In a report from the presentation of the Realme brand in Ukraine, I suggested that Citrus will take over the market
However, this does not detract from the fact that Ukrainians,especially in the budget segment, they look at the price no less than the brand, check the characteristics to choose the most value for money and go to the store for advice. And, of course, it does not detract from the fact that Realme has a strong background for a good start, while Xiaomi, its main budget competitor, – some problems associated with the lack of domestic production in China.
What is it?
Realme 5 Pro - a smartphone in the price segment$200-$250 with a 48-megapixel quad camera, a powerful battery (4000 mAh), a large amount of internal memory (128 GB), a screen with a teardrop notch and a design that has something to say. The manufacturer has different versions of this model with 4, 6 and 8 GB of RAM. On the Citrus website, which is the official distributor of the brand in Ukraine, there is only a junior version, but, oddly enough, we received a device with 8 GB of RAM.
What does he look like?
Impressions of the external Realme 5 Pro are dual. On the one hand, the back of the device looks bright and stylish, as if a robot character had escaped from the game. The case is glossy, shimmers with an interesting graphic pattern. The color of the sea wave is fashionable this season (as in the past and, it seems, is not the first year at all), but due to the new unbroken implementation it looks relevant and fresh.
On the other hand, budget devices give outthe details. Firstly, easily soiled plastic, which did not get an oleophobic coating. Secondly, the device itself turned out to be large, with the same characteristics it would be possible to fit it into a more compact case (fortunately, there was a place for two SIM-cards and a miroSD slot). But state employees did not deserve this, for the manufacturer it is an extra expense, the price is important here. Finally, ergonomics is imperfect, there are a couple of details that can be forgiven, but they give savings. The volume control buttons are located on the left side a bit high, like the fingerprint sensor on the back. In addition, the sensor itself is almost not tactile, it’s easy to miss if you use a smartphone without a case.
But the huge camera module sticks out soabove the case (again, it seems that the engineers did not try, with such dimensions it would be possible to fit the camera unit), which immediately gives the impression that the optics are huge. Optics is really good by the standards of a $ 200 smartphone.
There is only one speaker, located at the bottom.If you hold the smartphone horizontally, it doesn’t really fit under your finger, so you can play and watch videos without any problems. He's a loner here, but normal. For $200 something. Charging connector – already Type C. There is an audio output.
In general, I evaluate the appearance of the model asinteresting for its segment, and well reaching the audience: young hipsters who do not have a budget for an expensive smartphone, but who want to have a thing with good characteristics and preferably charisma.
What is in the box?
Smartphone, charger with cable, card clip, transparent silicone case. On the screen – protective covering.
What about the screen?
We with the colorimeter during quarantine live inparallel realities, so I’ll talk about impressions on the eye. It uses a 6.3-inch LCD-matrix with a resolution of 2340 × 1080 pixels (pixel density - 409 ppi), visually - IPS one to one. It is a bit blue, but it is easily fixed in the settings. Moreover, color reproduction can be corrected even for night mode.
I don’t know what will happen to the brightness in the summer, whileSunny days cope. Automatic brightness adjustment works correctly, I have no complaints about the sensitivity of the sensor. The screen is covered with Gorilla 3 protective glass, with protection glued on top. At first glance – not a fragile one, nothing in the bag was scratched by keys or other hard objects.
In general - an ordinary screen for your money. There is nothing to praise or scold.
What about performance and system?
Both appearance and price humbly hint thatRealme 5 Pro will be the favorite smartphone of a schoolchild (or student) of a novice gamer. It is inexpensive, the manufacturer has sweated over software optimization, and Citrus is actively promoting this feature of the smartphone. Like, not an incomprehensible Chinese from Uncle Liao, but a serious device that not only designers, but also programmers, worked on.
The smartphone has 128 GB of flash memory, 8 GBRAM and the Snapdragon 712 processor. In terms of RAM, the smartphone clearly outperforms competitors in its segment. But let me remind you that what was on our review and what is presented in official retail is different. In terms of hardware, it is rather Realme XT, a more expensive model.
