Realme 10 review: balanced, but it doesn’t add much

Here we are with the Realme batch of autumn 2022, it is finished in our pockets Realme 10, representative of the medium-low range of the Chinese brand. It is a smartphone that is essentially revised in design by adopting more modern and minimal lines compared to the previous generation, but which from a technical point of view adds very little, indeed, takes a small step back.

Despite this, it still manages to express a good general functioning, the result of balanced choices in hardware and software optimized as always.

Realme 10’s design changes the aesthetic setting of the brand’s latest smartphonesthe edges become completely flat, as well as the back cover and the protective glass of the display, the style vaguely recalls the “brick” of the latest iPhones and is reminiscent of the Xiaomi 11 Lite for the thickness of just 7.9 mm.

From the front, the display bezels are quite pronounced, especially the lower one, at the top left there is the hole for the front camera. On the right side there is the power button with the fingerprint reader drowned, just above, in a much too high position, the volume rocker. On the left side we find the drawer that can accommodate 2 nano sims and a micro SD card, at the bottom, in addition to the Type-C port and the speaker grille, there is also the 3.5 mm audio jack input.

The back is the one that characterizes the design the most, the material is plastic with a particular treatment for the color it brings together colored reflections from pink to blue and a glittery pattern. The edges are also made of polycarbonate and the gray color does not help to mask them, making them look a bit “cheap”.

Ergonomics are affected by the generous dimensions (159.9mm x 73.3mm x 7.95mm), in particular the width, however the low weight (179g) and the reduced thickness help in the grip. In the package, however, you will find a very good TPU cover with reinforced corners, in this respect Realme is confirmed among the most virtuous companies.

Realme 10’s display is basically the same as Realme 9 (except for the fingerprint reader), a 6.4-inch AMOLED with FullHD + resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate, the luminance peak reaches 1000 nits, not bad considering the price range. The screen is protected by a Gorilla Glass 5 and out of the box you will find a pre-installed film, by removing it you can enjoy a very good oleophobic treatment. The automatic brightness adjustment works well, as does the proximity sensor, but the latter is too sensitive, so much so that it happened that the screen went off even when it was not necessary, perhaps simply by holding the smartphone horizontally to play.

In addition to the good technical specifications, what makes the display one of the highlights of Realme 10 is the panel management software: we can choose from numerous color profiles and manually adjust the white point.

AUDIO AND MULTIMEDIA

A display of this size makes the smartphone suitable for the use of multimedia content or for gaming. The visual quality is always up to the task, while for the audio the level is relatively lower. There is only one speaker, not particularly powerful nor balanced on the frequencies. It is possible to force the volume to “200%” but the distortions will become too much.

On the other hand, the wireless part is entrusted to the tested Bluetooth 5.1 and the 3.5 mm audio jack that can always come in handy.

On board Realme 10 we find the Realme UI 3.0 based on Android 12 and security patches updated to September 2022. Well overall: the Realme UI is an effective customization of Android, which has now found a good mix of customization, advanced features and ease of use.

This model has the option of virtually expand the RAM with a “swap” of up to 8 GB, thus bringing the total to 16 GB. In terms of performance you will not see major changes but you can keep several apps open in the background without them being closed automatically. But be careful, because this process could be counterproductive for autonomy, use it wisely.

Among the most popular features are the split screen, flexible windows (i.e. floating and resizable windows) and the smart sidebar, with shortcuts for apps and features. They are then many gestures with the screen active and offon the other hand, a true multi-user mode with different profiles for work and leisure is missing, a function that is instead normally present on higher-end Realme devices.

The defect category certainly includes the unacceptable amount of bloatware at the first start, each app can be uninstalled but if the user is not a shrewd minimum he will have to carry around over a dozen useless applications.

