Bucket Tech: realme Business Update for SA

Last week I was invited to the Durban leg of the realme Buisness update for South Africa, at the event I got a chance to meet the South African team and learn about the hard work they've been putting into the brand over the last 9 months. Just some background on the brand as it is pretty new to the country, realme was founded in 2018 by Li Bingzhong, who was the former vice president of Oppo, the brand originally started as a sub-brand of Oppo eventually ventured as its own brand but the devices are still manufactured at the shared plant in China. Marketed as a phone for the youth, realme brand commitment is to offer mobile phones with powerful performance, stylish designs and sincere services to its users and judging by their products and pricing, they're keeping up to their promises. 

Country manager Jace Chen led the introductions, given us insight into the brand and how far they've come since being a sub brand of a larger manufacturer. The brand is one of the fasting emerging mobile brands worldwide with it being in over 200 markets, with over 200 million users and in its short stint in South Africa they have also seen this trend follow. The brand also works closely with SA's three largest mobile operators to ensure the best deals are being offered on their devices, with some bundle options for select products too.

Gareth Clarke, realme Account lead for South Africa dropped some insightful figures during his presentation, to date, realme have sold over 20,000 devices in the 9 months they have been available in the country. realme product segment range expands over 4 offerings with for now, just the C series which has been available the longest being on the market and now the introduction of the Note and the Number series which I got a hands on experience with at the event. 

“realme is committed to empowering South African youth to be more daring through leap-forward technology and design,” says Gareth Clarke, realme Account Lead for SA. “The combination of high-end features and accessible pricing in the new realme 12 Series embodies our goal of delivering compelling value propositions for the midrange smartphone market.”

realme 12+ 5G: Premium photography and luxury design that you can afford

realme 12+ 5G is equipped with Sony's Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and a 50MP Sony LYT-600 sensor to deliver stable, low-noise images under all conditions. The 2X in-sensor zoom ensures a high-quality picture from any distance. realme 12+ 5G includes a 112° ultra-wide camera, micro camera and a 16MP HD selfie camera for all your photographic needs.

Designed for ease of use, realme 12+ 5G features the new Snap Portrait System, an innovative system for capturing quick shots. realme has collaborated with Oscar-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda for the creation of three photo enhancement filters drawing inspiration from his award-winning films ‘Life of Pi,’ ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’

realme 12+ 5G is one of the only smartphones to incorporate premium vegan leather, chosen to enhance both design and ergonomic comfort. This high-end material is 10% softer than previous generations and is more dirt-resistant, lightweight, and perfectly balanced for long-term comfort in smartphone use.

Packing a powerful punch

realme 12+ 5G packs the powerful MediaTek Dimensity 7050 5G processor, featuring an 8-core 64-bit CPU. An innovative cooling solution boosts efficiency and prevents overheating during intensive tasks like gaming and multitasking. Ultra-low power consumption ensures extended usage, making realme 12+ 5G an exceptional choice for users seeking power and endurance.

The 120Hz ultra-smooth AMOLED display is enhanced with advanced features like Rainwater Smart Touch. This technology distinguishes between unintentional water touches and actual finger input. The Sunlight Screen feature employs pixel-level dynamic contrast adjustment and backlight control to improve readability under intense sunlight.

The device's sleek 190g ultra-thin body houses a substantial 5000mAh battery, supporting all day use. Combined with the 67W SUPERVOOC charging, it ensures a full charge in just 48 minutes. Adding to its impressive features are the dual stereo speakers, high-res audio certification which provides an immersive audio experience. The realme 12+ comes with 512GB storage and 12GB of onboard RAM, along with the ability to expand the Dynamic RAM all the way up to a massive 24GB of RAM.

realme 12 5G: 108MP Ultra-Clear Portrait Master with outstanding performance

The realme 12 5G is equipped with a 108MP 3X Zoom primary camera that delivers exceptional image clarity. Its standout feature is the FHD+ Sunlight Display, boasting a 16.7 million colour spectrum and a 2400 X 1080 resolution. The display's peak brightness of up to 950nit ensures clear visibility under any lighting condition.

