The Realme X3 SuperZoom is powered by the Snapdragon 855+ and rocks an IPS LCD display with 120Hz refresh rate, along with a quad camera setup which includes an 8MP periscope telephoto lens with 5X optical zoom.
The Realme X3 SuperZoom(₹ 32999 at flipkart) comes loaded with a bunch of features that puts it right in the league of some premium flagship smartphones. A periscope telephoto lens, 120Hz refresh rate, and ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY! Well, maybe except the Snapdragon 855+, but that too seems like a very practical thing to do. Add to that, an IPS LCD display, which many on social media pointed out isn’t carved out for the high-end segment anymore.
The phone also launched amidst a loud, rancorous campaign to boycott Chinese products, and even with all efforts from the Realme India team to plaster themselves as an Indian brand, social media has not been very forgiving.
Now, it’s still among the early days of this device landing up in our labs, and due to the movement restrictions in place, we haven’t been able to test the camera out to its full extent. But even for the limited time I have been using the device, the Realme X3 SuperZoom comes across as a pragmatic, practical and more importantly, an affordable flagship smartphone.
Let’s address the elephant in the room first. The Snapdragon 855+ has started featuring again in 2020. Not the first time we saw this. Early this year, Samsung also took us by surprise by launching the Galaxy S10 Lite with last year’s flagship chipset. So what gives?
The Snapdragon 865 needs to be paired with a discrete 5G modem, which needs the extra space in an already cramped interior. So it could have come down to a choice between putting a periscope camera setup, or a 5G modem inside the Realme X3 SuperZoom. And between these two, there are no points for guessing which is more useful, at present.
Even if that’s not the case, the price differential between high-end phones of 2019 and 2020 is staggering. Right now, the only Snapdragon 865 smartphone under Rs 40,000 is the iQOO 3, that too the 4G variant which was possible by not opting for the 5G antennae and other components that add to the BOM costs. Which is probably the biggest reason for OEMs to still choose the Snapdragon 855+.
It’s still less than a year that the Snapdragon 855+ was announced. That’s how fast smartphone hardware evolves these days. But that evolution is not matched by anything on the Google Play Store which would make a difference in performance.
