Realme – a smartphone brand that debuted in India as an online-only OPPO sub-brand – and later became independent, has launched a total of four smartphones in the country – Realme 1, Realme 2, Realme 2 Pro, and the Realme C1.  Well now, as earlier announced, Realme has launched a new smartphone in India under its new ‘U’ series – the Realme U1.

Realme has announced its new ‘U’ series, and the first smartphone that’s been launched under this new series is the Realme U1. However, the Realme U1 is not just the first smartphone launched under the new ‘U’ series, but is also the world’s first smartphone that’s powered by MediaTek’s Helio P70 SoC.

The Helio P70 is an octa-core processor which consists of four Cortex-A73 cores and four Cortex-A53 cores. The P70 is backed by Mali-G72 MP3 GPU to handle graphically intensive tasks like gaming and photo editing. The P70 is further paired with 3 GB RAM, however, there’s one more variant of the U1 that comes with 4 GB RAM.

The 3 GB RAM variant of the Realme U1 comes with 32 GB of internal storage, whereas the 4 GB RAM variant comes with 64 GB of storage. However, you also have the option to further expand the storage up to 256 GB via microSD card. In fact, the smartphone comes with a dedicated slot for microSD card which means you can insert two SIM cards and a microSD card at the same time inside the smartphone.

That said, the Realme U1 looks very much the same as the Realme 2 Pro. It flaunts a 6.3-inch display having the same waterdrop-shaped notch that we have on the Realme 2 Pro. Besides, the back of the U1 also has a glossy finish, with the dual cameras placed in the top-left corner, and the fingerprint scanner placed in the center.

The 6.3-inch display on the Realme U1 has aspect ratio of 19.5:9 and a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. This helps the smartphone achieve a screen-to-body ratio of 90.8%. And yes, the display on the smartphone is also covered with 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3.

The Realme U1 is a selfie-centric smartphone that’s been touted as “India’s SelfiePro” by the company on social media. Hence, the smartphone rocks a 25 MP Sony IMX576 camera on the front which comes with f/2.0 aperture. For regular photos, there’s a dual camera setup at the back which includes one 13 MP camera and one 2 MP camera – the former having f/2.2 aperture and the latter having f/2.4 aperture.

The front camera comes with features like Night-Shot Brightness, Multi-Frame Noise Reduction, Hybrid HDR, Real-time Bokeh Preview, Real-time Beautification, and AI Beauty+, whereas, the rear cameras come with features like 90 FPS Slow-Motion video recording, Studio Portrait Lighting, Bokeh Effect, and AI Scene Detection.

Lastly, the smartphone runs ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo, comes in three colors, and ships with a 3500 mAh battery that keeps the lights on.

Having said that, alongside launching the Realme U1, Realme also launched Realme U1 Iconic Case and Realme Buds – both of which are priced at ₹499.

Realme U1 Specifications

• CPU: 2.1 GHz Helio P70 octa-core processor
• RAM: 3/4 GB
• GPU: Mali-G72 MP3
• Operating System: ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo
• Display: 6.3-inch Full-HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) IPS LCD 19.5:9 display with 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 and 409 ppi pixel density
• Rear Camera: 13 MP (f/2.2 aperture) + 2 MP (f/2.4 aperture) with 90 FPS Slow-Motion video recording, Studio Portrait Lighting, Bokeh Effect, AI Scene Detection and LED flash
• Front Camera: 25 MP (Sony IMX576) with f/2.0 aperture, 1.8μm pixel size, 4-in-1 pixels, Night-Shot Brightness, Multi-Frame Noise Reduction, Hybrid HDR, Real-time Bokeh Preview, Real-time Beautification and AI Beauty+
• Internal Storage: 32 GB (with 3 GB RAM), 64 GB (with 4 GB RAM)
• External Storage: Expandable up to 256 GB via microSD card (dedicated slot)
• SIM: Dual
• Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 3.5 mm headphone jack, USB OTG, micro USB
• Other: Fingerprint Scanner, AI Face Unlock
• Colors: Ambitious Black, Brave Blue, Fiery Gold
• Battery: 3500 mAh (bundled with 10W adapter)

Realme U1 Price in India and Availability

• Price of 3 GB RAM + 32 GB storage variant: ₹11,999
• Price of 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage variant: ₹14,499
• Availability: Available exclusively on Amazon India. First sale on December 5 at 12 pm.

Realme U1 Offers

• 5% cashback on purchases through SBI cards
• No-cost EMI
• Benefits of ₹5750 and up to 4.2 Terabyte 4G data from Reliance Jio