Review: What you’re getting from budget-friendly realme 10

November 12, 2022 - 1:30 PM
4437
Realme 10 (Interaksyon/Anj Andaya)

There’s a new smartphone in town and it’s a promising one.

A successor of realme 9, realme 10, the newest premium phone, was launched globally last Wednesday.

READ: LOOK: realme unveils realme 10, its newest premium smartphone

Unboxing

To refresh, Interaksyon teased the first look of the new phone via an ASMR unboxing last week.

Here are the contents:

  • One realme 10 unit with screen protector film
  • One 33W SuperVOOC power adapter
  • One Type-C USB Cable
  • One Important Product Information with warranty card
  • One quick guide
  • Sim card needle
  • One protective jelly case

READ: ASMR Unboxing: realme 10 

This time, we’ll go to the exciting part…our full review!

Design

The realme 10 comes in two stunning colors, Clash White and Rush Black, with a Light Particle Design that recreates the image of light particles colliding with each other in space.

Clash white is trendier and young-looking as it emits a sparkling rainbow gradient with the shifting combination of light orange, yellow, a hint of violet and powder blue.

(realme/released)

On the other hand, for our review unit, we got the Rush black which is classy and shiny with a gradient dominated by a midnight blue hue.

(realme/released)

Both colors are visually appealing and the clear jelly protective case is just perfect to complement the unit to flaunt its unique design. It’s even better without a case but the gradient is prone to having fingerprint marks.

Adding to the appeal are its round corners and curved design.

The aluminum frame bears the microphone hole at the top, a sim card tray (2 nano sim card slots) and microSD slot on the left, volume keys, power button on the right and 3.5 mm headphone jack, USB-C charging port, mic hole and single downward-firing speaker at the bottom.

(Interaksyon/Rosette Adel)

Unlike realme 9 with fingerprint scanner at the back panel, realme 10’s fingerprint reader is on the right side. Its power button serves as the fingerprint reader. This difference may not be for everyone. But we prefer this better.

To date, realme 10 is also the slimmest at 7.95mm thin and one of the lightest smartphones in the brand’s number series, weighing only 178 grams.

More features

More than the visual treat, its features are likewise laudable.

Screen and audio

The mobile phone’s main screen is 6.4” carrying a super AMOLED display that is very entertainment-friendly. The display also has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, a reassuring feature and a plus for its durability.

Below are the screen specs:

  • Screen Resolution: FHD+1080*2400
  • PPI: 409
  • Screen-to-Body Ratio: 90.80%
  • Refresh Rate: 90Hz
  • Touch Sampling Rate: 180Hz
  • Brightness: 600 nits
  • Contrast Ratio: 4,000,000:1
  • Color Depth: 16.7 Million Colors
  • Color Gamut: Typ. 98% NTSC

We tested the display by watching some films and series and it was nothing but a pleasurable viewing experience. The audio was also fine-tuned and clear with its 200% UltraBoom speaker and single downward-firing speaker.

Here’s a peek at how the screen looks when playing a video:

On screen: “Enola Holmes: 2” streaming on Netflix. (Interaksyon/Rosette Adel)

System

When it comes to its hardware, we also had no complaints as it is equipped with a good processor Media Tek Helio G99 processor. It runs on the Operating System realme UI 3.0, Android 12.

Connectivity

While realme 10 is one of the latest smartphones released, it is still not yet 5G-ready.

It has the usual WiFi (2.4 GHz, 5GHz) and Bluetooth connectivity and supports frequency bands 2G/3G and 4G.

Storage

Storage is not an issue when it comes to realme 10 as it is available in two storage variants. These are 8 gigabytes+128GB and 8GB+256GB. If these are not enough, the microSD can be upgraded up to 1 terabyte.

There are, however, several recommended apps from its own app that took up space. You can delete them one by one as the initial space taken is more than 25GB.

Camera

Meanwhile, realme 10 sports two cameras.

The rear and primary camera boasts 50-megapixel Color AI and 2-MP black and white lens.

As mobile photography enthusiasts, what we love about this is the variety of photography functions it offers. These include 50MP Mode, Ultra Steady Video, Ultra Steady Max Video, Night Mode, Panoramic view, Expert, Timelapse, Portrait Mode, HDR,AI Scene Recognition, AI Beauty, Filter, Chroma Boost, Slow Motion, Bokeh Effect Control.

The photos we took were crisp enough, but don’t expect much on its Zoom capability as photos may appear grainy.

Here are some of the samples of the photos we took using realme 10:

On the other hand, the front camera is 16 megapixels, offering the following photography functions:  Ultra Steady Video Portrait Mode, Timelapse , Panoramic view, Beauty Mode, HDR, Face-Recognition, Filter, Night Mode, Bokeh Effect Control.

The lighting on the front camera is notable as it is already good for video calls and selfies.

Both cameras have a slow-motion feature for video recording.

Battery

Complementing these features are the battery-efficient specs. realme 10 prides itself on having 5000mAh battery with 33W SuperVOOC charge that could boost the unit’s power from 0% to 50% in only 28 minutes. It’s a plus that the power adapter and charging are already included in the box.

Realme 10 (Interaksyon/Anj Andaya)

With moderate use of browsing, light gaming and taking photos, the power of realme 10 lasted a day. It is perfect for all-day gaming, streaming and other functions.

It also managed to charge swiftly, a little more than an hour when it was fully drained.

Performance

With realme known for gaming smartphones, we were elated to know that the latest unit is equipped with a gaming-dedicated processor.

We tried playing “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang” and the gaming experience was a breeze.

Your gaming experience could be adjusted to your preference as there is a control for refresh rate, graphic settings, interface, screen shake and sounds, among others.

realme 10 gaming control. (Interaksyon/Rosette Adel)

The battery’s performance was impressive as it still lasted long and only had minimal percentage decrease despite spending about an hour playing. We also did not feel that the unit warmed up while playing.

While there were minimal lags, it was generally an immersive gaming experience. The AMOLED display and optimized audio were a perfect match to make gaming a more entertaining session.

The unit kept up with multitasking as well. You can consume entertainment, including gaming, while juggling the usual browsing and social media use.

Overall, the realme 10 offers value for money with its blended functionality and style. Aside from its eye-catching design, we loved how it delivered its promised “epic performance.” It truly brought entertainment right to our fingertips.

You can embrace your realme10 journey by purchasing the unit at:

realme 10 (8GB+128GB)

  • Suggested retail price: P12,999
  • 11.11 Mega Sale Price: P10,999

realme 10 (8GB+256GB)

  • SRP: P14,999

Pre-order of realme 10 will start on November 26 to December 2, 2022 on realme Shopee Official Store Page