Realme X50 5G test: a smartphone that does not lose the Nord

Realme X50 5G
Realme has just announced its Realme X50 5G. A mid-range smartphone launched at less than 600 dollars which benefits from a very interesting technical sheet. Performance, design, photo, autonomy, software, here is our full test.
The Realme X50

Realme X50 5G Data Sheet :

Model Realme X50 5G
OS Version Android 10 Q
Manufacturer interface other
Screen Size 6.57 Inch
Definition 2400 x 1080 pixels
Technology LCD
SoC Snapdragon 765G
Graphics Chip (GPU) Qualcomm Adreno 620
RAM 6 GB, 8 GB, 12 GB
Storage 128 GB, 256 GB
Camera(back) Sensor 1: 64 Mp
Sensor 2: 12 Mp
Sensor 3: 8 Mp
Sensor 4: 2 Mp
Camera (front) Sensor 1 : 16 MP
Sensor 2 : 8 MP
Video Recording 4K@30 IPS
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 5 (ac)
Bluetooth 5.0
Supported bands 2100 MHz (B1), 1800 MHz (B3), 2600 MHz (B7)
NFC Yes
Fingerprint Sensor Yes
Ports (Inputs/Outputs) USB Type-C
Battery 4200 mAh
Dimensions 75.8 x 163.8 x 8.9mm
Weight 202 grams
Colors Violet, Bleu
Price 517$

Buy It from AMAZON 

A Very Classic Design :

The Realme X50 looks like the Pro version launched a few months ago. There is indeed a very similar design between the two models, whether on the front or on the back of the device.
On the front, the Realme X50 5G sports a 6.57-inch screen, a little larger than the 6.44-inch Pro version. As with its big brother, however, the smartphone benefits from a flat panel, without curved edges as can be seen in the Oppo models. On the upper left edge, Realme has incorporated a double punch, allowing for two cameras. Nothing really bother in use, even if a simple punch would have been more discreet and more appreciable. Around the screen, the borders are relatively thin with 3.5mm on the sides and 4.5mm at the top. Only the lower border, which is generally referred to as the chin, swears a bit with its 7mm width.
The front of the Realme X50
On the back of the X50 5G, Realme has once again integrated a vertical photo module, positioned at the top left of the device. This slightly increases the thickness of the phone in this area without, however, it comes to tilt too much when used flat on a table or desk. It is also on the back that we will discover the other difference in terms of design between the X50 and the X50 Pro. While the Pro version benefited from a frosted glass back, Realme offers more classic glossy glass for the X50 5G. Unfortunately, this results in an increased tendency to capture fingerprints, even if the green color that I was able to test does not make them too visible. Realme has also incorporated a slight play of light with diagonal reflections on the back.
The lower edge of the Realme X50 The tranche droite du Realme X50 The tranche gauche Realme X50

READ ALSO : Redmi 9 & Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

On the contours of the smartphone, we will find the volume buttons on the left edge, the standby key – which doubles as a fingerprint reader – on the right edge and the USB-C socket, the drawer for nano-SIM card and the media speaker on the lower edge. Unfortunately, neither the headphone jack nor the storage expansion are there.

Overall, the Realme X50 5G is a pretty good smartphone to handle. Although, given its size of 163.8 x 75.8 x 8.9 mm, it will be better suited for use with two hands, it remains relatively comfortable with one hand. Its slightly curved edges on the back allow a rather easy grip. However, we regret a rather imposing weight of 202 grams which can be explained by the relative thickness of the smartphone, at 8.9 mm.

Finally, note that the Realme X50 5G is not certified for waterproofing.

An LCD Screen Yes, But 120 Hz :

The Realme X50 has a 6.57-inch screen with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, an image ratio of 20:9 and a density of 401 pixels per inch. Suffice to say that with such a resolution, it is complicated to distinguish each pixel individually with the naked eye. This will be quite sufficient for classic use, apart from certain cases such as virtual reality.

Realme X50 5G Screen

Unlike the Pro version, the screen of the Realme X50 does not use an OLED panel, but an LCD screen. Concretely, this means that the screen does not offer infinite contrast as it can be the case on competing smartphones, even at the same price. In total darkness, the black pixels are well and truly visible, approaching gray since they are backlit. However, the Realme X50 does take advantage of a 120 Hz refresh rate. This is useful for enjoying smoother animations and more comfortable navigation through menus and certain applications such as social networks. It is also possible to switch the screen to automatic mode or with a refresh rate of 60 Hz.

