Realme Narzo 50 5G Review Summary
Editor’s Rating- 3.6/5
Design
Display
Battery
Camera
Performance
Pros
- Good battery life
- Colorful screen
- 5G connectivity
- Good build quality
Cons
- Not apt for gaming
- Underperforming camera setup
- Loads of bloatware
5G smartphones are currently on an all-time rise in the Indian market. With the expectations of a 5G rollout in India in the near future, many want to buy a smartphone that will allow them to switch to 5G from 4G without any hassles. Realme is one such brand whose Narzo series is popular for giving competitive specs at aggressive prices.
Following the practice, the brand has expanded its Narzo 50 line-up in India with the launch of the Narzo 50 5G series. It consists of Narzo 50 5G and Narzo 50 Pro 5G. Today I have with me the Narzo 50 5G for review. Does it live up to what it promises on paper, let’s find out.
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Realme Narzo 50 5G Review: Unboxing
The Realme Narzo 50 5G comes in the same blue-colored cardboard box, as its counterparts (the latest being Narzo 50a Prime). The box has Narzo branding in bold on top along with the name of the device. The backside sees some important specs and important information. The box contains-
- Realme Narzo 50 5G device
- Adapter
- USB Data Cable
- SIM Ejector Tool
- Safety Guide
- Quick Guide
- Protective Case
Realme Narzo 50 5G Review: Price & availability
The Realme Narzo 50 5G comes in 2 storage models-
- 4GB RAM+64GB storage- Rs. 15,999
- 6GB RAM+128GB storage- Rs. 17,999
It will come in 2 colors- Hyper Blue and Hyper Black. The first sale will go live on 26th May across Realme.com, Amazon, and offline stores across India.
REALME NARZO 50 5G Specs
| Specs | Realme Narzo 50 5G |
|---|---|
| Software | Android 12 with Realme UI 3.0 |
| Display | 6.6-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD panel 90Hz refresh rate |
| SoC | MediaTek Dimensity 820 Arm Mali G57- MC2 GPU |
| RAM | up to 6GB |
| Storage | up to 128GB |
| Rear cameras | 48MP+2MP |
| Front camera | 8MP |
| Battery | 5000mAh |
| Charging | 33W fast charge |
| Size | 163.8×75.1×8.1mm |
| Weight | 190 grams |
| 5G Bands | 1,5,8,28, 41,77, 78 SA/NSA |
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Realme Narzo 50 5G Review: Design
Realme has tried something new once again. This time with Realme Narzo 50 5G they went in with a Kevlar Speed Texture Design for the rear panel. The smartphone has a fine texture which is clearly visible when seen closely. I received the Hyper Blue variant for review and the color is not your regular shade of blue. It is a shade somewhere between blue and purple and I found the color unique and attractive. The back panel has a gradient texture.
The backside has a rectangular camera module on top which houses the lenses. The lenses are slightly protruded which makes the device wobble if kept on a flat surface. There is also Narzo branding at the bottom. The smartphone has curved edges and feels good in hand due to decent build quality. It is lightweight weighing 190 grams and slim (8.1mm) too.
The front of the device has a 6.6-inch display with slight bezels on the sides and at the top. The chin bezels are slightly thicker than the other sides. The right edge houses the power button cum fingerprint sensor whereas the left side has volume rockers and a dual SIM tray. The bottom edge of the smartphone features a speaker grille, USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm headphone jack. There are two microphones one of them sits on top for noise cancellation while the bottom is used to relay your voice to a caller on the other.
The main problem with the design of Narzo 50 5G is its ability to catch smudges and fingerprints. Every time you hold the phone in your palm, there are fresh smudges and fingerprints visible, especially in the current summer season when palms get sweaty quite often. The back panel attracts dust too which is annoying at times. Apart from that, I don’t see any other questionable thing with the Narzo 50 5G design.
Realme Narzo 50 5G Review: Display
The Realme Narzo 50 5G sports a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080×2408 pixels. The full HD+ screen delivers sharp visuals. The 90Hz refresh rate panel offers a decent scrolling experience.
If Realme’s words are to be believed, the Narzo 50 5G offers 600 nits of peak brightness. While we have not verified the claim on the lux meter, I would say that the brightness level offered here are good enough for indoor use. In the outdoors, you will find it slightly underwhelming. Other than that, the display works well in day-to-day life.
It delivers respectable visuals in terms of colors and contrast levels. Realme has added several options to its setting menu to tweak display settings. You can adjust screen color mode, auto screen off, brightness level, eye comfort, video color enhancer, and more in the settings app. It also has DRM certification for HD streaming which is essential for watching HD content on OTT platforms.
