The realme 10 debuts to the world straight from the Philippines. It's a very important feat which signals how the company considers the country as one of its most important markets. But with the release of this shiny new phone, there's quite a big shoe to fill given how successful the previous number series phones were.
realme 10 Review
With this release, realme is aiming to continue the trend of giving more value to consumers without them spending more from their pockets. Will the realme 10 continue to capture the hearts of the masses? Let us give light into that in this review.
{getToc} $title={Table of Contents} $count={Boolean} $expanded={Boolean}Design
- Light Particle Design
- 7.95mm body, 178 grams
The realme 10 is no doubt a compact smartphone with its pocket-friendly build and stunning design. This 178-gram smartphone is on the smaller side which results to manageable footprint and great handling. With the realme 10, the company introduced the Light Particle Design which looks like sporadic cosmic dust sprayed on the back of the phone. Our Rush Black unit looks like anything but plain black; it's a gradient of dark blue that transitions to dark silver on the edges.
You have a choice to get the Clash White variant if you wanted to get more attention, but personally I like the implementation of the Rush Black variant. It is subtle but it can be flashy in certain angles.
The placement of ports and buttons is something that we've been accustomed to. The power button is on the right side; it doubles as a fingerprint sensor which is quite speedy in picking up biometrics. It is accompanied by the volume rocker.
The SIM tray is found on the left side, while the bottom side houses the 3.5-mm audio jack, the microphone, USB-C port, and the speaker grille.
The phone is quite pocketable and easy to use even with one hand. I'm quite surprised how thin this handset is. According to realme, its depth is only 7.95 millimeters - this is actually the thinnest number series phone the company has produced yet. It's also not slippery on the hands thanks to the angled edges and the matte frame. Overall build quality of the phone is above average, but is quite remarkable in this price segment.
Display
- FHD+ Super AMOLED
- 90Hz refresh rate
realme 10 frames a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080 x 2400 pixels (FHD+) and 409 ppi pixel density. The screen features a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate, which is favorable for gaming. The panel has a peak brightness of 600 nits; this means that you don't have to worry about using the phone outdoors.
The display looks good in almost all scenarios with the panel full of details and contrast. The saturation is on point, it's not overblown. The phone is also very generous in terms of viewing angles and dynamic range. The screen is also treated with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 as protection for accidental drops.
I actually enjoyed watching YouTube videos and streaming content with this display. Reading stuff online or in an e-book reader is also a great experience with this handset as it offers rich and high-contrast texts.
The display panel is generally good; it's quite rare having this kind of quality in this price range.
Performance
- MediaTek Helio G99
- 8GB RAM + 8GB Dynamic RAM
The chipset powering the realme 10 is quite unique; it's the MediaTek Helio G99 which secures best in class mid-range performance. realme 10 is also one of the few handsets to use this 6 nanometer-developed chipset.
The phone is packed with 8GB of RAM; users will have a choice between 128GB and 256GB ROM. You can also enjoy up to 8GB of dynamic RAM that will keep multitasking smooth even when multiple apps are opened.
The realme 10 is a fast smartphone in its own right. It may not be at par with high-tier mid-range or even flagship ones, it could still give more expensive phones a run for their money. Needless to say, the Helio G99 is definitely way faster compared to realme 9's Snapdragon 680.
When it comes to gaming, I am quite surprised how the phone standout in this segment. It delivers smoother experience when playing Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. There's also no issue when I tried Genshin Impact at the default medium graphics settings. I have experienced neither frame drops nor heat build up. However, subjecting it to heavy-graphics gaming would take the toll on the GPU, but of course we are not here for that since it's a mid-range phone. The realme 10 could definitely run in peak performance in longer periods of time without stuttering.
Streaming movies with the realme 10 is also a worthwhile experience. It could stream videos in its optimal definition - full HD - in popular streaming apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and more. However, there's no HDR support in these streaming apps.
What's unique about this phone is the UltraBoom speaker. It's a mono speaker that could boost your volume up to 200%; this feature mostly amps high frequencies but I would not recommend using the highest volume level as it tends to be pitchy.
In terms of connectivity, this handset only has support for 4G LTE, together with 2.4GHz/5GHz WiFi, Bluetooth 5.3, USB Type-C, GPS, and OTG.
Camera
- 50MP + 2MP rear cameras
- 16MP in-display selfie camera
The realme 10 has a dual camera set-up at the back of the phone. It packs a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN1 primary camera and a 2MP BW camera (depth sensor). There's no ultrawide camera included in the mix, though we would love to trade that sensor just to keep the price low. On the front, there's a 16MP camera that's provisioned in a hole-punch design.
The main camera comes with f/1.8 lens with PDAF and night mode support. It pixel-bins the photos into 12.5MP by default. These photos have punchy colors with high contrast. In good lighting condition, no noise is evident and dynamic range is also on point.
The camera app offers up to 2x zoom but this is just cropping the actual 12MP photos. You can take advantage of the 50MP camera by going through the mode selection; photos in this mode tend to have more details and high resolution. However, I suggest you won't activate this all the time because it could fill up your storage faster than you'd expect.
The depth sensor is always a welcome feature and could prove its point in taking portrait shots. Photos in this mode offers good subject and background separation.
Lastly, the selfie camera shoots photos with good details. Noise is almost non-existent especially when you are taking selfies in broad daylight; contrast is okay and colors are accurate.
The realme 10 is also a worker at night. The phone supports Auto Night Mode so you don't have to activate the Night setting every time you shoot in low-light. Night photos are decent with visible noise but not to the point that I am bothered by it. It's still a good phone in taking night shots.
In terms of video, the phone can record up to 1080p@60fps on the rear while the front camera maxes out at 1080p@30fps. Videos in daylight are actually great with enough detail, contrast, and color accuracy. There's no stabilization here though.
Here are the sample shots and video recording we took with the realme 10:
Software and Battery
- realme UI 3.0, based on Android 12
- 5000mAh battery w/ 33W charging
The realme 10 boots with realme UI 3.0 that's powered by Android 12. One notable update brings in 8GB dynamic RAM for the phone which is quite a welcome feature. The interface is still fluid as ever with flat, simple, and rounded icons.
The version 3.0 also brings in better security features and floating windows. The notifications shade is as clean as ever. However, bloatware could spoil the experience as they are scrambling to get your eye's attention. As mentioned earlier, the phone supports fingerprint unlock which is quite zippy; it also supports face unlock and of course the traditional passcode-pattern combination.
There's also a lot of things that you can use with the software like the Always on Display, Dark Mode, and even some customizations to your system.
 | |
|
As it is quite common in mid-range phones of 2022, the realme 10 packs a 5000mAh battery. In our PCMark Battery Life test, the handset scored 14 hours and 38 minutes. There's also the 33-watt fast charging feature that could charge the phone up to 50 percent in just 32 minutes based on our actual test. See below for more details.
Verdict: Should You Buy The realme 10?
The realme 10 is a hallmark release for the company, and one that did not disappoint. It being one of the best-value smartphones in the market today makes it even more attractive to consumers. There are lots of things to love about the realme 10 - elegant design, stunning AMOLED display, loud speaker, faster Helio G99 processor, decent cameras, and fast charging. With its starting price of Php 12,999, it's hard to say no to the realme 10.