The chipset is not a top-end series, even though the manufactureraims rather at the audience, which games are interesting. How so? It's all about optimizing software for hardware, even the frank middling Snapdragon 712 will fit for most games on average settings. I tried racing Asphalt 9 and Real Racing 3, fly. During the game, the smartphone maximum becomes barely warm, but this does not affect the performance.
The interface also runs smoothly, all within the specifications and price range.
About the Realme 5 Pro Shell, RealmeUI, Longnothing to tell. Here it is exactly the same as in OPPO smartphones on ColorOS. In the Reno2 review, I settled on the manufacturer’s proprietary add-on; we also have a review of Realme X2 Pro, where Sasha Chub also talks about the shell.
RealmeUI features are standard by market standards. I did not notice bugs and problems in the system. There are some interesting details. For example, from time to time, the device gives hints in the settings which features to try. There is a “Realme Lab” where you can test new shell features. You can split the screen, clone applications, fine-tune power saving and display formats for alerts on the screen and in the notification panel. There are pop-up window controls (which applications may or may not), many security settings that should help the user avoid unnecessary surveillance from different resources. The design is concise and unobtrusive.
The device should soon receive Android10, but for now it's Android 9.0. Face and fingerprint recognition works quickly, unlike some smartphones from a higher price category.
What about autonomy and charging?
The battery capacity is 4000 mAh, and hereeverything is pretty standard. Two days of work with an adequate load, if you play games from morning to evening in the literal sense, then from morning to evening you will succeed. If you are a relaxed user in quarantine – It will last up to three days. The smartphone supports fast charging from the included VOOC 3.0 device, but not like a flagship; 50% of the resource is replenished in half an hour.
How is the camera?
For me the most pleasant discovery in thisThe device has become a camera. The smartphone has a camera with four lenses. Main – 48-megapixel, there is also an ultra-wide-angle (8 MP) and two 2 MP – for macro photography and depth sensor. In terms of characteristics, it looks like this is about the same (or exactly the same) as in Oppo A9, Oppo Reno2 Z. But we didn’t have any of these devices for review, so it’s impossible to compare. Below are screenshots of the camera interface.
The photo opportunities of state employees are growing, and specifically inRealme 5 Pro I liked the macro shooting and how the background blur works (of course, in relation to the price category). Often, many manufacturers, especially in the budget segment, this remains a weak point. Either you need to shoot for a long time to get a good result, or after shooting change focus in the settings. With help. Realme 5 Pro I took pictures, for example, for a review of the Honor Band 5i. The room was light enough, it made the camera easier for the camera, but still the simplicity with which I managed to take a photo of the device for viewing with good blurring of the background and focus on what I need can hardly be overestimated in an inexpensive smartphone.
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Also in this device there is an ultramacro mode,as it was in OPPO Reno2, but here you need to understand very well what you are shooting and why, in order to achieve a sensible result. It shows the texture very well, while the pictures come out not bright and very noisy. To simply shoot a subject at close range and get the effect of depth, you can use the usual shooting mode, it works well with it. In the gallery below I give several examples of comparisons.
And a little more ultramacro.
In general, it turns out well during the day. Even indoors and with artificial light, in my opinion, very good.
Ночная съемка тоже вполне приличная. Единственное неудобство – очень долго, но это скорее специфика недорогого железа.
But what I didn’t really like about the camerasmartphone, so it’s a selfie and the whole person. At the default settings, the camera emphasizes all the flaws and irregularities, if you enable it using AI, you need to immediately go through all the menu items (there are a lot of them) and reduce the work of the “improveers” so as not to turn into a cute Asian schoolgirl with a light make-up.
All pictures in original resolution can be viewed in a separate gallery on Torba.
What are the alternatives?
