Realme 5 Pro review: The 'force is with this one

Nearly 133 years ago, John Pemberton had developed a recipe that would lay the foundation for one of the most bitter and long-lasting rivalries in the world. Pemberton scribbled on a piece of paper "Coca Cola Original Recipe" and 13 years later Caleb Bradham wrote Pepsi's recipe. While, not since the turn of the 19th century, but since the late 1960s, Coke and Pepsi have been using advertising campaigns to eclipse various products in order to outperform each other. At the heart of the Coke-Pepsi rivalry was the burning urge to offer something special to the millions of people who consumed these carbonated drinks every day - and, above all, much more than the other.

Although not on the same scale, a fierce rivalry seems to be emerging in the Indian smartphone market: that between Xiaomi and Realme. Realme in less than a year has become a power to be reckoned with and which seems to have only one goal: to knock Xiaomi off the rails. Easier said than done, but Realme takes a textbook approach: offer something special or be the first to launch a phone with a feature that Xiaomi may not offer.

Take the latest smartphones, Realme 5 and Realme 5 Pro. With the Realme 5, the Chinese company has launched the first phone under 10,000 rupees, which has a quad-camera setup on the back, which Xiaomi has not yet done. Among the two phones we had an opportunity to use the Realme 5 Pro for a while. The phone on paper has a lot to offer, but does it also lead to real performance? Read our detailed review to learn more:

Realme 5 Pro Review: Design and Display

After the diamond-cut gradient design took a break with the Realme X, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer opted for the Realme 5 Pro. It has a polycarbonate body but looks quite good as it has a metallic shine. It doesn't feel bulky, nor is it slippery. Our tester was a crystal green version, but the phone is also available in the color Sparkling Blue.

The Realme 5 Pro weighs about 184 grams and is 8.9 mm thick. Surprisingly, despite its dimensions, it is a compact phone and we had no problem with using it with one hand. There is space at the bottom of the device for a headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, and a speaker grille. On the left side are the volume rockers. SIM card slot that fits two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card, while the on/off switch is mounted on the right.

Realme has opted for a fingerprint scanner on the back, in addition to the biggest highlight - the quad-camera configuration. The quad-camera setup is neatly stacked and stands out easily, but the good thing is that it's not shaky at all. We've seen two or three camera settings in the past that wobble slightly, but Realme 5 Pro doesn't suffer from such problems.

Despite everything, it has to be said that the design is not really unique and Realme has followed a proven combination that has worked for both the brand and the competition. The gradient design was the most common design factor in 2019, and Realme 5 Pro follows it up to the T.

Realme 5 Pro is equipped with a 6.3-inch LCD display. The company says it offers a screen-to-body ratio of 90.6%. The first thing you notice is the thick chin, but overall it offers quite a lot of screen space. There is a water drop curb - a feature that is now standard for phones in this price range - where the front camera is at home.

The Full HD+ display offers a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, which is pretty good. Nothing great, but also not bad, and that corresponds to the sound of the overall display performance. The display is bright enough and works perfectly even in sunlight. We've played a lot of video content and the colors are vivid and sharp enough. It's just not insistent enough to impress you properly. The Realme 5 Pro supports Widevine L1 DRM, which means that high-resolution video streaming works fine. There are the usual display settings to achieve more effective performance. This is the case with almost all other phones. The display is good, but that won't captivate you. However, this is not what we expected from a phone in this price range.

Realme 5 Pro-Test: Performance

Realme has opted for a better processor than we saw on phones in this price range. It is operated by Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 with two 2.3 GHz cryo gold cores and six 1.7 GHz cryo silver cores. An Adreno 616 graphics processor is also on board. What these specifications bring together is a really good performance. Our test device was the 8GB RAM + 128GB memory variant, which meant that the phone never gave us anything to think about in daily use.

What we wrote is The ColorOS user interface of Oppo. Remember that customized user interfaces were not our favorite pastime. Therefore, this is not a problem for the Realme 5 Pro. The ColorOS 6 offers you an app drawer for a clear look. It also offers you a Smart Assistant area with various panels, including weather and calendars. All of this can be hidden if you want.

We were surprised to see a variety of pre-installed apps aboard the Realme 5 Pro. There are UC Browser, Helo, Paytm, Amazon Shopping and these can be uninstalled. What can't be installed are system-based apps like Game Center, Hot Games, and Hot Apps - things that are really pointless and continue to give you alerts and notifications until you actually turn them off. However, this is only in the early stages. Although we understand the need to "push" these apps, this is one of the main reasons why custom user interfaces don't go down well with us.

Realme has increased the security level with this smartphone, as facial recognition and fingerprints can also be used for some apps and not just to unlock the phone. There is a so-called private safe that allows you to store documents and photos.

