretty decent even when used outside.
The realme X3 SuperZoom doesn’t have the striking design found on the realme 6 Pro. Instead, it opts for a more muted design. The lightning bolts have been replaced by a slight color gradient in an oblong pattern that shows under the correct lighting conditions.
Though its rear has chosen a minimalist aesthetic, it has a layer of what the brand calls 3D Quad-curved Glass. The glass has a matte finish that minimize fingerprints but doesn’t completely remove them. Although fingerprints are not apparent, they can still leave a bit of smudging if the smartphone is handled without a case.
We have come to expect a MicroSD expansion slot from realme smartphones based on their previous outings. That has changed with the realme X3 SuperZoom since it only comes two-sided SIM card slot found at the bottom. Ejecting the SIM tray reveals the disappointing fact that it lacks the ability to expand its 256GB storage.
Just beside the its sole SIM slot is a USB Type-C port compatible with the brand’s new 30W Dart Charge as well as a single bottom-firing speaker. Audio can get pretty loud from its speaker but it lacks depth and the soundstage is pretty tight. It can, however, still offer a decent casual listening experience.
Its volume buttons found at the left-hand side offer a satisfying tactile experience when pressed. Its power button/fingerprint scanner on the other side, however, is a bit different. The button isn’t as tactile as we would have liked and there’s a bit of mushiness before it activates. There are a few moments where we experience a bit of delay before the smartphone unlocks. Fortunately, the device comes with Face Unlock as an alternative to fingerprint scanning. Frankly, we would have preferred if realme kept its in-display fingerprint scanner on the X3 SuperZoom.
User Interface
As with most of its recent smartphones, the realme X3 SuperZoom ships with Android 10 with the brand’s realme UI. Sticking to a closer Android experience compared to its earlier smartphones, realme’s own UI can be customized to your own liking. Icon customization is available so you can tailor the look of the icons down to the last detail such as its shape, foreground size, and its size.
Long standing features make also make their appearance such as the Smart Sidebar and Smart Assistant. As with any decent smartphone nowadays, Dark Mode is easily accessible via the pull-down notifications center at the top and can be switched to on-the-fly.
Cameras
At the back of the realme X3 SuperZoom lies its quad cameras. Its set of rear imaging lenses is led by a 64MP f/1.8 main camera and is backed by an 8MP f/3.4 telephoto, an 8MP f/2.3 ultrawide, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro lens. In addition, the smartphone is able has a periscope zoom lens that allows you to reach zoom levels of up to 60x.
By default, the 64MP f/1.8 main camera shrinks down its photos to 16MP. Despite the downsizing, its main lens captures a lot of detail with decent contrast and colors. If you want to capture 64MP photos, you will need to activate its 64MP mode in order to capture full resolution pictures.
Night Mode receives a few new additions such as its own Pro mode, Tripod mode, and Starry mode. Starry mode is essentially a long exposure mode that allows you to take photos of the stars and the cosmos. You’ll need to use a tripod, however, in order to fully utilize the Starry mode.
Its 8MP f/2.3 ultrawide takes decent snaps although the pixel count isn’t up to par as the X3 SuperZoom’s main camera. Details are present although closer inspection tends to smudge them out, however, the saturation of its colors remain quite good.
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The 8MP f/3.4 telephoto is also able to hold its ground against its peers. While colros are decent, details will start to become less and less apparent the more you zoom in on the image.
If the telephoto lens isn’t enough for you, the realme X3 SuperZoom has the capability to reach up to 60x zoom. The max zoom isn’t quite as detailed but there is enough for you to make out finer details in the photo.
On the other hand, its 2MP f/2.4 macro lens is less impressive than the rest of the cameras. Its low pixel count means that details are not preserved as much while colors tend to be underwhelming.
Moving on to its front cameras. realme is implementing a pill-style hole at the top left of the X3 SuperZoom for taking selfies. There’s a 32MP f/2.5 main front camera that takes natural-looking selfies without much post-processing while its 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide selfie lens allows you to fit more people or objects in the frame without even using a selfie stick or extending your arm.
Performance, Benchmarks, and Battery Life
One of the main attractions of the realme X3 SuperZoom is its Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+. While it is an older flagship-class chipset, it still offers top notch performance. With the help of 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage, the smartphone is able to deliver flagship performance without breaking the bank.
Playing games using the realme X3 SuperZoom is a treat. Its high-end chipset with plenty of RAM and 120Hz display offer one of the best experiences in this price point. The performance of the Snapdragon 855+ and the high refresh rate of the screen results in a buttery smooth experience.
As far as benchmarks go, the device is also able to pump out leading numbers. In AnTuTu, the device is able to nearly reach the 500,000 mark. In PCMark, its chip makes it possible to attain an 11,749 score. Its UFS 3.0 storage is quite fast as well reaching sequential read speeds of over 1,500MB/s.
Keeping the lights on for the smartphone is a 4,200mAh battery reserve charged by realme’s new 30W Dart Charge from its USB Type-C port. Based on what we’ve seen, the smartphone is able to last throughout the day with medium use composed of work, watching videos, and occasional gaming sessions. It even has enough left to be used to carry over to the next day.
Thanks to the 30W Dart Charge available on the X3 SuperZoom, waiting for the battery to top up is fairly quick allowing the device to reach 90% from 0% in just an hour. A great feature if you only need a short time before going away from a plug.
Conclusion
Despite a few setbacks such as its janky power button/fingerprint scanner combo, dismal macro lens, and its lack of an AMOLED screen, these are more than made up by its flagship-class chipset, plenty of RAM, fast storage, long-lasting battery, and a decent set of cameras.
Priced at PhP 24,990 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage, the smartphone has a rich, expansive feature set. It seems that the realme X3 SuperZoom is now the flagship killer that we have been waiting from the brand.
With such a high price-to-performance ratio like its contemporaries, we’re giving the realme X3 SuperZoom our seal of approval. If you have been wanting flagship performance at a bargain, then the realme X3 SuperZoom is a definite contender for you.