In use, the Realme X50 provides a sufficiently bright display, even outdoors in direct sunlight. While Realme reports a maximum brightness of 480 cd/m², however, I was only able to achieve a maximum brightness of 392 cd/m² with the brightness setting at maximum. On the contrast side, the smartphone does well for LCD, with a measurement of 1364:1. Finally, the color temperature clearly tends towards blue with the default setting, with a white temperature of 7986K, well above the 6500K recommended for white sunlight.

This can be remedied slightly, however, by switching the screen color temperature mode to the warmest setting. Enough to go down to 6995K and approach a much better calibration. Still in the display settings, note that it is possible to activate a soft mode – instead of the vivid mode activated by default. The white balance will then be better, but it is the vividness of the colors that will be less.

A Good Interface, Braked By Big Illnesses :

The Realme X50 Pro is a phone released with Android 10 and the July 5, 2020 security patch at the time of this test. For the interface, the smartphone embeds Realme UI, that is to say a software interface extremely close to ColorOS 7 from its cousin Oppo.

As a reminder, if ColorOS has long lagged behind other competing interfaces, great progress has been made on the latest version. Improvements that also benefit Realme UI. We will thus find a highly customizable interface with the possibility of inverting the navigation keys or setting up gestural navigation. It’s also possible to enable a dark theme, have the notification panel swipe down anywhere on the home screen, and even change the shape of icons.

READ ALSO : Galaxy Note 20 & Google Pixel 4a

We can indeed define the style of icons with several possible choices as to their shape (round, rounded square, octagon), as to the size of the symbol or as to the size of the icon itself. Various shortcuts are also integrated with a three-finger swipe down to take a screenshot, or up to open the multiscreen. A “smart” sidebar is also integrated to quickly access certain tools such as screenshot, video screenshot or calculator, but it is of course possible to add other tools and application shortcuts. . Finally, as a final point to welcome, Realme now automatically offers the Google Discover launcher on the home screen. A welcome feature that replaces what the manufacturer has until now called “intelligent assistant”. The service is much more relevant in its recommendations.

Overall, while Realme UI is a very successful interface, it still has some room for improvement. This is particularly the case with bloatware, with many adware applications installed such as WPS Office, Agoda, Lazada or Opera. It is also a pity that the settings are still somewhat messy with nothing less than 29 entries on the main page. More annoyingly, on the model I tested, the smartphone offered an antivirus scan for all the apps I installed – including the secure ones from the Play Store. A system that Xiaomi has already accustomed us to, but unlike its compatriot, Realme does not allow to deactivate it.

BUY IT FROM AMAZON

Regarding biometric security, the Realme X50 benefits from a fingerprint reader positioned on the right edge. The sensor is rather quick to unlock the smartphone and is intended to be accessible, whether the smartphone is lying flat on a table or being held in hand. The Realme X50 also has a facial recognition system that can activate automatically when lifting the smartphone. There too, detection is fast, although it is not as secure as a 3D recognition system such as found on the iPhone, the Huawei Mate 30 Pro or the Google Pixel 4.

Regarding DRM management, the Realme X50 5G is compatible with the Widevine protection system at level L1. In other words, it allows you to access Netflix, Molotov or Disney Plus and play high definition videos.

Near Top Of The Range Performance :

The Realme X50 is equipped with the Snapdragon 765G. While this isn’t quite as capable a processor as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 and 865 Plus, it’s still the best just below on the market. As a reminder, this is the same chip that we have already discovered on the Oppo Find X2 Neo, the OnePlus Nord or the Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite. To this chip, Realme has backed 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128 GB of UFS 2.1 storage, unfortunately not expandable by microSD card. Note, however, that the loan model that I was able to test had 8 GB of RAM.

In use, Realme’s smartphone does not suffer from any slowdowns. There are a few small jerks, however, especially when browsing Twitter, when trying to scroll quickly, but this is probably more of a software optimization problem than a lack of performance. The smartphone is fluid in managing multitasking, opening applications, browsing the web or in mobile games.