• Display: 6.4 “, FHD plus, AMOLED, flat edges, 90 Hz, top left camera hole
• SoC: MediaTek Helio G99, 4G modem
• RAM: 8 GB LPDDR4x expandable by an additional 8 virtual GB
• Storage: 128GB UFS 2.2
• Cameras:
  • Main rear: 50 MP, Isocell JN1 AF 1 / 2.76 “
  • Rear secondary depth: 2 MP black and white
  • Front: 16 MP

• Battery: 5,000mAh, 33W charging speed
• Fingerprint scanner on the power button
• Single “Ultra Boom Speaker” with software mode that activates the doubling of the maximum volume
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Fingerprint scanner on the power button
• Colors: Clash Black, Rush White
• Dimensions: 159.9 x 73.3 x 7.95 mm
• Operating system: Android 12, customized Realme UI 3.0

The first aspect that will probably have intrigued the most attentive concerns the SoC, a Mediatek Helio G99 at 6 nm. In reality we had already met him on Poco M5 and he had not given us great sensations, here we confirm that it is not such a performing SoC, however on this Realme, with the right settings, it still manages to give great satisfaction considering the price range .

We were talking about the settings, in the default configuration for performance and refresh rate the parameters are rather conservative and the impression is that of having a slightly woody smartphone in your hands. By forcing 90 Hz and the high performance mode instead the speech changes considerably: Realme 10 becomes pleasant and reactive, also able to extricate itself without problems in gaming. Don’t worry too much about the battery, with 5000 mAh you will have plenty of it and the user experience will be noticeably better.

At the level of user experience we add that the fingerprint reader is very fast and precise, easy to find under the fingertips being slightly recessed in the body, however, it must be considered that due to the positioning it will not be comfortable for left-handers.

Speaking of haptic feedback, there is no big news, it is not very precise and a bit dragged, but at least it has the advantage of being heard for incoming calls and notifications.

TELEPHONE PART AND CONNECTIVITY

Realme 10 has excellent signal reception, there are also no problems with 4G + and therefore with the aggregation of the bands. Everything ok even with WiFi ac, GPS and NFC on which we have not encountered any problems whatsoever. The management of the two SIMs is also good, although it is basic in the software part.

What is missing in all this? The 5G and certainly for a smartphone of the end of 2022 it is not a small gap.

AUTONOMY AND RECHARGE

The autonomy of Realme 10 is strong of a large 5,000 mAh modulewhich, combined with a 6 nm SoC trained with conservative parameters and the software that is in itself attentive to consumption, always manages to guarantee great reliability and safety.

On average we managed to cover two full days without problems, with at least 7 hours of active display. Optimal!

In the photographic sector there is indeed a small step backwards compared to the previous generation, together with the main 50 MP with Samsung JN1 sensor, we no longer find an ultrawide camera but only a 2 MP black and white sensor of which we were not able to understand the usefulness. From the front, on the other hand, a tested 16 MP with fixed focus.

The main sensor is often used for the ultrawide on mid-range smartphones, it is therefore not a monster but it knows how to get by and allows Realme 10 to fully reach sufficiency in most situations.

During the day the photos are discreet, a bit of detail is always missing but overall they are in line with smartphones around 300 euros. At night it surprised us positively, of course we must always consider the reference range, but even with very little light the photos are not bad, we would say above average. Selfies are also good, as always Realme inserts a lot of face enhancement options, but by deactivating them you can get good things.

If for photos we positively judge the evolution of data processing algorithms, which update after update manage to find more and more precision and effectiveness, the same cannot be said of videos. They arrive at FullHD at 60 fps, really too little, and you have to go down to 30 fps for a minimum of stabilization.

Realme 10 is proposed in the only memory cut 8/128 GB at 279 Euro listhowever, is launched in the promo until November 16th at 249 Euros.

Overall it is a smartphone that works well, has a great autonomy and good performance, the software is pleasant and graphically accurate, the cameras are not the top but they do their job in all lighting conditions. There are better smartphones, especially looking at models that are not the most recent, but Realme is confirmed as very concrete and capable of creating products that are valid for everyday use.

Of course, thinking that Realme 9 came out a few months ago and that this Realme 10 adds practically nothing, one wonders if it was really necessary. Here, probably not.