Realme 5 Pro Review - Smartphone for bargain hunters

Realme 5 Pro

Design, workmanship and delivery

Back with effects

The Realme 5 Pro doesn't have to hide behind a case. The back combines a chic look of geometric shapes and play of colors. Depending on the incidence of light, the shiny blue pattern appears differently. The Realme 5 Pro thus emulates many high-end smartphones, but differs in detail. Instead of high-quality glass back, we only get plastic here. This may be less robust, but unsightly scratches did not appear in the test lasting several weeks without a protective cover.

What bothers the rear optics somewhat are the numerous prints. The back of the Global Version not only adorns the Realme lettering, but also an abundance of product labels, such as the CE logo or the symbol of the crossed out garbage can.

The smartphone feels good in the hand. The power button on the right and the volume buttons on the left are easily accessible. The same applies to the fingerprint scanner, which is located in the middle of the upper third of the back.

Quad camera system

The vertically arranged quad camera system is located next to the fingerprint scanner. The first of the four camera modules has a striking yellow border and 48 MP lettering. Interestingly, this is not the 48 MP main sensor, but the 8 MP ultra-wide-angle module. The main sensor comes second, followed by a 2 MP depth sensor and a 2 MP macro sensor. The entire camera unit protrudes a bit, which is why the smartphone is a bit wobbly on its back.

connection options

All connection options for the Realme 5 Pro are located on the underside of the housing frame. When viewed from above, there is a USB-C port in the middle and a 3.5 mm headphone jack to the left. To the right of the USB-C port, Realme has placed a mono speaker and a microphone. Another microphone is on the top. The SIM slot above the volume buttons can be equipped with two nano SIM cards AND an additional microSD memory card. There is no notification LED.

splash protection

Surprisingly, the Realme 5 Pro is splash-proof. If you pull out your smartphone in the rain, you don't have to worry about water damage (according to the manufacturer). Places where water could penetrate are glued or provided with protection. Nevertheless, the smartphone does not have an IP certification. It is therefore not advisable to blindly trust the information provided by Realme. As a precaution, we have not tested how far the water protection actually goes.

Processing and delivery

The processing quality is not objectionable. The smartphone leaves an overall robust impression. In addition to the smartphone, the scope of delivery also includes a suitable silicone protective cover, a VOOC quick charger (5V 4A), a USB-C cable, a SIM needle and operating instructions.

Display

The Realme 5 Pro has a 6.3-inch IPS screen with a teardrop-shaped notch for the selfie camera. The resolution is 1.080 x 2.340 pixels, which corresponds to an aspect ratio of 19.5: 9 and a point density of 409 DPI.

display measurement

According to Realme, the maximum display brightness of the IPS panel is 450 cd / m². The measurements carried out in the test showed a partially higher display brightness of up to 510 cd / m². The display brightness is an average of 485 cd / m².

The panel's brightness deviations are a maximum of 9%. These are not visible to the naked eye. The average black value is 0.301 cd / m². The totality of the measurement data results in a contrast ratio of 1: 1618.

Color accuracy was measured in the Realme 5 Pro's standard color mode. The color deviations from the sRGB color space are an average Delta E of 4.69 and a maximum Delta E of 6.27. The gray levels show a slight blue cast.

Display brightness distribution - Calman Ultimate by portrait.com

Display in everyday life

The display is well coordinated from the factory. Colors are displayed vividly without appearing too warm or too cold. Different viewing angles do not lead to any serious change in color intensity, sharpness or contrast. Due to its high luminance, the display of the Realme 5 Pro can be read even in the sunshine.

Display settings and functions

The Realme UI offers various setting options for the display. The brightness can be adjusted manually or automatically. The automatic brightness mode works precisely and quickly. There are also setting options for color temperature (colder - warmer), font size, automatic rotation and automatic display switch-off.

A useful function is the night protection, which can be activated according to a schedule. This filters the blue component of the display, which has been proven to have properties that disturb sleep and damage the eyes. The visual "OSIE image effect" ensures stronger colors. However, the function is only supported in a few apps. Apps with OSIE support are e.g. Amazon Prime Video or TikTok.

Touchscreen

The touchscreen can handle up to 10 simultaneous inputs. Input recognition takes place precisely and without unintentional ghost touches. The display is protected by scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Plus. A carefully applied protective film is on the display at the factory.

