Oppo’s sub-brand Realme just introduced their third smartphone and it’s by far the most stirring yet. Last year, with the new Realme 1, Oppo took on Xiaomi’s might in the budget smartphone segment. The Realme 1 was the first to provide Helio P60 in a budget of INR 9000. The last month’s Realme 2 was disappointing in a few respects. It downgraded some specifications with respect to its predecessor. At the Realme 2’s launch event, however, the company teased the launch of the Realme 2 Pro in September. Today, Oppo again took a dig at Xiaomi by providing the Snapdragon 660 on a budget. Is it the true Redmi Note 5 killer? Let’s find out in this article.
Realme 2 Pro Overview
The dual-SIM Realme 2 Pro sports a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display with 90.8% screen-to-body ratio. The 19.5:9 aspect ratio panel has a resolution of 1080x2340p and pixel density of 409ppi. The device has got a notch similar to Oppo F9 or the Vivo V11/ V11 Pro. The company calls it Dewdrop. The notch houses a 16MP selfie camera and it is unlike the big notches we’ve seen in recent times. Covering the display is a Gorilla Glass 3 for protection from drops and scratches.
Powering this beast is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE octa-core processor. Pairing up is the Adreno 512 GPU for smooth graphics rendering. The phone is available in either 4GB, 6GB or 8GB of RAM options. Internal storage options go from 64GB to 128GB. The phone also supports expansion up to 256GB via a dedicated microSD card slot. So the phone sports a triple hybrid SIM tray.
Coming to optics, the Realme 2 Pro sports a dual camera setup on the back. The primary 16MP (f/1.7) lens is a 1/2.8-inch Sony IMX398 sensor. It has a 1.12-micron size pixel and 6P lens and supports 4K video recording at 30fps. The secondary 2MP sensor is for depth sensing. At the front, there is a 16MP (f/2.0) selfie camera with AI Beauty 2.0 for better selfies. Like every other smartphone nowadays, there are AI features in the camera app for portrait mode, multi-frame noise reduction, and scene recognition. The stock camera app also features AR stickers on both the front and rear cameras.
The phone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box with ColorOS OS 5.2 on top. The sensors on Realme 2 Pro include light and distance sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, and a geomagnetic sensor. The Realme 2 Pro measures 156.7×74.0x8.5mm and weighs 174 grams. The phone packs a 3500mAh battery which is slightly less than the Realme 2. Connectivity options include USB OTG, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth, 4G VoLTE, GPS, and more. For security, the phone has a back-mounted fingerprint sensor and a face unlocking feature.
Verdict
The Realme 2 Pro undercuts all of its competitors in terms of the Indian pricing. It uses the same Snapdragon 660 SoC like the recently launched Mi A2. In Nepal, if launched at the international pricing, the phone will be a threat for not just one or two Xiaomi phones, but the entire mid-tier segment. Comparing with the Redmi Note 5, the Realme 2 Pro is better in several respects. It doesn’t look as if Xiaomi is ready for the competition if the recently leaked Redmi Note 6 Pro is to be true.
Realme 2 Pro Price and Availability
The price for 4GB+64GB, 6GB+64GB, and 8GB+128GB variants are Rs. 22,500, Rs.25,500, and Rs. 30,000 respectively, if we convert it to Nepalese Rupees. Oppo Nepal is positive about the launch of these smartphones here in Nepal. If the phones are launched at the correct pricing, Samsung and Xiaomi will have a hard time competing. We hope the smartphone comes soon at correct pricing so that Nepalese too will get an opportunity to get their hands-on.
