Friends+Design
- Classy, eye-catching design - identical to the Realme 2 Pro
- The light pillars (as Realme likes to call the reflective pattern on the back) on the Realme U1 make it look stunning in different lighting conditions
- Attractive color options
- Light-weight
- Comfortable grip and in-hand feel - it’s also slightly thinner than the 2 Pro and that makes a considerable difference in daily use
- Nice, responsive fingerprint sensor
- Fast, snappy Face unlock (it's even a tad quicker than the OnePlus 6’s Face unlock)
- Body attracts smudges easily
Display
- Very good display - one of the best in this segment - with the tiny dewdrop notch - it's a 6.3-inch Full-HD+ LTPS IPS display, with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and an impressive 90.8% screen-to-body ratio - the color reproduction is on point, the display gets quite bright in indoor conditions and holds up quite well in direct sunlight as well - it's only slightly behind the excellent display on the Realme 2 Pro
Software
- ColorOS is iOS inspired and packs a number of ad-on features (including the Smart Assistant and Smart Sidebar, along with Kids Space, Voice Call Effects, and many others)
- Supports gesture-based navigation (though it can sometimes be a bit buggy - hopefully that will resolve with software updates)
- There is plenty of app bloat - as if often the case with custom Android UIs
- There is no notification LED and ColorOS is typically never in the mood to surface the latest notifications as they come in
- On the whole, software continues to be the one area where Realme phones tend to fall behind the best in the business (the stock Android UI of Nokia's phones, or MIUI of Xiaomi phones tend to be a much better experience)
Performance
- Snappy performance backed by the new Helio P70 chipset which offers performance similar to the Snapdragon 660 - it smoothly handles anything you throw at it with no lag or stutter in sight
- Realme U1 also comes packed with the Realme Game Space and it comes in handy for freeing up the memory to run games smoothly, while also muting app and call notifications so as not to hinder your gaming experience
Camera
- Decent dual rear camera setup - especially in broad daylight, the Realme U1 performs well and can give some really good images - the device is quick to focus and manages to capture details and shadows right
- Excellent selfie camera - is especially good at capturing details - and has a good portrait mode too
- It also comes with portrait lighting effects – similar to iPhones (but of course not as good) - there are also some cute AR face stickers
- No 4K video recording, and only average overall video recording performance, with no stabilisation
- In low light, the performance of both the rear and front camera is average
- Overall, while the front camera is excellent and does better than Realme's sister phone, the Realme 2 Pro, the rear camera setup (for both photos and videos) is a notch below the best camera phones of this segment - the Redmi Note 6 Pro, and the Realme 2 Pro
Audio
- Decent, loud, bottom-firing speaker
Battery
- Good battery life with a 3500mAh battery on board - lasts about 1 and a half days with moderate use
Verdict
- The Realme U1 is another winner from the Realme camp - and will likely dominate this price segment along with the Redmi Note 6 Pro (better camera, better software, but bigger display notch and bigger chin), and Realme 2 Pro (better rear camera but not as good selfie camera)
