Realme announces their new budget-friendly smartphone – the Realme U1 with 25MP AI camera, Helio P70 AI processor, dual Rear cameras starting only at Rs.11,999
After a lot of speculations and leaks, finally today “Proud To Be Youth” smartphone brand has launched its most anticipated Realme U1 today. Highlighted to be India’s new Selfie Pro, the U1 series will primarily focus on the selfie front of its strong smartphone lineup.
Among its highlights, the best part of the smartphone was the MediaTek Helio P70 chipset processorthat is present under the hood of the smartphone. With a strong processor, equipped with some enhanced AI capabilities, performance is another forefront of this clinical budget-oriented smartphone.
To my surprise, the best part that I noticed is that this smartphone also becomes a budget-oriented smartphone with some superb specs. In my previous post, I thought this one to be a mid-ranged one by Realme, but it is a budget-oriented one.
So, let’s quickly look at the total specs of the smartphone:
Design
The first major highlight of the smartphone is the new design of the Realme U1. It has a Light Pillar Design that has been crafted with delicate 13-layer laminated technology. So, it’s shiny back makes things look much better.
The Realme U1 has a Dual 2.5D Design, and its rounded edges help to get a comfortable grip overall.
It only weighs 168g and has dimensions of 74mm/157mm/8mm (W/H/D). The smartphone has 3 colour variants: Fiery Gold, Ambitious Black and Brave Blue.
Display
Like its brother Realme 2 Pro, this one also bears a 6.3” FHD+ (2340*1080) Display with the same Dewdrop notch. It has a broad 90.8% screen-to-body ratio & a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, giving more room for the screen to occupy.
The huge screen of Realme U1 has a pixel density of 409 PPI and is protected by Gorilla® Glass 3protection The front camera, ambient light, proximity sensor & earpiece, are all in a tiny dewdrop frame that you see above the huge screen.
Performance
Under a great design and display, you have the significant MediaTek Helio P70 octa-core processor clocked at 2.1GHz. For the GPU we have the new ARM Mali-G72 clocked at 900MHz.
Paired with two variants of 3GB+32GB/4GB+64GB, at a budget well, it seems pretty decent enough. With a triple-slot, you can expand the storage up to 256 GB.
AI capabilities on this device will be flooded everywhere. Interestingly the Helio P70 outperforms its wide ranged competitors including Snapdragon 636, Kirin 710 and even the Snapdragon 660.
It has some blazing benchmarks that were shown in the launch event. So, gaming on this device will be a pure delight. Day-to-day experience is also expected to be a smooth and peaceful one.
Camera
As highlighted to India’s new Selfie Pro, it outlasts all expectation. The Realme U1 comes equipped with a 25MP AI camera with a Sony IMX 576 flagship sensor with f/2.0 aperture.
With software customizations and with great intelligence shown by the Helio P70, this tiny little camera performs brilliantly in every lighting condition and processes images like a Pro.
On the rear end, we have a dual camera setup with LED Flash. Surprisingly, we have a 13MP primary rear camera with f/2.2 aperture. Then you have the 2MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture.
It is a huge step down as you had previously noticed in the Realme 2 Pro. Fairly you get only a 1080p video recording support on the rear end. The beauty capabilities on the front camera seem promising and great.
In short, this smartphone primarily focuses to deliver a great front camera that is rarely seen in this price segment.
Battery & OS
The Realme U1 is juiced by a 3500mAh battery and you get a 5V 2A charger with this device. With AI capabilities and with a less power-hungry processor battery is expected to last longer.
Also, this device’s battery is optimized to consume lesser power The device comes with Android Oreo 8.1 out-of-the-box, bearing the same feature-packed ColorOS 5.2. You also have the much common face unlock and fingerprint sensor on this device.
Price & Availability
The 3GB+32GB variant has been priced at Rs.11,999 and the 4GB+64GB variant has been priced atRs.14,499. This device will be an Amazon Exclusive and will also bear some launch offers including 5% cashback by SBI, No Cost EMI and some bundled offers from Jio.
The first sale of the device will be held on the 5th of December at 12 noon. You can head over to the page from here.
Verdict
It might happen that a lot of people may be excited about the Realme U1, but to be honest it is the “same old budget Realme device”. There are a lot of things that could have been embedded in this device.
To me, I feel Realme had been in a hurry to launch this device. They wanted to counter Redmi Note 6 Pro but has lost a great chance to fight a great battle in the mid-range price segment.
It makes no sense to launch another device where you already have two of your very successful device: Realme 1 & Realme 2 Pro standing to fight back your competitors. Realme could not take advantage of all the amenities that the Helio P70 chipset could do.
To get the crown of becoming the world’s first Helio P70 powered smartphone brand, and to counter the new Redmi Note 6 Pro, Realme has launched this device. Disappointingly you will miss these things which they could have given with this device:
- No Android Pie
- No in-display fingerprint support
- Only 3/4 GB RAM variants
- A non-satisfying dual rear camera
- No support for the new Color OS 6
It would be great if Realme could use the Helio P70 and used all the above amenities and included a great dual rear camera to make it a mid-range killer.
Now, Realme’s lineup seems crowded and people will be confused regarding their choice of buying their favourite “Realme device”.
Final Specs
- AI 25MP Selfie Camera with SONY Flagship IMX 576 Sensor | 13MP+2MP AI Dual Rear Camera | Supports Portrait Lighting, Slo-Mo Video and Bokeh Effect
- 16.002 centimeters (6.3-inch) Full HD+ LTPS IPS (In-Cell) display with 2340 x 1080 pixels resolution with broad 90.8% screen-to-body ratio and 19.5:9 aspect ratio, protected by 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 | 409 ppi pixel density
- Memory, Storage & SIM: 3GB RAM | 32GB storage, expandable up to 256GB using MicroSD Card | Dual nano SIM with dual standby (4G+4G)
- Screen Unlock: Finger Print Sensor and AI Face Unlock (unlocks in 0.1s)
- Android v8.1 based on Color OS 5.2 operating system with 2.1GHz MediaTek Helio P70 Octa Core CPU and Mali-G72 GPU
- 3500mAH Li-ion Polymer battery with AI Power Master
- 1 year manufacturer warranty for device and 6 months manufacturer warranty for in-box accessories including batteries from the date of purchase
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