Realme 5 Pro Review: An All-Rounder Budget Handset

Realme 5 Pro: Design And Display

Taking cues from the budget C2, the Realme 5 Pro flaunts a diamond-cut design. But instead of the matte finish, it features a gradient design pattern. And like the other shimmering rear panels, this one also gets dirty quickly.

You can notice fingerprints almost instantly after picking it up and dust can be seen collecting around the camera lenses. Thankfully, there is a TPU case inside the retail box saving you some extra bucks.

At the rear, you get a quad-camera module arranged vertically on the top left corner and the company branding on the bottom. The cameras have a protruding design which you can easily feel upon holding the device.

The fingerprint reader has got a natural finger resting position towards the center. You can easily log a fingerprint in the settings menu. As for the performance, it is quite zippy and accurate for most of the times.

The control keys are placed on either side of the handset. The volume rockers along with the SIM slot is placed on the left edge, while the right edge has the power key.

You can summon the Google Assistant using the power key; all you need to do is press and hold it for 0.5 seconds then release and speak. The option to turn on this feature will be presented when you follow the above step for the first time.

At the bottom, you get the 3.5mm audio jack, a USB Type-C port, and a speaker grille. While the curved edges allow for a good grip, I found it slightly difficult to operate the smartphone with a single hand. But it is not completely impossible to do so.

You can perform some basic tasks like answering calls or texting and surfing through the web, it is difficult to reach the corners and you will need the other hand for gaming and other high-end tasks.

It is no doubt a good looking smartphone but would have been a perfect design if it was a bit slimmer and compact.

The 6.3-inch IPS display offers an FHD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, features a waterdrop notch, and has a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It delivers a good output and the content is quite bright and vivid.

It also supports Widevine L1 DRM for streaming high-resolution videos on platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Sunlight visibility is up to the mark and you won't experience any difficulties in viewing content outdoors.

While this is not the best display in the sub 20K segment, it does a pretty decent job. However, an AMOLED panel would definitely have enhanced the viewing experience.

Realme 5 Pro Hardware: Mid-Range Snapdragon 712 SoC

Realme 5 Pro is equipped with a Snapdragon 712 SoC clubbed with Adreno 616 GPU. It comes in three different configurations - 4GB RAM+ 64GB storage, 6GB RAM+ 64GB storage, and 8GB RAM+ 128GB storage.

This slight upgrade in the chipset gives the handset an upper hand over the company's own Realme 3 Pro and Realme X, both of which ships with a Snapdragon 710 SoC.

This hardware is capable enough to run high-end games like PUBG, Asphalt 9, and Mortal Combat, and you won't experience any lags or frame drops when played in medium settings.

There are no warm-up issues as such experienced during the gaming sessions. This device can handle day-to-day tasks quite efficiently and you will not experience any ‘hang' issues with multitasking.

The smartphone packs a 4,035mAh battery and ships with 20W VOOC 3.0 Flash Charge technology. We have tested the capabilities of the VOOC charge in the past as well and let me tell you, it is one of the fastest out there.

The device can give a backup of an entire day if you use it moderately with occasional media and gaming. Keep the charger close by, if you intend to binge-watch shows or movies or play graphic-intensive games for longer durations.

Realme 5 Pro Software: Android Pie OS With Color OS 6.0

The smartphone ships with Android Pie topped with Oppo's proprietary Color OS 6.0 skin. The UI is similar to what we have seen on the recently launched Realme smartphones.

It is fairly designed with minimal animations. There is an app drawer support to cluster similar apps together and a Smart Assistant page that keeps you updated with the weather, tracking online orders, and much more. You can also use-gesture based navigations on this handset.

The handset comes preloaded with bloatware which you can install manually (only the third-party apps, not the system side ones) to save up some extra space.

Some of them include the Amazon Shopping app, Paytm, Hot Games, Games Center, and Hot Apps. Do note that, you will be presented with an option to download these additional apps, which you can skip during the startup process.

We also ran some benchmark tests on the handset including PCMark, 3D Mark, and Antutu. The device logged a total of 8204 points in the PCMark Work 2.0 test. In the Sligh Shot Extreme, it scored 2,022 points and logged 156354 points in the AnTuTu benchmark test. As for the Geekbench tests, the smartphone scored 1202 points in the single-core and 4516 points in the multi-core tests. 

Realme 5 Pro Camera: Quad-Lenses Backed By 48MP Primary Sensor

Realme has equipped a quad-camera module on the Realme 5 Pro and has upped the game in the sub Rs. 15,000 segment. The Rear camera setup on the device packs a 48MP (f/1.79 aperture) primary sensor, an 8MP(f/2.25) ultra-wide sensor, and two 2MP sensors with f/2.4 aperture.

It comes with EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) that helps in noise reduction the captures shots. It offers various modes such as HDR, Panorama, Bokeh, Time-Lapse, Night Mode, and Chroma Boost.

The Chroma Boost is Realme's proprietary camera mode which enhances the colors in an image to make it more vibrant, however, it tends to animate it sometimes.

The camera performs well in broad daylight in areas with sufficient lights. The images have neutral colors and detailing is also good. You get sharp images with good edge-detection a less noise.

The Ultra 48MP is like a large frame that covers a lot of the surrounding. But, keep this in mind you will not be able to zoom in on any image.

During low light situations, the cameras find it hard to focus on an object instantly. It captures average shots with the dedicated Night Mode on. The images grainy and have noise noticeable even with some luminance nearby.

The rear camera supports up to 4K video recording at 30fps but is set to 1080p@30fps by default. Sadly, it doesn't support wide-angle camera feature while recording videos which is a deal-breaker.

As for the stability, it is good and the presence of EIS allows for a smoother video recording.

Upfront, you get a 16MP camera with f/2.0 aperture. It performs decently, but nothing out of the world. You don't get the most natural-looking selfies, but good enough for social media uploads. Besides, you can use the AI Beauty and Portrait mode to enhance the selfie quality.

Verdict

Realme is one of the most successful Chinese smartphone manufacturer catering to the affordable segment in India. Since its arrival in 2018, the company has offered some good smartphones loaded with features at reasonable price tags.

Last year, the company experimented with the dual-camera setup in 2018 and then a pop-up selfie camera recently. This time it's the quad-camera setup under the 15K segment bringing applause from all.

If you look at the device overall, it's a capable mid-ranger which you can get out there. If you have been using Realme smartphones and are planning on upgrading, this is a good option for you.

This device will allow you to perform day-to-day tasks with ease and also calm the shutterbug inside you if you can't afford a high-end camera at the moment.