After a series of successful budget and midrange smartphone releases, Realme finally launches its first flagship in the Philippines in the form of the X3 SuperZoom.
The handset has all the makings of a popular flagship, including a 120Hz display, a powerful Snapdragon 855+ processor, and a periscope zoom camera with a value-for-money price tag to match.
And speaking of value, the Realme X3 SuperZoom with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage is priced at PHP 24,990 in the Philippines.
Pre-order period is from July 9 to 17 in Realme concept stores, kiosks and select stores nationwide. Those who pre-order can claim an exclusive Realme Buds Air Black worth PHP 3,990.
Design and Display
From a design stand point, the Realme X3 SuperZoom is aesthetically similar to the Realme 6 Pro. It features a clean, streamlined layout with a large 6.6-inch display surrounded by thin bezels and a pill-shaped cutout housing a dual selfie camera.
As stated in my unboxing and initial impressions post, my Arctic White review unit is immaculate. I really think this is the color to get. The pearl finish reflects subtle rainbow colors that changes as you shift the phone around.
The Realme X3 SuperZoom feels great in the hand with its smooth curves and solid build. The Gorilla Glass 5 back ensures its protected from scrapes and short drops. While the plastic frame comes with a matte finish to match the phone’s matte frosted rear panel.
The phone is large, to say the least. It has dimensions measuring in at 164.8 x 75.8 x 8.9mm and weighs 202 g. But thankfully, its manageable and never unwieldy. Thanks to the curves, it doesn’t feel as large as it should be.
On the left-hand side, we have the volume rocker. On the right is the oblong shaped power button with a built-in fingerprint scanner. The button itself has sharp edges when you run your finger on it. It is responsive and feels soft when pressed.
The fingerprint scanner, on the other hand, is plenty fast. It’s easy to reach too. And there’s face unlock, which is fast and instant but less secure, for those who want it.
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The dual nano SIM tray, a USB Type-C port, and the mono speaker sits at the bottom of the phone. Audio quality of the speaker is above average. It’s fine for most things, but it lacks bass. The headphone jack is missing as well, so there’s that.
The Reame X3 SuperZoom doesn’t come with an IP certification. But it does have some form of protection from water. Ports, gaps and holes have a silicone gel that prevents water from leaking inside. This means it should be okay with the occasional splash and rain.
The display measures in at 6.6-inches with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 and a pixel density of 399 ppi. For an IPS display, it’s pretty good with punchy colors, good contrast, and respectable blacks.
The pill-shaped cutout on the upper left is noticeable while watching videos, but it doesn’t distract once you get used to it. Besides, you can always set YouTube or Netflix to ignore it when streaming, hiding it on black bar.
Regardless of how you feel about the cutout, watching movies on the screen is a great experience. The large wide display is perfect for this, especially when you pinch to zoom and make use of the entire space.
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The display also boasts a 120Hz refresh rate which keeps animations smooth as butter. It looks great, but I feel Realme can really enhance it further by improving the UI’s animations. Oh, and it’s set to auto by default, so I suggest you set it to 120Hz in the display settings because it makes the experience a whole lot better.
As for the retail package, the Realme X3 SuperZoom is bundled with a 30W Dart Charger, a Type-C cable, a silicone protect case, the SIM card tool, a pre-installed screen protector, and the usual documentation. There’re no earbuds. Personally, I don’t mind but others do use it.
Performance
The X3 SuperZoom is powered by a Snapdragon 855+ processor. It’s not Qualcomm’s latest or greatest, but it’s still plenty powerful that is guaranteed to satisfy even the most demanding users. Paired with 12GB LPDDR4x RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage, and you have quite the affordable flagship.
With that said, the phone is fast and responsive. Daily interactions are butter smooth. It can run most games easily too, with fast load times and no lags or stutters. In Call of Duty Mobile (my current favorite), it plays like a dream at max graphics and frame rate.
Benchmark scores reflect my sentiments. Check it out below.
Cameras
The X3 SuperZoom, as the name implies, offers 5X optical zoom, up to 60X digital zoom, and optical image stabilization (OIS) for steady shots.
