Realme 1 With Up to 6GB RAM Launched in India to Take on Redmi Note 5

Realme 1 has been launched in India on Tuesday, the first smartphone in the new Oppo brand for the country. The Realme brand is aimed at the Indian youth and meant for e-commerce channels, with Oppo naming Amazon India as its strategic partner for the launch of Realme 1, which will be exclusively available on the online marketplace. The smartphone's styling is similar to the 'glossy diamond-cut design' seen on recent offerings from Oppo - such as the Oppo F7 and Oppo A3 - though the company has foregone the iPhone X-style display notch seen on these two offerings. The Realme brand - positioned as a "premium mid-range smartphone brand" - will comprise smartphones in the Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 price range, however, more premium models can be expected in the future, the company said. The smartphone is a 'Made in India' product.

Realme 1 price in India, launch offers

The Realme 1 price in India starts at Rs. 8,990 for the 3GB RAM/ 32GB storage variant, and goes up to Rs. 10,990 for the 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant, and the top-model 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant has been priced at Rs. 13,990. It will be made available in Diamond Black, Moonlight Silver (coming in June), and Solar Red colour variants in the country. At this price range, the company is looking to take on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, which is available at Rs. 14,999 for its 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, and Rs. 16,999 for the 6GB RAM, 64GB storage variant.

Realme 1 Solar Red colour variant

The smartphone's first sale will be held at 12pm IST on May 25 on Amazon India, with the Realme 1 6GB RAM/ 128GB and 3GB RAM/ 32GB variants made available in this sale in Diamond Black and Solar Red colours. The company says the 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage variants will come to India in Moonlight Silver and Diamond Black a month later. As for Realme 1 launch offers, the smartphone is being offered with a 5 percent cashback on SBI cards on EMI, Jio benefits worth Rs. 4,850 (details here), a free case, and a free screen protector. Buyers will also get 80 percent off on Kindle ebooks (up to Rs. 300) if they have not purchased one before.

Realme 1 specifications

The dual-SIM Realme 1 runs ColorOS 5.0 based on Android 8.1 Oreo, complete with an India-specific theme. It sports a 6-inch full-HD+ (1080x2160 pixels) display with an 84.75 percent screen-to-body ratio. It is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 SoC that's clocked up to 2GHz, coupled with 3GB, 4GB, or 6GB of RAM depending on the variant, as well as a dual-core AI-specific chip.

Oppo's Realme 1 smartphone, from the front

The Realme 1 bears a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, and a 8-megapixel front camera. The company is touting use of the Oppo's AI Beauty 2.0 feature that apart from beautification also offers 296-point facial recognition. The smartphone also has a Face Unlock feature (said to unlock the smartphone in 0.1 seconds), but it doesn't have a fingerprint sensor. The Realme 1 features AR stickers for both the front and rear cameras.

As for storage, the Realme 1 comes with 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB of inbuilt storage, depending on the variant, each of which is expandable via microSD card featuring its own dedicated card slot.

In terms of connectivity options, the company is touting the presence of dual 4G VoLTE support on the Realme 1. It is powered by a 3410mAh battery. Built out of a fibre-glass body, the Realme 1 measures 156x75.3x7.8mm and weighs 158 grams. The company is also touting an AI Board assistant on board.

Is Oppo Realme 1 better than Redmi Note 5 Pro, Zenfone Max Pro M1? We discussed that on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.