Performance

Qualcomm Snapdragon 712

The Realme 5 Pro uses the powerful yet energy efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 mobile processor. The processor came on the market at the beginning of 2019 and is manufactured using the 10nm process. The CPU is divided into a performance cluster with two Cortex-A75 cores (2.3 GHz) and an energy-saving cluster with six Cortex-A55 cores (1.7 GHz). The GPU is an Adreno 616.

Mid-range smartphones often have slow memory types built in. The Realme 5 Pro, however, takes a different approach and relies on fast memory modules of the type LPDDR4X (main memory) and UFS2.1 (data storage). The smartphone is available with either 4GB or 8GB RAM and 128GB data storage. The data memory can also be expanded with a microSD memory card.

Benchmark

How the smartphone fares in the benchmark can be seen in the following screenshots. With more than 220.000 points in the AnTuTu benchmark, the Realme 5 Pro places itself between a HONOR Play and a Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite. In the test, the RAM of our 4 + 128GB model reached speeds of 12 GB / s. The internal data memory reaches an average of 510 MB / s for reading and 190 MB / s for writing.

Performance in everyday life

The smartphone cuts a good figure in everyday life. The user interface reacts quickly and animations take place without major stuttering. Apps are loaded quickly the first time they are started and can be called up permanently from the memory. What noticeably affects the performance is the somewhat slow memory card slot. If you outsource apps to the memory card, it can lead to longer loading times.

Gaming

Current mobile games can be played smoothly with the Realme 5 Pro. Games like PUBG run constantly without stutters. In many games, high graphics settings can be activated without hesitation. The maximum temperature measured after half an hour of gaming is below 40 ° C.

user interface

The Realme 5 Pro originally used OPPO's ColorOS 6 user interface based on Android 9. A lot has happened in the meantime and Realme delivered an update to the new Realme UI during our test phase. This not only gives the smartphone a completely new user interface, but also an update to Android 10.

Since ColorOS has become obsolete, we dedicate this passage to the new Realme UI. Optical differences between the user interfaces can be seen in the screenshots.

Realme UI is a clear user interface with many functions. The Google Play services and thus also the Google PlayStore are pre-installed on the smartphone, so that new apps can be installed in next to no time. Only a few third-party apps are pre-installed. Netflix can be enjoyed in HD thanks to Widevine L1 support.

Many of the system-expanding functions are an integral part of the user interface. The telephone manager facilitates data protection management of individual apps, offers payment protection and enables individual components to be checked. The Game Space manages the games on the smartphone. Various overlays make it easier to use while playing and the "Graphics Acceleration Mode" also increases performance. With the App Cloner, apps can be installed several times on the smartphone.

Camera

The Realme 5 Pro is the first Realme smartphone with a quad camera system. The main sensor is a 48 MP Sony IMX 586 with f / 1.79 aperture. The sensor uses what is known as Quad-Bayer technology. Four pixels are combined into one pixel. The result is 12 MP images with improved image quality. At least in theory.

The second sensor, which is in the first position in the arrangement, is an 8 MP Hynix HI856 with a 119 ° ultra-wide-angle lens and f / 2.2 aperture. The two remaining sensors each have a resolution of 2 MP and are called GalaxyCore GC2375 (macro sensor) and OmniVision OV02A1B (depth sensor). The front camera uses a 16 MP Sony IMX471 with f / 2.0 aperture.

Practical test of the main camera

12 MP pictures

Considering the price, the Realme 5 Pro takes very good pictures. The 48 MP main sensor records in 12 MP as standard and makes use of Quad-Bayer technology. The photos impress with their strong colors, an appropriate dynamic range and high image sharpness. In some situations the sharpness of the image can decrease a little towards the edges. At the same time, distant structures can appear slightly overdrawn due to the high definition. However, this has no serious effects on the overall image quality.

 You can find these and other test recordings in full resolution under this Link. 

48 MP pictures

You can manually switch to 48 MP mode in the camera app. If you zoom into the recordings, you can see a little more detail compared to the 12 MP mode. At the same time, however, the image noise increases. There is no real benefit from the 48 MP mode. The mode is "nice to have", but nothing more.

Zoom

Zooming is possible with up to 10x magnification. Instead of an optical zoom, there is only a digital zoom. If you zoom in just a little (2x), the recording quality is still acceptable and little details are lost. If you zoom in further, the recording quality goes steeply downhill.

Macro and portrait mode

Macro mode is crap. Images recorded with it are completely out of focus, muddy and distorted in color.

