Realme X50 5G review: these are the pros and cons

The Realme X50 5G is one of the first phones from the Chinese smartphone manufacturer that wants to conquer the Dutch market. The X50 is a midrange phone with a suggested retail price of 349 euros that focuses on powerful hardware for a relatively low price. In this review you can read whether Realme succeeded in realizing that focus.

Realme X50 5G: the pros

1. Smooth 120 Hz screen

One of the spearheads of the Realme X50 5G is the 120 Hz screen. By default, phones have a refresh rate of 60 Hz. This means that the screen is refreshed 60 times per second. With a 120 Hz screen, this refresh rate is doubled to 120 times per second. A higher refresh rate means less stutter because the images are displayed more smoothly. In addition, movies and videos with a lot of movements appear more realistic. Currently, you see the 120 Hz screens mainly in the upper middle segment and in the segment above, but Realme has managed to put such a screen in the X50. This allows a larger audience with the X50 to enjoy fast and smooth animations and the phone therefore feels smoother in use.

The X50 5G also has a 6.57-inch FullHD LCD screen with a resolution of 2400×1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 20: 9. Realme has therefore not opted for a more expensive AMOLED screen, but that is no shame at all for this price range. In addition, the screen simply performs well. It is clear and very sharp and easy to read in different lighting conditions. There is also a large pill-shaped notch in the screen that is reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus. You have to be able to ‘look beyond that’.

2. Smooth performance

I am not only satisfied with the smooth screen of the Realme X50 5G, the middle class also comes out well in terms of performance. The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G. That is a well-known chipset in this segment and it has not disappointed me before, and that also applies to the X50. While using the phone, be it browsing or watching videos, I didn’t notice any stuttering.

The Realme X50 5G comes with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. That is more than enough to continue in the coming years. In addition, you are assured of participation in the 5G network (if your telecom provider offers it), because the Snapdragon 765G already offers support for this.

3. Nice and long battery life

The Realme X50 5G has a 4200 mAh battery that is charged via the USB-C connection at the bottom. Fortunately, charging is not necessary after a working day, because between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. I almost always had about 30% battery life left. So you can easily live with the X50 for a day and a half without having to charge the device.

Once it’s empty, you can fully charge the X50 with the included 30-watt charger in less than an hour. Do you only have half an hour? Then the phone is about 70% full.

4. Modern design

The Realme X50 5G has a glass front and back with a plastic frame. Realme took its inspiration for the design, just like many other smartphone manufacturers, from nature and applied it to the phone. Ice inspiration for the Mirror Silver version and jungle inspiration for the Jungle Green version. If you tilt the phone, you will see that the back changes in color and pattern and that looks nice.

The design is not really new, but it is completely contemporary. Many phones from OPPO and Vivo are similar to these phones. That is not surprising. Realme is the subsidiary brand of OPPO. OPPO is again part of parent company BBK Electronics, of which OnePlus, Vivo and iQOO are also part. You understand that the designs of all these phones take over elements of each other, so there are many similarities.

The Realme X50 5G is also a sturdy phone. It weighs 195 grams and is almost 9 mm thick. I certainly do not think that is a disadvantage, but it may not be the case for everyone. That is why I am reporting it here anyway. Despite the thickness, the X50 comes without a 3.5 mm audio jack. If you cannot do without this feature, you can go for the comparable Realme 7 Pro.

5. Great software

The X50 5G is the first Realme phone I’ve tested and I had formed my preconceptions about the software. This is completely unjustified, because Realme UI, as the software is called, fortunately contains very few adjustments. For example, Google Discover can be found on the right screen and you can open your overview of installed apps via the app drawer. The software is based on Android 10 and the X50 has the November security update at the time of writing. We asked Realme for clarification on its update policy for this phone. As soon as we have it, we will update this article.

The phone does come with some extra apps such as a compass, recorder, calculator, Phone clone, Lock screen, Game space and a weather app. In addition, there are the apps: Phone Manager, File Manager, Clock, Music, Video and Photos app.

