Realme X7-series India launch: Realme believes MediaTek Dimensity will open a horizon of experiences in performance

“MediaTek expects the first smartphones powered by the flagship MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ chip to launch early in 2021,” the Taiwanese chipset maker had announced at the recently concluded India Mobile Congress 2020. It was a little more specific about phones with the competent, more mass-market, Dimensity 800U chip. “The new premium smartphones (with Dimensity 800U) will be launched in January 2021 and will be one of the first MediaTek powered 5G smartphones available in India,” MediaTek had announced at the same forum. MediaTek did not reveal any smartphone vendor names though.

But even before these announcements, Oppo spin-off Realme had confirmed that it would–possibly–be one of the first brands to launch the new Dimensity-powered Realme X7-series in India in 2021. The Realme X7-series has two models, a vanilla Realme X7 with Dimensity 800U, and a more powerful Realme X7 Pro with Dimensity 1000+. Suffice to say, both these phones are a big deal for India, a market that has literally been spoiled by choice by brands-including Realme itself.

Coming to why the Realme X7-series–Realme X7 Pro in particular–is a big deal. Realme’s last big-ticket 5G phone in India was the Realme X50 Pro. The phone came with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. The Realme X7 Pro with Dimensity 1000+ is both an opportunity and a risk for Realme. This is because of the perception that people have towards MediaTek in India though, like any other thing in the world of tech, this is quickly changing or rather evolving as MediaTek launches more and more ‘competitive’ chipsets. This is of course subject to debate as many critics have also pointed out MediaTek’s tendency to launch iterative updates rather than full-fledged upgrades.

Also Read How Realme scored ‘record’ growth in India despite Covid-led disruption and what lies ahead in 2021

Regardless, MediaTek is not the same company that it was, say a couple of years ago and it deserves a lot of credit for going toe-to-toe with a behemoth like Qualcomm, and eventually coming out with newer and better technologies to rival. Not to mention, MediaTek’s role in advancing the smart home–IoT–market cannot be stressed enough. Having said that, this is the first time smartphone buyers in India will get to experience MediaTek’s might–and magic–in the flagship space. Realme believes that’s a risk worth taking–and an opportunity to shine.

In an exclusive interview with Financial Express Online, Madhav Sheth, Vice President, Realme and Chief Executive Officer, Realme India and Europe said, “the X-series is a very optimistic series for Realme. We are really looking forward to bringing the Realme X7-series to India in Q1 2021,” adding that, “we are excited to bring (phones with) Dimensity 1000+ and Dimensity 800U to this market.”

Realme seems pretty pumped up about their ‘performance’ angle while “5G is just an icing on the cake.”

“(That MediaTek chips) were not up to the mark was a misconception about two years ago. We have eventually proved that wrong,” Madhav reiterated, highlighting Realme’s own product offerings that now boasts of a mix of phones with Qualcomm and MediaTek chips. “We want to give choice because every chipset has got its own unique element at its respective price point,” he said.

“Dimensity is going to open its own horizon of experiences in terms of performance. It’s not just about 5G, but also the host of features the chipset brings. 5G is just an icing on the cake.”

Some of these features including dual 5G SIM, carrier aggregation (2CC 5G-CA), and MediaTek’s 5G UltraSave power-saving technology, while they do sound appealing on paper, must deliver in the real-world in a cut-throat market that is India to prove it can make premium chipsets akin to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 or, even the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. This is where the opportunity comes in.