Realme has been lightning-quick with its P-series updates. Less than a year since its inception, we are already on the third generation model.
But, this Realme P3 Pro is actually impressive for the price. It starts at ₹23,999 for the base 8GB+128GB variant, but you can get it for ₹21,999 with launch offers.
Realme P3 Pro Design, Display & Audio
In fact, value for money hasn't been Realme’s forte of late, but the P3 Pro completely changes that.
You can actually call it the Realme 14 Pro+ Lite, if that makes sense.
Okay, so the moment I unboxed the P3 Pro, it was obvious that it shares almost every design cue with the Realme 14 Pro+. From the dimensions to the button layout and even the subtle curves on the front and rear, both devices look like twins.
This is pretty awesome, since you are essentially getting the quality in-hand feel of the 14 Pro+, but at a more affordable price point. The P3 Pro is probably the best built smartphone in its segment despite being made of plastic.
Obviously, the camera island is different, because there isn’t much emphasis on cameras on this thing, but we’ll talk about that later.
So, the 14 Pro+ launched with a silly party trick, where putting it in icy water changed its rear pattern. Well, the P3 Pro also has a bespoke trick of its own.
This Nebular Glow colourway absorbs UV light and glows at night with this trippy texture. Realme says it mimics ultraviolet light interacting with oxygen atoms in space.
I'm not sure about the space part, but yeah, it looks super psychedelic.
If this is too much for you then worry not, because subtler colour options are on offer as well.
The P3 Pro is quite durable too: it features Gorilla Glass 7i protection on its display and offers up to an IP69 rating for water and dust resistance.
Let’s move onto the display now, which is quite great as well. By the way, this is also the same display as the Realme 14 Pro+.
So, you get a 6.83-inch AMOLED panel which is quad micro-curved. You also get symmetrical bezels which is quite a big deal on an affordable smartphone like this one.
The display also has a 120Hz refresh rate, but its implementation isn’t particularly good because even after forcing 120Hz, some apps still ran on 90 or 60Hz.
Anyway, this display has a good enough HBM brightness of 1200 nits. Plus, it is also HDR10 and Widewine L1 certified.
Adding to the multimedia experience are dual stereo speakers. They’re quite loud and offer decent bass, but the top end can sound harsh at high volumes. I suggest capping it at around 70% for the best audio balance.
Realme P3 Pro Performance & Software
Let’s now talk about this phone’s performance. This phone is powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip, which, as you’ve guessed it, is also used on the Realme 14 Pro+. It is not a very powerful chip for the 14 Pro+, but it’s quite great for the P3 Pro’s segment.
It managed to score 8.3 lakh points on Antutu. Its CPU’s stability performance is also pretty impressive when put under stress.
The 7s Gen 3 is perfectly capable of playing BGMI at 90fps. But best of all, we noticed no frame drops or overheating during our 30 minute gaming session. You can also bypass charging to keep temperatures in check while gaming.
On the software front, there is Realme UI 6 built on top of Android 15. Typical of most Realme phones, there are loads of pre-installed apps here, and those infamous hot apps & games folders too.
However, as a whole, the UI is pretty smooth to navigate by segment standards, which is aided by UFS 3.1 storage.
The haptics on this device are also quite impressive for the price, which make typing and scrolling quite enjoyable.
Realme UI 6 has some pretty useful AI features as well, especially for photo editing and writing in the notes app.
You also have a handy AI language translator here.
Realme P3 Pro Cameras
Alright, it’s time to shift focus on the camera system, which in fact is the only major area where the P3 Pro differs from the Realme 14 Pro+.
It does not get ultrawide and telephoto sensors: the three cutouts you see in the camera island include a flash, a 50MP primary sensor, plus a fairly pointless 2MP depth sensor.
The good news is that the primary sensor is the same IMX896 with OIS as seen on the Realme 14 Pro+. There’s HyperImage+ post processing too.
Please watch the video for photo & video samples.
I was thoroughly impressed by this camera’s detail retention and dynamic range across multiple scenarios. There’s also a portrait mode with good bokeh drop off and edge detection, but colours do appear muted in this mode. Night time shots also turn out to be great for a mid-range smartphone.
This sensor can take 4K 30fps videos as well, but there’s literally no stabilization at 4K. Details remain quite decent though.
Selfies from the 16MP front camera are quite impressive in terms of sharpness and skin tones.
Realme P3 Pro Battery & Charging
Moving on, this smartphone has a huge 6,000mAh battery, which ensures that you’ll get around 9 hours of screen time with medium use, which is fantastic.
To top it off, the P3 Pro also supports quick 80W fast charging and comes with a bundled adaptor as well.
Realme P3 Pro Review
The Realme P3 Pro is definitely one of the most impressive launches of this year because it does most of the things right, while feeling more expensive than what it really is.
Sure, not having an ultrawide camera is definitely a major drawback.
Still, if you’re on a hunt for a mid-range smartphone that punches above its weight, look no further.
