RealMe 2 Pro Review: The Real Thing

DESIGN

Looking at the design, the RealMe 2 front display panel looks a lot similar to the recently launched F9 Pro from its parent company OPPO. The RealMe 2 Pro joined the horde by offering tiny notch on the top and only houses the front camera on the display and a speaker on the top edge of the handset. While Oppo named it as waterdrop, RealMe decide to come up with similar yet distinguishable name and named it as “dewdrop”. Due to this tiny dewdrop notch, the RealMe 2 Pro has a 90.8% screen-to-body ratio. Means it comes close to the Oppo Find X and the Vivo NEX in terms of an all-screen smartphone.  RealMe 2 Pro is among the first few devices to sport one, but certainly not the last. In Fact, the changes in notch design impressed me to switch to RealMe 2 Pro from Huawei Nova 3. The RealMe 2 Pro has a glossy glass back, which attracts a lot of fingerprints, that made us wipe the back to make it look clean. RealMe did include a free dewdrop plastic case in the box for just this reason. There’s a screen protector pre-applied too, but it does end up with scratches after a week of use. The dual rear camera setup placed horizontally in a silver rim and an LED flash just on the side of the camera bump. The rear side also houses the fingerprint sensor as well as RealMe branding. There is one point needs to highlight is the inclusion of a micro USB port instead of Type-C port. It does lack Quick charging support but a regular fast charge can quickly charge the 3500 mAh battery within 2 hours.

PERFORMANCE

Powering the smartphone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, expandable using a dedicated microSD card. The Snapdragon 660 processor is not a powerhouse, but it packs enough cores to run things smoothly. We faced no issues with heavy multitasking, but while playing PUBG and Asphalt 9, it does struggle to offer smooth gaming performance. It does manage to run such graphics-intensive games only when graphics are set to medium or low. The device runs Android 8.1 Oreo operating system, which is highly customized with ColorOS skins packed with useless bloatware apps. Thankfully, I was able to uninstall most of the bloatware app available on my RealMe 2 Pro. Overall, it is not the best looking user interface with no app drawer, but you can definitely switch to Nova launcher and customized your own UI.

Powering the smartphone is a 3,500 mAh battery, which keeps the phone going for more than a day. This is because of the excellent low power consumption feature provided by Qualcomm 660 processor. Gaming, video streaming, and the camera can definitely decrease the battery much faster than intended, but the phone shows a promising number of more than a day. Though it has a micro USB, battery charging time is quick; The device’s battery goes from 0 to 100 per cent in less than two hours.

CAMERA

The primary dual camera setup is 16MP + 2MP with AI technology. The AI technology offers scene detection that works great. The image quality was sharp and it captures great details and has excellent dynamic range. The camera’s autofocus is quick and captures the frame in a split second. It takes detailed shots in daylight and well-lit conditions. RealMe has also included beauty mode, by which the camera captures a soft tone, making it ideal for portrait shots, thanks to a 2MP secondary camera that works as a depth sensor with the primary one. It can even record 4K video making it a capable video camera smartphone especially for videographers, but output turns out to be average.

On the front, RealMe 2 Pro is packed with a 16MP camera that delivers selfies with good details. Even the front camera gets HDR and a selfie light by using the screen as Flashlight. This feature does work and I can capture by the picture even in a dark environment.  The front also has an AI beauty mode that let you adjust skin tones. If you click a lot of selfies, you’ll definitely love the front camera.

VERDICT

RealMe 2 Pro is a feature-rich smartphone available at an attractive price point. It does have a display with the maximum screen-to-body ratio, great performance, and premium glass design. It could have been better if they have included near stock UI instead of custom UI plagued with bloatware. The RealMe 2 Pro is the one to get if you want the new dewdrop notch combined with great performance and smart cameras.

Quote: Due to the tiny dewdrop notch, the RealMe 2 Pro has a 90.8% screen-to-body ratio.

SPECS:

• 6.3-inch full HD+ display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB internal storage
• 3500mAh battery
• 16MP+2MP rear camera
• 16MP front camera

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