Realme’s new smartwatch and fitness tracker might have Fitbit’s devices beat
Landing alongside a new smartphone
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Realme is a Chinese smartphone company that’s yet to really hit big outside Asia, but it has just launched a handful of products that might change that, as they look set to rival some pretty big competitors.
These products are the Realme X3 Superzoom, which is a new smartphone, the Realme Watch and Realme Band, which are a smartwatch and fitness tracker respectively, and the Buds Air Neo, which are true wireless headphones.
We’ll briefly explore all the products in a second, but first to explain why these products might be a hit - they’re all priced supremely competitively. The Watch and Band closely resemble theFitbit VersaandFitbit Inspirerespectively, in terms of design and features, but with much lower prices. If the devices are worth your time, they might be preferable to their pricey rivals.
That’s a big ‘if’ though, and we’ll need to test out the products to see if they live up to their specs. If you don’t want to wait, though, you can buy the devices now (or pre-order in the case of the phone) atRealme’s website.
The company has all of these products available in the UK, and most in Australia, but the lack of a US website suggests to us that the devices won’t be landing stateside.
Realme’s new products
The Realme X3 Superzoom is the latest phone from the company, and its specs look good on paper. It has a 64MP main camera joined by an 8MP telephoto (capable of 60x digital zoom), 2MP macro and 8MP ultra-wide, and on the front there’s a 32MP selfie camera joined by another 8MP ultra-wide snapper.
It has a Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, which is 2019’s top-end Android processor, plus 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a 4,200mAh battery and 30W fast charging. The screen is 6.6 inches diagonally, broken up only by the pill-shaped cut-out for the two front-facing cameras, with a FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate.
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Those are some impressive mid-range specs, and the phone only costs £469 (roughly $575, AU$870), so it could be a real heavyweight at its price point.
The Realme Watch is another affordable device at only £50 (around $60, AU$90), and it resembles theFitbitVersa, which costs more than twice that. It has a 1.4-inch screen with a heart rate monitor, blood oxygen level monitor, and tracking for 14 different sports. Most its features seem aimed at fitness, so we’ll have to see how good it is for lifestyle features, although it has notification and music handling.
The Realme Band is acheap fitness tracker, and at £25 / AU$99 (roughly $40, although the UK and Australia prices convert to very different figures) it rivals theXiaomi Mi Band 4andHuawei Band 3. The Band monitors 9 sports modes, including a cricket mode, plus it has heart rate and sleep tracking, and IP68 protection.
Finally, the Realme Buds Air Neo cost £40 / AU$150 (roughly $75, though again the UK and Australia prices are very different). They aretrue wireless headphoneswith 17-hour batteries, large drivers and low-latency tech.
These products all seem to square off against established rivals in their respective fields, and if the lower prices don’t mean too many corners are cut, they could find their way onto a few of our best lists. When we’ve tested them all we’ll let you know.
Tom Bedford was deputy phones editor on TechRadar until late 2022, having worked his way up from staff writer. Though he specialized in phones and tablets, he also took on other tech like electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile gaming and more. He is based in London, UK and now works for the entertainment site What To Watch.
He graduated in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working on TechRadar, he freelanced in tech, gaming and entertainment, and also spent many years working as a mixologist.
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