Realme 5 Review - The new budget standard!

Earlier this year, realme changed the game when they announced realme 3 with Helio P60 for PHP 6,990. How will they top it with the new realme 5? Let's find out in this review.

Realme 5

The newly announced phone comes with a 6.5-inch 720p IPS display with Gorilla Glass protection that is powered by a Snapdragon 665 AIE octa-core 11nm processor paired with Adreno 610 GPU, 4GB RAM, and up to 128GB storage.

Like the realme 3, it starts at PHP 6,990. All those specs are in a phone under PHP 10K.

For our review part 1: Realme 5 Unboxing and First Impressions

Let's dive deeper into the realme 5!

Multimedia Experience

6.5-inch 720p IPS display

In front is the aforementioned 6.5-inch 720p IPS display that gets bright enough up to 480 nits that allow the display to be readable under direct sunlight. Text and images are sharp enough but people who prefer high PPI may find the resolution a concern. Colors on this play pop and are vibrant. It has a cool to a warm slider that allows you to adjust the temperature display.

Massive display!

It is one of the few displays with a 6.5-inch display with an 89 percent screen-to-body ratio in its price range.

The display supports up to 10-points of touch simultaneously. Our taps and gestures register swiftly and accurately which makes this phone ideal for games or tasks that require multiple touch inputs simultaneously.

Single down-firing speaker

Realme 5 has a single down-firing speaker. The downward-firing speaker can get loud at maximum volume with some minor distortion but can be remedied by going down to 85 percent in volume. Sound quality from the speaker focuses on the bass while the mids and trebles are balanced.

There is no included earphones in the box.

We tried our RHA on the realme 5 and the sound quality is solid. It is not audiophile-grade but most will be happy with the completeness of the sound where you experience good separation, balanced mids, trebles, and bass.

The earpiece for calls is mostly clear and mic for recording audio (even for videos) did okay.

Cameras

Realme 5 quad-rear cameras

At the back is the quad-rear camera set-up consisting of a 12MP f/1.8 main sensor, 8MP f/2.25 119-degree ultra-wide-angle camera, 2MP f/2.4 Macro camera, and a 2MP f/2.4 depth camera with LED flash.

Rear camera Expert mode

As of this writing, the realme 5 is one of the most affordable smartphones with a quad-camera set-up.

Realme has been focusing with camera performance and it is reflected in its camera app where it has several camera modes like Photo, Video, Portrait, Nightscape, Pano, Expert, Time-lapse, Slo-Mo, and ultra-macro. The camera is also AI-assisted with several different scenes that are detected automatically and is then enhanced by realme's AI algorithms.

It has realme's Chroma Boost which automatically detects the scene and applies a color enhancing the effect that in our experience is a hit or miss.

Expert mode is also one of the more robust in its price range with the ability to control ISO (100-3200), Shutter Speed (1/8000th of a second - 16 seconds), White Balance, EV (+-2) and Focus.

The Snapdragon 665 also has the Spectra 160 image processor that should contribute to improving overall image quality from a hardware standpoint.

Rear Camera Samples

Rear main camera daylight 1x

Rear main camera daylight 2x

Rear main camera daylight 5x

Rear main camera daylight 10x

Rear main camera daylight ultra-wide

In daylight, the main 12MP camera is able to take decently sharp images with vibrant color and okay contrast. As we zoom-in into 2x, 5x and 10x, the image quality deteriorates because of noise and strong noise reduction. The softness and noise are most apparent in the 10x digital zoom.

On the other hand, the 8MP 119-degree ultra-wide-angle camera takes decently sharp images and vibrant colors with strong contrast. There is some softness at the edges and there some noticeable barrel distortion but it all adds to the creative ultra-wide look.

Macro shot

In daylight, the macro camera of the realme 5 can focus even at very short distances while maintaining decent sharpness, color, and contrast. The images in indoors and low light, however, aren't as good and we recommend using the macro camera in well-lit situations only.

