The race to bring 5G to budget smartphones in India is heating up, with manufacturers like Realme pushing the boundaries of affordability. The latest entrant in this arena is the Realme Narzo 30 5G, priced at Rs. 15,999 for a single 6GB RAM and 128GB storage configuration. This device aims to offer a compelling 5G experience at an accessible price point, but with compromises in other aspects, leaving buyers to decide what they value most. Is the Narzo 30 5G a worthy contender, or does it fall short in comparison to other budget 5G options? Let’s dive into the details to find out.
Realme Narzo 30 5G: A Slim and Sleek 5G Budget Option
Pricing and Available Variants
The Realme Narzo 30 5G stands out from its counterpart, the Realme 8 5G, by offering only one configuration: 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. This pricing strategy places it strategically between the higher-end variants of the Realme 8 5G, which offers 4GB and 8GB RAM options with the same storage capacity. The starting price of the Realme 8 5G is Rs. 13,999 for the 4GB RAM variant. The Narzo 30 5G also shares its price and hardware with the Poco M3 Pro 5G, which starts at Rs. 13,999 for the 4GB RAM variant.
Design and Display
The Realme Narzo 30 5G boasts a slim and light design, making it comfortable to hold. Measuring just 8.5mm thick and weighing 185g, it offers a solid grip thanks to its defined edges. The rear panel, made of plastic, features a shimmering strip that runs through the back, giving it a unique touch. Available in Racing Blue and Racing Silver finishes, the Racing Silver variant sports a glossy back panel that attracts fingerprints and dust easily.
The front of the phone is dominated by a 6.5-inch LCD panel, which provides a sharp display and reaches impressive brightness levels for outdoor visibility. The bezels around the screen are relatively thin, except for the chin at the bottom. The display boasts a 90Hz refresh rate and a 180Hz touch sampling rate, delivering a smooth and responsive scrolling experience, particularly when gaming. It offers two color presets: Gentle and Vivid. The Gentle preset delivers more natural colors, while the Vivid preset is saturated.
Performance, Battery, and Software
Hardware & Software
The Narzo 30 5G is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor, a chip found in both the Realme 8 5G and Poco M3 Pro 5G. It features an integrated 5G modem that supports several 5G bands and offers dual 5G standby. The phone utilizes LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.1 storage, providing decent performance across various tasks. Connectivity options include dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, and a triple-slot tray for two Nano-SIMs and a microSD card (up to 1 TB). It packs a 5,000mAh battery, supporting 18W charging.
Running Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11, the Narzo 30 5G offers a clean and intuitive user interface. While it does come with a number of preinstalled apps, most of them can be uninstalled. However, some pre-installed apps like HeyFun and the native Browser app are prone to pushing promotional notifications, which can be silenced in the notification settings.
Performance and Battery Life
The Narzo 30 5G delivers impressive performance in benchmarks, even exceeding the Poco M3 Pro 5G in some areas, though only slightly. It achieved a score of 3,62,007 in AnTuTu, 574 in Geekbench’s single-core test, and 1,777 in the multi-core test. Compared to the Helio G95 SoC in the Narzo 30, the performance difference is minimal.
Gaming on the Narzo 30 5G is a satisfactory experience, with most games running smoothly at default settings. The phone lacks significant heating issues, making it a more appealing option for gamers compared to the Narzo 30. While Call of Duty: Mobile runs smoothly, it’s capped to Medium graphics and High framerate settings, with visual effects such as Ragdoll, Bloom, and Antialiasing unavailable. Asphalt 9: Legends performs well with only occasional dropped frames at default graphics quality; it’s playable at High quality but struggles when there’s a lot of on-screen action.
The Narzo 30 5G boasts outstanding battery life for such a slim device. In our review period, it consistently lasted for a day and a half with moderate usage, encompassing several hours of video streaming, social media browsing, photography, and gaming. The HD video loop battery test yielded impressive results, with the phone lasting for 18 hours and 36 minutes. However, charging is relatively slow compared to other smartphones in this segment, taking 2 hours and 10 minutes for a full charge. It reaches 28 percent in 30 minutes and 53 percent in an hour.
Cameras: A Mixed Bag of Performance
Camera Configuration
The Realme Narzo 30 5G shares the same triple rear camera setup as the Narzo 30: a 48-megapixel f/1.8 primary camera, a 2-megapixel monochrome camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. Selfie duties are handled by a 16-megapixel f/2.0 front camera. The camera app’s interface is standard for Realme devices running Realme UI 2.0, making it easy to navigate and adjust settings.
Camera Performance
Daylight photos captured by the Narzo 30 5G are clean and noise-free, but display slightly over-saturated colors. Dynamic range is decent, with visible detail in shadows, but noticeable purple fringing in highlights. Interestingly, textures don’t appear as defined as in photos taken with the Narzo 30. The camera setup also offers 2X and 5X digital zoom. Zooming in at 2X results in photos with reduced detail and dynamic range, while zooming in to 5X produces photos that resemble oil paintings.
The 2-megapixel macro camera delivers decent photos with acceptable detail, but the colors diverge significantly from the actual subject. Maintaining the ideal distance for macro photography with a fixed-focus camera can be challenging, especially with shaky hands.
Portrait photos using the front-facing camera are sharp and well-exposed but exhibit subpar edge detection. The rear camera produces more detailed and balanced portrait photos, with slightly more saturated colors. Low-light performance is, predictably, not impressive. Scenes are well-exposed, but textures appear flat even under street lighting. The rear camera struggles with dimly lit landscapes, producing noisy and muddy photos. The Night mode is of limited use, offering only a small increase in brightness and slight detail enhancement in shadows.
Video recording is disappointing, even compared to the Narzo 30. The phone only supports capturing videos at 1080p @30fps using the main rear camera, which is a letdown for a phone in this price segment. Autofocus struggles to lock on, resulting in blurry and overexposed videos. In low light, the camera faces even more difficulty focusing, rendering videos murky and unusable.
Verdict: A Budget 5G Smartphone with Compromises
The Realme Narzo 30 5G presents a compelling proposition if you’re seeking a slim 5G smartphone with a smooth 90Hz refresh rate display, long battery life, and moderate gaming performance. However, the average camera quality and subpar video capabilities are significant drawbacks. Charging at 18W is relatively slow.
If a 5G smartphone is your priority, consider spending a little more and going for the Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G instead. Priced at Rs. 16,999 for the 6GB RAM and 64GB storage variant, it provides better value with a 120Hz refresh rate display, the Dimensity 800U processor, and 30W fast charging.
If 5G isn’t crucial for your next smartphone purchase, the Redmi Note 10 Pro is an excellent option within this price range. It excels in camera performance, offers a Super AMOLED display, and supports 33W charging, along with a slightly larger 5020mAh battery. For those who prefer stock Android, consider Motorola’s G40 Fusion, priced at Rs. 16,499 (6GB RAM + 128GB storage). It features the same Snapdragon 732G SoC as the Note 10 Pro, but boasts a larger 6,000mAh battery and a water-repellent design. Ultimately, the choice boils down to personal preference and what features you prioritize.
