Google I/O 2019 started with a blast, where the Mountain View giant announced the third beta of the upcoming version of Android aka Android Q. Besides Google Pixel lineup, they added 15 non-Pixel phones from 12 OEMs in the public beta testing.
While big names like Xiaomi, OnePlus, Essential or Nokia are veteran in this field, Realme is a nice little addition in this list. Google picked up the latest and greatest offering – the Realme 3 Pro – from the offshoot of OPPO for the Android Q beta testing.
Another bang for the buck phone from Realme, the successor to 2018’s Realme 2 Pro was officially launched back in April 22 and made available for buying one week later. The OEM opted for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC for this budget-beast, which started a Twitter war with Xiaomi.
Regarding the beta testing of Android Q, Realme prepared a set of upgrade and downgrade zip packages (like OnePlus). The packages can be downloaded using the following links:
The current beta version of Android Q build for Realme 3 Pro is close to vanilla Android. Realme might add ColorOS components on top of the base package in future beta updates, but that’s uncertain at this moment.
The official update instructions are as follows:
1. Download the latest ROM upgrade package from the link below (P2Q.ozip).
2. Copy ROM upgrade package (P2Q.ozip) to mobile phone storage.
3. Press the power button and choose to shut down.
4. Press and hold the power button + volume down to enter recovery mode.
5. Select Install from storage device -> From phone storage -> P2Q.ozip to upgrade.
6. Wait system upgrade to reach 100% (about 3mins), then select Reboot.
7. You have successfully updated!
The downgrade procedure is quite similar: users need to use the rollback package (Q2P.zip) instead of the upgrade package. According to Realme, flashing this beta build won’t void the warranty. But users to need visit nearest service center in case of bricking.
Now Realme representative (‘Ambassador’ as per forum designation) Alessio has posted this week’s Community FAQ, where he sheds more light on the questions related to the beta build of Android Q.
Q. Which camera app comes with the Android Q Beta for the realme 3 Pro?
A. The built-in camera app for the Android Q Beta is the “Snapdragon Camera” – the Goggle Camera is not available for this beta version.
Q. Will reverting from the Android Q Beta for the realme 3 Pro get the phone back to ColorOS or stock Android Pie?
A. The phone will be flashed back to ColorOS 6 based on Android Pie.
Allesio has highlighted the upcoming Color OS 6 (based on Android 9.0 Pie) update roadmap for older devices.
Q. Is there going to be any beta testing for the Android Pie and ColorOS 6 update?
A. Yes! The schedule is as follows:
realme 2 Pro → May 15th with Hal3 support;
realme 1 and U1 → June 5th
realme 2 and C1 → June 15th
The transition from beta to final will be in phased manner, eg. within 15 to 20 days.
The OEM skipped the April OTA update for Realme 2 Pro, but assured the users to incorporate the cumulative fixes in the upcoming May update.
The HAL3/Camera2 API support for Realme 2 Pro would be a game changing factor. FYI, this phone uses the same 16 MP Sony IMX398 camera sensor found in OnePlus 5/5T.
The OEM is also planning to bring Digital Wellbeing support in ColorOS 6 via future software updates. We are not sure whether they will use the Google’s version of Digital Wellbeing or make their own version of it.
Q. Will realme add Google’s Digital Wellbeing to ColorOS 6 with a future update?
A. Yes. The Digital Wellbeing feature will be implemented with an OTA.
Older devices, such as Realme 2 Pro, C1 and C2 will get Hyper Boost 2.0 feature (currently exclusive to Realme 3 Pro) in future. The same was previously confirmed by Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth.
Q. Is Hyper Boost 2.0 coming to older realme devices?
A. Yes, older realme devices will receive Hyper Boost 2.0 when upgrading to ColorOS 6 – with the exception of realme 2, C1, and C2.
They have also hinted about an upcoming theming feature of Color OS 6.
Q. Will the realme Theme Store allow the users to change the system font?
A. realme Theme Store will not allow to change the system font, but this feature will be implemented in the future.
Allesio has also discussed about upcoming camera fixes for the Realme 3 Pro.
Q. realme 3 Pro 960fps is limited to 3 seconds and the quality is not on par. Will any of these change with an OTA?
A. Yes, and no. The video quality will be improved based on the feedback you guys have recently provided (thank you so much!). As for the lengths, we have capped it to 3 seconds because such videos take up a lot of memory as such already. For longer videos at a lower resolution (that will make them easier to share), you can shoot slow motion recordings at 120fps.
They need more user feedback to tune the camera parameters.
Q. The realme 3 Pro’s Chroma Boost and Nightscape modes darken the skin tone excessively. Will this be fixed?
A. Yes. We will issue an update to improve the skin tone reproduction when using such modes. PS: Not satisfied with the camera performance of other realme devices? Drop us a comments below and the devs will look into it too.
Last but not least, Realme is planning to introduce an official flashing tool to unbrick their phones without paying a visit to the service centers.
Q. Can we expect a Stock Recovery tool for restoring the device if bootloop occurs when flashing custom roms?
A. Yes! We are working on it and will provided as soon as possible this year.
A new team member, Zoe, will take care of the weekly FAQ threads in future – as mentioned by Allesio. Hope we will get more future insights from her posts. ?
Do you have a Realme 3 Pro? Have you tried the Android Q beta? Let us know your experiences by commenting below.
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Kingshuk De
896 Posts
I came from a mixed background of Statistics and Computer Science. My research domains included embedded computer systems, mobile computing and delay tolerant networks in post-disaster scenarios. Apart from tinkering with gadgets or building hackintosh, I like to hop on various subreddits and forums like MyDigitalLife and XDA.
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