The realme 10 is the latest number series phone from the Philippines’ top smartphone brand, realme. The handset comes with impressive features that include a 90Hz Super AMOLED display, a MediaTek Helio G99 chip, and a 50MP color AI camera.
With a starting price of PHP 12,999, the realme 10 is very appealing. But is this the right smartphone for you? Let’s find out.
realme 10 specs
| Display | 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Display, 90Hz Refresh Rate, 2400×1080, 409 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio G99 |
| RAM/Storage | 8GB+256GB, Up to 5GB Virtual RAM |
| Rear Camera | 50MP Color AI Camera + 2MP B/W |
| Front Camera | 16MP |
| Network | 4G LTE, Dual SIM, Triple Slot |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi Dual Band, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS |
| Others | USB-C, Headphone Jack, 200% Ultra Boom Speaker |
| OS | realme UI 3.0, Android 12 |
| Battery | 5000mAh Battery, 33W SUPERVOOC |
Design & Display
realme has always been at the forefront when it comes to smartphone design. They rarely shy away from trying something new and bold, as shown in their previous releases such as the realme 9 series, GT2 Pro, GT Master Edition, and many others. This time around, the same can be said about the realme 10.
The realme 10 comes in a stylish design called “Ultra-Slime Light Particle Design” that combines a 7.95mm flat edge frame with a glittery rear panel. It’s bold and chic, and definitely eye-catching.
The frame is made from plastic with a glass back. It has a solid build with sturdy construction. It’s lightweight as well and is very comfortable to hold.
At the front, there’s a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a 2400×1080 resolution, and Gorilla Glass 5 panel. The display has punchy colors, deep blacks, and high contrast and saturation. It’s also sharp with 409 ppi.
The screen is surrounded by narrow bezels. The chin, however, is slightly thick, which is normal for phones in the mid-range segment. The punch-hole camera is located in the upper left corner and offers little distraction when watching videos or browsing the phone.
On the right side, we have the volume rocker and the fingerprint sensor/power button. On the left is the SIM card tray with triple slots. At the bottom, there’s the headphone jack, the main microphone, a USB-C port, and the mono speaker. There’s also a secondary microphone at the top.
Cameras
The realme 10 is equipped with a 50MP primary camera, supported by a secondary 2MP black and white sensor. The b/w sensor is there to help improve colors and exposure. For selfies, the phone has a 16MP front camera.
The camera app has a common layout and offers HDR Auto and AI scene enhancement. It also has a Street Mode with options of a 24mm, 50mm, or 120mm lens view. It’s doing this by digitally cropping the image, so you’ll notice image quality drop as you go higher. The other modes are video, portrait, 50MP, text scanner, slo-mo video, pro, tilt-shift (which makes photos look like miniatures), time-lapse, panoramic, dual view video, and move.
As for the image quality, photos taken in good lighting have good colors and exposure with sufficient details and decent sharpness. Indoor shots are good as well, with sharpness taking a slight hit with some noise starting to show.
Meanwhile low light taken with Night Mode are good for the price, despite more noise and softer details. The colors still look good, though, and retain some punchiness. On the regular Photo Mode, night shots have a lot of noise and artifacts. With this, it’s best to just use Night Mode in very low-light situations.
Selfies, on the other hand, look good with pleasant skin tones and colors. Details and sharpness are about average. It’s okay and nothing out of the ordinary for phones within this price range.
Overall, the camera performance is decent and very satisfactory for the price. Image quality is good, but it won’t blow you out of the water. However, you can produce amazing results under the right conditions. And at the very least, it will impress your friends on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Check out the realme 10’s camera samples below.
Zoom
Selfies
Performance
The realme 10 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G99 chipset with 4G connectivity. The Helio G99 is a new gaming-focused midrange SoC that launched early this year, built using a 6nm architecture with two high-performance Arm Cortex-A76 cores and an Arm Mali G57 GPU. According to MediaTek, this is their best 4G chip to date.
