Realme emerges from obscurity to shake up the market
After Realme 1, Realme 2, Realme 2 Pro, Realme 2 Pro, Realme C1, Realme U1, and Realme 3, Realme 3 Pro and Realme C2 marked the seventh and eighth launches of the brand since its inception last year by OPPO. Designed to challenge Xiaomi, and more specifically Redmi, Realme has successfully entered the market for entry-level and mid-range smartphones by already selling more than six million copies of its devices.
Good looking new smartphones at very attractive prices
The Realme C2 and Realme 3 Pro are the manufacturer's latest products, and their announcement should be of interest to many of our readers, even if its marketing is currently only planned in certain countries. With their modern design and long battery life, smartphones offer an amazing price-quality ratio. Without being able to compete of course with high-end smartphones, they offer (almost) everything you would expect from a smartphone in 2019 and even offer some features reserved until recently for flagships (facial recognition, slow motion...). All this without having to go broke.
Of course, the field of progress is still important for the brand and its devices are far from perfect. Color OS still looks like iOS, the smartphones are aesthetically quite close to competitors and plastic is still clearly present. But overall, the terminals offer good value for money.
Better still, with barely a year of experience, Realme now offers a range of different devices, from the very low-cost entry-level range to the mid-range range presented as "the flagship of young people" according to Madhav Sheth, the brand's CEO. We now find the C range (entry-level), the U range (for selfies), the Realme range (affordable smartphone) and finally the Pro range. A total of 8 devices are now available. This is enough to satisfy a large number of potential customers.
A strategy that has proven its worth
While several historical manufacturers, such as LG or HTC, are suffering a downturn, Realme seems, on the contrary, in great shape, or at least in full expansion. If the brand is not yet at the level of Redmi or Samsung, Realme nevertheless has the same ambitions, and the grand launch in New Delhi of Realme 3 Pro and Realme C2 is a symbol of this.
With this brand, the OPPO group wanted to redo, in its own way, the recipe of Huawei and Honor, or Xiaomi and Redmi. Realme smartphones aim to destroy feature phones by forcing this segment of users to move to the 'smart' entry-level. At the same time, Realme also attracts the least demanding high-end users, i.e. those who want a smartphone with recent features without expecting extraordinary performance.
- No internet? No problem! The best Android games to play offline
- How to transfer WhatsApp chats to a new phone
As with the other manufacturers it wants to compete with, Realme relies on its (young) community ready to relay the brand's messages and advertise smartphones on social networks. The fan community thus participates in the presentation events and helps to raise concerns or user requests.
An international expansion
Like any self-respecting Chinese smartphone brand, Realme obviously wants to grow fast. After having launched itself in several emerging countries, the manufacturer wants to conquer the West. Like OPPO or Xiaomi who landed in Europe last year, Realme is following the same path. Europe, initially, and the United States, are markets that could also bring greater brand awareness and boost sales even further. The Realme 3 Pro should be the first to arrive in our countries. The competition is going to be tough, but a little bird tells me that Realme is likely to make a lot of headlines in the coming weeks.
Did you know this Realme brand? Would you buy one of their smartphones?
Realme - I'd like to take a look at one up close before purchasing, so I truly do hope they enter the North American market (and not just thru Amazon, I want to see this phone in physical stores Best Buy, Fry's, etc).
Consumers globally deserve choices, this means more unlocked phones. 👍
Yes, their CEO Madhav Seth is crazy, and very dedicated, committed to the grand success of Realme.