Realme opens first exclusive service centre in India, more coming

In a race to become the fastest growing smartphone brand, Realme is also looking to open its exclusive experience stores in ‘early’ second-half of 2019 in India. As part of the plan, the first such experience store will open in Delhi’s suburb Gurugram.

The brand’s latest smartphone, Realme 3, is off to a great start. (Express photo by Anuj Bhatia)

“The feeling and look of the stores will be similar to the exclusive service centres,” Sheth said, adding that the exclusive stores would open in the second half of this year. “We are starting with Gurugram, Mumbai, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Kanpur, Lucknow among others.”

Also read: Realme 3 review

Realme 3 off to a great start

In the market for the budget to mid-range smartphones, Xiaomi remains in the competition with Realme, which was founded in May last year. But Sheth seems happy the way things have shaped for the brand in recent months. The brand’s latest smartphone, Realme 3, is off to a great start. “It’s amazing”, Sheth said. “We have sold 3.2 lakh units in two sales put together.”

Post the launch of Realme 3, Sheth is gearing up to launch the Realme 3 Pro, which will be out in April. While Sheth did not reveal the specifications of the smartphone, he did mention that the device will be priced between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000. “It will be our flagship device and will launch only in April,” Sheth said. He didn’t respond to rumours that the Realme 3 Pro will have a 48MP camera sensor.

5G smartphone in the pipeline

On 5G, Sheth said while every branded wanted to launch device, networks are not yet ready for 5G. “I think once the networks are ready for 5G we will have our devices ready.”

Asked whether it would be possible to bring a 5G smartphone in the Rs 20,000 price range, Sheth said: “I would just say there’s still about six to eight months time and the technology is evolving every day. They initially purposes of 5G were much expensive. Now there are ways to make it cheaper.” Realme is known for aggressively pricing its smartphones.