The Realme 3 Pro has officially debuted in the Philippines this week, with the phone starting at the low price of P12,990 ($247) unlocked. It’s excellent value for money, so easy to recommend to anyone after a fast and smooth Android experience for less.
What’s more, the Realme 3 Pro is one of the few handsets on the market that can install the public beta of Android Q right now. If you’re not familiar, Android Q is Google’s next major OS release after Android 9.0 Pie. The software is already in Beta 3, which introduces a few new features like full gesture controls and an improved system-wide dark theme.
SEE ALSO: Realme 3 Pro review: Pro performance and features for less
However, it bears noting that Android Q is still in the early stages of development, and we don’t recommend that you use it as your daily driver, as we’ll elaborate more on in a moment. And you will lose all your data when you upgrade to Android Q.
Caveat: Android Q is still in the early stages of development, and we don’t recommend that you use it as your daily driver
But if you’re simply curious, know that it’s easy and simple to install, and you can always jump back to the stock build of ColorOS 6 that your Realme 3 Pro shipped with later.
To get your phone running the latest Android Q beta, follow these instructions:
- Download the upgrade file P2Q.ozip here.
- If you downloaded it using a computer or another device, move the file to your phone’s local storage.
- Press and hold the power button to turn off your phone.
- Once the handset is off, press and hold the power button and volume-down key simultaneously for a while until you enter the recovery screen.
- Select Install from storage device, choose From Phone Storage then P2Q.ozip to begin the update process.
- Wait for the update to finish, then tap Reboot.
If you decide to roll back to ColorOS 6, all you need to do is to repeat the process above, but this time, download Q2P.zip instead of P2Q.ozip.
With the upgrade instructions out of the way, here are some impressions after spending some time with the Android Q beta build.
- Realme’s native camera app with a fantastic Nightscape mode has been removed and replaced with the poorly optimized Snapdragon Camera app. Also, the screen flickers when you fire up the application, and when you switch between the front and rear cameras.
- Image and video quality is nowhere near as good as on the Realme 3 Pro running stock software. This is the deal-breaker for us.
- The fingerprint unlock and face recognition are gone.
- PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends, and NBA 2K19 all work and seem to run well. Actually, most of our favorite apps work as intended, save for a few.
- We initially had trouble seeing older messages on the Facebook Messenger app. Reinstalling it seems to have solved the problem. The Netflix app won’t open at all, even after a number of reinstalls.
- The phone feels smooth overall but is hardly exceptional. We like the new notifications and dark theme, though. The gesture controls remind us of Huawei’s gesture implementation in EMUI 9.
- We can’t fully comment on battery life given our short time with the beta, but so far, it’s fine. Idle battery drain is pretty negligible.
Screenshots of the user interface, including those of the Antutu and Geekbench benchmark scores
Realme 3 Pro specs
- 6.3-inch LCD display, 2,340 x 1,080 resolution (19.5:9) with Corning Gorilla Glass 5
- Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor
- 4GB/6GB RAM
- 64GB/128GB expandable storage
- Dual 16-megapixel, f/1.7 rear camera, 5-megapixel, f/2.4 depth sensor with LED flash
- 25-megapixel, f/2.0 front camera
- Fingerprint reader (rear-mounted)
- 4,045mAh battery with 20-watt VOOC 3.0 fast charging
- ColorOS 6 based on Android 9.0 Pie
Share this Post
Learn About This Author
