Realme was only created in 2018, but this Chinese upstart has shaken up the mobile industry with a range of unique and often high-specced phones at competitive prices.
That’s part in thanks to Realme’s connection to Oppo – Realme founder Sky Li was previously an Oppo vice president, and the two company’s still share some R&D, engineering, and distribution infrastructure.
That’s probably what’s allowed the brand to build and release as many phones as it has in such a short time and helped it find a foothold in fiercely competitive markets such as India.
Like Oppo itself, Realme has more recently pushed into Europe and has expanded its product portfolio beyond just phones, to include offerings like true wireless headphones and smartwatches as well.
Realme phones all offer a compelling price/performance balance, usually focussing on folding one or more premium features into a device at a price point you wouldn’t expect.
These are the best phones that the company has to offer, spanning the super-affordable to the cut-price flagship, all tested by us here at Tech Advisor.
Best Realme phones 2021
1. Realme X50 5G – Best mid-ranger
The Realme X50 5G shakes up the mid-range market by offering strong specs at a price that undercuts even its best value rivals.
A 120Hz display, the excellent Snapdragon 765G chip, 5G, superb battery life and a surprisingly-capable main camera collectively render the X50 a far better phone than anything you’d expect at this price.
It gives devices like the OnePlus Nord and even the Pixel 5 a run for their money in certain areas.
Read our full Realme X50 5G review
2. Realme 8 Pro – Best camera
The Realme 8 Pro is an effort to raise the profile of the company’s camera credentials, led by a 108Mp main camera.
Elsewhere you get a thin, lightweight build (albeit with a giant ‘Dare to Leap’ logo down the back…); a 60Hz AMOLED display; and 50W wired charging.
In practice, it achieves its intended purpose and happens to be a well-balanced affordable mid-ranger in the process, with a killer feature that sets itself apart from the rest of Realme’s lineup.
Read our full Realme 8 Pro review
3. Realme 7 – Best for budget
The Realme 7 isn’t quite the best budget phone around right now, but it’s pretty darn close. It looks great, runs fast, and packs a 90Hz display for an astoundingly low price.
We recommend you spend a little extra for more RAM than the base 4GB, but otherwise the 7 offers up strong performance, packed into an attractive design at an affordable price.
The cameras could be better too, but beyond that, there’s not much to complain about here.
The Realme 8 has launched since, but for the moment isn’t available in the UK, so the 7 is still the model to go for.
Read our full Realme 7 review
4. Realme X50 Pro – Best for flagship fans
Realme’s first 5G flagship (and second-ever flagship phone) is an impressively affordable device that doesn’t skimp on high-end specs and features.
The Realme X50 Pro forgoes aspects like IP water resistance and a thin body but in return sports the powerful Snapdragon 865 chipset, 5G, up to 12GB of RAM, fast UFS 3.0 storage and blisteringly-fast 65W ‘SuperDart’ fast charging, which delivers 60% charge in just 15 minutes and a full charge in only 35.
Best of all, the X50 Pro costs nearly half that of most top-tier Android flagships on the market.
Read our full Realme X50 Pro review
5. Realme 7 5G – Best for cheap 5G
Don’t mistake the Realme 7 5G as a repeat of the standard model with a 5G modem tacked on. While it shares a near-identical camera setup, practically everything else – from the processor to the display – has been overhauled.
A 120Hz LCD, a huge 5000mAh battery with 30W ‘Dash Charge’ fast charging and the first phone to boast MediaTek’s Dimensity 800U chipset make this an impressively powerful and affordable mid-ranger, and one of the cheapest 5G phones around from any manufacturer.
Read our full Realme 7 5G review
6. Realme 7 Pro – Best for cheap fast charging
Sure, the Realme 7 Pro is a little pricier than its regular sibling, but it’s not as simple as saying it’s an upgrade in all areas.
The 60Hz display and 4500mAh battery are inferior on paper, while the Full HD screen’s resolution is exactly the same. However, it’s a stunning OLED panel as opposed to LCD, while the improved power efficiency means battery life is streets ahead.
65W fast charging is a joy to behold (and is in fact faster than the newer 8 Pro’s 50W speeds), while the Snapdragon 720G processor delivers significant performance improvements over the standard model too.
Buy this over the 8 Pro if faster charging matters to you more than a high-performance camera.
Read our full Realme 7 Pro review
7. Realme X3 SuperZoom – Best zoom
As the name implies, the Realme X3 SuperZoom gets its name from an impressively versatile camera setup – one that you simply wouldn’t expect to find at this price point.
It arguably offers the most capable camera experience of any Realme phone and debuted an enhanced Night mode that’s comfortable in the same space as titans like Google’s Pixel phones.
It also relies on former flagship-class hardware in its Snapdragon 855+ chip, sports 30W fast charging and totes a super-smooth 120Hz high refresh rate display, to boot.
Read our full Realme X3 SuperZoom review
8. Realme 6 – Best bargain
While it may have been superseded by the Realme 7 and now 8, the Realme 6 is still one of the best budget phones on the market.
It’s slightly chunky size won’t be for everyone aside from its successor you’ll struggle to find a 90Hz display at this price, not to mention it also comes with decent cameras, speedy performance and solid battery life.
There’s very little to dislike, especially when you can now get it for even less than its already-competitive RRP.
Read our full Realme 6 review
9. Realme 6 Pro – Best for bold design
The Realme 6 Pro’s 90Hz refresh rate is very much the star of the show – to see it on such a budget-friendly option was surprising when it launched, and it’s still unusual at this price.
It sports a cool light-refracting rear that shimmers in the shape of a thunderbolt, it runs smoothly and the six cameras split across the front and rear are more than enough for the everyday consumer, even if the lens performance does vary.
Throw in features like a side-mounted fingerprint reader, 30W fast charging that provides around 65% battery in half an hour, and the latest connectivity options – except 5G – and you’ve got a great smartphone at a fraction of the cost of a flagship.
Read our full Realme 6 Pro review
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