Additionally, an 8MP selfie camera provides versatile shooting modes, including support for 1080P/30fps video recording. Echoing the luxury watch-inspired design of realme 12+ 5G, realme 12 5G comes in two trendy colours: Woodland Green and Twilight Purple. Beyond its aesthetics, it packs a powerful punch with the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ 5G chipset.

Achieving great efficiency with its low power consumption, realme 12 5G is supported by a 5000mAh battery and 45W SUPERVOOC charging. Users enjoy prolonged usage without concerns about battery life, storage limitations, or performance drops, redefining expectations from a mid-range smartphone.

Bucket Tech: realme C51

realme, the world’s fastest-growing smartphone brand, has debuted the C51 into the South African market. The device is aimed at young people who desire trendy devices that reflect their vibrancy and style. 

The arrival of the C51 in South Africa is part of realme’s ongoing bid to offer devices that combine premium specs, quality, and trendsetting design at an affordable price. 

We are excited to bring variety to this segment of the South African smartphone market, says Gareth Clarke, realme’s Account Lead. We understand their needs and know they are looking for a device that meets their camera and multimedia storage needs while being affordable and aesthetically pleasing. 

The C51 makes screentime a joy 

For a market that optimises screen time and multitasks between social scrolling, streaming, work, and studying, the C51 boasts a 6.7'' screen and a 90 Hz refresh rate. This creates a superlative visual experience when consuming content, while its brilliant 560 nits of brightness enables users to view it without difficulty outdoors.

The screentime matches performance with the C51’s 8GB of dynamic memory, which gives it smoother performance and the ability to switch between apps seamlessly.

Always charged up and ready to go 

A fully charged battery is a flex in the era of load-shedding. The C51 answers this need in two ways; firstly, it boasts a massive 5000mAh battery that can see users through 37 hours of phone calling or 81 hours of music playback on a single charge. 

Secondly, it comes with realme’s 33W SUPERVOOC charging, which can provide users with a 50% charge in just under half an hour of charging time. This is the fastest charging on a device in this price range.   

Storage made for multimedia 

TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or Netflix downloads demand more and more storage. Today's users can never have too much of it.  They constantly seek ways to accommodate their growing multimedia needs, making the availability of storage a paramount concern. The C51 bucks the trend, even amongst the most expensive devices, of limiting users to onboard storage only by offering users the largest expandable memory on a smartphone.

Unlike many premium devices, the C51 smartphone confines users to a fixed amount of onboard storage, boldly defying this convention by presenting an unprecedented solution: the inclusion of the most expandable memory ever seen in a smartphone. 

By granting users the ability to augment their device's storage through expandable memory options significantly, the C51 addresses a pivotal demand within the tech-savvy youth. This innovation acknowledges the user's insatiable appetite for data storage and ushers in a new standard of flexibility and adaptability in smartphone technology.

Thanks to the triple card slot, which accommodates two SIM cards and a microSD card, users can effortlessly expand their storage capacity by a whopping 2 TB. This means that if users had to download a 250MB  video at 720p daily, it would take them 22 years before running out of space on the C51.  

Camera considerations

For any modern-day smartphone, the strength of its camera system is essential. With this in mind, the C51 packs a 50-megapixel primary camera that can capture 1080p video at 30 fps, while its front-facing 5-megapixel selfie camera can shoot 720p videos at 30 fps.  

Aesthetic appeal

The C51 is stunning, featuring glittering glass powder, making it look like it is sparkling, reminiscent of a star-filled night sky when exposed to strong light. This is accentuated by two different textures for a glamorous and head-turning aesthetic.

Just as important is ergonomics, with the C51 having a right-angle bezel, enabling it to stand upright on a flat surface, and a C-angle design, ensuring a comfortable grip without any sharp edges cutting into one's palm. 

"Following on from our C55 and C30s launched earlier this year, the C51 continues our commitment to revolutionising the high spec and low-cost market in South Africa by offering affordable devices with high-end, premium specifications," says realme’s Clarke. 

The C51 is available from R 3999 or R 219 per month at MTN, Vodacom and other retailers.