Oppo Realme 2 review

Introduction

The biggest mistake anyone could make is to think of the Realme 2 as a sequel to the Realme 1. It's not. Despite what the model name implies, the Realme 2 is more of an alter ego came to be than a successor to the popular Realme 1.
Oppo has hit the jackpot with the Realme 1 in India - a powerful smartphone with cool design and features, which is priced unbelievably low at INR 8,990. And now it's time for the trendy addition to the affordable series - the Realme 2.
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The slogan chosen for the Realme 2 PR campaign is A Notch Above, rather obvious, isn't it? Indeed, the notched screen is the trendiest of trends today and makers are racing to launch phones with notches. We have our doubts about these aesthetics, but there is the Realme 1 if you are not into them notches.
Realme 1 and Realme 2 The camera on the back got a trendy upgrade as well - there is now a secondary shooter on the back to relay some helpful depth information for high-res portrait shots. Finally, a huge battery lies beneath all that diamond beauty - a 4,230 mAh unit.
A few cuts had to be made, of course, to keep the price the same. The screen is now of lower 720p resolution, and there is a less powerful chipset - the Snapdragon 450 - but the combination of the two should allow a similar performance to the Realme 1 with its Helio P60 and 1080p screen.

Oppo Realme 2 Specs

• Body: Plastic body; 165.5 x 75.6 x 8.2mm; 168 grams
• Screen: 6.2-inch, 19:9, HD+, IPS LCD
• Rear Camera: Primary 13MP, f/2.2 lens; Secondary 2MP - serving as depth sensor; LED flash; 1080p@30fps video recording
• Front Camera: 8MP, f/2.2; 1080p@30fps video recording
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 - octa-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, Adreno 506 GPU
• Memory: 3/4GB RAM, 32/64GB, dedicated microSD slot for up to 256GB expansion
• OS: Android 8.1 Oreo; ColorOS 5.1 on top
• Battery: 4,230mAh
• Connectivity: Dual SIM (4G), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi b/g/n, microUSB 2.0
• Misc: rear-mounted fingerprint scanner

It was only three months ago that we reviewed the Realme 1 and found it to be worthy of every single penny (or rupee in this case). It offered unmatched bang for buck ratio and on top of that - it was beautiful.
Today, the Realme 2 arrives as an equally intriguing product, as it brings some of the hottest trends on the market on a downright bargain price - a notched screen, a dual-camera, and a massive battery. And it doesn't skimp on the fingerprint reader. But will it live to the Realme 1 glory? That's what we'll explore on the following pages.

Unboxing the Realme 2

The Realme 2 retail bundle is the same as the Realme 1's - a microUSB cable, a 10W charger, and a soft transparent case.
Oppo isn't providing a headset, but the Realme 2 has a 3.5mm audio port so you can use your favorite pair of headphones.

Design

The diamond-like geometric pattern might have failed to catch on back in 2015 with the Oppo R1x, but today it's finally the head-turner it was designed to be. The Realme 1 is available in three colors, and the Diamond Black is the one with the cool effect. But the Realme 2 fully embraces the glamorous shapes and is all-in with Diamond Red, Diamond Blue and Diamond Black options.
Realme 2 in Diamond Black and Diamond Red The Realme 2 is as plastic as the Realme 1. Oppo's PR is neatly masking this behind the nanoscale composite description for the material. We are not denying them the achievement - the back is stunning, unique and memorable, but it's still scratch-prone plastic. So, without robbing Oppo of their efforts - the Realme 2 has a back that is both premium and cheap at the same time. How about that?!
The frame was also made of plastic, but still rather nicely looking. Its curvy shape though isn't helping the grip - the Realme 2 is as slippery as it looks. And with the fact that the materials are very scratch and fingerprint-prone, it's thoughtful of Oppo to bundle a transparent yet grippy case with the phone.
While we are still talking about that shiny back, let's mention the two new additions here - the secondary 2MP camera for depth sensing and the fingerprint sensor. The latter is always-on and works flawlessly. We're glad to see its comeback as we missed it on the Realme 1.
Moving on to the front we are greeted by one of the season's favorite features - the notched screen. It's 6.2" in diagonal - 0.2" larger than the Realme 1's - but of lower 720p resolution. The top and bottom bezels have shrunk since the Realme 1 (notch excluded), and that's what made possible to fit a bigger screen in the same body.
Realme 1 and Realme 2 The notch houses all the necessities, as expected. The earpiece sits at the center, flanked by the 8MP selfies cam and a couple of sensors. The Realme 2 omits a notification LED if you were wondering.
There is nothing at the chin - the Realme 2 relies solely on onscreen navigation for its Android OS. You can opt for virtual keys, a gesture bar, or full-screen gesture navigation. More on that later.
As we mentioned the Realme 2 is as big as the Realme 1 even though it brings a bigger screen. The Realme 2 spreads at 156.2 x 75.6 x 8.2 mm and weighs 168g - a hair thicker and 13g heavier than the Realme 1, but let's not forget it has a much larger battery inside.
The Realme 2 has a single speaker at the bottom, next to the oldschool microUSB port. The speaker resides in a so-called all-in-one chamber made to highlight the mid-tones distinctive to the Indian music - or at least, that's what PR claims. There is also a 3.5mm audio port, a dying feature, unfortunately.

Realme 2

A cool feature of the Realme 2 is its tri-card slot. The thing easily accommodates two nano-SIMs and a microSD card - you don't need to choose or between two of these three.
The Realme 2 is as cool-looking as the Realme 1. The diamond-pattern is a unique shade even the most premium phones of the flagship breed don't have, and it alone can be the decision maker. But the Realme 2 also has a trendy notched screen, a dual-camera, and a fingerprint sensor on the back in addition to the stunning looks - all that at an unbelievably low price.

Display

Realme 2 has one of its coolest features at the front, and that is the notched screen with thinned bezels. It's 6.20" in diagonal and has a resolution of 720 x 1,520 pixels or 271ppi - not the ideal sharpness, but still quite usable. These specs make for a trendy 19:9 screen aspect ratio.
Oppo hasn't specified the type of glass used on the screen, so we'd advise keeping the factory-applied screen protector just to be on the safe side.
The Realme 2 display has a maximum brightness of 420 nits - not the brightest around, but we guess it's fine for the class. The black levels turned out quite deep, though, so the Realme 2 screen scored an excellent contrast ratio of 1437:1.
For those following our tests closely - the lower brightness we could achieve on the Realme 2 is 2.5 nits, which is dim enough for comfortable use in the dark.