A little over two weeks ago, it was revealed that OPPO is set to take on Xiaomi in India by creating a sub-brand called RealMe. Today, the first product of the online-focused brand has become official. Meet the RealMe 1.
True to RealMe’s promise of offering something with real power, quality, and style that does not cost much, the RealMe 1’s 3GB + 32GB, 4GB + 64GB, and 6GB + 128GB models are priced at ₹8,990 (around P6,982 or $133), ₹10,990 (P8,536 or $162), and ₹13,990 (P10,866 or $207), respectively.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and Redmi Note 5 Pro vs OPPO RealMe 1: Price comparison
The pricing’s aggressive — really aggressive — for the value the phone offers, so much so that the RealMe 1’s launch could be interpreted as a declaration of war. That OPPO is serious in capturing the biggest market share in the world’s second-largest smartphone market is an understatement.
SEE ALSO: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (global version) review: Midrange monster
OPPO was the No. 5 smartphone vendor in India in the fourth quarter of 2017, but climbed two spots in the quarter ending March this year. Xiaomi rose to the top in the last period of 2017 and maintained its position in the most recent quarter. With the addition of its sub-brand, who knows what the ranking will be by the end of 2018. Exciting times.
Is that you, OPPO F7?
On the outside, the RealMe 1 looks like the OPPO F7, a model that was launched in the Philippines on April 19, 2018, for as low as P17,990 ($343). Heck, it even has all the three color variants of the latter — Diamond Black, Solar Red, and Midnight Silver. That elegant diamond design at the rear of one of the units, of course, harks back to the good ol’ OPPO Mirror 5 days.
Our 4GB + 62Gb and 6GB and 128GB OPPO F7 units are all in Solar Red, the same color variant as one of the RealMe 1 models on offer.
The RealMe 1 likewise get the same plastic build, acrylic back, and placement of ports and buttons as the OPPO F7.
But if you’ll look more closely, that’s where the similarity ends looks-wise. The RealMe 1 does not have a notch, something so controversial that it has divided Android users. The handset also lacks a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor; for security, you have to rely on face unlock.
On the inside
We’re glad that the RealMe 1 is powered by MediaTek’s Helio P60. It’s the same artificial intelligence or AI-focused processor used by the OPPO F7, whose performance blew us away. For one, it can handle the heavy-intensive games we’ve thrown at it — at their highest settings. NBA 2K18, Black Desert… name it.
NBA 2K18 on the Helio P60-powered OPPO F7: Highest settings, with cloth simulation turned on
The chip is matched with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which you can still stretch through a microSD card with up to 256GB space. That could mean that multitasking will be a breeze on the RealMe 1.
READ ALSO: OPPO F7 review: Beauty with brains and brawn and OPPO F7 performance tests: Powerful and gaming-capable
A 6-inch IPS LCD display with 2,160 x 1,080 resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio takes up the front. Up top is an 8-megapixel selfie camera paired with a 13-megapixel camera at the back. The smartphone also comes with a 3,410mAh battery and Android 8.1 Oreo-based ColorOS 5.0.
The promise
RealMe, being a sub-brand of OPPO, gets to take advantage of the mother company’s six research and development centers worldwide and two manufacturing facilities in India, whose operations contribute greatly in bringing the RealMe 1’s prices down.
The online-only brand also gets to make use of OPPO’s more than 500 service centers across the Southern Asian country. The goal is for customers to spend less time in each of those places.
SEE ALSO: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro review: New king of the midrange? and Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus (Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 in India) review: A worthy Redmi Note 4X upgrade?
“We assure that 90 percent of all your smartphone-related issues will be solved in not more than an hour at our service centers,” RealMe CEO Madhav Sheth said.
Real quality, real service, and real style on top of honest pricing. Together, they make the RealMe 1 a disruptor, Sheth claimed. And it’s not a baseless claim.
The official launch of the stunningly powerful #realme1!
Realme 1 is a stylish combination of design and leading technology – it’s where power meets style! pic.twitter.com/Pyud4GiIQB
— Realme (@realmemobiles) May 15, 2018
Launch of a disruptor
RealMe 1 availability
The RealMe 1 will go on sale exclusively on Amazon India starting May 25. There’s no word if the device will ever be released outside of the country. Bummer, we know.
But cheer up. Remember the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1, another phone that’s after the set that will likely buy Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 5 and Note 5 Pro? It was first launched in India. Now, word has it that it will make its way to the Philippines as well. Even the product page for it is already up on the company’s Philippine website. We’d like to think there’s a glimmer of hope you can glean from that case.
RealMe 1 specs
- 6-inch LCD display; 2,280 x 1,080 resolution (18:9)
- MediaTek Helio P60 processor
- 3GB/4GB/6GB RAM
- 32GB/64GB/128GB expandable storage
- 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
- 8-megapixel front camera
- 3,410mAh battery
- Android 8.1 Oreo
You may want to watch: RealMe 1 launch
Main image via SlashLeaks
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