Realme Narzo 30A Review - Android

Priced at Php6,490, it’s geared towards the entry-level market where a lot of people want the best value they can get for their hard-earned money. If you’re one of those people, should you consider this device? We find out in our Realme Narzo 30A review.

Realme Narzo 30A Specs

• Android 10, Realme UI 1.0 (Android 11 coming soon)
• Dual SIM, Dual standby
• 6.5-inch HD+ IPS display, 1600 x 720 pixel resolution, 269ppi
• 2.0GHz MediaTek Helio G85 octa-core processor
• 4GB RAM
• Mali-G52 GPU
• 64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD
• 8-megapixel front camera
• 13-megapixel (f/2.2, PDAF) + monochrome rear cameras, LED flash
• Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
• HSPA+, 4G LTE
• WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
• Bluetooth 5.0
• GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
• USB Type-C
• Dimensions: 164.5 x 75.9 x 9.8mm
• Weight: 207g
• Colors: Laser Blue, Laser Black
• 6,000mAh non-removable battery, 18W fast charging

Unboxing and Video Review

Design and Build Quality

Whether it’s a flagship or a budget smartphone, Realme always tries to come up with new designs for its smartphones. As you can see, a major part of the back panel has a diagonal stripe design that replicates a laser light look. In fact, the color that we have here is called Laser Blue, which has a teal-like appearance. A Laser Black option is also available.

Like other budget phones, the Narzo 30A is made with plastic. Despite that, it doesn’t feel cheap or fragile. In fact, it’s surprisingly solid. The textured back panel keeps it clean and free from fingerprint smudges and marks.

The key highlight of the Narzo 30A is its enormous 6,000mAh battery. It should give impressive longevity (more on that later). On the downside, it made the device noticeably bulky. It’s 9.8mm thick and weighs 207g, while most phones averages at around 7.9mm and 185g, respectively.

Moreover, we have the Narzo logo on the back. There’s also a square glass that houses two cameras, LED flash, and an AI logo for symmetry. The fingerprint scanner is also here, which may be a little high for those with smaller hands to reach conveniently.

On the front, there’s a 6.5-inch HD+ screen, a standard size for most phones today. There’s a waterdrop notch on top for the selfie camera, with the earpiece above it.

On the top left, there’s a tray that can house two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card. While on the left, we have the volume controls and lock/power buttons. The physical keys feel plasticky, but do have a tactile sound when pressed.

The top is clean, while at the bottom, we have the headphone jack, microphone, USB Type-C port, and loudspeaker.

Overall, we’re impressed with the look and build of the Realme Narzo 30A. It looks unique and feels really solid.

Display and Sound Quality

The Realme Narzo 30A has a 6.5-inch HD+ IPS screen with 1600 x 720-pixel resolution. There are already a few devices in this price range that managed to have an FHD+ screen, so if the screen resolution is a top priority, then skip this one right away.

Being an affordable phone, there’s nothing much to expect on the device’s screen. With the HD+ screen, sharpness is not the best, but we doubt an average consumer can notice the difference.

The colors are fine, and the decent size is enough for watching videos and multitasking. Realme also brags its peak brightness of 570-nits so that you can see it better on sunny outdoors. It did work well during our tests.

As for audio, the bottom-firing loudspeaker has a surprisingly loud volume, but not too loud to entertain guests. Sound quality has decent clarity, no noticeable distortion at max volume.

Hardware and Performance

Powering the Realme Narzo 30A is a 2.0GHz MediaTek Helio G85 octa-core processor with a Mali-G52 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of expandable storage.

Realme Narzo 30A benchmarks

AnTuTu Benchmark, GeekBench, 3DMark, and PCMark on the Realme Narzo 30A

No immediate issues with the performance. Social media browsing, taking pictures, watching videos, and any basic tasks you’d be doing daily were pretty smooth on this device.

Call of Duty Mobile on the Realme Narzo 30A

We also tried playing Call of Duty Mobile at the highest possible settings (Graphics Quality: Medium, Frame Rate: High), and the game ran smoothly with no noticeable frame drops or lag. After minutes of playing, you can feel the device starting to heat up, but nothing too alarming.

With that, you can expect other popular games like League of Legends Wild Rift and Genshin Impact to also run nicely on this device.

Software and User Interface

The Realme Narzo 30A runs on the old Android 10-based Realme UI 1.0 out of the box. But don’t worry, as Realme also promised the Android 11-based Realme UI 2.0 update to arrive in Q3 of 2021.

It may not be the cleanest interface around, but it does the job fine without much nonsense. Bloatware was also kept at a minimum.

A couple of notable features are the App Cloner for multi-account management, Game Space and Game Assistant for the best possible gaming experience, easy split-screen launcher, and OPPO’s HeyTap cloud.

Related: Realme price list in the Philippines 2021

Cameras

As you already know, the Realme Narzo 30A was made for gaming, which is why it’s no surprise that the camera has been left out.

This thing has two shooters on the back. There’s the 13-megapixel main camera with f/2.2 aperture and a monochrome sensor. No ultra-wide, no macro, no depth sensor.

The camera quality is fine for casual snaps, but definitely nothing to brag about. The colors are a bit washed out, and the sharpness quality is unsurprisingly lacking. On the upside, the HDR mode can help up the dynamic range if you need it.

13-megapixel main camera

13-megapixel main camera

Night Mode didn’t have a noticeable impact in shots taken at night, and the lack of a dedicated depth sensor was hard for the portrait mode to get things right. But if you want to get creative, modes like Expert, Slo-mo, Timelapse, and Panorama are present.

13-megapixel main camera | Night Mode

03/04/2021 01:13 PM

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