Realme 5S Review In 8 Points: Better Than Redmi Note 8, Realme 3 Pro?

Read this before you buy Realme 5S. Is the new Realme 5S the best smartphone under 10000? Does Realme 5S justify the Rs 9,999 price tag with these features on-board. All the important queries to Realme 5S answered here.

The new Realme budget killer under 10000 have a lot to offer in this range.

Realme 5S packs in similar features as Realme 5 with an upgraded quad camera setup and some updated internals. So, should you choose Realme 5S over Redmi Note 8, Realme 3 Pro? Let’s find out.

Here’s an in-depth Realme 5S review divided in important points.

Realme 5S Build Quality: It’s All Plastic!

Realme 5S comes with a polycarbonate body on the out, made to look like glass. It offers a gradient finish on the out with some highlighting colour combinations, made out of high quality plastic. 

It’s a fingerprint magnet, and packs in good quality plastic cases in the box.

The colour scheme and gradient style remains the same, and the Red colour looks great. 

Realme 5S has a notched display with the rear camera module placed on top left. Both the budget smartphones come with a rear-mounted physical fingerprint sensor supporting face unlock.

Realme 5S misses out on a glass body, but the plastic makes it a more durable.

The smartphone feels premium in hand in spite of being made out of plastic, but glass built would have given it the perfect aesthetics. The overall ergonomics are fine and the device looks stylish on the out with a sturdy built.

Realme 5S Display: Again HD+ Display?

Realme 5S comes with a HD+ only display. It’s bigger and sized 6.51-inches with a small water drop notch on top. The notch has also got smaller by around 30 percent compared to Realme 3 to offer more screen space, though the chin remains fairly thick.

The display is quite vibrant with minimal bezels on the sides with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top.

Realme has done a great job in terms of the overall screen experience, but HD+ is still not a practical choice at 9,999.

In terms of usability, Realme 5S is certainly an apt choice for content consumption with the big screen and mammoth battery. Now whether should you choose a HD+ display or not, to be very honest, it’s hard to spot the difference, but it’s quite evident when you play games or watch something in HD.

Realme 5S: Same Snapdragon 665 Goodness

Realme 5S is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 as the predecessor. The chip stands between Snapdragon 660 and Snapdragon 675. The 665 have a bit more to offer than its predecessor. The fairly new chip comes with added artificial intelligence capabilities.

The smartphone can run mid-end games with extensive multitasking performance, with UI playing its own role to offer the end-user experience.

In terms of daily performance, there won’t be any issue on Realme 5S. The device also has a dedicated HyperBoost and GameBoost to offer an enhanced gaming experience with added inputs to smartphone performance.

Realme 5S Software: Realme 5S ColorOS 7 Update

Realme 5S runs on the same ColorOS 6 UI as Realme 5. The improved UI does offer some refreshing features with an easy-to-use structure. The device will also get the upcoming ColorOS 7 update soon.

Realme 5S ColorOS 7 update will probably be rolled out mid next year. 

Based on Android 9 Pie, the UI packs in a bunch of user-friendly features and tweaks.

Reamle is also working on its own UI, the RealmeOS. It’s supposed to launch by early 2020, and will be pushed to all the existing Realme smartphones via OTA updates including Realme 5S. RealmeOS Realme 5S update will come out next year.

Realme 5S Cameras: 48MP Camera Update Good Enough?

The biggest USP of the smartphone, Realme 5S comes with a newly improved 48MP powered quad camera. Realme 5 came with a 12MP primary sensor, and on 5S it has been replaced with a 48MP sensor.

The four camera system on Realme 5S include a 48-megapixel sensor, an 8-megapixel ultra wide angle sensor, 2-megapixel portrait sensor and a fourth 2-megapixel 4CM macro sensor.

The Realme smartphone does a fair job offering great dynamic range with almost accurate colours irrespective of lighting conditions.

The rear four camera setup has multiple sensors for multiple purposes. Realme 5S can take good detailed and sharp pictures in bright light with accurate colours.

In poorly lit conditions, the device suffers a it. Upfront, Realme 5S sports a 13-megapixel camera for selfies.

The dynamic range on Realme 5S is above average and it captures quite accurate details and produce good colours. The HDR works okay, and the ultra-wide lens is quite handy and works fine. The AI features helps the device to improve low light performance.

In all, Realme 5S does loses out on some details in low-light and artificial lighting, but given all conditions, 5S does a good job overall. The boosted colours again remain a problem as other Realme smartphones, but it can be fixed later with an update.

Realme 5S Battery: The 5,000mAh Battery Wins It All?

As Realme 5, the new Realme 5S also packs a massive 5,000mAh battery. The device has been specifically optimised with hardware and software to allow the Realme 5S to last for the longest period possible on a single charge.

While the huge battery makes up for the longevity, there’s no fast charger offered. Other smartphones in the same range have that for free.

With continuous video playback, gaming and performing multi-tasking processes, Realme 5S can easily shoot up for a whole day without being charged. Realme 5S charging time with the 10W charger varies between 150 to 155 minutes.

Realme 5S Pricing: Does It Justify The Rs 9,999 Price Tag?

Realme 5S is available in two variants in India starting at Rs 9,999. Realme 5S India price starts at Rs 9,999 for the base model with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The other Realme 5S model with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage is priced at Rs 10,999.

Realme 5S packs a dependable processor, display with minimal bezels, quality quad camera and a large battery, but does it justify the Rs 9,999 price tag? Read the verdict to know the answer.

As an upgrade over Realme 5, the Realme 5S has an upgraded 48MP quad camera system. Realme 5S will is available via Flipkart starting at Rs 9,999 directly challenging the likes of Redmi Note 8, Vivo U10 and Redmi Note 7S, while Realme 5 has now been discounted to start at Rs 8,999. 

Realme 5S Verdict: Better Than Redmi Note 8, Realme 3 Pro?

The Realme 5S pricing throws in a lot of questions. Without a doubt, Realme 5S does make a good choice under 10000, and it also has good value for money features on-board. But is it good enough at 9,999 compared to other smartphones in the same range?

Again, Realme 5S does have some good features under its kitty, but not the best.

Taking Redmi Note 8, it’s direct competitor, the smartphone offers the same processor, a FHD display with minimal bezels, premium glass sandwich body, similar 48MP quad camera, big battery, fast charging support and an in-box fast charger.

Even Realme’s own Realme 3 Pro at the same pricing offers a better Snapdragon 710, 20W fast charger in box, FHD display and a good camera.

Realme 5S has its own downsides with a plastic body, only HD display and no fast charger.

But Realme 5S have a big advantage with the huge battery and plastic body making it more durable. Plus, the UI doesn’t have any ads, a big bummer for MIUI users.

Coming to the final verdict, whether should you go for Realme 5S or not. To be plainly honest, Realme 5S isn’t the best smartphone under 10000, but it has everything you would need on a budget smartphone.

Realme 5S with the newly upgraded 48MP quad camera system gets a green signal.

With that huge battery and a big screen, it’s a perfect smartphone to binge watch for hours without worrying about battery, while the HD+ display will maximize the performance. Finally, with the plastic body, you will not have to worry about the accidental drops.