realme has entered the laptops division by debuting its first-ever slim notebook named realme Book Slim in India powered by Intel’s 11th generation processor, running Windows 10, and offers a 2K Full Vision display. Let’s dig into the notebook specs, features, and performance in our realme Book Slim review.
realme Book Slim Specifications
- Display: 14-inch 2K QuadHD display (2160 x 1440 pixels resolution), 60 Hz Refresh Rate, 3:2 Aspect Ratio, 100% sRGB Colour Gamut, Anti-glare protection
- Software: Windows 10 Home SL (21H1 version)
- Security: Fingerprint scanner embedded on Power key
- CPU: Up to 4.2 GHz (Turbo), 11th generation Tiger Lake Core i5-1135G7, 8M Cache (OR Core i3-1115G4 dual-core, quad-thread processor, 6 MB Cache)
- GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics (Tiger Lake)
- Memory: 8 GB DDR4 RAM (Up to 4,266 MHz), not upgradable
- Storage: 256 GB OR 512 GB NVMe SSD, not expandable
- Keyboard & Trackpad: 3-level backlit keyboard, Multi-touch trackpad
- Audio: 2x Harmon Kardon stereo speakers, Stereo Surround Sound DTS Support
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6 dual-band (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.2 (5.1 on Core i3), 1 x Type-C USB for charging and data transfer, 1 x Thunderbolt 4 port, 1 x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x 3.5 mm combo audio jack, 2x built-in microphones
- Camera: 720p HD
- Other: PC Connect app (Pre-installed)
- Battery: 54 WH, Up to 11-hour battery life, 65W Type-C power adapter (compatible across USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 4 ports)
- Power Adapter: 65 Watts PD Super-Fast Charge
- Dimensions: 14.9 mm (15.5 mm thickest) x 307.21 mm x 228.96 mm
- Weight: 1.38 kg
- Price: Rs 46,999 (Core i3-1115G4 & 256 GB SSD), Rs 59,999 (Core i5-1135G7 & 512 GB SSD)
Design, Display, Ergonomics, & Build
The realme Book Slim gives you a premium look and feel when it comes to the design, the design is unbelievable, slim and compact, metallic design, and light in weight at 1.38 kilograms. It has an impressive slim form factor 14-inch size and 14.9 mm thin making it one of the slimmest laptops in its class.
The notebook has a high-quality aluminum body and a great 2K display on-board, it grabs your attention when you look at its gorgeous 2K display. The display here is a 2K QuadHD with 2160 x 1440 pixels resolution, 60 Hz refresh rate, 3:2 aspect ratio, 100% sRGB color gamut, and is protected by an Anti-glare sheet.
The screen looks large with minimum bezels and gives you a great viewing experience. Its competitor, the Mi NoteBook Pro offers a slightly higher resolution display i.e. 2.5K (1560 x 1600 pixels) with over 1B colors (Mi TrueLife display).
The front side has a realme logo, the backside has vents with loudspeakers grill at the sides, the notebook opens wide almost 180-degree, the overall design is solid and looks premium. The notebook offers a 3-mode backlit with an extra-large trackpad and a fingerprint scanner embedded on the power button. The keyboard and trackpad experience has been great so far.
The right side of the laptop offers a 3.5 mm combo port (microphone + headphones) and a USB Type-A 3.1 Gen 1 port. The left side offers two USB Type-C ports, one of which is the 3.2 Gen 2 version (upper one) and Thunderbolt 4 (lower one) with a LED charging indicator in the middle. You don’t get an HDMI port and RJ-45 LAN port, you will have to use a converter/adapter.
Software & Features
The realme Book Slim runs on the latest Windows 10 Home Single Language (21H1 version) pre-installed with no sign of bloatware, you will find a PC Connect app along with a few apps from Microsoft pre-installed with the laptop, the interface is clean and free from bloatware.
Upon using it as an everyday laptop with multi-tasking, browsing, surfing, downloading files, streaming videos and music, and light gaming, and it turns out that the overall experience was great, smooth as well as responsive.
