When Xiaomi and Realme announced similar looking laptops around the same time, I was very intrigued. Both seemed to employ an Apple-esque design language and offered somewhat comparable specs, at least in the Rs 50,000-60,000 segment. While I did a detailed review of the Mi Notebook Ultra recently, I hadn’t until now got my hands on the Realme laptop to review and compare.
This has now been fixed, and I have been using this Realme Book Slim as my daily driver for a week now, and this is a very interesting machine indeed! It’s impossible to review the Realme Book without comparing it to its Xiaomi rival, so this review is inevitably as much about the pros and cons of the Realme as it is about how it compares to the Xiaomi.
The models
Unlike Xiaomi, Realme keeps the model options simple. There are two models. The cheaper one starts at an enticing Rs 46,999 and features an 11th Gen Core i3 processor, 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD. The pricier one – which I have with me for review – costs Rs 59,999 and features a Core i5, 8 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD.
It’s worth noting that both these models are regularly on sale for well below these list prices. I’ve seen the Core i3 model come in for as low as Rs 40,999, for instance.
The hardware
The Apple-inspired design is rock-solid with an aluminium chassis that is rigid and feels premium to hold and use, and finished in grey (although unlike the Xiaomi, the lid doesn’t open with one hand). There is also a blue colour option available. Again, let me reiterate my view that the lack of an original design is a pointless quibble, especially at this price range.
The screen is a tall 3:2 2160*1440 display with 400 nits peak brightness and 100 percent sRGB coverage. This is where we come to the first difference with Xiaomi. Realme has opted for a glossy display while the Xiaomi has a matte display. And despite the 100 nits advantage the Realme holds, in subjective terms, the screens appear equally bright.
The sharp, glossy screen on the Realme looks a touch more crisp and vivid for watching videos, while the matte screen on the Xiaomi is better for working when you have a backlight, because the Realme’s screen is quite reflective. Out in bright sunshine, the Realme’s screen is usable but just about, which is still a good step up from other laptops in this price range. I personally prefer matte screens, but that’s because I don’t do much video watching on my laptop.
At the end of the day, this will come down to personal preference, and you’ll be well served by both these displays. Out of the box colour calibration is a bit off on the display, but I could get a good colour profile simply by calibrating it by eyeball. I wouldn’t use this for colour-critical work without a proper calibration though. That apart, it’s a terrific display for most users and well ahead of its class in this price range.
The backlit keyboard has decent travel and is very fast to type on, although the key feedback is a bit more substantial on the Xiaomi laptop. While both are great keyboards to type on, I would pick the Xiaomi in a pinch. The vast trackpad works precisely but …….