Does the smartphone giant “know how to play laptops”? We are testing Realme Book Prime [TOPtech]

DESIGN

When it comes to design, Realme focuses on minimalism and simplicity. The housing of the device is made of aluminum, and the frames surrounding the screen are narrow, thanks to which the laptop looks elegant and stylish. In addition to the standard gray version, a green model is also available and it must be admitted that it attracts attention.

Just above the keyboard there is a button for turning on and sleeping the laptop, which also functions as a fingerprint reader. The scanner works fine, although I would definitely prefer to log into the device using the built-in webcam and Windows Hello function.

Realme Book Prime is a slim and light laptop. The device weighs less than one and a half kilograms and is only 14.9 millimeters thick. The equipment can easily fit into a small backpack.

As for the available ports, we find a standard set here: two USB Type-C ports compatible with the Thunderbolt 4 standard, one USB-A port, and a headphone output. I would not be offended if Realme added an additional USB-A port and a memory card reader to it.

DISPLAY

The Realme laptop is equipped with a 2K screen with a diagonal of 14 inches and a 3: 2 aspect ratio, which is additionally covered with Corning Gorilla Glass. The manufacturer used an IPS matrix, which is characterized by very good viewing angles and excellent color reproduction with sRGB color coverage at 100 percent.

The maximum brightness of up to 400 nits is also good. It is a bit worse with contrast and black, although this is the problem of most laptops with IPS matrices.

It is worth adding that it is not a touch display, but personally I did not miss this function. Perhaps this is because Windows is not, and has never been, a system designed for touch, and no spells from Microsoft will change that.

It is a pity, however, that Realme Book Prime does not offer a slightly higher screen refresh rate of 120 or at least 90 Hz. However, I am aware that this would affect the price of the device.

PERFORMANCE

Realme Book Prime is a device more efficient than its predecessor. All thanks to the new Intel Core i5-11320H. In the Cinebench benchmark, this chip scored 5,206 points in the single-core test and 1,424 points in the multi-core test, which is a very good result considering that we are talking about mobile equipment.

The processor is complemented by the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics chip, which will easily handle 4K content playback and Photoshop support, but will not allow us to play newer titles or design in a 3D environment. We also have 16 GB of fast RAM and a 512 GB NVMe SSD drive.

I was positively surprised by the fact that the laptop casing does not heat up even when the processor is under heavy load. This is undoubtedly due to two heat pipe systems and two fans that ensure adequate air flow.

KEYBOARD AND TOUCHPAD

I will tell you straight. I didn’t love the keyboard in Realme Book Prime. Personally, I appreciate more keys with a slightly higher pitch, but of course it is a matter of taste. The keyboard offers three levels of backlight, so typing in the dark won’t be a problem

The touchpad surprised me positively. Using it is very convenient and comfortable, which in the case of laptops with Windows is not a market standard at all.

BATTERY

Realme Book Prime has a 54 watt-hour battery. During my standard working day, the laptop lasted for about 6 hours on a single battery charge, which is not bad, but not great. Importantly, in the box with the device we find a 65W charger, thanks to which the battery can be charged from 0 to 50 percent in just 30 minutes.

SUMMARY

Realme Book Prime is another very successful laptop from a company that we have previously associated mainly with smartphones. The design of the device, the excellent IPS 2K screen and the efficient 11th generation Intel i5 chip make a positive impression. In all of this, I only lacked a variable refresh rate for the display and a slightly larger number of available ports.

And the fundamental issue: the price. On the day of the premiere, the laptop was valued at 4.5 thousand. PLN, which seemed to be an amount more or less adequate to its capabilities. Now, however, Realme has reduced the price of the device by PLN 1,000, which makes it immediately one of the best-priced ultrabooks on the market.