Realme Narzo 30A vs POCO M3 vs Micromax In Note 1: Price, Specifications and Features Compared

The Realme Narzo 30A is one of the most notable options in the budget smartphone range, alongside competitors such as the Poco M3 and the Micromax In Note 1.

Team MySmartPrice

Published On: Feb 26, 2021 | Last Updated: Mar 1, 2021

The Realme Narzo 30A is the latest budget smartphone launched in India. It comes into a heavily contested budget smartphone segment, which Xiaomi sub-brand Poco has also aimed for recently with its new Poco M3. On the other hand, Indian smartphone maker Micromax made a splash with its official return to the smartphone market, with the Micromax In Note 1. With such new phones at hand, the high volume budget smartphone market makes for a heavily competitive sector in India. Under such circumstances, can the Realme Narzo 30A hold its own against the Poco M3 and the Micromax In Note 1, at least in terms of specifications?

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Realme Narzo 30A vs POCO M3 vs Micromax In Note 1: Price in India

The Realme Narzo 30A is priced at Rs 8,999 for the 3GB RAM + 32GB storage variant and Rs 9,999 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. Rivalling it is the Poco M3, which costs Rs 10,999 for the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, and Rs 11,999 for 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. Meanwhile, the Micromax In Note 1 costs Rs 10,999 for the 4GB + 64GB variant, and Rs 12,499 for the 4GB + 128GB variant.

Realme Narzo 30A vs POCO M3 vs Micromax In Note 1: Design

The Realme Narzo 30A features a divided texture design on its back panel with diagonal stripes from underneath the fingerprint sensor giving it a slightly different identity. The camera module is square and also houses the LED flash in it, symmetrically. To the front, the camera is placed in a water-drop notch and a sizeably thick chin at the bottom. It has two muted options – Laser Black and Laser Blue. The Narzo 30A measures 9.8mm and weighs 205g, hence being on the heavier side.

The Poco M3, in comparison, looks more identifiable and unique, all thanks to the layout of its rear camera and the simplistic approach with design. The triple rear camera with LED flash is housed in a black module that straddles the entire breadth of the rear panel towards the top. While the front features a water-drop notch, the overall set of narrow bezels and super-thin chin make the Poco M3 a fairly handsome smartphone. The Poco M3 is marginally slimmer and lighter than the Narzo 30A, measuring 9.6mm and weighing 198g in hand.

The Micromax In Note 1 is the only smartphone in this list that features a drill-hole selfie camera slot. To the rear, the smartphone features an X-style cross pattern – the design looks certainly different, but whether it appears classy or not is down to personal choices. The triple rear camera module is a slim one, and the In Note 1 is the only smartphone that features a physical fingerprint sensor at the back. It is the slimmest of the bunch at 9mm thickness, but at 196g weight, is almost similar to the rest.

Realme Narzo 30A vs POCO M3 vs Micromax In Note 1: Display

The Realme Narzo 30A features a 6.5-inch LCD display with HD+ resolution and 20:9 aspect ratio, which is typical for a budget segment smartphone. The lower resolution helps the smartphone draw better power efficiency. The display is rated for 570 nits of peak brightness, and has the lowest screen resolution among the three phones here.

In comparison, the Poco M3 punches about its weight and is one of the few in the budget segment to feature a full HD+ LCD display. It features a 19.5:9 aspect ratio that is slightly shorter than the Narzo 30A. One key difference here is that while the Narzo 30A is a taller device, the Poco M3 is broader, and therefore features a slightly larger display size with a 6.53-inch panel.

The Micromax In Note 1 is the tallest smartphone of this lot, and also features the biggest screen size. It features a 6.67-inch full HD+ LCD panel, with 20:9 aspect ratio. The In Note 1 is reportedly the dimmest of all the display panels, with 450 nits peak brightness rating – something that may impact the direct sunlight legibility of the device.

Realme Narzo 30A vs POCO M3 vs Micromax In Note 1: Performance

The Realme Narzo 30A features the MediaTek Helio G85 mid-range gaming SoC, which features an eight-core layout with two Cortex-A75 performance cores and six Cortex-A55 efficiency cores. It gets a maximum of 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, and the latter uses eMMC flash type storage to cut costs, against using UFS flash storage. Connectivity features include 4G, dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 LE and a rear-mounted physical fingerprint sensor.

The Poco M3, meanwhile, features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC, which is built on a newer generation 11nm architecture and is, therefore, more power-efficient. All variants of the Poco M3 get 6GB RAM as standard, making it one of the most affordable smartphones with 6GB RAM. It uses UFS 2.1 storage for the 64GB variant and UFS 2.2 for the 128GB variant. The fingerprint sensor is side-mounted, and dual-band Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE comes as standard. As a package, the Poco M3 is one of the best in the industry at its price.

The Micromax In Note 1 uses the same chipset as the Realme Narzo 30A – Helio G85. This is combined with 4GB RAM, and a choice of 64GB or 128GB of storage. Like the Narzo 30A, the In Note 1 also features eMMC 5.1 standard storage media. Bluetooth 5.0 LE, dual-band Wi-Fi 5 and the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor are its other additions.

Realme Narzo 30A vs POCO M3 vs Micromax In Note 1: Camera

Despite looking like a triple-camera module, the Realme Narzo 30A features a dual-rear camera setup, using the third module as a cosmetic addition only. The dual-camera setup features a 13MP primary unit with an f/2.2 lens and a 2MP secondary monochrome unit with f/2.4 lens. It features a native HDR mode, and can record full HD videos at 30fps. To the front, it has an 8MP camera with f/2 lens, HDR selfies and full HD video calling.

The Poco M3, on the other hand, takes its camera far more seriously. It features an actual triple rear camera module that also looks more aesthetically pleasing. It features a 48MP primary unit with f/1.8 lens, a 2MP macro unit with f/2.4 lens, and a 2MP depth-assisting unit with f/2.4 lens. Videography wise, its performance is capped at full HD recording at up to 30fps only. To the front, the Poco M3 features an 8MP camera with f/2.1 lens and full HD videography.

The Micromax In Note 1 attempts to make the most impressed with its camera module. It features a quad rear camera setup – offering a 48MP primary unit with f/1.8 lens, a 5MP ultra-wide unit with f/2.2 lens, a 2MP macro unit with f/2.4 lens and a 2MP depth-assisting unit with f/2.4 lens. However, even with the quad-camera module, peak performance caps out at full HD only. The front camera uses a 16MP sensor with a f/2 lens on top.

Realme Narzo 30A vs POCO M3 vs Micromax In Note 1: Battery

The Narzo 30A features a 6,000mAh battery with an 18W fast charging standard via USB-C. It also supports reverse charging for other devices. The Poco M3 offers the exact same battery specifications – 6,000mAh with 18W charging speed. The Micromax In Note 1 features a 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging and reverse charging. Given that the In Note 1 has a smaller battery pack, the In Note 1 would likely take the least amount of time to charge.

Realme Narzo 30A vs POCO M3 vs Micromax In Note 1: Conclusion

As an overall package, the Realme Narzo 30A appears to fall slightly short of what the Poco M3 offers. It offers comparable performance to the Micromax In Note 1, but has a noticeably inferior camera. It offers the best battery capacity among the three including the Poco M3, but all factors taken together, does not account for the best smartphone in the budget segment – despite accounting for the slightly lower price than the others.