Realme is expanding into the PC market with a laptop that has a lot in common with other offerings from China, offering high-end components at low cost.
In the few years that Realme has been in Spain, it has managed to gain a foothold in the competitive mid-range smartphone market, with models like the recent one; although it is also attacking the high ranges with models like the .
The Chinese brand has achieved such success thanks to a strategy that has proven to be winning: implementing high-end components in products with a price much lower than what we would expect. Whether it’s a very powerful processor, an amazing camera or a spectacular screen, all these phones usually have something that sets them apart from the competition.
For this reason, my interest skyrocketed when Realme announced that it would also launch laptops in Spain; and although the first generation has been hard to come by, now comes the Realme Book Prime, priced at 1,099 euros, a revision that smoothes out some rough edges of the original and follows the philosophy of smartphones.
A spectacular screen
In the same way as Realme mobiles, this Realme laptop has a component that makes it stand out from the rest of the alternatives that cost more or less the same: the screen. This is without a doubt the star of the device, and all we can say about it is praise, especially for what it costs.
We are facing a 2K resolution IPS panel, which boasts of covering the sRGB color gamut at 100%, and it shows. My experience has been very good, and although it has never been the best, only with an OLED panel could it be better; and in that case, we would probably be talking about several hundred euros more in price. The true comparison is in the panels used by laptops in this price range, and in that case I have to say that it is one of the best.
Color accuracy is high, and calibration is good; Although I would not recommend using this laptop for professional purposes, it can save us in specific cases. For the vast majority of users, it will be enough. The brightness is also another aspect that has surprised me, since it is usually the first thing that manufacturers sacrifice when they are on a tight budget; in this case, with peaks of 400 nits it has been enough to use it even in natural light, although again, it is not the best in this regard.
The 2160 x 1440 pixel resolution is good for the panel’s 14-inch size; that makes the sharpness noticeable, especially when rendering text. The 3:2 ratio of the screen also helps a lot. In other words, it’s taller than usual (screens are typically 16:9 aspect ratio), making it ideal for documents and web pages. However, if you are going to watch movies, keep in mind that you will not be able to escape from the black bars. Personally, I’m glad to see this screen ratio expanding beyond the high-end laptops we’re starting to see it on.
The screen bezels are also relatively thin, with Realme boasting a 90% screen-to-body ratio. That does not prevent there being a webcam, and where it should be, at the top. Unfortunately, it is not one of the best, although it supposedly has HD resolution in my tests the image has always shown a lot of ‘noise’ even with good lighting. It will do if you only need to make video calls occasionally, but if it’s your priority, I recommend buying a webcam separately. At least, the two integrated microphones have been able to pick up my voice well, even if the Vocplus AI noise reduction technology that they boast is not the best.
A familiar format, but quality
Overall, the build quality of the Realme Book Prime is good. It uses materials like aluminum and the design is attractive, but I can’t help but think that Realme still has a long way to go to distinguish itself from the rest.
For starters, it’s obvious that this laptop takes a lot of ‘inspirations’ from Apple’s MacBooks, with a color that tries to resemble ‘space gray’ (called ‘true gray’ here); in other countries, Realme offers a more original green color that, at least in the photos, looks nicer and that I would have liked to see here.
But the bad thing is not that it looks like the MacBook; after all, that is what users ask for. For me, the real ‘sin’ of this design is that it looks too similar to other laptops from China. When I opened it for the first time, the Huawei MateBooks came to mind, or the RedmiBooks that have not yet arrived in Spain.
There are few surprises and many components that I have seen before, such as the power button with integrated fingerprint reader; although it is very good and very useful, it looks exactly the same as used in other chinese laptops. I imagine that they will use the same providers, but some originality would be appreciated.
And although the use of aluminum is appreciated, we cannot forget that most of the laptop is made of plastic, something evident in the edges of the screen and in the lower part of the laptop. At least, it’s sturdier than I expected and it’s harder to bend if we apply force.
I have good things to say about the design. For example, that it is a very thin and light laptop; The first thing really surprised me, since I think Realme has achieved a somewhat lower thickness in this sector. Of course, for this it has had to sacrifice ports: we only have two USB-C on the left and one USB-A on the right (in addition to the audio jack). Charging is done through one of the USB-Cs with the included 65W charger, which is very small and light and will also serve to charge our smartphones with fast charging (such as Realme’s). The lack of variety of ports is compensated with the implementation of Thunderbolt 4 in USB-C, which will allow us to connect all kinds of accessories without problems and at high speeds. Still, in this price range I would have liked to see some more HDMI or USB-A ports.
the right power
Where perhaps Realme has sacrificed the most to achieve this format is in raw power. The Realme Book Prime can only be achieved with a processor, the Intel Core i5-11320H with 4 cores and 8 threads. That says it all: this is a very efficient processor, with which we could get up to 12 hours of battery life (a couple of hours less in my tests), but it doesn’t have much power or stands out in multitasking. In my tests, it has managed to measure up in all kinds of tasks, but it has not excelled at anything; for office tasks like using Microsoft Word, browsing the Internet and editing images it’s fine, but not for more. In gaming, the integrated Iris Xe graphics is undoubtedly better than Intel’s integrated graphics of the past, but that’s not saying much; you will be able to play old and undemanding titles, but little else, and it is advisable to lower the resolution because the native one is too high for the power it has.
It is the typical processor that will comply with everything we ask of it, but will not do anything particularly fast. By today’s standards, it’s fine, but I would have liked to see a bit more variety, like the ability to go for a Core i7 like its rivals offer for the same price. I suspect that Realme is still somewhat limited in terms of heat dissipation, given the slim thickness of the device. I do have to say that although the bottom of the laptop gets hot, the top stays cool and the fan is completely silent.
In general, I would have liked to see more configuration options. The only version available has 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage, so you’ll have to rely on external drives if you need to save a lot of high-resolution videos, for example.
Step by step
If, like me, you have been surprised by the advances that Realme has made in the smartphone sector, this Realme Book Prime may disappoint you a little. It does not represent the same revolution in the industry that mobile phones such as the Realme GT have brought about, and although it has strong points, others are somewhat more debatable.
I did not like anything that looks like a computer cut with a pattern, with few original elements; and I liked even less that we don’t have any option to customize the hardware. What you see is what you get, and if that fits your requirements, great; if not, you’ll have to look elsewhere. But we’re literally at the very beginning of Realme’s journey into laptops, so it’s hard for me to be harsh on this one. It seems that we are facing the first step of many, and that in the future we will see a greater variety of devices.
It really starts from a good base. Details such as the reduced thickness and weight are very commendable, and the screen is very good. I also see no problem using it as a laptop for study and work, thanks to the keyboard and huge touchpad it has.
As for alternatives to the Realme Book Prime, the most obvious is the , with a very similar price and hardware. The key to deciding between one and the other will be the price, since depending on the offers you find it can be cheaper or more expensive.
He is already available for 1,099 euros.
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