Indoor shot

Indoor shot with Chroma Boost

Indoors, the main camera is able to take good photos with decent sharpness but with washed-out colors and contrast. When Chroma Boost is turned on, the color becomes vibrant and contrasts returns. However, the Chroma Boost only works on a case by case basis.

Rear camera low light 1x

Rear camera low light ultra-wide

In low light, the realme 5's main camera was able to retain a decent amount of color and sharpness but the noise and noise reduction has become apparent while the ultra-wide camera has struggled the most with a significant loss of detail and color from compared to the daylight images.

Main camera Night mode

Ultra-wide camera Night mode

Another unique feature of the realme 5 is the ability to use Nightscape mode with both the main camera and the ultra-wide camera.

There is a noticeable crop from the normal photo mode of the realme 5's main camera compared to the nightscape image but our concerns with noise and softness are lessened.

The Nightscape mode brightens up the image and cleans up the noise.

Front-facing camera

Realme 5 carries a 13MP f/2.0 front-facing camera with AI assistance. It is on top of the display right on the notch.

The camera app features modes like Photo, Portrait, and Video. There is a robust AI-assisted face beautification that allows for face smoothening, face slimming, smaller face, chin slimming and the like.

Selfie Camera Samples

Daylight selfie

Daylight selfie in portrait mode

In daylight, the selfie images are sharp but the skin tones are too pinkish while the colors of the trees and the buildings are washed out. There is a portrait mode that blurs out the background and it is able to detect edges well 85 percent of the way. It struggled with my hair strands and ears.

Indoor selfie

In indoors, the sharpness remains to be good while the colors of the scene improved. Neil's skin tones are on point while the colors of the background are vibrant. This may indicate a white balance concern that could be improved via firmware.

Lowlight selfie

In low light, the selfie camera is able to retain decent amount of sharpness, color and contrast well. There is some minor build-up of noise but it is controlled.

Face beautification at level 3 is acceptable and it does not look too artificial.

The realme 5's rear-facing camera can shoot up to 4K 30fps without EIS while 1080p has EIS. Footage from both the 1080p and 4K are decently sharp but noise is apparent. There is also some noticeable hesitation in the autofocus that bounces from the background and the subject at times. Being able to shoot at 4K at this price point is impressive, but we still recommend shooting at 1080p with the EIS.

The front-facing camera can shoot up to 1080p but with a significant crop. The footage is not as sharp as the stills images. There is also a large amount of noise even in well-lit conditions. The grain is at its worse in low light where even color accuracy goes down even further.

In summary, the realme 5's rear-facing camera can take compelling pictures in daylight and indoors but will struggle in indoors while the front-facing camera can take decently sharp images, the color accuracy could be hit or miss.

The ultra-wide camera is surprising for the price point but we recommend using it in well-lit situations. The Macro camera on the realme 5 is far from the realme 5 Pro and we honestly think it could be improved.

Video Samples

Performance

AnTuTu and GeekBench 5 benchmark scores

Inside is a Snapdragon 665 AIE octa-core processor with the Adreno 610 GPU, up to 4GB RAM, and up to 128GB of internal storage. This resulted in benchmark scores of 139,605 in AnTuTu, 315 single-core score and 1403 multi-core score in GeekBench, 1144 in OpenGL Sling Shot Extreme, 1,055 in Vulkan Sling Shot Extreme, and 7765 in PCMark's Work benchmark.

These benchmarks translate in the real world as smooth performance in day-to-day tasks of navigating through the OS, opening apps, Video streaming, gaming and the like.

In our video below, you will see that the realme 5 can run NBA 2K20 at max settings at a playable state with some frame rate drops. In PUBG, the realme 5 can achieve smooth gameplay even when graphics is set to medium settings with anti-aliasing is turned off.

There are pre-installed games but you can easily uninstall them for more storage space.

