Realme relies on cheap smartphones with good technology for its number series. Now there is the next serve with the Realme 10. The test shows how the smartphone performs.

Test conclusion

The Realme 10 is an affordable mid-range smartphone. There aren’t any big leaps in performance, so gaming on the device, for example, is only possible to a limited extent. The display made a good impression in the test and was bright in daylight. The main camera did a good job, at least without the zoom. The zoom and the front camera, on the other hand, were not convincing. Another negative aspect is that Realme tries to use the carousel on the lock screen to place advertising inconspicuously. After all: This action can be deactivated in the settings directly at the start.

Rapid growth in all segments of the smartphone market – this is how Realme imagined the development of the company in Germany. The Chinese company has been fighting the competition from Xiaomi and Samsung for several years with numerous devices. With so many models, some people are certainly losing track. It is still easiest with the number series: the number of them increases year after year and the special models receive an addition. Realme is doing the same with the newcomer Realme 10. The company has quietly and secretly brought forward the global launch and has revealed what’s in the new cell phone. Global Web Wire took a close look at the smartphone in the test.

Restrained design of the Realme 10

The Realme 10's display is bright in daylight.

The Realme 10’s display is bright in daylight.

With the GT series , Realme usually digs deep into the pot with eye-catching design ideas for the back. On some models of the Realme 9 series , the company sprinkled glitter there, the Realme 10 is simple in comparison. There is only a slight reflection on the back when there is light, which reveals a color gradient – apart from that, the smartphone is kept simple. There is one special feature: Realme continues to use a jack socket to enable the connection of wired headphones. However, the Realme 10 is not waterproof.

On the front, the AMOLED display stretches over 6.4 inches. It offers a refresh rate of up to 90 Hertz. The manufacturer promises a brightness of up to 1,000 nits – so operation in bright sunlight is no problem. The screen sits under classic Gorilla Glass 5. Up to 90 Hertz refresh rates are included – this enables smooth playback of content. Surprising is the small chin below on the front. At this point, Realme steals some of the display’s surface, which is irritating because almost all manufacturers now do without it.

Ads on the lock screen?

It was already noticeable with the Black Shark 5 Pro from the Xiaomi sub-brand that there is indirect advertising on the lock screen, which draws attention to itself with changing lock screen images. Realme now seems to be taking on this project as well: When you set it up for the first time, recommended settings appear that directly activate the lock screen magazine. At first glance, the advertising cannot be read directly, but the addition “User Agreement and Privacy Policy” makes you sit up and take notice. So if you don’t want annoying and constantly changing images that are stored with articles on the lock screen, deactivate this function directly.

Camera-Downgrade beim Realme 10

The Realme 9 had three lenses on the back – this does not apply to the Realme 10. There, the manufacturer saves on the ultra-wide-angle lens and only equips the smartphone with a main camera with 50 megapixels (MP) and a depth sensor (2 MP).

In daylight, the pictures taken with the main camera are solid: Details can be seen and the colors are also okay. The zoom, on the other hand, is not convincing, because it robs the pictures of the details. Even at 2x magnification, the quality of the images suffers and the further you get, the worse the result. The range extends up to a tenfold zoom – but a corresponding use is not recommended.

On the front, the 16 MP front camera sits in a small hole on the left edge of the display. This means that it is hardly noticeable in everyday use of the smartphone. With sufficient lighting, the images are fine. However, it is sometimes noticeable that the camera has a sharpness problem: the face looks wrinkled and details are missing. At least the portrait mode manages to ensure that the background is blurred and the foreground is (halfway) sharp. The delimitation also works well with the main camera if the focus is set correctly. Otherwise, it may quickly happen that only part of the desired section is in focus.

Realme 10: MediaTek instead of Qualcomm

Realme no longer relies on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor for the Realme 10. Instead, a Mediatek Helio G99 with 8 gigabytes (GB) of working memory (RAM) works inside the smartphone. Virtually, up to 8 GB of RAM can also be switched on. The internal memory is 128 GB – it can also be expanded by up to 1 terabyte using a memory card.

The Realme 10 is restrained in the benchmarks: The values ​​are far from the top of the middle class, but at most for the middle field. Competitors like Xiaomi are not faster in the price range up to 300 euros. Compared to the predecessor Realme 9 , the performance is even a significant improvement. Mobile gaming only runs smoothly on low graphics settings – but then it doesn’t look so good. If the graphics setting is high, games like “Genshin Impact” sometimes stutter. Fans of mobile gaming should therefore look around for a gaming smartphone , for example .
Unlike most Realme models, the Realme 10 comes without 5G – at first. In China and other markets, however, there is already a variant that supports the fast mobile communications standard. So far, the manufacturer has chosen this route for every version of the number series.

Large battery in the Realme 10

The Realme 10 has a 5,000 mAh battery. This should get the smartphone through the day. The box includes a charging cable and the appropriate mains plug – up to 33 watts of fast charging power should bring the smartphone’s battery back to 50 percent within 30 minutes.

Realme 10: price, colors, availability

The Realme 10 appears in this country in Clash White (white) and Rush Black (black). The manufacturer does not give a specific start date – but a price: customers have to pay 279 euros to get the version with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal memory.

Realme 10: conclusion of the test

The Realme 10 is an affordable mid-range smartphone. There aren’t any big leaps in performance, so gaming on the device, for example, is only possible to a limited extent. The display made a good impression in the test and was bright in daylight. The main camera did a good job, at least without the zoom. The zoom and the front camera, on the other hand, were not convincing. Another negative aspect is that Realme tries to use the carousel on the lock screen to place advertising inconspicuously. After all: This action can be deactivated in the settings directly at the start.

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