ColorOS6 offers a number of convenient customization options. For example, you can replace the Android navigation buttons, launch apps with gestures, among other things.

The overall performance of the Realme 5 Pro was good enough to recommend the phone to anyone who wants to buy in this price segment. The software and operating system may not bother too many people. If this phone were with standard Android or nearby, it would be a winner as there really are no delays, jerks or other problems you might encounter.

The overall audio performance is not very good, but it is sufficiently noisy, considering that it is equipped with a single speaker.

Playing on your phone is comparable to any other phone in this price segment. There has been no warming of the phone while playing high-performance graphics games, which is certainly a plus.

Realme 5 Pro Test: Battery

The smartphone is powered by a 4035 mAh battery and features ON-board VOOC fast charging technology. The box comes with a 20W charger that can be used to charge the phone quickly. A single full load is enough to spend a whole day with medium to heavy loads, which may require games, multimedia content, and some web browsing. Charging the phone takes about 30 minutes, which is very good.

Realme 5 Pro Test camera:

The only thing Realme advertises most in this special series of smartphones is the camera it has onboard. There are four cameras on the back, and you won't get a price for making the 48-megapixel camera the largest. Realme 5 Pro uses Sony's IMX586 sensor - that of the Premium OnePlus 7 Pro - and has a 1:1.79 aperture. There are three other cameras on the back of the device: an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera (1: 2.25 aperture); 1 2MP macro camera and 2MP depth sensor. At the front there is a 16-megapixel sensor for selfies.

Before we look at how good or bad the images are, let's talk about the camera app. It's a bit difficult to get used to. For example, you find it very difficult to switch between cameras. If you need to disable or activate the wide-angle camera, there is a Shift key. However, if you want to use the macro camera, you need to reach deep into the app's settings menu to find it. It's a pretty complicated process and something we didn't overestimate. In the camera app, you will find the usual suspects such as HDR, Chroma Boost, Time Lapse, Panorama, and Filter.

The Realme 5 camera does a good job with the images that are clicked in daylight. We were impressed by the sharpness, color balance and saturation of the images. Focusing the camera takes little time and the images capture many details.

To click Images with the 48MP sensor, you must select a different model. The shots that are clicked during the day are particularly good and impressive. Note, however, that each image clicked with the 48MP sensor weighs almost 7 to 8 times a normal image.

It is not recommended to take pictures with the wide-angle camera as this does not meet the requirements. The color accuracy does not match the selection, and even the details are lost in the images. In a hurry to add the fourth camera and be the first to offer a quad-camera in this segment, Realme has missed a hit with the wide-angle lens. The macro camera does a relatively better job than the wide-angle lens. However, we can safely assume that the macro camera is not used by too many random smartphone users who want to click on everyday images. These are good additions to Realme, but the widespread use of these features is quite controversial. However, they must pay tribute to the company for having them on board.

What impressed the Realme 5 cameras the most is lowlight photography. Nightscape mode provides absolutely precise details and is a great improvement over previous Realme phones. The photos look sharp, the lighting is pretty good and there is no sense of artificiality. However, the 48-megapixel night mode does not deliver what we expected.

The front camera is like any other front camera we've seen. It captures reasonably good images with more than a hint of artificiality. It's something we don't appreciate, but because of the social media trends. This is something that doesn't bother too many people. So it is to be expected that many people like the front camera of the Realme 5 Pro.

The Realme 5 Pro records videos at 1080p 30fps and you can record them at up to 60fps. The videos recorded on the phone look satisfactory but note that the wide-angle camera cannot be used to record videos. Overall, we have to say that the four cameras together deliver more than acceptable performance. It won't really knock you down, but it won't really disappoint you either. You can actually say this to almost all other functions of the phone.

Realme 5 Pro Review: Verdict

Realme has been on the safe side with Realme 5 Pro. It has proven itself with a proven design, the display is also reasonably good and the battery performance is highly appreciated. You can find out what you expect from us in the Performance (custom user interface) section, as it delivers really good results. The quad-camera setup will please many but has a few little things here and there. However, the 4 GB RAM and 64 GB version cost Rs 13,999.

As mentioned at the beginning, Realme 5 Pro is designed to compete and offers an additional plus at this price. The 8GB RAM and 128GB versions cost approximately Rs 16,999. At this price, you can purchase the much better 4GB version of Realme X, while the 6GB version costs Rs 14,999.

At this price, you can choose the Realme 5 Pro and will not be disappointed. Phone by phone, Realme simply aims to offer an alternative to those who want to look beyond Xiaomi phones. Realme 5 is another step in this direction because it's a phone that offers quite a lot for the price it offers (not everything is great). It is the balancing act to package it with many functions and offer it at a competitive price.