Oct 17, 2020 06:22 PM
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(Updated Oct 19, 2020 10:19 AM)
Realme introduced the second generation of its'Narzo' lineup earlier this month when it launched Realme Narzo 20 Pro and Narzo 20. Whereas earlier the price of having more'premium' devices in this lineup was above Rs 15, 000. The latter came north of the Rs 10, 000 mark. Sticking to the previously established lineup nomenclature from Realme, it also features the Realme Narzo 20A - a sub-Rs 10, 000 smartphone that promises a good smartphone usage experience at an introductory price range of Rs 8, 499.
At this price, Realme Narzo 20A features Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC, 6.5-inch HD+ display, 3 / 4GB RAM, 32 / 64GB internal storage, 12MP triple rear camera, 8MP camera, 5, 000mAh battery and support. For single-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5. With such specifications, and at this price, the Realme Narzo 20A Square competes with Xiaomi's Redmi 9i / 9A, Samsung Galaxy M01 and Infinix and other phones of the likes of Realme Does. Given how competitive the place is, should it really catch your attention?
Design, ergonomics: SLEEK and NEAT
The first thing that tells any buyer about the phone is its design, and on first impressions, the Realme Narzo 20A gives a monotonous pose with its smooth textured rear finish. The plastic back panel has a minimal, V-shaped texture, with a vertically aligned triple rear camera module surrounded by metal trim, and is accompanied by a physical fingerprint scanner. As we noted in our review of the Narzo 20, the fingerprint sensor of the Narzo 20A is placed slightly higher than the back panel, making it difficult for people with large palms to reach even. The power / unlock button on the right, and the two volume keys on the left are also placed very high, especially if you have small hands.
However, the overall layout is quite ergonomic. The speaker is placed on the right side of the microUSB charging port at the bottom, which ensures that you don't end up blocking it with your palms while streaming video or gaming. To the left of the charging port is a 3.5mm audio port, which is a good thing. The 8.9mm thickness ensures that the Narjo 20A looks and feels sleek to hold, despite the large, 5, 000mAh battery. At 195 grams, the Narzo 20A is not very light, but the overall phone does not feel heavy. If there is anything to feel and feel by hand, the Narzo 20A ticks from the right checkbox from the start.
Performance:
On the display you get Corning 6.5 inches with a 20 inch: 9 aspect ratio, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection on the display. It has a thick chin which thankfully does not interrupt the flow of the overall design - even with water marks on the front. The overall display can be bright enough to see the material under direct sunlight, which is a boon. It looks similar to the performance of the Narzo 20 in terms of contrast levels and color depth, and also the issue of slight color changes when viewed from an angle.
That said, Realme UI 1.0 gives you the option to tweak the color balance, allowing you to increase saturation and it helps improve overall content quality. This is a performance that gets the job done, but the Narzo 20A gets none of Realme's fast refresh rate paraphilia. Given its price, it makes sense.
Performance: Results Big Time
It is actually the performance of Realme Narzo 20A that surprised us, but not in a good way. Despite being a mid-range SoC, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 is expected to be sufficiently fast as an overall performer, but the Narzo 20A shows a significant amount of lag even with lighter functions. The resulting UI seems sluggish, and switching applications such as Twitter to Gmail makes the phone seem stressful.
Heavier games such as Asphalt 9: Legends and Real Cricket 20, which are graphically intense, all represent the same story when it comes to the real-world performance of the Narjo 20A. There are a lot of intermittent pauses and screen tears, which make this kind of game a game because you have to bear with the lag in the processing of graphics. This is a big surprise, as with Snapdragon 665 SoC and 4GB of RAM on paper, the Narzo 20A is expected to be one of the better-performing budget smartphones in the market. However, this is not the case.
There are obvious gaps that show you operate routine tasks such as the default camera app, and switching between navigation, messaging, and email apps quickly slows down markedly. It is the performance aspect that can actually be really complete, which in turn would have given it a significant edge against its rivals. However, even for a budget smartphone priced below Rs 10, 000, the Realme Narzo 20A does not qualify as an especially smooth device.
