Realme 5i First Impressions: Pros, Cons And The X-Factor

We have spent some time using the budget device to bring you the first impressions. Here we have listed out all the pros, cons and the X-Factor of the Realme 5i.

The Good

 

Eye-Catchy Design

Realme is known for giving its devices some out-of-the-box color schemes and finishes. For the new Realme 5i, the company has come up with two new colors- Aqua Blue and Forest Green. We have got the blue variant and the color scheme definitely makes an impression. The rear panel of the device ditches the diamond-cut pattern and brings the new ‘Sunrise' blueprint. The company claims that the new finish is achieved by 600 minutes of polishing the plastic panel. We liked the fact that the rear panel is not glossy and sport an anti-fingerprint surface to resist smudges and fingerprints. The mirror-polished rear shell flaunts a fingerprint scanner, vertically stacked quad-lens camera setup and the ‘realme' branding.

Splash-Resistant Body

The company claims that the Realme 5i flaunts a ‘Splash-resistant Design'. The handset has a waterproof sealing, which protects all interior and exterior components from water-splash, including the screen, back cover, and the buttons. However, the smartphone lacks an official IP rating for water-dust resistivity so be careful while using it in unsuitable conditions.

Tall Display Offers Good Real Estate

The Realme 5i flaunts a big 6.52-inch display with a teardrop notch. The bezels on three sides of the display are quite thin, except the bottom chin, which is noticeably thicker and visible. Despite a broad chin, the 20:9 aspect ratio display offers a respectable screen-to-body ratio of 89%. The high screen-to-body ratio ensures good real-estate to comfortably stream multimedia content, play games and to browse web-pages.

Dedicated microSD Card Slot

We love the fact that Realme has maintained a solid portfolio of budget to mid-range devices that offer dedicated microSD card slots. The same goes for the Realme 5i. The budget smartphone offers two slots for nano-SIM cards and a dedicated slot to expand the internal 64GB memory. With the Realme 5i, you won't have to compromise on storage over connectivity and vice versa.

Long-Lasting Battery Life And Decent Hardware

The list of good features continues with the massive 5,000mAh battery unit that powers the Realme 5i. With a big battery cell, power-efficient CPU and HD screen, the Realme 5i can easily last for two days on moderate to heavy usage. We will evaluate the phone's battery performance in detail in our comprehensive review.

The Realme 5i is powered by the Snapdragon 665 SoC, which also powers the Realme 5 and the Realme 5s. The sixth-gen. CPU serves well for multitasking, day-to-day tasks and can even run games like PUBG with medium settings without any performance slowdown. The smartphone runs on ColorOS 6.1 based on Android Pie and supports 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS. The Realme 5i also offers a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Bad

Let's talk about some features that make the Realme 5i a slight disappointment. Starting with the design, the phone is not a good one-hand fit due to its tall design, and noticeable weight because of the massive 5,000mAh battery cell. The big 20:9 aspect ratio display is good for multimedia consumption but it also makes the phone uncomfortable for one-hand use. This is a budget smartphone and only ships with the dated microUSB 2.0 port and without a fast-charging adaptor.

The company bundles the device with a 10W power brick. There's no transparent silicone case in the box, which comes as a surprise because Realme usually ships all its devices with a case in the box. The screen fails to match the vibrancy and crispness of a Full HD panel. The 720p resolution feels outdated in the year 2020 even if the phone is priced under Rs. 10,000. The Redmi Note 8 offers a full HD+ screen in sub-10K price-point.

The X-Factor

The four-lens camera is undoubtedly the ‘X-factor' of the smartphone. Like the Realme 5, the Realme 5i also flaunts a quad-lens camera setup featuring a 12MP primary camera (Sony IMX386 sensor) working on f/1.8 aperture lens. It is paired with an 8MP wide-angle lens with respectable 118° field-of-view, 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro lens working on a dark f/2.4 aperture to capture 4cm macro shots. For selfies, the Realme 5i sports an 8MP front-facing camera.

The cameras on the Realme 5i perform a decent job considering the price-point. While the performance might suffer in challenging lighting, the fact that you get a versatile camera configuration (wide-angle lens, a macro lens and a depth-sensor) in sub-10K price is a great deal. We will spend some more time in testing the camera to bring you more insights about the picture and video performance in our detailed review.

Should You Buy The Realme 5i?

Realme 5i is basically a Realme 5 with a new design. If you liked the new colors and the new sunrise pattern, you can invest in the new handset. If you want a full HD+ display, Redmi Note 8 is the handset you should go for; however, if you wish to experience a versatile camera setup, the Realme 5i is not a bad deal at Rs. 8,999. The smartphone will start selling on January 15, 2019, in India. The company is also hosting some launch offers such as Rs. 7,550 worth of benefits from Jio, 10 per cent SuperCash via MobiKwik, and extra exchange discount via Cashify.