Realme launched the P3 Pro with a design-oriented approach. The phone is available in three nice finishes: Nebula Glow, Galaxy Purple, and Saturn Brown. The Nebula Glow version of the phone has a glow-in-the-dark feature, which makes it stand out. This aspect, however, comes across as more of a gimmick than a functional improvement.
The Galaxy Purple model employs a vegan leather back panel, which enhances durability but is not soft and premium to the touch. The phone features smooth curves and a quad-curved screen, which adds to its sleek appearance. In spite of these design features, it does not differ much from other mid-range phones.
Impressive Display but Poor Outdoor Visibility
Realme outfits the P3 Pro with a 6.83-inch OLED screen. The screen is 2800 × 1272 pixels, providing crisp images and bright colors. Video watching and scrolling through content is smooth due to the 120Hz refresh rate.
The phone, however, has issues with outdoor visibility. Realme touts a peak brightness of 1,200 nits, but actual performance is different. The screen performs poorly in direct sunlight, making text and images more difficult to read. Also, the rounded edges produce unwanted reflections, adding to the loss of readability. The refresh rate only toggles between 60Hz and 120Hz, curbing battery efficiency.
Software Experience
Takes a Hit with Bloatware Realme P3 Pro is powered by Realme UI 6.0, Android 15-based. The software adds AI-based aspects such as AI Writer and AI Recording Summary. Though these features sound handy, the phone comes with too much bloatware. Some of the pre-installed apps repeat what Google’s native applications can do, making the user interface look messy.
New users might find the interface confusing because of so many redundant apps. Realme guarantees two years of software updates and three years of security patches. Competitors, however, in the same budget segment provide more extended software support, which makes Realme’s assurance seem inadequate.
Decent Performance but Trails Behind Competitors
The P3 Pro has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor. It has 8GB or 12GB of RAM and storage capacities of 128GB or 256GB. The phone performs routine tasks well, giving a smooth experience in day-to-day use.
It fails to beat equally priced smartphones in gaming and multitasking. Benchmark scores indicate that there is a considerable difference between the P3 Pro and rival models such as the Poco F6 and OnePlus Nord CE 4. While performance while gaming is stable, minor slowing down can be noticed during the process of capturing images or jumping between apps.
Average Camera Performance with Few Features
P3 Pro has a 50MP primary and a 2MP depth camera. Unfortunately, the depth sensor doesn’t impact the image quality significantly. The primary camera takes good photos in daylight, recording somewhat oversaturated colors.
In low light, it does poorly, losing sharpness and detail. The dynamic range of the phone is poor, tending to overexpose highlights and create dark shadows. The 2X digital zoom is not clear, causing noticeable distortion. Video recording has poor stabilization, making 4K video look shaky and irregular.
Strong Battery Life but Slower Charging
Realme squeezes a whopping 6,000mAh battery into the P3 Pro. The phone easily lasts an entire day with moderate use, such as social media surfing, video streaming, and gaming. It lasted about 27 hours in a video loop test, which is quite impressive. Yet, even though the phone supports 80W fast charging, the phone takes more than an hour to recharge fully. Other devices in the same price category provide faster charging, so Realme’s approach seems a bit underwhelming.
Verdict: Elegant but Not the Best Option
The Realme P3 Pro delivers substantive design enhancements, a curvy display, and IP69 strength. Unfortunately, real-world performance doesn’t cut it. The device is marred by excessive bloatware, below-average processing performance, and middling cameras. It features decent battery life and an elegant design but falls behind other rivals at its price. If one demands more in performance and software quality, look no further than the Poco F6 or OnePlus Nord CE 4.
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