In the price category of the order of $ 200- $ 250 veryhigh competition, and in addition to brands such as Xiaomi or Samsung, which sound from each iron, as well as young Chinese, relatives of Realme (vivo, OPPO) and Huawei / Honor, who are still in a difficult situation due to the lack of Google services and are working on With its application store, as well as selling models on old hardware, the novelty has a sea of competitors.
It seems that the closest competitors of this model are the vivo V17 series devices – the regular model with 8GB of RAM and the neo version with 4GB of RAM.This brand has a different interface logic (for example, the curtain with settings slides out from the bottom, as in the iPhone), the younger model is identical in characteristics, and the older one with 8 GB of RAM has a front-facing popup camera and a Super AMOLED screen, which made it possible to place an under-screen scanner.If the screen is a clear advantage, especially when paired with a 4500 mAh battery, then the rest is ambiguous.Both the form factor and the interface have their ardent fans and champions.Also, the vivo V17 has a different design style, a more neutral, but also interesting, processorolder, but a little more powerful, and the price is higher.
Another alternative, which, in theory, shouldwould be the hero of this review, a junior model with 4 GB of RAM. It’s difficult for me to estimate how much worse it is; I only held it in my hands at the presentation, where the interface was quite smooth, but usually the slowdowns begin after 2-3 weeks of intensive use.
Xiaomi presents Redmi Note 8 in this segment.Its main differences – Mediatek Helio G970T processor, 6 GB of RAM, but at the same time a 64-megapixel camera, as well as glass among the body materials.
Those who do not trust new brands, butIf you're looking at this price range, you might want to take a look at the Huawei P Smart Pro/Honor 9X. The twin brothers of the Chinese giant have not yet been banned by the American government, while the manufacturer sells them at an attractive price, including due to the poor information field.
In the dry residue
Realme is another potentially strong player onThe Ukrainian market, like the world market, primarily due to price, and in its price segment 5 Pro is an excellent offer, from which competitors will probably feel uneasy. On the one hand, as a young brand, Realme offers a really low price, on the other, it has the technological baggage of the recognized giant of the OPPO market, from which the brand has been soiled.
4 reasons to buy Realme 5 Pro:
- you like this design;
- excellent value for money;
- sound camera for your money;
- separate tray for a memory card.
3 reasons not to buy Realme 5 Pro:
- You do not trust new brands;
- you would like more advanced features, and you are ready to pay extra for an AMOLED screen or pop-up camera;
- You are faithful to Xiaomi until the end of your days.
SpecificationsRealme 5 Pro
Display
IPS, 6.3″ (aspect ratio 19.5:9), 1080×2340 pixels, 409 ppi
Dimensions and weight
159x75x9 mm, 184 g
CPU
Qualcomm SDM665 Snapdragon 712, 10 nm (2×2.3 GHz Kryo 360 Gold & 6×1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver), Adreno 616 graphics
Memory
RAM 8 GB, ROM 128 GB + microSD (separate slot)
Main camera
Main 48 MP (f / 1.8 wide-angle), 1 / 2.0, super wide 8 MP (f / 2.2, 13 mm), 2 MP depth sensor, 2 MP macro sensor
Front-camera
16 MP, f/2.0, 25 mm (wide angle), 1/3.1″, 1.0µm
Interface
USB Type-C
Wireless technology
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
Battery and Charging
lithium polymer, 4035 mAh, VOOC 3.0 charging (50% in 30 minutes)
operating system
Android 9.0 (planned to upgrade to Android 10.0) with RealmeUI add-on
SIM card
2 x nanoSIM
The fingerprint scanner
on the back of the case
Realme 5 Pro
Budget Smartphone with Quad Camera
Anti-crisis smartphone from the youngest andbudget brand of the BBK corporation with an interesting design, excellent battery life and a 48-megapixel quad camera. The model is available in two versions - with 4 GB of RAM and without NFC, as well as with 8 GB of RAM with NFC.
Buy at M.Video
Buy in Svyaznoy
bold design
</ul>Thank you
The editors thank the online store “Citrus” for kindly providing a smartphone for review