One untapped segment of most smartphones today is the budget gaming smartphone. At first, you wouldn’t think something like this is possible, all things considered. But it’s 2020 after all, a time when pretty much anything is possible now. Just ask realme themselves, especially with their latest offering.

Introducing the realme narzo 20, the company’s take on a budget gaming smartphone. It comes with gaming-ready hardware, plus a big battery to keep you gaming for long. All of this within an affordable price, what else could you want, right?

Well, for starters, here’s what you are getting with the realme narzo 20:

It has a 6.5-inch Mini-drop display

It comes with a 48MP Triple AI Camera at the back

The back cover of the device is in realme’s signature V Design

It comes in two colors: Silver Sword or Blue Blade

As far as regular performance goes, it’s pretty good

The realme narzo 20 comes with a gaming-focused Helio G85 mobile processor and 4GB of RAM. By most budget smartphone standards, this is pretty decent hardware to have. Applications load smoothly and rather quickly, with realme UI optimizing the whole experience.

For most tasks, the device holds up pretty well even while multitasking. I didn’t experience any jitters while shifting through different apps, although adding games affected it slightly. Still, as a budget smartphone, I don’t recommend opening way too many apps with this device.

Although, don’t expect FHD videos to play when using this device. Due to the limitations due in part to its budget makeup, YouTube videos up to 720p are most viable. It’s not exactly great that there is such a limitation, but it may slip your mind if you’re using this device to game full time.

Gaming performance was astonishingly great

What makes this device ultimately stand out is in its gaming capabilities. Based on my initial run through of most games, I can confidently say that this device holds up quite well. While frame drops were expected — mostly because of the internet connection, gameplay was smooth on this device.

League of Legends: Wild Rift on 60 FPS showed almost no signs of lag throughout my playthrough. I’m surprised this device could handle all the textures and effects, especially during intense moments in the match. Unfortunately, it won’t play any higher than High settings, but that’s not such a bad thing.

Other games like Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and even some sports games like NBA Live Mobile play well on this device. I know that for the most part, some FPS games do require using most of the RAM. Even so, these games didn’t slow down during prolonged gameplay.

This battery is big, lasts long, and charges up fast

This phone comes with a whopping 6,000mAh battery inside, which realme claims is a first within budget smartphones. Using the device normally got me to more than a full day’s worth, with about 20 to 25 percent left. When playing full time across a variety of games, I was able to get about 12-13 hours.

Looking at these numbers, I think this is a huge deal for a budget smartphone. Even when you’re doing so many things with your phone, you wouldn’t need to reach for your charger as much. Also, this even helps you with the fear of overcharging your phone overnight since now, you don’t have to do that.

Another reason why is because the phone also comes with Quick Charge support. The 18W USB-C charger charges the phone in about two and a half hours, which plays around most fast-charging devices. This just reinforces that you don’t have to keep charging your phone overnight anymore.

It’s not a perfect smartphone, but don’t expect it to be

It’s pretty obvious at this point that most budget smartphones come with compromises. The realme narzo 20 is no exception to this, and the most obvious trade-off was in camera quality. Yes, it comes with a triple lens, AI-powered rear camera but it leaves much to be desired.

Nature shot

Up close using the Triple AI Camera

Selfie with beautification turned off

Image quality on this camera isn’t too bad, but the sacrifice on detail is obvious. Sometimes, images turn up a little oversaturated or lacking in detail when zooming in. It doesn’t have to be Leica-levels of quality, I get it; it’s just something you already expect.

Also, it would have been interesting to see a 6GB RAM variant for this smartphone. In some cases, 4GB isn’t enough to keep running games past 30 FPS. I get that this may be impossible for budget smartphones, but it’s something worth exploring.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

At PhP 7,990, the realme narzo 20 gives you the most viable option for a gaming smartphone. It crams in decent mobile gaming hardware to provide a great overall gaming experience. Plus, with a big battery inside, it will keep you gaming all day, or all night long. All of this stored in a package with a unique design to boot.

You can use it like any other smartphone for social media, watching live streams and Netflix shows. However, due to its budget category, some things had to be sacrificed like the cameras and higher RAM options.

For what it’s worth, the realme narzo 20 is a definite pick-up for those on a tight budget. It shows off some incredible power without burning your wallet.