6.3" 1080+ display, Snapdragon 712, 8GB RAM, 128GB UFS2.1 storage, USB-C, quad camera, 48MP quad-bayer main camera, 4035mAH battery, Wifi AC and Bluetooth 5. All for just ~$260 USD. Quite enticing. Plenty of cheap Androids tend to sacrifice the details that most people won't notice (eg. using slower eMMC for storage, no wifi AC, microUSB, etc). But Realme seems to be giving a good punch that makes even Xiaomi flinched. But have you ever wondered why it got so cheap?
I got to play around with one, and it was obvious. Plastic frame. Sure, the back cover uses a glossy finish to make it look and feel premium, but the frame itself is obviously plastic. It feels a mish-mash of new tech like edge-to-edge screen, quad camera, etc with the oldies of plastic phones. And yes, once you hold it, it does feel cheap and light. Even the real handset felt like one of those phone dummies. And we are seeing the return of plastics. All Samsung's new mid to low ranges A and M series are using plastic bodies as well (while charging more, of course, it's Samsung).
And of course, for something that cheap, something gotta go. ie. the software. The handset has an ultra-wide angle camera as part of its quad camera set up, but in the camera app, you cannot just pinch in to zoom out. The zoom button also cannot go less than 1X. So what gives? Apparently, you have to use a separate mode to go to ultra-wide angle. Once you're in this mode, you're stuck with the ultra wide angle lens, and you cannot use the main camera by zooming in. You have to go out of that mode to go back to the main camera. This is where you can feel the difference between something like this to, let's say, a Huawei P30.
But for $260, not too shabby, if you can forgive the tiny quirkiness. The generous amount of RAM and storage are great. Kudos to Realme for not sacrificing things like UFS storage and USB-C.