Realme is in the big league, proving it are the company’s recent devices, including GT Neo 3 150W and GT2 Pro phones. It’s no longer a brand that “aspires” to deliver flagship products, because it is delivering the same. Ensuring the company has focus is Madhav Sheth, CEO of Realme India, VP of Realme, and president — Realme International Business Group.

He is a man who spent a part of his childhood in Gariahat, near the tram depot. “There was Sharma Sweets, memories of which have stayed on with me. I used to love tram journeys. This was when I was in Class IV. I was there till Class VII. My dad being a banker with a national bank, he was transferred every two-three years. Because of him I got to understand the diversity of India,” he told us some time ago.

Here’s more from the man whose life has always been “about tech and cars”. “I always believe that technology shouldn’t be for a certain segment of the population. It’s for everyone. I think it is the birthright for people to use technology to simplify their lives,” he said.

Realme has had a very strong showing in the last few years. Where do you see the brand headed with Realme GT Neo 3 and Pad Mini? Also how is your target audience expanding with every launch?

Realme as a brand has scaled great heights in the last four years, and I am immensely proud of what we have built and achieved. We have introduced multiple industry firsts, India-firsts and even world-firsts, and I can confidently say that all our innovations and products have been well-received by the users.

Following the same path, we are bringing in these two new devices, Realme GT Neo 3 and Realme Pad Mini. Both products come with their own set of innovative and unique features which will help them stand out from the crowd.

With Realme GT Neo 3, we are bringing the 150W fast charging technology to mass-produced smartphones. It is the world’s first smartphone to be equipped with the 150W charging technology, which also makes it the world’s fastest charging smartphone — it can charge up to 50 per cent in just five minutes. Realme has been bringing in revolutions in charging technology, and this is just another example of how we are focusing on providing our users with the best of technology. Next, it is India’s first smartphone to be powered by the Dimensity 8100 5G Processor, which provides unmatchable performance. Realme GT Neo 3 comes with a Dedicated Display Processor, a first in this segment, and provides high frame rates with lower power consumption. It also features the largest 39,606mm2 Stainless Steel VC Cooling area with the strongest thermal conductivity material and a nine-layer heat dissipation structure, and has the World’s first Wireless Burst technology, solving the Bluetooth and WiFi’s competition in antenna resources with Antenna Array Matrix System.

Coming to the Realme Pad Mini, it brings the perfect combination of attractive features and technology. The Realme Pad Mini has the largest battery capacity — 6400mAh — packed in the slimmest body in the segment, and comes with the powerful UNISOC T616 processor to deliver unparalleled performance.

Realme GT Neo 2 has been well received

Do you see customers clinging to Realme devices and upgrading without switching to options from your rivals? Do you see more brand loyalty for Realme now?

We have always directed our efforts towards ensuring that our users have the best experience, and while we cannot say anything about our users switching to competition, we can surely say that Realme does enjoy customer loyalty. As per a report by CMR, Realme enjoys the highest brand trust score of 55 per cent and recognised as the Most Trusted Technology brand in 2021.

How are your TV launches doing? In the sense, what are the pain points Realme has managed to address over competition in this segment?

When we introduced Realme first Smart TV in 2020, we had conducted a survey on our social media channels to understand what users were expecting from smart televisions. Each feature that our product had was in line with the users’ asks and the pricing was justified. It is what has ensured the product’s performance in the market. We have been following a similar approach for all our products, and that way we are able to address any concerns that our users may have.

Realme GT Neo 3 has been well received

Where do you see the Realme ecosystem in the coming months?

Over the last two years, we have rigorously built our TechLife Ecosystem. We have entered numerous categories since May 2020 and have introduced quite a few products including hearables, wearables, smart TVs, air purifier, trimmer, among other s. With our TechLife Ecosystem, our aim is to provide our users with a smart, connected and trendy lifestyle. We have been following our 1+5+T strategy to further expand on our AIoT portfolio, and under the same, we plan to introduce over 50 AIoT products at Realme this year. While these will be part of our existing categories, we are also looking at entering 15 new categories this year. Stay tuned, you will hear more on this from us soon.

5G. You have always been keen on it and 2022 should turn out to be a good year for 5G enthusiasts. How ready is Realme?

Realme has always been ready for 5G. We were the first brand in India to introduce a 5G smartphone, Realme X50 Pro, in 2020, and have introduced a number of 5G-enabled devices since then. In 2022, with spectrum auctions happening and trials being undertaken, 5G is becoming more of a reality. The government and other concerned bodies are chalking out plans as to how to rollout 5G to the telecom operators and how to ultimately reach the consumers. Being yet another disruption in the smartphone industry, Realme has been on top of 5G. Our aim this year is to democratize 5G so that the masses can experience the technology. Therefore, we will equip all Realme smartphones above Rs 15,000 with 5G, which means more than 50 per cent of the smartphones that we introduce this year will support 5G.