Realme Narzo 50 5G Review: Battery
Like many other phones in this range, Realme Narzo 50 5G packs a 5000mAh battery under the hood. The battery easily lasts over a day with moderate usage. This can include browsing social media, using WhatsApp, reading articles, clicking photos, calling, messaging, listening to music, etc. However, if you are someone who indulges in long gaming sessions or streams content for hours at a stretch, then you will need to charge the phone before the day ends. This is because Dimensity 810 is not a very power-efficient processor.
The device comes with a 33W power adapter bundled inside the box which can charge from 0 to 50% in about 35 minutes. For me, it took about 75 minutes to charge the device to 100% which is decent considering the price range and specs it is offering.
The smartphone comes with 2 power-saving modes- Normal and Super to help conserve battery. When you open the battery menu in the settings app, you will find the exact time by which battery life will be expanded if you switch on normal or super power-saving mode.
Realme Narzo 50 5G Review: Camera
The Realme Narzo 50 5G has a dual camera setup at the back which includes a 48MP main camera and a 2MP portrait B&W lens. The camera UI is simple and user-friendly. There are options for video, photo, portrait, street, night, and 48M mode just above the snapper button. The camera UI comes with Slo-mo, time-lapse, Pro and Panorama features as well. You can click photos by tapping on the shutter button or tapping anywhere on the screen or showing your palm to the front camera to take a selfie.
The main camera clicks decent images in daylight. The colors look real and paunchy with greens, greys, blues, and browns looking subtle yet vivid. I clicked the following images in a mall and found them to be clear, precise, and full of life. The colors are almost real and look bright.
In artificial light, the camera manages to click very basic shots. In low light, you will notice noise grains and a lack of details. During my testing, I noticed the images click in 48MP mode in the low light scenario have more life than in auto mode.
Coming to the last 2MP lens is useless and I hope brands will stop packing this useless 2MP sensor soon as they offer nothing and are of no use. Here are some camera samples from this 2MP lens.
There is an 8MP selfie camera at the front which gives decent selfies in daylight. The focus is on the subject and skin tone looks natural. The detailing in the image is pretty good and the background is given just enough amount of footage. All in all camera department of the Narzo 50 5G has functional but doesn’t offer anything extraordinary.
Realme Narzo 50 5G Review: Performance
Realme Narzo 50 5G is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 810 SoC based on 6nm technology. It performs far better than MediaTek Dimensity 720 chip. Realme has paired it with up to 6GB RAM and 128GB storage capacity. As a result, it delivers decent everyday performance. It can open and close apps without feeling any lag. It can handle a couple of apps running in the background before it is forced to kill some apps.
While buying this phone you have to keep one thing in mind, it’s not a phone designed for gaming. So while playing games like Call of Duty or BGMI you have to keep your expectations in check. You shouldn’t expect a smooth performance in medium settings. Long gaming sessions are an issue as the device starts warming up very quickly. Considering, that it is not meant for gaming, it gives ok gaming performance for those who are once in a while gamers.
There is support for seven 5G bands which is one of the highlights as the smartphone falls under the 20,000 category. Call quality is good as even slightly weaker signal strength doesn’t lead to hanging up of a call.
The Narzo 50 5G has dual stereo speakers which work fine. The audio is loud and clear, although there is not much depth in the sound. It has retained the 3.5mm headphone jack which is good for those who still use wired earphones to listen to music, videos, and more.
Coming to the software, Narzo 50 5G runs Realme UI 3.0 based on Android 12. The UI is user-friendly but comes with loads of bloatware. Many third-party apps like Josh, Moj, Linkedin, Dailyhunt, Mx Takatak, etc come pre-installed. They can be uninstalled if you don’t need them but such heavy bloatware can be annoying for some.
The icons are circular in shape and have even spacing between them. There are options for personalization and customizations. For security, there are options of setting lock screen password, face recognition, fingerprint lock, and privacy password. The UI is colorful and looks decent. I performed various benchmark tests, the results of which are given below-
Realme Narzo 50 5G Review Verdict: Should you buy it?
The Realme Narzo 50 5G is a smartphone that is aggressively priced as a budget 5G smartphone. While the phone has a good built quality, FHD+ display, powerful battery, and a decent processor, but it is not appropriate for long gaming sessions, comes with bloatware, and has strictly average camera performance. You can spend your money on this one only if you want a basic 5G smartphone.
