Most Chinese manufacturers start off in their home market, and target other regions as they grow. Realme is doing things the other way around — the brand made its debut in India just under a year ago, and it has managed to gain a decent amount of market share in a short time.
The main draw with Realme is the affordability: the brand regularly undercuts Xiaomi, allowing devices like the Realme 3 Pro to pull ahead of the Redmi Note 7 Pro. With the brand gaining a lot of momentum in India, it is now making its debut in China.
Realme says the average age of its users is under 30 years, so it's focusing on a younger audience with its latest series, the Realme X. The phone features a 48MP camera at the back and a retractable front camera that allows the brand to achieve a notch-less design.
The Realme X is designed to take on POCO in the mid-range segment.
Chinese brands have taken to mechanised cameras in the last 12 months to offer a clean look at the front that isn't marred by a cutout, and the retractable camera is the new notch — every mid-range phone releasing this year will have it.
The Realme X has a 6.53-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel protected by Gorilla Glass 5. It also has an in-display fingerprint sensor, with Realme stating that the module itself is faster and more reliable than first-gen sensors from last year.
Elsewhere, you'll find a Snapdragon 710, 48MP rear camera with Sony IMX 586 sensor, and a 16MP camera up front. It has a 3750mAH battery with VOOC 3.0 flash charge, and 8GB of RAM along with 128GB of internal storage.
There's also a Realme X Lite that shares a lot of the same hardware, but with a waterdrop cutout up front. The Realme X Lite is rocking a 6.3-inch FHD+ display, Snapdragon 710, along with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and a 4045mAh battery with VOOC 3.0 flash charging. Realme says the phone will charge up to 60% in just under an hour even with the screen on.
The main camera is a 16MP Sony IMX 519 sensor, and up front you get a 25MP shooter. The Realme X Lite is set to go on sale in China for 1,199 RMB ($175) for the version with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, 1,299 RMB ($190) for the 6GB/64GB model, and 1,499 RMB ($220).
The Realme X, meanwhile, will go on sale for 1,499 RMB ($220) for the 4GB/64GB option, 1,599 RMB ($235) for the 6GB?64GB edition, and 1,799 RMB ($260) for the 8GB/128GB model. Sales kick off on May 20 in China, and the device will make its way to other Asian markets — including India — shortly.