The Helio G99 is paired with 8GB of RAM and a generous 256GB of storage, which you can expand with microSD cards of up to 1TB. The phone also supports Virtual RAM, converting unused storage to add up to 5GB of RAM to boost performance and improve multitasking. This option is enabled by default to 3GB. You can change this in Settings> About Device. Go to RAM and choose between 2GB, 3GB, and 5GB.
(Editor’s note 11/11/22: Shortly after launch, realme released an update for the realme 10. As a result, RAM Expansion now offers 4GB, 6GB, and 8GB options. The default value also changed to 6GB. The update also added other functionality, including a new blue wallpaper and a full area color for Always-on Display.)
On the software side, the realme 10 runs on the Android 12-based realme UI 3.0. The UI has a convenient layout, but it does come with extra apps some might call “bloat”. This includes realme’s own apps that are duplicates of existing Google apps and plenty of third-party apps, including the Hot Games and Hot Apps folders. Just uninstall or disable those you don’t use as per usual.
As a daily driver, the performance of the realme 10 won’t disappoint. Basic navigation and handling are smooth and responsive. Apps open without issue. And in gaming, the realme 10 is very capable. For instance, it can run Mobile Legends on Ultra Graphics and high refresh rate.
What’s more, the handset is comfortable to hold. In my hand, at least, it fits nicely. The taller aspect ratio and the flat edge frame make it easier to grip. And it’s not heavy, too, but not so light that it feels cheap either.
One thing I wish it had are stereo speakers. The single “200% Ultra Boom Speaker” is okay and it can get you through the occational YouTube video and video call. Pressing the up volume key further will get you into ‘Ultra Volume Mode.” It gets loud, but it lacks bass and consequently, depth. Thankfully, the realme 10 comes with a headphone jack which gives you the option to use wired earphones if you want to.
Here are the benchmark scores.
- AnTuTu: 397,123
CPU: 107,836
GPU: 92,439
MEM: 91,561
UX: 105,287 - Geekbench: 568 (Single-core) / 1757 (Multi-core)
- 3DMark: 1,367 (Wild Life)
As for the battery life, the realme 10 is equipped with a large 5000mAh battery. It easily lasts a day with some left over for the following day, more if you’re a conservative user. As for charging, the 33W SUPERVOOC Charger can top up the phone from zero to 50 percent in around 35 minutes. Meanwhile, a full charge will take around 70 minutes.
Final Thoughts
As an affordable smartphone option, there’s a lot to love about the realme 10. For starters, you get an eye-catching Ultra-Slime Light Particle Design. The AMOLED display is superb and the performance is impressive. Battery life is good as well, and so is the charging speed. Moreover, the realme 10 has decent cameras which will serve you well for the occasional social media post.
And while it’s unfortunate that the realme 10 only has 4G connectivity, it’s hard to take that against the phone partly because of its price, which starts at PHP 12,999, and because 4G speeds are still very adequate for most use cases.
In the end, the realme 10 is a good choice for those looking for a reliable smartphone without breaking the bank.
Price and Availability
The realme 10 is priced at PHP 12,999 for the 8GB+128GB variant and PHP 14,999 for the 8GB+256GB variant.
The 8GB+128GB variant will be available on Lazada and Shopee as well as realme’s official stores and dealers nationwide, starting November 10, 2022. It is also going to be a part of the 11.11 Mega Sale from November 11 to 13 with a special introductory price of PHP 10,999. Moreover, you can get it at the realme Official TikTok Shop at a discounted price of PHP 11,999, bundled with a free realme Cobble Bluetooth Speaker.
Meanwhile, pre-orders for the 8GB+256GB variant will start on November 26 to December 2, 2022, on realme’s Official Store in Shopee. Every purchase will also come with a free realme Cobble Bluetooth Speaker worth PHP 1,590.
