Despite being a young company, realme was able to catapult itself from a literally unknown brand to a game-changing name in both the budget and mid-range segments of the Philippine smartphone market. This is thanks to a formula of offering devices that are competitive not just in specs and features, but more importantly, in price.
The brand’s newest contender, the realme 5 Pro, isn’t foreign to this equation, and employs the same tactics the company has relied on throughout its first year of stay in the local market, plus a number of new tricks under the hat.
Specifications
| Display | 6.3″ FHD+, LCD, 90.8%, 450nits, Gorilla Glass 3+ |
| Processor | Snapdragon 712 AIE |
| RAM | LPDDR4X 4GB/6GB/8GB, PH Config TBA |
| Storage | UFS 2.1 64GB/128GB, PH Config TBA |
| Rear Camera | Main 48MP Sony IMX586 (f/1.79) |
| Wide-Angle 8MP (f/2.25) | |
| Portrait 2MP | |
| Macro 2MP | |
| Front Camera | 16MP Sony IMX471 (f/2.0) |
| OS | ColorOS 6 realme Edition (Pie) |
| Battery | 4035mAh, VOOC 3.0 (5V 4A) |
| Other Features | Crystal Design |
| Splash Resistant Design | |
| PDAF | |
| 10x Digital Zoom | |
| AI HDR (Front and Rear) | |
| AI Beauty (Front and Rear) | |
| Chroma Boost | |
| Super Nightscape (can also be used on wide-angle shots) | |
| 4K 30FPS Video Recording | |
| 1080p 30/60FPS Video Recording | |
| Up to 960 FPS Slow Motion Video Recording | |
| EIS (Front and Rear) | |
| HyperBoost 2.0 | |
| Real Sound Technology |
Design
No need to fix something that isn’t broken. Realme has stuck with mostly the same design language from its first release – and the realme 5 Pro isn’t any different. With the exception of the new crystal design used on the back panel, the look of this phone is pretty much like any other realme device.
You get a new Crystal Design, which is basically a new version of the Diamond-Cut design used in previous models. This finish reacts beautifully to light from any angle, and adds to the premium look of the device.
Up front is a 6.3″ notched display with FHD+ resolution. You get an LCD panel here, so don’t expect the punchiness that you’ll find in an AMOLED display.
Button placement – Power on the right, volume and SIM slot on the left. This has a triple slot tray, and a Type-C port, which, I’ll say again and again, should be a standard these days.
Performance
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Powering the realme 5 Pro is the Snapdragon 712 AIE, coupled with 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. It scores 176405 in AnTuTu, which surpasses the realme 3 Pro’s 155,428 by a huge margin, and comes very close to the Vivo V15 Pro, which still holds the crown in our mid-range list.
We’ll save the figures for the full review, but we’re expecting this phone to breeze through our staple benchmark games, PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends.
Camera
One major upgrade to the realme 5 Pro is its quad-camera system, composed of a 48MP Sony IMX 586 main sensor, an ultra wide angle lens, and dedicated shooters for macro and portrait shots. In theory, this gives users more the flexibility of being more creative with their shots.
Quality-wise, our initial samples show good details and texture. Low light shots are also handled-well, at least from the samples we took. Control on exposure for light sources could use some work, but overall, it’s pretty impressive for a mid-range phone.
The front camera is almost just as impressive as the rear ones, “almost,” because it tends to expose the background just a bit too much, that there’s already a visible loss in detail.
Software
Realme 5 Pro runs on ColorOS 6 on top of Android 9 Pie, and brings the minimal but colorful motif. Fun to look at, without going overboard.
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You get the usual options, such as being able to adjust the color temperature of the display, and setting performance priority for games via Game Space.
There’s also screen recording, and a nifty… FM radio. Performance-wise, navigating the home screens and menus, opening apps, and switching between running apps is smooth and fluid.
The Verdict, So Far
So far, I’m enjoying my time with this phone. There’s really nothing to fault it for, performance-wise. The design isn’t the most eye-candy out there, but hey, it works. Its cameras also show good promise even in low-light conditions.
There’s still a lot for me to do before giving this one a final score, but so far, I like how things are going. I just really hope they price this one properly, then again, it’s realme we’re talking about here, and that’s what they’re good at.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
