Realme to bring more unique smartphone designs to India

(Image credit: Realme)

Realme is one of India’s top four smartphone makers and also one of the world’s fastest-growing companies. All this has been achieved in a little over two years of its presence in the Industry. 

In a special AskMadhav episode which was streamed recently, Madhav Sheth, the CEO of Realme India and Europe, shared a few insights that most of the users won’t be aware of. He was joined by Sreehari, the product manager for AIoT. Titled “Dare to Speak”, this episode apparently included questions that were often ignored.

Design language

(Image credit: Realme)

Firstly, Madhav spoke about the CMF which stands for Colour, Material, and Finish. This was with regards to the new design changes seen on the Realme V5 series of affordable smartphones. They sport a brushed metal finish on the back to look different yet appealing. Towards the end of the segment, they did hint at a phone with a similar design language to launch in India soon; though it was unclear which specific model it would be. 

Plastic vs Glass back

Talking about the Plastic versus Glass back design, Madhav said that although glass is more appealing and gives more premium touch and feel, it becomes heavy and fragile. On the other hand, plastic is more lightweight, flexible, and gives more options for design. Realme will improvise and make touch and feel better on the plastic back to give a more premium look. He also confirmed that the Realme 7 series will come with an aluminium border around the rear camera module. 

Why no more pop-up cameras?

(Image credit: Realme)

Realme’s only pop-up camera till date in India is the Realme X. Talking about the absence of the pop-up camera in the market in recent months(from all brands), Madhav said that to include a pop-up camera module on top, brands will have to compromise on weight, thickness, and also the battery. Further, the new 5G modems also take up space which gives no option to include the pop-up module. He also said that pop-up phones from most brands will vanish in the coming days. 

More Megapixel cameras?

Realme was the first in India to bring a 64MP camera phone. However, when it comes to 108MP cameras, Madhav said that the company is still testing and has not commercialized it. The 108MP pictures take several seconds to process and Realme is working on the software optimization. He also added to get the best experience of a 108MP picture you need a high-resolution screen. Realme might announce a new device with a 108MP camera and a Quad HD display in the new future, as suggested earlier this year

5G in India

Talking about the absence of 5G infrastructure in India, he said that many phones launched towards the end of this year will be 5G-capable. He hopes that this will put pressure on the telecom operators and speeden the adoption. As of now, it remains as a feature for future-proofing.

How Realme’s fast charging is different from others?

This was the most interesting and insightful part of the episode. Madhav explained that Realme fast charging tech works on the principle of high current and low voltage while other brands use the opposite. He also said that the mobile battery can take 5V and it can’t go beyond that. For those fast chargers which have 9V rating, the voltage will be capped at 5V for safety purposes.  

While other fast charging technologies have issues like loss of power, lower charging speed, and heating issues, Realme fast charging tech comes with temperature control, thick cable, and no speed reduction even while gaming. 

However, to achieve higher charging speed like the recent 125W UltraDart charging solution, the company opted for a dual battery solution where they have two batteries and the 10V voltage will be split into two 5V batteries. 

Everything else

(Image credit: Google)

Lastly, Madhav answered a few questions rapidly. Realme will continue to offer a triple SIM slot and also tey to keep the 3.5mm headphone jack on its mid-range and entry-level devices. And, lastly, Realme is working on Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11. The company will share the roadmap as soon as Google starts rolling out Android 11 to the public. 

Srivatsa Ramesh

Srivatsa is a prolific writer who spearheads the core writing team on tech news, buying guides, reviews, and all gadget articles. He is passionate about technology.