realme narzo 30A Review: Limitless Gaming For Less

realme narzo 30A review

The realme narzo 30A continues to amaze fans with its sheer value and popularity. This online-exclusive device is selling like hotcake since its March 25 release. With the promise of gaming-class hardware in an entry-level price point, the smartphone has a big fanfare to impress.

realme narzo 30A Review

From the looks of it, this smartphone delivered some features the previous devices had left in the cutting room. With the addition of USB Type-C and a promise of realme 2.0 update, let's check out what this handset has to offer in this realme narzo 30A review and see if it's really a game-worthy device.

Review Summary:

Pros

  • Dependable long battery life
  • USB Type-C port with 18W fast charging
  • Great value for its price
  • Bright display

Cons

  • A tad thicker

What's in the box?

We have previously unboxed the realme narzo 30A and gave our initial impressions about its design, hardware, and overall look. But for everyone's sake, here are the out-of-the-box items:

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review

Out of the Box Items:

  • realme narzo 30A
  • 18W charger
  • USB Type-C cable
  • SIM card needle
  • Quick start guide, product information, warranty card

narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review

Design

The realme narzo 30A looks like a phone from the company's entry level C series. The smartphone has two color variants - the Laser Blue and the Laser Black. We have the former for our review unit and personally, I'm digging this option. It's a fresh take on the blue colorway, visually it looks like teal to me. Either ways, the phone still exudes a youthful appeal. 

realme narzo 30A review - design

realme never disappoints when it comes to smartphone design, and the implementation on the narzo 30A is making a statement in its own right. The backing features a diagonal stripe pattern with a split design philosophy. The upper portion is the usual matte finish, while two-thirds of the panel offers a textured feel. This is also the part when diagonals look like laser beams, thus the "Laser" moniker.

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Design

There's a slightly protruded square camera module at the back that looks neat with its no-nonsense arrangement of cameras. The rear fingerprint sensor is also where it should be, it's easily accessible for one-handed unlocking. Flushed at the left of this section is the "narzo" branding in silver accents. For a smartphone with 6000 mAh battery, the realme narzo 30A is not that heavy at 207 grams. It's a tad thicker at 9.8 millimeters but its curved sides and rounded corners make it look thin; in fact, the narzo 30A is easy to use with one hand.

The back panel is made of polycarbonate plastic material. Although I can still see some fingerprints, especially in the upper section of the panel, they are barely noticeable and easy to wipe off.

narzo 30A review

Talking about ports and buttons, we still have the usual placements. The volume rocker and the power button are on the right side; the SIM tray with three card slots is on the left side; and the bottom side is a home to the 3.5-mm audio jack, speaker grill, microphone, and the USB Type-C port. I am delighted that realme included a Type-C port in this iteration of the narzo series.

realme narzo 30A review

Display

We have the usual 6.5-inch MiniDrop FullScreen display with 720 x 1600p resolution. realme is known for good quality HD+ display so I'm not complaining that this is not FHD+. In our real-time usage, the panel is color-accurate and could be bright enough (realme says it could reach up to 570 nits). It's legible even under direct sunlight. The bezels are quite thin except for the sizeable chin. But this does not hamper our experience using realme narzo 30A's display.

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Display

The display exhibits good contrast and details. On top of that, given that it's an IPS panel, viewing angles are also very welcoming. No yellow tint can be experienced in this screen; thus, the realme narzo 30A is a solid smartphone for consuming content. Due to its good viewing angles, you can share streaming content in Netflix, HBO Go or YouTube with your family and friends.

narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Display

The are also tons of tweaks to elevate your usage of the narzo 30A. The smartphone supports both Dark Mode and Eye Comfort. Additionally, you can set the color temperature if you please. Overall, the display of the realme Narzo 30A is a familiar panel from the realme C series. It has a quality IPS panel that's bright enough to use anywhere.

Performance and Gaming

The realme Narzo 30A is not shabby when it comes to performance. In fact, the chipset is one of its selling points. The smartphone is powered by 2.0 GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio G85 gaming processor. There is only one RAM and ROM configuration in the Philippines as of this writing - 4GB LPDDR4X + 64GB. When doing casual tasks, the realme narzo 30A outperforms most of the phones in its league.

realme is gunning the narzo 30A for budget mobile gaming, and for the most part, the smartphone delivers. It can game smoothly with Mobile Legends in High graphic settings. Mobile gameplay is quite a breeze but I experienced frame drops when the graphics needs some heavy lifting. Overall, running Mobile Legends with high settings is very playable. In our Call of Duty Mobile test, the narzo 30A can hit up to medium graphic settings, but it defaults at low graphics. Of course, it is very playable in medium settings. The low settings is more fluid but its not without the expense of less intensive gameplay.

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Gaming

Performing tasks like browsing, social media, multitasking, audio/video playback, and streaming are just walks in the park. Its 64GB ROM offers only 50.4GB storage after the initial set-up. The narzo 30A always feel snappy and very responsive. Pulling up apps is quick, and we rarely experience app crashes. Surprisingly, the smartphone runs Asphalt 9 Legends smoothly in high settings. The loudspeaker is also loud enough but the bottom placement can be muffled when playing games.

