Galaxy Book S
Realme is here to fill the void left behind by Huawei.
With its surprise arrival in Australia last year, Realme shook up the local budget smartphone scene by offering high quality handsets at prices that seemed too good to be true. Though it originated as a subsidiary of Chinese phone-maker Oppo, the company has since gone (mostly) independent, managing to garner a reputation for exceptional value in little-to-no time.
The Realme XT is currently the company’s flagship phone in Australia, and it’s so good that it may cause you to completely rethink the importance of premium handsets. For less than $500, the Realme XT offers a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage (with a dedicated microSDXC slot allowing for further expansion), a decent Snapdragon 710 chipset and a quad-camera on its rear that boasts a 64MP main sensor. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that many of those specs are the kind you’d expect to find on a premium flagship, let alone a budget smartphone offering.
The aforementioned 64MP sensor is capable of taking some terrific high-detail shots, though it’s worth noting that the phone will actually take four separate 16MP shots and then stitch them together by default. However, that main sensor is let down slightly by the other cameras which accompany it, with the device’s 8MP ultra-wide angle lens offering relatively low-detail shots, particularly in low-light situations. That said, the included 2MP macro lens does allow for some decent close-up shots, while its 2MP depth sensor lets you take those blurry-background bokeh-style portrait shots that are all the rage these days. Video recording up to 4K resolution is also available.
The Realme XT doesn’t look cheap, either – its bright and vibrant all-screen display is interrupted only by a tiny teardrop notch to house its 16MP front-facing camera, which makes great use of the ColorOS platform’s signature suite of beautification options. There’s also an optical fingerprint sensor under the display for added biometric security.
In terms of its design, the Realme XT is adorned with Gorilla Glass 5 on both its front and back, and is available in two arresting colour-shifting gradient pearl finishes. More concerning is the device’s complete lack of water and dust resistance.
Still, it does offer a large 4,000mAh battery with fast charging capability (allowing you to fully charge the phone in just 30 minutes), the option to update to Android 10 and a muchappreciated 3.5mm headphone jack, making it hard to fault the stylish and affordable Realme XT. ColorOS is far from our favourite smartphone interface, and some defence against water damage would’ve been nice, but at this price point the Realme XT is very easy to recommend.