Realme 5 review: Useful budget offering with 4 cameras

The Realme 5 from Oppo’s sub-brand is the 5 Pro’s smaller sibling. This is a strategy that multiple smartphone-makers are going for now. The phone’s brand value remains almost equivalent, but there’s an even cheaper version available for those who can make do with some watered-down specs.

The stark differences between the Realme 5 Pro and 5 are in the processor used, camera lens, RAM and ROM variants. Of course, the processor and the RAM will affect performance but we found that it did not to that large an extent. The only marked difference was that the 5 pro did better with gaming than the 5 did, and that’s understandable. Also, the 5 doesn’t come in that gorgeous green-coloured back that the 5 Pro has.

Bright as can be

The 5’s review unit was a Crystal Blue colour with the gradients and patterns, but it was so bright, it woudn’t look out of place in a Manga comic. The back literally was shining and it didn’t go with anything formal or sober. I think this colour best serves the college crowd. The phone is also quite heavy.

The 5 doesn’t get the 5 Pro’s VOOC fast charging, but instead ships with a 10 W charger in the box. It connects with the USB Type 2 and Realme’s product officials told me that this was because of its budget pricing. But it has a bigger 5,000 mAh battery that easily lasts well over a day with regular use. It also could well be responsible for the phone’s heavy feel.

The phone comes with a Snapdragon 665 processor, which is actually quite good for a device that starts below ₹10,000. In comparison, the Realme 5 pro comes with a Snapdragon 712 processor.

While the 5 Pro got a 48 MP primary lens for the rear camera set-up, the Realme 5 comes with a 12 MP primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture. It also brings the quad camera set-up to a phone cheaper than ₹10,000, to its credit. The other three primary cameras are a 2 MP depth sensor, an 8 MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2 MP macro lens.

The camera gets pretty much the same features the realme 5 Pro’s shooter got. The biggest difference is in image quality and type thanks to a larger sensor on the Realme 5 Pro’s shooter. Under daylight, with 48 MP off on the 5 Pro, the pictures were comparable. At its price point, the cameras did okay — nothing to rave about but nothing to complain about either. Again, getting a macro shot at this price is something. The front camera is a 13 MP shooter and does its job.

The Realme 5 is a capable offering and with its variants, has something for people looking to get a lot of features without spending a lot.