Realme 2 design
Like the Realme 1, the Realme 2 has a fiberglass body. The back panel of the phone is decorated with a glossy diamond-shaped pattern. On the back of the smartphone there are 15 tangent planes that reflect light differently. Because it is made of fiberglass, the back panel is prone to scratches and fingerprints. The front panel features a notch display and the bezels on the Realme 2 are quite thin compared to competing phones in the market. Even though the frame of the Realme 2 is made of plastic, the phone is still very durable. You will get a dual rear camera setup on the back and there is a fingerprint sensor for security. The Realme company name is written on the back panel. As we told you earlier, Realme has now become a separate brand after its split from Oppo. It is for this reason that the Realme 1 had an Oppo logo on the back panel, which you will not see on the Realme 2.
There is no fingerprint sensor on the back of the Realme 1 for security purposes. This phone uses facial recognition technology. Following the feedback received from customers, the company has added a fingerprint sensor to the Realme 2. The sad thing is that the fingerprint sensor present on the Realme 2 is slow and this is the first time we encountered a problem with fingerprint registration. Like Realme 1, Realme 2 also has facial recognition support, it works accurately but is not as effective in low light.
On the left side of the Realme 2 there is a volume up and down button and a SIM card tray. If desired, you can install two Nano-SIM and a microSD card. The power button is located on the right side of the phone. The button is quite small, but at the same time it is quite hard, which can make it difficult to press. There is one speaker along with the micro-USB port. The phone went on sale for the first time on September 4 and will be available in Diamond Red and Diamond Black colours. We have a black color option for review as you can see in the photos. The Diamond Blue variant will be available from October.
Realme 2 Specifications and Display
Realme 2 used Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core chipset. Let us tell you that this processor is available in Xiaomi Redmi 5 and honor 7s Will also be available. The Realme 2 3GB/32GB variant is priced at Rs 8,990. The 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant is priced at Rs 10,990. The color option is good for the price, but the back panel looks rather dull and mirrored. Using a microSD card, the memory can be increased up to 256 GB. Maximum brightness is also affected by ambient light.
Realme 2 is equipped with a 4230mAh battery for battery backup. The company claims to provide backup for 15 hours of video playback, 18 hours of music and 10 hours of gaming. Realme 2 will run on ColorOS 5.1 based on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, 2.4GHz single-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS/A-GPS, GLONASS, Micro-USB and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It features a 6.2-inch HD+ IPS display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. To protect against scratches, this phone comes with Corina Gorilla Glass 3.
Realme 2 performance, software and battery life
Realme 2 makes it easy to watch YouTube videos, take photos, surf the web, and use social media apps. I experienced frame drops several times while playing Asphalt 9. The good thing about this phone is that it doesn’t get hot. During our review, we found that the phone lags a bit when multitasking on the Realme 2. The benchmark score is average. Realme 2 scored 76,929 points in AnTuTu test and 5,166 points in PC Mark Work 2.0. GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 has 12fps, and GFXBench T-Rex has 32fps. Realme 2 scored 793 points in the single-core test and 3882 points in the multi-core test.
The dual-SIM Realme 2 runs ColorOS 5.1 based on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. The phone received the July security patch. The smartphone will not have an app drawer, the Google Now panel will be replaced by a customizable screen. On the screen you will see the temperature, how many steps you have taken, recent photos, favorite contacts. The user interface needs to be simplified. The Settings app is quite confusing and disorganized. ColorOS is loaded with features like dual apps, three-finger screenshot shortcuts, themed apps, and lock screen gestures. Realme has also added Notch full-screen multitasking feature to the phone. This feature shows shortcuts to recently used applications. Disables notifications and also adds an option to record the start screen on the side of the notch.
WiFi Assistant makes it easy to switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data. While you’re driving, Smart Driving automatically turns on Do Not Disturb mode. Realme 2 is equipped with a 4230 mAh battery with AI Power Master technology. The battery life of the Realme 2 is quite good thanks to the dim low-resolution display and the Snapdragon 450 processor. In the HD video loop test, the Realme 2 provided a backup of 17 hours and 30 minutes. Even after normal use of the phone during the day, the battery charge remained at 40-50 percent. In the retail package, you will get a standard Oppo-branded 10W charger that can fully charge your phone in 3 hours.
Realme 2 camera
A dual rear camera will be available on the Realme 2. The main sensor has a resolution of 13 megapixels and an aperture of F/2/.2. The secondary camera has a resolution of 2 megapixels. On the front, you will get an 8-megapixel selfie camera with an aperture of F/2.2. There is one LED flash on the back panel. In the camera app, you get panorama, time-lapse, and 28 AR stickers. The dynamic range of the camera is quite poor. Colors do not appear properly in photos taken at night. The rear camera is capable of taking decent photos in sufficient lighting. The quality of pictures taken in portrait mode was average, and pictures taken at night looked blurry.
Selfie camera with artificial intelligence can easily detect skin tone, skin type, age, gender. Realme claims to have 8 million beauty standards in its database. The front camera of the Realme 2 takes decent photos in sufficient light, but in low light the photo quality is not very good. The sensor present in the phone is capable of capturing bokeh images using software algorithms. We didn’t really like Realme’s AI beautification feature because it gives a watercolor effect to the photo. The phone’s rear and front cameras can record video in 1080p resolution.
our decision
The Realme 2’s battery life, unique design, microSD card slot and build quality are excellent. The phone’s performance and display are decent, and the camera produces average picture quality. The fingerprint sensor present on the rear panel is slow. If you are looking for a smartphone in this budget range, then Xiaomi Redmi 5 (review) and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Cheap options are the best option. As soon as Realme 2 was launched, sales of the cheapest variant Realme 1 were discontinued. Let us tell you that this Realme 1 variant is priced at Rs 8,990. If you can stretch your budget a little, we would advise you to buy the cheaper Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1. Additionally, you can buy the 4/64 GB variant of the Realme 1 if you wish. This phone is priced at Rs 10,990. This variant comes with a more powerful display with a higher resolution than the Realme 2.
