Realme’s expansion into new product categories is one of the boldest ones we’ve seen in consumer tech in recent years. In the coming weeks, it will be entering another hot segment that has grown manifold in the last few years — laptops.
Simply called Realme Book, it will be the brand’s first laptop globally. In fact, it will be the first computer from all of BBK Group (Oppo, OnePlus, Vivo, iQoo, etc.). It is expected to have mid-range pricing as that is a segment that doesn’t have many competitive options even when the demand is high.
Official information around the launch date and specifications is currently scarce, but the barrage of teasers and leaks suggest that the unveiling isn’t too far now. Moreover, some other recent revelations state that it will be quite a unique offering with features that are new to this segment.
Here’s everything we know about the Realme Book laptop in India.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? Realme’s first laptop
- When is it out? September 2021
- How much will it cost? Around Rs 40,000 (expected)
Realme Book launch date in India and price
It’s been a few weeks since the laptop’s existence was confirmed, followed by some teasers which also revealed the design — steps that are usually done only close to the launch. Considering that, we’d expect the Realme Book to launch later this month or in September
That timeline also matches with the launch of the RedmiBook 15 series and Xiaomi’s upcoming high-end laptops, and Realme wouldn’t want to let them get a big headstart. Realme has a couple of other launches in August, where we expect to learn more about the Realme Book.
As for pricing, reports point at a price tag of around Rs 40,000, which is a very popular segment these days, driven by eLearning, remote working and office-goers. Realme has been very competitive with the pricing of its other products, and the laptop segment is in dire need of some fresh legs, so there’s a big opportunity here.
Realme Book specs and features
In a lot of ways, the Realme Book laptop will aim to bring high-end features to a lower price point. It starts with the design, which is amongst the sleekest we’ve seen on a laptop, especially in this segment. It might seem inspired by MacBooks, but that’s not really a bad thing. For now, we know that silver and blue will be the available colour options.
Based on the few images and design leaks that we’ve seen, the laptop will have a slim metal body with a spacious keyboard and trackpad. While not completely clear, it looks like there will be two USB Type-C ports on the left side, with a full-sized USB and a 3.5mm audio jack on the right. That is a pretty scanty port selection for a machine in its class, which might force users to resort to dongles for their regular work. Though, the lack of a DC power connector suggests that the Realme Book will support Type-C charging.
Speaking of charging, we would expect Realme to bring its Super Dart fast charging to laptops as well. More interestingly, a recent development confirmed that Realme is working on a new magnetic wireless charging tech that can attach to the bottom of a laptop and charge at high speeds. It’s unclear whether it will make an appearance on the Realme Book, but if it does, it will be one of the first computers to support wireless charging.
It has also been confirmed that the Realme Book will have a tall 3:2 screen, which is also a rare feature in cheaper laptops. While still unconventional, it is far better for productivity-type tasks such as documents or sheets, but worse for gaming or watching movies.
From the official images, we can also see that it has a big power button that is likely to second as a fingerprint scanner, an integrated webcam on top of the display, downwards-facing speakers and very slim bezels on three sides. We expect the screen to span 13.3-inches across.
Unfortunately, there’s very little information on the Realme Book chipset. But looking at the pricing and the positioning, our money would be on 11th gen Intel i3 and i5 processors — perhaps with Intel Evo certification and Iris graphics too.
What we want to see on the Realme Book
Since we know that the laptop will be quite slim and also support fast charging, we hope that they don’t come at the cost of a bigger battery or a more powerful chipset. We don’t know if the base will be made of metal, or removable batteries could’ve also been a possibility.
While many premium laptops have moved to fewer ports for sleeker designs, budget laptops usually tend to offer more ports and connectivity options. While this seems unlikely, we’d want to see more ports than what we can currently see on the images.
Many brands have shifted their focus to this budget segment of laptops, which means that Realme will face a lot of competition from established players. One way to take on them would be with better pricing — the laptop space is in dire need of disruption.
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