For ₹37,999 you get more on the Realme X50 Pro than you’ll know what to do with. Oppo sub-brand Realme has been truly coming into its own by doing what Xiaomi once did: offer a surprise package of unarguable value for money. It’s a tough thing to pull off again and again, but with the X50 Pro, they’ve surely done it again.
The top talking point is that it’s the first 5G phone in India, but of course, there’s no sign of 5G and won’t be for a few years. In fact we’re lucky if we get decent 4G connectivity. So why would you want to pay for 5G?
Except that you aren’t. Incredibly, while the 5G is mostly on paper (unless you travel to a place where it works) there’s so much else that it doesn’t matter. In the end, you’re certainly not being asked to pay for the 5G because of what you get.
The looks
Let’s start with what the X50 Pro looks like. Choosing to go with two refreshingly different and subtle colours rather than the usual glitzy designs that are becoming all too common, Realme offers the X50 Pro in ‘Moss Green’ and ‘Brick Red’. These are quiet shades, except that the glass has been used in a smooth frosted matte finish style so as to silkily reflect the light when moved around — much as OnePlus has done with some of its devices such as the OnePlus 7T.
On the back is the vertical camera assembly with a tiny AI Quad Camera written alongside it and a nicely aligned Realme logo at the bottom edge. All else is smooth in Gorilla Glass 5. It’s a premium and elegant look.
The phone is on the large and weighty side but curved edges on the back make it nice for larger hands to hold. It’s somewhat slippery for smaller hands as this material will be but thankfully doesn’t overly show smudges, though when they’re there they can be wiped off very effectively.
Up front we have a very nice vivid screen with deep rich colours and contrasts. It’s edge to edge except for a double camera punch hole on the left and that can either irritate you or not bother you at all. I’m getting too accustomed to these punch holes and every time I see one I just thank phone makers for having moved on from the notch era.
Accompanying the impressive display is a set of dual speakers that sound really deep and full. I don’t often like listening to music on the phone itself, but in this case, it turns out a fairly pleasant experience.
The chipset
But here’s the real meat of the matter. The X50 Pro comes with the very newest Snapdragon chipset, the 865, which you’ll see on top-end phones this year. It isn’t dramatically more powerful than the 855+ but comes with features that power AI, photography and gaming. Realme has three variants to pair the 865 with: 12GB with 256GB, 8GB with 128GB and 6GB with 128GB, running on Android 10.
Then there’s a whole lot of specs that make it a really fast and smooth phone to use. There’s a 6.4-inch 90Hz refresh rate screen with a 1080x2400 resolution and support for HDR10+. The phone uses UFS 3.0 storage which specifically makes gaming and loading data faster. It uses 5.1, A2DP, LE. To support whatever power-intensive things you do with this phone, there’s a 4,200mAh battery with what they call ‘Superdart’ charging. Whatever it’s called, it charges the phone from 0 to 100 in about 35 minutes with a hefty 65W charger provided in the box.
Interface not too hot
Android 10 on this phone works with Realme’s interface, Realme UI 1.0. It’s none too impressive, unfortunately. I still find the way settings are arranged and highlighted with coloured mini-icons defying logic. There’s still no end of unsought bloatware apps forced on the user. You can uninstall only some while the others hide in the app drawer regardless of what you do. Then there’s the fact that some things don’t work. Try screen recording with a video and it will seem as if it’s recording but not actually do so. If this is by design, it should say so somewhere.
The X50 Pro has six cameras. The two front cameras (32MP and 8MP) give you a somewhat wider angle option and allow the usual Portrait mode etc. They don’t over-soften as much as some and are fine. The rear cameras include a wide (64MP), ultra-wide (8MP), telephoto (12MP) and depth sensor (2MP). Again, they perform fine. In low light and using the night mode, I felt the images had a yellow unnatural tinge to them. The camera set is perfectly nice for casual phone photography.
So what’s missing in this power-packed phone keeping it from competing with the top tier of smartphones? Well, there’s no wireless charging, no water and dust resistance, and the cameras are good, but not great. But other than that, what you get for the price is surprising value — again.
- Price: ₹44,999, ₹39,999, ₹37,999
- Pros: Future-proof specs; smooth, fast performance including for gaming; good screen; extremely fast charging; elegant looks; great sound; good price
- Cons: Software is so-so
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.