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Realme X50 5G Review

Written By Alejandro Maquinto
Published • February 22nd, 2020
Gadget ReviewsMobile
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Realme Philippines is aiming to launch the brand’s 5G-capable mid-range device, the Realme X50 5G, in the Philippines! Ahead of that, we were able to get our hands on one. The smartphone features a 6.57-inch high refresh rate display, Snapdragon 765 chipset, quad rear cameras, and a 4,200mAh battery. Could this be your entry to tomorrow’s 5G connectivity? Find out in our full review!

Table of Contents

Design and Construction

The Realme X50 5G comes in either Glacier or Polar, with our unit being the latter. Its back reflects streaks of light in a wave-like pattern, which adds to its otherwise dull look. Upon first using the device, I immediately noticed how good it felt in hand. The curved glass back molds perfectly with the contours of my hand, which allowed me to grip the device comfortably. It’s got some weight into it, which feels evenly distributed and adds to the premium feel.

It’s got a 6.57-inch display with a Full HD+ resolution, equating to 401ppi. Like Redmi K30 (or Poco X2), Realme is bringing high refresh rate displays to its midrange device, with the X50 5G capable of outputting 120Hz. For protection, the X50 5G comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, and a pre-installed screen protector

The dual front cameras, which consists of a 16MP primary and 8MP ultra-wide, are housed in a pill-shaped punch-hole design on the upper left corner.

Over at the left side, we have the volume rocker, while the power button/fingerprint scanner is located on the right.

I like this button layout more than having all of them on one side, as it allows me to take screenshots and adjust the volume easier.

The top is bare, save for the secondary microphone.

Located at the bottom are the SIM tray, primary microphone, and loudspeaker.

The back is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Located on the upper left corner is the camera module that houses the 64MP main, 12MP telephoto, 8MP ultra-wide, and the 2MP macro camera. It only protrudes by a millimeter, so it doesn’t wobble as much as other phones. That being said, if you want to avoid scratches, Realme provided a clear case in the box for you to use.

In terms of design and construction, the Realme X50 5G feels like a flagship device. It’s made of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 all over with aluminum at the middle, and a curved back design. One thing it’s missing, though, is a 3.5mm audio jack, so audio lovers beware.

Display and Multimedia

The Realme X50 5G comes with a 6.57-inch IPS display with a 1080 x 2400 resolution. It’s got fairly slim bezels all around, measuring 3mm at the sides, 4mm on top, and 7mm on the chin. Colors were vivid thanks to its glossy display, and it has excellent detail and sharpness. Animations were also buttery smooth thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate.

Audio-wise, the speakers sound good for a smartphone. Unlike other devices, the bass on the X50 5G is present even on higher volumes, and the mids had no problem playing Childish Gambino’s Redbone. That being said, the sub-bass is still lacking, and the highs are a little untamed when Glover was singing in falsetto. When listening to podcasts, the speakers were also able to output clear sound, and I understood the conversation even when I was about 5 meters away. Overall, the X50 5G is capable of giving its users a pleasant listening experience, whether it be music, podcasts, or movies.

Cameras

The Realme X50 5G has a quad rear camera set up comprising of a 64MP main, 12MP telephoto, 8MP ultra-wide, and the 2MP macro camera. At the front, a pill-shaped punch-hole module houses the 16MP primary and 8MP ultra-wide cameras.

The rear cameras were able to capture photos with great detail, sharpness, and decent colors when shooting with natural light. Pictures at night did introduce noise and overexposure but were overall still decent. Take a look at some sample shots below:

Likewise, the front cameras were also able to take sharp photos with decent colors and detail. However, we did notice some post-processing. Take a look at the sample selfie shots below:

As for videos, the rear cameras are capable of shooting 720p and 1080p videos in either 30fps or 60fps, while shooting in 4k will lock the fps to 30. There’s also an EIS feature that you can toggle called Ultra Steady mode. Take a look at a sample video on 1080p

OS, UI, and Apps

Out of the box, the X50 5G is running on Color OS 7, based on Android 10. Since our unit is the China ROM variant, it doesn’t come with Google apps. Instead, our unit came with its own App Market, and a bunch of Chinese apps. I won’t dive in too deep here, because the local retail version will most likely with Google anyway. It does, however, come with Breeno – OPPO and Realme’s own Intelligent Assistant.

As for navigation, the ColorOS7 allows users to choose between side swipe gestures, swipe-up gestures, and virtual buttons. It doesn’t come with an app drawer, so you’d need to download a launcher if that’s your preference.

Moving over to storage, the Realme X50 5G comes in either 6GB + 128GB, 8GB + 128GB, and 12GB +256GB variants. Our unit here comes in the 8GB + 128GB configuration; out of the 128GB storage, 112GB of it is usable. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an SD card slot for you to expand the memory.

Performance and Benchmarks

Powering the Realme X50 5G is a Snapdragon 765 chipset which offers a significant performance boost over its predecessor, the Snapdragon 730G. The device also comes with UFS 2.1, so boot and loading times are quick. Take a look at the benchmark results below:

Antutu v8.2.4 – 328,335
3D Mark Sling Shot Extreme – 3,282 (OpenGL ES 3.1), 3,062 (Vulkan)
PC Mark Work 2.0 – 10,965
AndroBench
- Sequential – 935.35 MB/s (Read), 200.47 MB/s (Write)
- Random – 146.79 MB/s (Read), 125.31 MB/s (Write)

Performance-wise, the Realme X50 5G could handle any task we threw at it, even heavy games. We didn’t encounter any issues; everything was smooth and fast.

Connectivity and Battery Life

As the name suggests, the Realme X50 5G is capable of connecting to 5G networks as well as 4G LTE, WiFi, and Bluetooth 5.0.

We ran our standard video loop test, which consists of looping a 1080p video at 50% brightness in airplane mode and got a total of 20 hours and 37 minutes. Do take note that due to the device’s lack of an audio port, we were not able to play the video at 50% volume. As for charging, it’s compatible with VOOC flash charging up to 30W.

Conclusion

Despite being midrange, the Realme X50 5G features a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, very capable rear cameras, and premium construction. Overall, it’s a well-rounded device with only a few weak points.

The only question left is the price. While we did see third-party sellers on Lazada list the device for PHP 22k to 25k, the official price is yet to be announced. If Realme Philippines does release it for around that price range with Google apps, then the X50 5G would sit in the premium mid-range category, which is what it exactly is. If you’re looking for a device with near-flagship performance and 5G connectivity that doesn’t break the bank, then the Realme X50 5G will not disappoint.

Realme X50 5G specs
6.57-inch LCD display, FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 90.48% screen-to-body ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G octa-core CPU
Adreno 620 GPU
6GB/8GB/12GB RAM
128GB/256GB storage
64MP (main) + 12MP (2x telephoto) + 8MP (ultra-wide) + 2MP (macro) quad-rear cameras
16MP + 8MP 105-degree ultra-wide-angle dual front cameras
Dual nano-SIM
4G, 5G connectivity
Bluetooth 5.0
Dual GPS
Power button with an integrated fingerprint sensor
Dolby Sound
NFC support
USB Type-C port
ColorOS 7 with custom Realme UI (Android 10)
4,200mAh battery with 30W VOOC flash charging
163.8 x 8.9 x 75.8 mm
202g