Introduction
Not long ago, we unboxed the realme 5 Pro and gave it our first impressions. Well, the phone was launched earlier this month alongside the realme 5, and it’s been selling like hotcakes. Without further ado, this is the realme 5 Pro review!
Unboxing & First Impressions
Design
In terms of design, the realme 5 Pro looks quite similar to its predecessor — realme 3 Pro. In fact, the overall dimension is pretty similar, though the 5 Pro is just a little bit taller. The phone still has the dew-drop notch, which in my opinion is the best design ever for the notch.
As we mentioned in our first impressions, the phone houses the power button on the right and volume rocker on the left. The bottom has the 3.5mm audio jack, microphone, USB-C port, and the mono speaker.
The back is a different story, same same but different. It comes with a brand new crystal design, which went through a 133-time of polish to create nanometer holographic color with the cutting texture. Hence, our Crystal Green variant reflects different greens from different angles. However, the phone back isn’t glass, though, but a soft plastic material, which will get scratched easily. I would advise you to use the included TPU case.
Display
The realme 5 Pro sports a 6.3-inch Full HD+ IPS dew-drop display with a 90.6% screen-to-body ratio. It is a pretty similar display from its predecessor, which is not a bad thing, by the way. The screen has a good amount of detail and vivid colors, but a bit too oversaturated for my taste. I really like the dew-drop notch design, which so far didn’t affect the overall viewing experience of the phone.
Performance
Powering the phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 AIE processor, which runs on 10nm architecture that is 35% more power-efficient than the Snapdragon 710 AIE, which its predecessor is using. Performance on this phone is quite decent, do note that you’ll need to enable high-performance mode in the settings to unlock its processor’s full potential. Gaming on this device is not a problem, but you’ll need to tune down the graphical settings a bit for certain games to get a smooth experience. Multitasking on this phone is not a problem thanks to the 8GB RAM, not to forget that it actually has 128GB UFS 2.1 storage, something you don’t usually get in a smartphone at this price point.
Software
The realme 5 Pro runs on ColorOS 6 realme edition based on Android 9.0. It is basically the same ColorOS we’ve used before on OPPO, but with some tweaks and changes. One annoying thing though, the phone actually comes with many unwanted pre-installed apps, a.k.a bloatware. I just don’t get it, why do you have the App Market when there’s already a Play Store.
The realme edition ColorOS 6 comes with an app drawer, no more putting everything on the home screen! Besides the annoying bloatware, the overall user experience is actually quite user-friendly. Additionally, it also comes with Google Play Services!
Camera
realme took a big leap to quad-camera setup with the 5 Pro, its predecessor only has dual-camera in case you didn’t know. The back has an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens + 48MP Sony IMX586 f/1.79 lens + 2MP portrait lens + 2MP macro lens. Selfie wise, there’s a 16MP front-facing shooter.
Image quality generally is pretty good for its class. By default, the phone shoots 12MP images. If you want to shoot 48MP images, you’ll have to manually switch it to 48MP mode. Images taken with 48MP are sharp and clear, not a huge difference from the 12MP images besides the amount of detail. It actually comes with Chroma Boost, some images turned out oversaturated in my opinion. As for the 8MP ultra-wide camera, the temperature tends to be on the cooler side, the white balance seems to be off from the main camera. Low-light photography can be improved by enabling Super Nightscape, but make sure you have a steady hand or tripod.
Battery
The realme 5 Pro packs a 4,035mAh battery with VOOC Flash Charge 3.0 supported. Based on my usage, I was able to get more than a day battery life and nearly 7 hours of screen-on-time, that’s impressive! As for the charging speed, the VOOC Flash Charge 3.0 is a 20W charger that able to charge the phone up 75% in less than 40 minutes, though after that the charging speed will be slower to prolong the battery lifespan.
Final Words
Retailing at just RM1,099, the realme 5 Pro is definitely the most worth phone to get in its range. You don’t normally get a smartphone with this processor at this price tag. True, there are some flaws here and there, but most of them aren’t a big problem for day-to-day usage. At this unbelievably low price, what else you want to complain about?
Yay
- Great performance
- Impressive battery life
- Unbelievably low price
Nay
- Build quality lacking behind
- Comes with bloatware
- Camera UI is not user-friendly
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