Realme is coming to Malaysia in November

OPPO’s new budget focused sub-brand, Realme, is finally coming to Malaysia. The local launch is taking place next month and this could be a new challenger for honor and Xiaomi in the sub-RM1,000 smartphone segment.

So far Realme has not provided any specific launch dates for Malaysia but they did hint that you could get your hands on one in the coming weeks. According to Realme, Malaysia is their next focus market after they had launched in India and Indonesia. When they released the Realme 2 Series in India, they claimed to have sold 200,000 units in under 5 minutes, while in Indonesia, they had sold more than 15,000 units in 10 minutes.

During its Indonesian launch, they had introduced the Realme 2 Pro which is quite a solid mid-range smartphone. It has a 6.3″ Full HD+ display with a tiny “water drop” notch and it runs on a Snapdragon 660 processor with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage.

In the imaging department, it also gets a dual-camera setup consisting of a 16MP f/1.7 main camera and a secondary 2MP shooter for bokeh effects. As expected, there are AI enhancements for photography and the front also gets a 16MP f/2.0 selfie camera. Powering the device is a modest 3,500mAh battery which charges via microUSB.

Out of the box, it runs on Android 8.1 Oreo but it still has OPPO’s ColorOS 5.2 skin on top. In Indonesia, the Realme 2 Pro starts from 2,899,000IDR (about RM793) for 4GB RAM + 64GB storage while the top spec 8GB RAM + 128GB model is going for 3,699,000IDR (about RM1,012).

Going down a notch is the Realme 2 which offers a lower resolution 6.2″ HD+ display and an entry-level Snapdragon 450 processor. You also get a 13MP f/2.2 + 2MP main camera, a front facing 8MP selfie camera and a larger 4,230mAh battery. The Realme 2 is priced at 1,999,999IDR (about RM547) for the base 3GB RAM + 32GB storage model and 2,399,000IDR (about RM657).

For those with a tight budget, there’s the entry-level Realme C1 model that comes with a relatively large 6.2″ HD+ display. Under the hood, it also runs on Snapdragon 450 but you get just 2GB RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. The camera combo appears to be the same as the Realme 2 but you get a lower resolution 5MP f/2.2 selfie shooter. The battery is still quite generous at 4,230mAh battery. In the Indonesian market, the C1 is priced at 1,499,000IDR (about RM410) which is not too bad for an entry-level Snapdragon-powered smartphone that has a large battery.

It is likely that Realme will launch the 3 models mentioned above for our Malaysian market. The Realme 2 Pro appears to be a strong contender for Xiaomi’s Mi A2. It gets the same powerful Snapdragon 660 processor, a larger battery and you can get it with up to 8GB of RAM, which is probably the largest at the moment for a mid-range smartphone.

To learn more about the Realme 2 Pro, do check out our announcement and first impressions post.