Realme 5 connects wirelessly via WiFi, 4G LTE and Bluetooth 5 and connects wired through the micro USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack. The micro USB port supports OTG while the wireless connection via WiFi, 4G LTE and Bluetooth 5 are stable and as fast as you would expect from the Snapdragon chipset.

It has OTG and most of the sensors we needed as well.

Both Face Unlock and Fingerprint scanner set-up process are fast and straight forward. The Face Unlock quickly detects my face and unlocks the phone as soon as the display is active. It is also able to detect my face even if I take off my glasses. It does struggle when you are trying Face Unlock in a dim environment. The display brightens up to be able to compensate for this.

The fingerprint scanner is equally as fast as it instantly detects and registers my fingerprint and unlocks the phone.

Our usual PCMark Battery test is still on-going as we are writing this review on October 7, 7PM. The Battery Benchmark began on October 3, 11PM. We will update the article once the battery test is done.

But in our actual usage, the large 5,000mAh battery paired with the 720p display has given the realme 5 one of the longest-lasting battery life in real-world usage. We would unplug the charger at 8AM in the morning and we would arrive at home at 8PM with 50 to 55 percent battery life left. This is with our daily routine that is constantly connected via Wi-Fi or LTE while navigating through the OS, calling, texting, web surfing, YouTube streaming, Spotify, Waze, and ride-hailing apps.

There is no fast charging support. You get a 5V2A charger in the box that charges the phone via micro USB. It takes an average of 150 to 180 minutes to charge the realme 5 from 0 percent to 100 percent.

ColorOS 6 on realme 5

ColorOS 6 that is based on Android Pie that distinguishes itself from other versions with realme only icons and decorations. Like in our first encounter with the OS with the realme 3 is that it is still the most improved Android skin. There are some quirks that you have to get used to. It isn't the best skin out there but it isn't a bad one either.

What we did notice is the increased number of pre-installed bloatware that we uninstalled as soon as we finished setting up the phone.

Pros - Large Display, Snapdragon 665, long battery life, quad-cam with ultra-wide, 1080p video with EIS, best specs for the price

Cons - 3 hour charging time, micro USB, gimmicky macro, 4K stabilization, bloatware

Realme 5 Specs

Display: 6.5-inch 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass 3+ protected IPS screen w/ HD+ 1600 x 720 resolution at 269 ppi
CPU: 2.0GHz 64-bit Snapdragon 665 AIE octa-core processor
GPU: Adreno 610
RAM: 3GB/4GB
ROM: 32GB/64GB/128GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 256GB
Back Camera: 12MP f/1.8 with PDAF + 8MP f/2.25 119-degree ultra wide-angle + 2MP f/2.4 4cm macro + 2MP f/2.4 depth w/ LED flash
Selfie Camera: 13MP f/2.0 w/ AI Portrait
Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 10W charger
OS: Android 9.0 Pie w/ ColorOS 6.0
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5, OTG, FM Radio, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Fingerprint sensor, face unlock, splash resistance, Dirac HD Sound, Colors: crystal blue, crystal purple
Dimensions: 164.4 x 75.6 x 9.3 mm
Weight: 198 g
Price: PHP 6,990 (3GB/32GB), PHP 7,990 (3GB/64GB), PHP 9,990 (4GB/128GB)

Verdict

Realme 5 offers outstanding value because it is one of the few phones under PHP 10K with a Snapdragon 665, large 6.5-inch 720p IPS display, and 5,000mAh battery that delivers great performance in daily tasks.

It even has a quad-camera setup assisted by the Spectra 160 image processor that delivers mostly better images than similarly priced phones without similar SoCs.

Our few nitpicks with the device are the charging time is slow, the macro images could be improved, and there is a large amount of bloatware.

It is for all this reasons that the new realme 5 sets the new standards for phones priced under PHP 10K.

Build/Design - 4

Multimedia Experience - 4

Cameras - 4.25

Performance 4.5

Average - 4.18/5

What do you guys think? Do you agree with us?