We finally made our verdict on one of the high midrangers right now from Realme Philippines - the Realme 3
Glad that we had three software updates when we had the review unit which lead to the latest June 2019 security updates but there is still one flaw that we experienced.
First time for Realme to bring in ColorOS 6 based on Android 9 Pie which made me happy mainly that they brought in the app drawer and more simplified pulldown menu. The one that we had for this review was the 4/64 variant which is pretty ok together with Meidatek Helio P60 that the one thing that we experienced badly despite of the two system updates that we had, the inconsistent rear fingerprint sensor which to the point that we chose to open the face unlock (that saved us) in the few remaining days before we had to return that device.
Realme 3 was ok too in the connectivity department too from calls, texts, mobile data, WiFi. Bluetooth, GPS and OTG
In our battery rundown test, Realme 3 survived at 20 hours and 5 minutes. In our real-time usage in heavy mode, it was an easy 1.75 to 2 day smartphone for Realme 3 with arond 7 hours of screen on time.
On camera, Realme 3 did a nice job on producing quality photos in various lighting conditions. Even on the pro mode and the nightscape mode. Their choice of putting in f/1.8 aperture on it's main shooter helped on the output.
Realme 3 rear camera samples
Realme 3 front camera sample
A few months after it's release with it's 4/64 version at Php 9,990, Realme 3 is still one of the best smartphones that you can find right now for under 10k with it's a bit old yet already proven Mediatek processsor, nice memory configuration, ColorOS now with app drawer and big battery capacity that they can possibly put in inside it's body. One thing that really bothered me is the inconsistency of the fingerprint which they must fix very soon and we borrowed the official commercial unit (that's the beauty of having those reviews even we are a bit late). It's gonna be 4.25 out of 5 for Realme 3