Call of Duty Mobile on the Realme X50

For Fortnite for example, the game launches by default with a refresh of 30 frames per second, epic graphics quality and 3D resolution at 75%. Unfortunately, impossible to go beyond 30 FPS. However, I was able to increase the 3D resolution to 100% without the game slowing down, with the frame rate hovering between 28 and 30 frames per second. However, I noticed a good overheating of the smartphone after 15 minutes of playing.

Call of Duty Mobile launches by default with high graphics quality and high frame rate. It is however possible to change the two parameters to very high or the frequency to max and the quality to high. I went with the first solution while turning on anti-aliasing and despite these rather demanding settings, the Realme X50 had no trouble getting the game to run smoothly. I haven’t had to complain about any major slowdowns.

In order to compare the Realme X50 more objectively to its competitors, I subjected it to a battery of tests already passed by other smartphones in the same price segment: the OnePlus Nord, the Realme 6 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy A71. I have also added the results of the “Pro” version to give an idea of ​​the difference in performance of the two smartphones.

Realme X50 OnePlus Nord Realme 6 Pro Samsung Galaxy A71 Realme X50 Pro
SoC S765G S765G S720G S730 S865
AnTuTu 8 334 731 332 107 279 164 273 846 591 734
PCMark 2.0 11 229 9 270 10 303 7 639 12 126
3DMark Slingshot Extreme 3 311 3 324 2 523 2 465 7 170
3DMark Slingshot Extreme Graphics 3 291 3 292 2 380 2 307 8 211
3DMark Slingshot Extreme Physics 3 382 3 441 3 198 3 246 4 966
GFXBench Aztec Vulkan High (onscreen / offscreen) 12 / 8,5 FPS 13 / 8,5 FPS 11 / 7 FPS 9,3 / 6,8 FPS 30 / 20 FPS
GFXBench Car Chase (onscreen / offscreen) 18 / 21 FPS 19 / 21 FPS 16 / 18 FPS 15 / 17 FPS 45 / 51 FPS
GFXBench Manhattan 3.0 (onscreen / offscreen) 48 /55 FPS 50 / 56 FPS 37 / 41 FPS 37 / 41 FPS 60 / 125 FPS
Sequential read / write 989 / 492 Mo/s 960 / 475 Mo/s 513 / 204 Mo/s 495 / 189 Mo/s 1 745 / 764 Mo/s
Random read / write 48,5k / 39,0k IOPS 36,4k / 33,9k IOPS 40,3k / 31,8k IOPS 31,1k / 28,2k IOPS 53,9k / 51,6k IOPS

 

Overall, we have a Realme X50 that is doing quite well against the competition, with results similar to those of the OnePlus Nord. Logical, since both devices are equipped with the same processor. Above all, it does much better than the Realme 6 Pro, yet launched at only 40 dollars less.

Four Camera, Of Which Two Only Useful :

As on the Pro version, the Realme X50 is equipped with four cameras on the back. However, the configuration proposed here by the Chinese manufacturer is very different from that of its big brother. We will thus find, from top to bottom:

  • 2 megapixel monochrome depth sensor (f/2.4).
  • 2 megapixel macro camera (f/2.4).
  • 48-megapixel main wide-angle camera (f/1.8).
  • 8-megapixel 119 ° ultra-wide-angle camera (f / 2.3).

The Realme X50 photo module

While the Realme X50 Pro offered a telephoto lens with x2 optical zoom and x5 hybrid zoom, none of that on the Realme. The manufacturer has certainly integrated an ultra-wide-angle module and a 48-megapixel main sensor, but has attached two devices that we will qualify as accessories: a depth sensor for portrait mode and a macro camera with starving definition. .

For the following photos, I captured shots in auto mode at ultra wide angle, then at wide angle:

Realme X50 automatic mode photo, wide-angle Realme X50 automatic mode photo, ultra wide-angle Realme X50 automatic mode photo, wide-angle Realme X50 automatic mode photo, ultra wide-angle Realme X50 automatic mode photo, wide-angle Realme X50 automatic mode photo, ultra wide-angle

There is a great disparity in terms of colorimetric processing of the image between the two modules, with an ultra wide angle that tends towards yellow. Overall, the ultra-wide-angle module has a much harder time dealing with the many details as seen in the photo of trees, outdoors. It also tends to contrast the final shot a bit too artificially.

