Onion and Garlic. Yes, you read it right, realme has launched realme X variants called master editions, inspired by onion and garlic. We got our hands on the onion edition to find out if the phone looks as onion as it sounds. Did it make our eyes water? Read on…
Onion feels? Definitely
The onion edition of the realme X will not remind a lot of Indians of an onion, simply because we see a lot more of red onions than golden ones. So, do not get confused, they have indeed taken inspiration from the onion, only the golden one. The front of the realme X looks just like any other variant of the smartphone, the beautiful 6.53-inch full HD+ AMOLED edge to edge display stretches all the way to the sides and barely has any bezels around. The display also holds the in-display fingerprint scanner. It is on the back where the difference comes up. The back of the onion edition realme X comes with a golden peach color with a very unique color gradient. We have seen colours deepening or fading as they move from one side to another or from top to bottom but the onion edition brings all the onion feels to the table. Just as an onion has different layers and has thin, translucent lines on its peel, the peach-colored back of the phone also has white vertical line patterns that seemingly change in number and merge and fall apart when light falls on the back on certain angles. The frame of the phone also comes in peach-ish gold color.
The camera is placed on the top half of the phone with realme branding next to it along with the signature of renowned Japanese designer, Naoto Fukasawa. The camera unit is accented with the same peach-ish gold color as the frame, which is a nice touch. We had earlier received the polar white color variant of the phone which came with a beautiful gloss and light wavy pattern on the back. The frame of the phone was metal silver in color adding to its premium looks. The onion edition of the device lacks that gloss and for this reason, does not feel as premium as the regular edition of the phone, which to an extent defeats the purpose of its existence. That said, this edition is definitely different from most smartphones present in the market today and if bling is not your thing, then perhaps this can be a good option. The smartphone definitely stands out without being too aggressive or loud in terms of design. It measures the same as the regular variant sitting at 161.2 x 76 x 9.4 mm and weighs 191 grams but holds slightly better as compared to the basic unit thanks to the gentle matte finish that encases the back of the phone.
Different, but will not make premium eyes water
Apart from those startlingly different looks, there is not too much difference between the regular realme X variants and the realme X onion master edition. The phone comes with a 6.53 inch full HD+ AMOLED display. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor but unlike the regular variant that is available in 4 GB RAM option, the Master edition phones (onion and garlic) are available in 8 GB/ 128 GB variants only. The phone also carries the same cameras as the regular variant – a dual-camera setup on the back consisting of a 48-megapixel main sensor (Sony IMX586) with f/1.7 aperture and a supporting 5-megapixel camera with f/2.4 aperture. On the front, the phone comes with\ a 16 megapixel pop up camera with f/2.0 aperture that pops out of the top. The phone is equipped with a 3,765 mAh battery with support for VOOC Flash charge 3.0 at 20 W, with a fast charger inside the box. It runs on Android 9 (Pie) with a layer of ColorOS 6 on top of it. Connectivity options on the device include Dual-SIM support, USB Type-C port, 3.5 mm audio jack, Dual VoLTE 4G, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi. So you can be assured of the same high-class performance from the device that we got from the original.
But the Master Edition of the realme X is not really about a different level of performance, is it? It is about its appearance. And this is where a few doubts creep in. Let’s get one thing clear – there is no doubt that the Onion edition of the realme X looks good. It has a very unique back that we have not seen on any phone yet and the fact that the company has kept the bling a little down on this one, helps its cause in our book. That said, when it comes to sheer premiumness, we felt that that the Polar White variant of the device has a slight edge – perhaps the glossy finish and that chrome frame helped its cause. Adding to the problem is the name of the master variants. Onion and garlic might sound different, but do not necessarily scream “premium.” Indeed, if anything they sound a little weird in the context of a phone. Yes, the onion inspiration is reflected in the design of the smartphone but we do not think saying, “I have the onion edition of the realme X” adds to the premium factor of the phone. If someone had to make a smartphone inspired by the humble onion, this perhaps was the way to go because the device encapsulates the onion vibe very well. But we really do not know if we can really wrap our heads around a phone that is inspired by an onion of all things – the fact that the vegetable itself looks different in different parts of the world makes things confusing. Most people in India have not seen the golden onion the phone is inspired by, for instance (onions in India are mainly red). We really think the phone would have been better off without its vegetable-driven nomenclature.
Has realme mastered the onion in terms of design? Definitely. Now, all it has to do is make the onion sound like a premium vegetable.