The built-in PC Connect app connects with your realme smartphone with the notebook and allows you to access the files on the phone, transfer the files, and allows you to perform certain activities on both devices.
On the connectivity side, it comes with a Wi-Fi 6 dual-band (802.11ax) 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, newer Bluetooth version 5.1 (5.2 on Core i5 models), 1x USB Type-C port for charging as well as for data transfer, one Thunderbolt 4 port on the left, and one USB Type-A on the right
This can be a downside, no HDMI output and RJ-45 LAN are found on the laptop due to its slim profile. You may use a Type-C converter to HDMI, but without the converter in hand, you are out of luck.
The speakers are fair, the audio output is decent, you get 2x Harman Kardon stereo speakers with DTS Audio Stereo Surround support. You will also find an HD webcam with built-in 2x microphones just beside it using the Vocplus AI Noise Cancellation algorithm.
Hardware, Performance & Gaming
realme offers the notebook in two processor variants, i.e. Intel Core i3 and Intel Core i5 both 11th generation. The realme Book Slim is equipped with Intel’s latest 11th generation code name Tiger Lake CPUs: Core i3-1115G4 dual-core (quad-thread) and Core i5-1135G7 quad-core (quad-thread), but no Core i7 variant.
Furthermore digging more into the processors, the Core i3-1115G4 is clocked at 3.0 GHz (base frequency) and 4.1 GHz at its Turbo, and 6M cache memory while the Core i5-1135G7 is clocked at 2.4 GHz (base frequency) and 4.2 GHz at its Turbo, and 8M cache memory.
The notebook has no other variants in the storage and RAM department, you will have to either choose the Intel Core-i3 model with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage or Intel Core-i5 model with 8 GB RAM and 512 GB storage.
The realme Book Slim comes in 8 GB DDR4 RAM with a massive 4,266 MHz RAM frequency (3,733 MHz for the Core i3 model) and an SSD storage NVMe type of 256 GB (Core i3) or 512 GB (Core i5).
A downside is that the RAM isn’t upgradeable, you will end up with only 8 GB on the laptop which might be a setback for those who are planning to upgrade the RAM in the future. You also don’t get any 12 GB or 16 GB RAM variants in it.
The SSD storage performance is incredibly fast, it’s an NVMe, the faster SSD type, it has after all better performance among the regular SSDs and far better than its HDD counterparts. The SSD storage plays an important role in the overall system performance.
On the graphics and gaming side, the GPU is from Intel, no dedicated GPU is available, the Intel Iris Xe Graphics is an onboard GPU and is faster than Intel UHD in the 11th generation graphics from Intel code name Tiger Lake.
The GPU is capable of light to medium gaming which can be good for casual gamers. Do note that, you will get Intel UHD Graphics if you choose the Intel Core i3 model. You also don’t get any variants with a dedicated GPU like NVIDIA or AMD graphics.
Battery Runtime & Charging
The realme Book Slim offers a great battery life and fast charging capabilities. One of the impressive aspects of the notebook is its battery life, despite being a Windows laptop, it can achieve as much as 11 hours of battery life in a single charge. According to realme, you can play a local 1080p video for 11 hours on a fully charged battery. The battery life varies depending on the usage of the notebook.
Moving to its charging capabilities, the realme Book Slim comes with a fast-charging 65W PD adapter to charge its 54 Wh battery. The charging takes about 30 minutes to charge the battery from 0% to 50%, you can expect it to fully charge in about 60 minutes. It can also be charged with a 30W Dart Charger. The charging is really quick and equivalent to the current fast charging smartphones.
Verdict
The realme Book Slim is compact, slim, light in weight, power-packed, and incredibly fast when it comes to performance. It looks premium and its metallic design offers a solid build quality. Aside from these, you get a gorgeous 2K display, a large trackpad, backlit keyboard, and fast charging capabilities which makes the realme Book Slim a comprehensive package. The downside is the HDMI port and the RAM + SSD upgrades, you will end up with only 8 GB RAM, a 12/16 GB RAM option would be ideal, otherwise, nothing beats the realme Book Slim. The realme Book Slim is a recommended buy, check out the notebook on Flipkart below.