Geekbench 5 Benchmark

In our Geekbench benchmark test, the realme narzo 30A tallies 352 single-core and 1282 multi-core performance. This means that the smartphone clocks faster than your regular sub-Php 7K phone.

CPU Benchmark: This measures performance of CPU at performing everyday tasks.


Compute Benchmark: This measures the performance of GPU at performing common compute tasks like image processing.

Software

The realme narzo 30A is powered by the realme UI based on Android 10. I am a fan of realme's Android skin due to its clean and minimalist interface. Unlike some of its competitors, the realme narzo 30A has direct access to Google Services and Play Store. 


What I love about the interface is that you'll have access to the control toggles and notifications in the Notifications Shade. Swiping up from the bottom of the screen pulls up the app drawer. You can also up the ante of your gaming experience by using gaming themes in the Theme app.

The realme UI is not perfect due to a small number of bloatwares. The fingerprint sensor and facial recognition feature is also zippy. Some jewels in the software department are the Dual Mode Music Share which allows you to share and listen to music or videos using wired earphones and Bluetooth earbuds at the same time; and the Focus Mode which turns on Do Not Disturb feature and play relaxing music. The Focus Mode helps users to relax and avoid getting distracted by their phone. I think this is a valuable feature since most of us are working from home, thus a time to relax is very essential.

The narzo 30A is set to receive a realme UI 2.0 update which is based on Android 11 in Q3 of 2021.

Camera

The realme narzo 30A packs a dual camera setup top billed by the 13MP f/2.2 sensor. The primary camera is coupled by a 2MP B/W sensor for portrait shots. The module supports HDR, Panorama, and video recording up to 1080p at 30fps. There are several modes of shooting that you can do with this camera. Aside from the usual video, photo, and portrait mode, the realme narzo 30A supports Timelapse, Slo-mo, Expert or Pro shooting, and Night mode. Plus, you can amp up your photos using HDR and ChromaBoost. Filters are also very handy if you want to take dramatic shots.

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Camera

Shots taken in a well-lit environment are good. It comes with a decent amount of sharpness and color saturation. There's also enough dynamic range to give adequate details on the image. The lens of the narzo 30A is fast to focus giving us the impression that this is a mid-range camera. 

Also, the camera app's AI algorithm is fast to decipher sceneries. Like for example when we take close up shots, it jumps to Macro mode instantaneously. With that being said, the camera shutter lags a bit, especially when the ChromaBoost is on. There's an improvement in the Night mode compared to the C series, and I think realme is hard at work in this department.

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Camera sample shot

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Camera sample shot

narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Camera sample shot

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Camera sample shot

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Camera sample shot

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Review: Camera sample shot

Shots taken from the 8MP camera captures good selfies with pleasing details and accurate skin tones. The front camera also supports panorama and timelapse on top of the several available filters and AI Beauty mode. In portrait mode, the camera offers decent edge detection.

realme narzo 30A sample selfie

realme narzo 30A sample portrait selfie

realme narzo 30A sample shot
Sample Shot with Chroma Boost

realme narzo 30A sample shot
Sample Shot with Chroma Boost

Battery

The realme narzo 30A excels in the battery department. With its massive 6000 mAh battery, it will definitely give users a good mileage. For a moderate user, the realme narzo 30A lasts for a day and half, in most cases it could even extend near 48 hours. However, if you put more gaming sessions in the mix, the battery life could drop significantly within 24 hours. Our 30-minute Mobile Legends gaming with High graphic settings ate up 8 percent of the battery life.

What's even more favorable to gamers is the fact that the smartphone supports 18-watt fast charging. We charged the realme narzo 30A from 0 to 100 percent in more or less three hours. This gaming smartphone also supports reverse charging to power up your other devices.

realme narzo 30A review - battery

Verdict: Should You Buy the realme narzo 30A?

The realme narzo 30A is straight-up an easy smartphone to recommend. It's a great addition to realme's narzo lineup which caters to budget-conscious gamers. The thing that makes it a winner in this segment is the value that it's offering for a ₱6,490 price.

I also recommend this handset to those who wanted to have good mobile gaming experience without the need to buy flagship smartphones. Of course, the battery life, USB Type C port, and trendy design also make it a standout.

realme narzo 30A (RMX3171) Specs

164.5 x 75.7 x 9.8mm at 207 grams
6.5-inch Mini-drop Fullscreen HD+ IPS LCD display
88.7% Screen-to-Body Ratio, 269 ppi pixel density
MediaTek Helio G85 (12nm) gaming processor
2Ghz Octa-core CPU
Mali-G52 GPU
4GB RAM + 64GB ROM
Dual Rear Camera
13MP f/2.2 primary camera
2MP B/W portrait
Video recording: up to 1080p at 30fps
8MP front camera, f/2.0
LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
USB Type-C 2.0, USB OTG
Fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted)
Android 10, Realme UI with planned upgrade to realme UI 2.0
6000 mAh battery
Fast charging 18W
Laser Black, Laser Blue
₱6,490

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