Realme Narzo 30 Pro Review with Pros and Cons

Realme Narzo 30 Pro has landed in India as the “most powerful 5G gaming mid-ranger”. The company backs its claims with a potent MediaTek Dimensity 800U chipset, 5G connectivity, and a load of other features. Just by a glance at the Narzo 30 Pro specs listed above and below, you’d be quick to draw comparisons with some of its rivals in this range and Realme’s own X7 that launched recently.

Mobile Phone box contents

The new blue colored box looks funky. It includes

• The phone

• 30W charger

• USB-C Cable

• Screen protector

• SIM ejector Tool

• Protect Case

• Booklets with Warranty Card

Design and Display

Narzo 30 Pro shares the design ethos with its recent mid and upper-midrange siblings. I say that in spite of the 5000mAh monster inside. At 194 grams, the rectangle slab with its slightly curved corners sits rather comfortably in hand.

The gradient gleam doesn’t catch dust and dirt too easily thanks to the AG Coated matte finish. Well, if you use the bundled case, you can better fend off smudges, scratches, and other potential damages. Even with the case, you shouldn’t have any problem maneuvering the device. That includes the tactility of the buttons.

Speaking of buttons, there is a power cum print key on the right side. And on the left sits the triple card slot and volume rockers. These switches are fairly reachable in times of one-handed usage. The responsiveness of both fingerprint and facial scanners also adds to the convenience, besides the obvious protection they offer.

By the bottom lies a 3.5mm jack, a mic, USB-C port, and speaker grille. The top houses the other half of the dual-mic system.

On the front, there is a 6.5-inch LCD panel that presents FHD+ resolution, variable refresh rate up to 120 hertz, and 600nits of brightness. While I appreciate most of those screen characteristics like resolution, details, and color representation, the absence of AMOLED is definitely missed. Also, the reds are more vibrant and greens have a tint of blue so what you see is sometimes cyan.

As for the backside, there is a rectangle plateau where you’d find three cameras and the flash.

Cameras

The rear camera group comprises of 48MP main shooter, an 8MP ultrawide snapper, and a 2MP macro lens (that works in a range of 4cm). You can capture at the full 48-megapixel mode. Other camera tricks include stuff like Chroma Boost, Timelapse, Panorama, Super Nightscape, portrait mode, a few fancy filter options, etc. As for videography, you get 4K30 fps from the back shooter and party tricks such as HD slow-mos at 120 frames per second.

The front camera, on the other hand, has a 16MP sensor, which lets you record at max 1080p @30fps, along with portrait, timelapse, panorama, night modes, etc.

In a quick look, daylight shots from the primary camera appear true to life color-wise with adequate details, exposure control, and dynamic range. However, upon closer inspection, you’ll notice cases of oversharpening and oversaturated reds. The AI Scene Enhancement ups the vibrance ever so slightly.

Ultrawide

1X

2X

5X

Next up, with the super-wide camera, you can zoom out and capture a 119° field of view. Although this carries lesser details, I am glad the edges aren’t warped and colors aren’t very different from the 1x view.

The third sensor shoots garden-variety macro shots. And since there is no fourth telephoto option here, all you get is 2x and 5x digital crops. Do what you will with these clicks.

Night Mode on

Night mode off

Indoors and in nightly outdoors, the ultrawide snapper is simply of poor quality. With the main camera, the phone is much more reliable. There is of course night mode, which is a more of a hit or miss. It doesn’t upscale the details. Rather, I came across noises in the brighter spots. There is a bit of typical softening going on, but alas it doesn’t dampen the digital grains.

Realme Narzo 30 Pro Audio, Calls, and Connectivity

In dint of a dual-mic system, the call quality and reception were fine. As for the general audio output, I would rate the sound from 30 Pro’s solo speaker as reasonable.

The connectivity options are rich with dual VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, USB-C, and a 3.5mm jack. Also, as mentioned in the intro, this is 5G-ready on both SIMS (w/ dual standby, and support for N1, N41, N77, N78, and N79 New Radio bands). All these assure some future worth.

Realme UI, Dimensity 800U, and 5000mAh battery

Speaking of the future, the promise of the Android 11 based Realme UI 2.0 update still continues with the new Narzo device. Not that the current OOB interface is any bad, it’s just that something fresh would be better.

Any which way, what we have here is a pretty fast and familiar expression of Android 10. And with it comes some useful features that are bound to enhance your smartphone experience like — smart and seamless connection with Realme Buds and other Realme Link products, sidebar and split-screen for multitasking, screen recorder, screenshot editor, Always-on Display, app locker, private safe, app cloner, game manager, a theme store, security measures, and the experimental additions within Realme Labs.

This software is overlaid on experientially reliable hardware configuration comprising MediaTek Dimensity 800U chip, up to 128GB UFS 2.1 storage, and 8GB LPDDR4x RAM.

Verdict

As mentioned in the beginning, the new Narzo 30 Pro brings in iterative refinements. Yet, the specs and treats it brings are interesting nonetheless, especially for the Rs.16,999 starting price. You may buy it for the snappy overall performance, the smooth 120Hz display, long battery endurance, and the 5G-readiness. The handset seems to hit the right notes with a set of table stakes and some future prospects, enough to appease a new prospect. It’s only when you dive deeper (as we critics do) that you’d notice its quirks n’ kinks like the erratic camera output. Now whether these come off as dealbreakers depends on how well the software updates iron them out, or how good the alternatives nip at its heels. The latter includes the upcoming Realme 8 series too.

Pros

• Snappy Overall Performance

• Smooth 120Hz display

• Long battery endurance

• 5G readiness

Cons

• Not the latest Android version

• Capricious camera processing

• Not AMOLED

Realme Narzo 30 Pro Specs and Price in India