The portrait mode in turn manages to bring the subject very nicely into the foreground. Overall, subtleties are extracted cleanly. By the way, you don't necessarily have to activate the bokeh mode. The Realme 5 Pro is able to take beautiful portraits even without portrait mode.

Chroma Boost

Strictly speaking, the so-called Chroma Boost mode is an extended HDR mode or comparable to the camera AI mode of other smartphones. The mode increases the dynamic range and increases the color saturation visibly.

Nachtaufnahmen

The camera system of the Realme 5 Pro not only convinces during the day, but also at night. The recordings made under poor lighting conditions are surprisingly noise-free and strong in the details. Colors remain largely accurate. By the way, features such as the Chroma Boost can also improve the recording quality at night. It is important to try out which settings are best suited for the motif.

An additional night mode is available. With long exposure, several images are taken one after the other and combined into one image by the software. Shadows are artificially lightened, which makes the picture appear brighter overall. Unfortunately, the image noise increases significantly in night mode and details become increasingly muddy.

video mode

The smartphone records videos with maximum 4K resolution at 30 frames per second. At a low 1080p resolution, even 60 frames per second are possible. In the video settings you can choose between H.264 and H.265 encoding.

Electronic image stabilization (EIS) is available, but is only active in 1080p30 mode. Controlling the image stabilization manually is unfortunately not possible. The 4K video recording quality is decent. The colors are accurate, the picture pleasantly sharp and the dynamic range high. The recorded sound is good overall.

Practical test of the front camera

Like the main camera, the 16 MP selfie camera delivers good results. However, good lighting conditions are a prerequisite. In good light, the selfie shots are extremely detailed, even if the colors are a little weaker. In poor lighting conditions, the details decrease and the image noise increases, but the colors are well preserved.

The front camera also offers a bokeh mode. This extracts people precisely. Various beauty filters can be activated via the camera app. The front camera records videos in 1080p at 30 frames per second.

connectivity

Telephony

When it comes to cellular communications, the Realme 5 Pro is well positioned. The smartphone supports the mobile radio frequencies common in this country. The SIM slot can handle two SIM cards (nano). Here is an overview of the bands:

GSM: B2 / B3 / B5 / B8
WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B8
LTE FDD: B1/B2/B3/B5/B7/B8/B20/B28
LTE TDD: B38 / B40 / B41

Telephony and mobile surfing work as you would expect from a good mid-range smartphone. The voice quality can be described as good. Noise is effectively filtered by the two microphones. Attention: VoLTE and WiFi calling are not supported! 

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

The smartphone supports dual-band AC WiFi (802.11 a / b / g / n / ac) and Bluetooth 5.0. The speeds achieved in the WLAN are on a decent level. The signal is strong enough to receive data through several walls. The same applies to the Bluetooth module, which establishes and maintains connections without errors.

GPS and sensors

The smartphone finds a GPS fix both indoors and outdoors. A precise position determination is set up outdoors within a few seconds. It takes longer in buildings, but here, too, localization is still somewhat precise.

The Realme 5 Pro behaves inconspicuously when navigating. Regardless of whether it is an urban area or country, the signal remains constant and the position determination without major deviations. Changes in direction are recognized quickly thanks to the e-compass.

The further sensor equipment amounts to a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, a G-sensor and a Hall sensor. NFC is not available, which is why contactless payment is not supported.

Fingerprint scanner and face recognition

The back fingerprint scanner works quickly and reliably. Up to 5 fingerprints can be saved. Secure unlocking via face recognition also works well. The smartphone can be unlocked quickly even in poor lighting conditions. Fooling the face recognition with a photo held in front of it does not work.

Audio

The Realme 5 Pro is one of the few current smartphones that does not do without the popular 3.5 mm jack socket. The sound is full, both via the 3.5 mm connection and the USB-C socket, and reaches a high volume.

The mono loudspeaker also delivers a balanced sound and is sufficient to play a video or a music track over it. Here, too, the maximum volume reaches a high level without distorting.

Battery

The smartphone is equipped with a 4035 mAh battery, which is difficult to bring to your knees in one day, even with intensive use. Depending on usage, the continuous screen-on-time is up to 15 hours. Calculated over the day, the battery has to be charged approximately every two days with normal use.

The fast charging technology VOOC 3.0 charges the battery to 30 percent within 50 minutes. A complete charging process takes between 80 - 90 minutes. The charger and charging cable required for VOOC 3.0 are included in the scope of delivery. Contactless Qi charging is not possible.