Third-party apps are also included, there are two of them: WPS Office and Facebook. Both can be removed, Realme’s own apps cannot. All in all, they are not conspicuous amounts of additional apps, and may be useful to many. What is also striking is the lack of its own email app and calendar app. You can therefore choose to go for the Google alternative or install another app for it.

Realme X50 5G: the negatives

1. Fingerprint scanner does not always respond quickly

The fingerprint scanner is incorporated in the on / off button and that is a great place to unlock a phone. Only with the Realme X50 it sometimes happens that it does not register my fingerprint properly. You can then switch to face recognition, but its use is not recommended due to security or the six-digit pin code.

2. Reasonable photos

There are many mid-range phones out there right now that come with some obsolete lenses as far as I’m concerned. Perhaps the number of cameras on a phone will convince a potential customer to buy a phone more quickly, the quality of the cameras can do that too.

The Realme X50 5G has a total of six cameras, four on the rear and two on the front. They do come without optical image stabilization, but that is the rule rather than the exception in this price range. The main camera and the wide-angle camera deliver reasonably good photos, with the photos taken with the wide-angle camera appearing a bit darker. This is probably due to the larger f / 2.3 aperture compared to the f / 1.8 of the main camera. Due to a larger aperture of the main camera, more light falls on the sensor and you can basically take better photos in poor light. As soon as twilight falls, the quality of the photos deteriorates quickly. They then show less details. Enabling the ‘Color value boost’ in the app is not recommended. This function provides many saturated and therefore unnatural colors.

Then we come back to the 2 MP cameras. For example, there is a 2 MP macro camera that, just like the 2 MP macro camera of the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite, delivers blurred images. The fourth camera is a 2 MP black and white camera for taking portrait photos, which lets you take photos with background blur. I would rather have seen a telecamera that could zoom in a little further without loss of quality. You can now see the quality deteriorate quickly if you zoom in up to 2x or 5x and that is due to the digital zoom.

A special feature of this phone is the double selfie camera, because in addition to the 16 MP main camera, this phone has a second depth camera. It provides the same effect but with your selfies. This camera stands out for me and shoots beautiful and sharp photos at a wide angle if desired. Unfortunately, you can adjust everything here, such as the size of your nose and the shape of your face. As far as I am concerned, any manufacturer can omit those kinds of possibilities.

• 48 MP main camera (f / 1.8)
• 8 MP wide-angle camera, 119 degrees (f / 2.3)
• 2 MP macro camera (f / 2.4)
• 2 MP portrait camera (f / 2.4)
• 16 MP selfie camera (f / 2.0) + 2 MP portrait camera (f / 2.4)

Below you will find photos taken with the main camera and wide-angle camera.

Below you will find photos taken with the macro camera, portrait camera and selfie camera.

Conclusion

The Realme X50 5G, with its suggested retail price of 349 euros, is a very interesting phone for those who are looking for a nice phone that performs well and has a good battery life, but don’t want to pay too much for it. You can go forward with the X50 for more than a day and a half without having to recharge, and leave the screen at 120 Hz all the time. Indeed, a 120 Hz screen for a phone in this price range, well done Realme. This also applies to the fast performance of the chipset and the accompanying 5G support. In addition, the software looks modern, because it differs little from standard Android. Realme does not provide duplicate apps, but a number of its own apps that can be useful for many users.

I am less satisfied with the 2 MP cameras. They are not very good at delivering sharp images. The main camera and the wide-angle camera are better equipped in that respect, even though the competition here performs better in a number of areas. The dual selfie camera stands out.

All in all, the Realme X50 5G is a real price fighter, because the phone is already available for 279 euros. For that amount you really get a lot of value for your money, and you may be able to get over the negatives more easily.

Who is the Realme X50 5G for?

• For those who want a fast phone with a nice screen and a long battery life
• For those who occasionally post a photo to Instagram or Twitter and don’t need the best cameras for that
• For those looking for a good value for money phone

Buy Realme X50 5G

The Realme X50 5G got a suggested retail price from 349 euros but is now available from 279 euros. You can choose from the colors Mirror Silver and Jungle Green.