The main camera has a 64MP with a f/1.8 aperture lens and a Samsung GW1 sensor with a size of 1/1.72”. The periscope lens is paired with an 8MP sensor with f/3.4 aperture, 5x optical zoom, and optical image stabilization.
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The other two lens is the 8MP ultra-wide with a 16mm focal length, a 119-degree field-of-view, a 5P lens system, and an f/2.3 aperture. It also has a 2MP macro lens with a focusing distance of 4cm.
As for selfies, the front cameras have a dual sensor setup of 32MP + 8MP. The former is backed by a Sony IMX 616 sensor with an 80.4-degree field-of-view and a f/2.5 aperture. While the latter has a wider 105-degree field-of-view.
In terms of capabilities, the X3 SuperZoom has a lot, making it a highly versatile and creative photography tool.
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The Starry Mode allows you to take shots of stars (astrophotography, anyone?) with a long shutter speed with the help of some AI magic. Tripod mode is available if you need a longer shutter speed. Super Nightscape mode takes care of low light shooting. There’s Expert Mode if you need to fine tune settings. You also get ultra-wide mode, ultra-macro mode, AI Beauty, and Chroma Boost.
Photos in bring lighting conditions look good. You get vibrant and punchy colors with a lot of details.
Images on the ultra-wide have good color rendition. It looks more saturated than the normal zoom. As for the max zoom, the image loses a quality and details.
Here’s a progression of photos to give you an idea how close the max zoom is. This is from ultra-wide, normal, 5x zoom, 10x zoom, and 60x zoom.
Here are sample shots using Starry Mode. You need a tripod or a steady surface to brace the phone to use this effectively. Check out the stars.
I had a hard time taking moon shots handheld. At max zoom, you lose detail and introduce a lot of noise into the shot.
Selfies look good and flattering. Photos have good skin tones and details. The blurring of the background is also decent.
For videos, the X3 SuperZoom has UIS video stabilization. It supports up to 4K/60fps shooting with UIS support. This will allow you to become more creative when shooting videos containing more movement and actions.
Battery
The Realme X3 SuperZoom comes with a 4,200mAh battery. With 120Hz display and the Snapdragon 855+ processor, the handset can give you a work day of battery life with a some 20% left for the evening. That’s with heavy usage, including games, browsing, video streaming and some photography.
If you need a quick charge, the phone’s 30W Dart Fast Charger can top up the handset to 50% in 30 minutes. It can charge to full in around an hour or so.
Final Remarks
For the brand’s first flagship in the Philippines, the Realme X3 SuperZoom impresses checking a lot of boxes for specs you normally expect to find in more expensive phones.
The X3 SuperZoom is a workhorse that can handle any app or game, capable of satisfying even the most demanding of users. Its camera setup ensures you have a lot of creative options for photography.
Best of all, you get a 120Hz display. After you experience it, I don’t think I want to go back to 60Hz. Oh and you also get 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.
All in all, the Realme X3 SuperZoom gives you a lot for your money. It’s value is hard to match given PHP 24,990 price tag.
Realme X3 SuperZoom specs
- Display: 6.6-inch Full HD IPS Ultra Smooth Display, 2400 x 1080, 399ppi, 120Hz Refresh Rate, Corning Gorilla Glass 5, 90.5% Screen-to-body Ratio
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ Processor, 7nm
- GPU: Adreno 640
- RAM: 12GB LPDDR4x RAM
- Storage: 256GB UFS 3.0 Storage
- Rear Cameras: 64MP f/1.8 Main + 8MP f/3.4 Periscope Lens + 8MP f/2.3 Ultra-wide + 2MP f/2.4 Macro Quad Rear Cameras
- Front Camera: 32MP f/2.5 + 8MP f/2.2 5P Lens Ultra-wide, Dual Selfie Cameras
- Network: 4G LTE
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Dual Band, 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5, GPS, USB Type-C
- Others: Side-mounted Fingerprint Scanner, Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res Audio
- OS: Realme UI, Android 10
- Colors: Glacier Blue, Arctic White
- Battery: 4,200mAh Battery, 30W Dart Fast Charge
