Realme, a subsidiary of Oppo, recently entered the UAE market with much fanfare, a couple of days ago. At the official press event, the company also announced the launch of three new smartphones on the market, one of them being the Realme 5 Pro. We got to play with the smartphone a week before the announcement and we have to say, for a smartphone priced at AED 899, we are impressed.
The Realme 5 Pro succeeds the Realme 3 Pro in global markets – the company did not announce the Realme 4 or the Realme 4 Pro, because apparently, the number 4 is considered as an ill omen in China and some Asian cultures. Anyways, the Realme 5 Pro is a stunner to look at, even though its body is made up from a mix of metal, glass, and plastic. The colour options available are Crystal Green and Sparkling Blue.
On the front, the Realme 5 Pro features a dewdrop design with a 6.3-inch FHD screen (2340-by-1080 resolution), which is protected by Gorilla Glass. You also get a 16MP front camera for all your selfies. On the left edge, you will find the volume rockers and the dual SIM tray, which also includes a dedicated microSD card slot that allows you to expand the internal storage to up to 256GB.
On the right edge, you get the power button, with the USB-C port and a 3.5mm jack placed on the bottom edge. Flip the phone around and you come face to face with the quad-camera setup. This includes a 48-megapixel (f/1.8), an 8-megapixel (f/2.25), a 2-megapixel (f/2.4), and a 2-megapixel (f/2.24) cameras. Just next to the quad-camera setup, you will find the fingerprint scanner.
Under the hood, the phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 processor, running at a clock speed of 2.3GHz. You also get 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space. As mentioned earlier, the phone comes with a dedicated microSD card slot – so you can expand the internal storage capacity to up to 256GB. In terms of battery, the Realme 5 Pro is equipped with a 4035mAh battery and the phone supports VOOC flash charge 3.0, too.
The Realme 5 Pro runs Android 9 as the operating system with ColorOS 6.0 on top of it. Thanks to the Snapdragon 712, coupled with the 8GB of RAM, performance is quite breezy. We did not find any lag when switching between multiple open app windows – everything was as smooth as a hot knife through butter.
Photography is something that Realme as a company generally, focuses upon. So I was quite apprehensive as to whether the Realme Pro 5 will stand up to its tall claims. After shooting umpteen photos and videos, I am glad to report that the quad-camera does a very good job, both under good and low light conditions. The photography samples displayed across this review proves the Realme 5 Pro’s camera prowess.
And while you are on the road, battery life is something that becomes crucial. The 4035mAh battery on this one easily lasts a little more than a day on a single charge.
Of course, you also get the VOOC flash charge that will bring the Realme 5 Pro back to life very quickly.
So, after having said all of that, it finally comes to this – is the Realme 5 Pro worth the AED 899 asking price? Well, if you ask me, it’s a strong “definitely!”. For one, the Realme 5 Pro features a beautiful design and solid build quality. You also get a strong spec sheet, in addition to the brilliant quad camera setup. The performance is quite good, too. And if you are looking for a new smartphone to invest in, certainly consider the Realme 5 Pro.
Price: AED 899
