Recently, Oppo had announced a new sub-brand especially for the Indian market — Realme. The company has today launched the first smartphone under its Realme brand — Oppo Realme 1. The smartphone has been launched in partnership with Amazon India, and thus, will be exclusively available through Amazon.in. According to the company, the smartphone is a “Made In India” product.
The Oppo Realme 1 features a 6-inch full-HD+ display with screen resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels and an 84.75 percent screen-to-body ratio. Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 processor clocked at 2GHz. The device also packs dual-core AI-specific chip and comes in three variants based on memory configuration — 3GB, 4GB, and 6GB RAM.
As of the storage, the 3GB RAM model comes with 32GB of internal storage while the 4GB RAM model packs 64GB of onboard storage. The top-end variant having 6GB RAM packs 128GB of internal storage. All three models come with a dedicated microSD card slot, enabling users to further expand the storage capacity.
Coming to the camera department, the Oppo Realme 1 sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash. On the front side, there’s an 8-megapixel snapper for taking selfies and video calling. The company says that it comes with Oppo’s AI Beauty 2.0 feature that offers 296-point facial recognition along with beautification feature.
While the smartphone doesn’t come with a fingerprint sensor, it comes equipped with Face Unlock feature, which according to the company, can unlock the smartphone in just 0.1 seconds. The device also features AR stickers for both the front and rear cameras.
The company says that the device comes with an AI Board assistant. The phone supports dual 4G VoLTE along with the usual set of connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. As of software, it runs on ColorOS 5.0, which is based on Android 8.1 Oreo operating system. The phone is fueled by a 3,410mAh battery and is optimized by AI Battery Management feature.
Currently, only the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant will go on sale in India in the first sale, which will take place on May 25th at 12:00 pm on Amazon India. The other variants with 3GB RAM + 32GB storage and 4GB RAM + 64GB onboard storage will be available in India after about a month.
The 3GB RAM model has been priced at Rs. 8,990 (approx. $133) while the 4GB RAM variant will be available for a price of Rs. 10,990 (approx. $162). The high-end model having 6GB RAM costs Rs. 13,990, which roughly converts to $206. It will be available in three color options — Diamond Black, Moonlight Silver, and Solar Red.
As for the launch offers, the smartphone is being offered with a 5 percent cash back on SBI cards, Jio benefits worth Rs. 4,850. The company is also throwing in a free case and a free screen protector.
At this price point, the Oppo Realme 1 will be up against the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, which comes with 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 6GB RAM + 64GB storage. Xiaomi recently hiked the pricing of the Redmi Note 5 Pro and now it starts at Rs. 14,999.
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With Realme, Oppo is aiming to take on another China-based company Xiaomi, which accounts for almost 60 percent of mobile devices shipped through the online retail segment. The Realme brand has been positioned by Oppo as a “premium mid-range smartphone brand”. According to the company, it will comprise smartphones in the Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 price range, but the company has kept the doors open for premium models in the future.
