The sister brand of Oppo looks to well and truly compete this year, and it’s bringing features with numbers to what could possibly be the mid-range.
You might not have heard of Realme, but it’s a brand that is looking to grab some serious attention. A sister brand from Oppo that started from where Oppo’s phones practically did in the mid-range, Realme arrived last year offering yet another choice in the middle of the market, meaning more range for folks looking for a bargain.
In last year’s releases, there was no flagship per se, outside of the highest model Realme offered, the Realme XT. Similar to Oppo’s models thanks to a shared use of resources and operating system, the Realme XT offered a solid start for the $500 mark, though missed out on some of those necessities we wish phones around this price had, such as NFC for Google Pay, water resistance, and wireless charging.
Now Realme has revealed something else, and while it won’t quite answer those issues, it does present what appears to be another take on value, albeit in a slightly different way: Realme is going 5G.
Yes, it appears to be the year 5G goes mainstream, as Realme’s X50 Pro 5G reveals, offering a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G capable chip, sitting under a 6.44 inch screen running at 90Hz. That’s not quite the 120Hz we’re beginning to see on devices like in the Galaxy S20 range, but not a bad improvement for what we suspect will be a mid-range price.
Obviously, the 5G part of the Realme X50 Pro 5G is one of those features worth paying attention to, because it means connection to the 5G networks, but it will accompany a four camera setup on the back of the phone, plus two cameras for the front.
On the back, Realme’s X50 Pro 5G offers a 64 megapixel standard camera thanks to a Samsung sensor (and likely the same as what we’ve seen on the Realme XT previously), a 12 megapixel telephoto camera, an 8 megapixel ultra-wide camera that doubles as the macro camera, and a 2 megapixel monochromatic camera we’re told is going to be used for portraits.
That’s a little different from the rear cameras Realme has previously used, as is the front, which is made up of a Sony 32 megapixel selfie camera and an even wider 8 megapixel ultra-wide, handy to get more of self-portraiture in shot.
Outside of these features, Realme seems to suggest the X50 Pro 5G is built for media, with support for Dolby Atmos, high-res audio, two speakers, Android 10, Corning’s scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 5 protecting that 6.44 inch Super AMOLED screen, as well as up to 12GB RAM and up to 256GB storage for the phone.
However it may not address some of the other desired necessities yearned for in the mid-range, such as wireless charging, water resistance, or NFC for Google Pay support, with these not yet mentioned on the spec list.
There’s no word on Australian pricing yet, but Indian pricing where the phone launched suggests a translated cost of around $800 AUD, meaning if it does launch locally, the Realme X50 Pro 5G will likely sit in the upper-end of the new mid-range, now that the mid-range isn’t just $500-600, but more like $500-800.