But it is especially in low light that we will be able to notice significant differences between the two modules. Where the primary lens does well, the ultra wide angle is less so. Fortunately, a night mode helps remedy this:

Night mode photo of the Realme X50, ultra wide-angle Night mode photo of the Realme X50, wide-angle

The Realme X50 night mode does allow you to better manage the dynamic range by brightening the scene without making it too unrealistic. But this is mostly visible in the main mode, less in the ultra wide-angle which remains particularly dark. The difference with the automatic mode is all the same well felt.

Like far too many smartphones in 2020, the Realme X50 benefits from a macro lens. Unfortunately, this two megapixel module is far too limited to offer a decent result. The pictures are far too little detailed and we would have much preferred a better quality ultra wide-angle camera that also manages macro photography as is the case on some cameras.

Realme X50 macro photo Realme X50 macro photo Realme X50 macro photo

The same goes for portrait mode. Many smartphones are capable of capturing in portrait mode even without a dedicated lens. And when a manufacturer puts forward such an optic, one can be entitled to expect quality to match.

Unfortunately, this is not the case on the Realme X50. The smartphone is struggling to offer a convincing detour, especially in terms of the hair. Portrait mode is fine, but not amazing. The same goes for selfies.

In selfie, the Realme X50 benefits from a main sensor of 12 megapixels (f/2.0), but also of a second device of 2 megapixels (f/2.4), for the portrait mode. Here too, many smartphones offer a correct portrait mode without adding a second sensor. We therefore wonder why Realme has chosen a larger punch – which takes up part of the screen – without adding any real added value to its selfie module.

Note that the smartphone is capable of shooting video sequences in 4K at 30 FPS, 1080p at 120 FPS, or 720p at 240 FPS with the module on the back. For selfies, however, the video is limited at best to 1080p at 120 frames per second.

Enough Autonomy For The Day :

The Realme X50 is equipped with a 4200 mAh battery. Enough to easily make it last for more than a day. During my testing, I was able to use it with the refresh rate set at 120Hz for almost 44 hours before the phone ran out of battery.

During this period, the screen will have been on for 6:39 hours, including 51 minutes on YouTube, 53 minutes on Twitter and 1h47 on Chrome. It was also during this phase that I ran the benchmarks to measure the performance of the smartphone, applications that are rather energy-intensive.

The Realme X50 charger

For recharging, the Realme X50 is supplied with a 30 W charger (5V, 6A). According to Realme, this would allow the smartphone to gain 100% battery in 55 minutes and 70% in 30 minutes. During my test, however, I noticed a slightly slower recharging phase. Starting with a 10% charged battery, the smartphone only climbed to 64% in 30 minutes and the full charge took 58 minutes.

Note also that the Realme X50 is not compatible with wireless charging. Nevertheless, difficult to blame it given its price segment.

Realme X50 Network & Communication :

The Realme X50 is compatible with all the 4G frequency bands offered in France by the operators, whether it is B1 (2100 MHz), B3 (1800 MHz), B7 (2600 MHz) , B20 (800 MHz) or B28 (700 MHz).

Moreover, as its full name clearly indicates, the Realme X50 5G is a 5G compatible smartphone. We thus find the bands n1, n3, n7, n20 and n28, already used for 4G, but also the n78 band, the smartphone is not, however, compatible with 5G millimeter bands.

Regarding Wi-Fi, Realme’s smartphone is compatible with the Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac standard, but not with the latest generation Wi-Fi 6. This is the case with Bluetooth, however, since the smartphone is compatible with version 5.1 of the wireless standard. It also benefits from the SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD and LDAC Bluetooth audio codecs. Finally, for geolocation, the smartphone is compatible with GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo and QZSS systems.

For voice calls, the Realme X50 successfully manages to isolate your voice and dramatically reduce ambient noise for the caller. The call quality is clear and despite the street noise around me, the person I had on the phone heard only a few horns. Above all, he found my voice clear and recognized my timbre well despite a very slight compression.

Price And Availability Of The Realme X50 :

The Realme X50 is offered at 517 dollars in two colors, green or silver, with a single configuration: 6/128 GB. The smartphone will be available from August 17 with a pre-order offer allowing you to obtain Realme headphones Buds Q for all orders August 11-16.