realme has been making waves in the budget smartphone market, and their latest offering, the realme Note 50, is no exception. With its attractive price point of under Php4,000, this device aims to capture the attention of budget-conscious consumers.
But does it deliver on its promises? Let’s find out!
realme Note 50 Design
In terms of design, the realme Note 50 comes in a stylish Sky Blue colorway with a two-tone finish. The glass-like material at the top and matte finish for the rest of the back panel give it a flashy yet elegant look. However, while the design is eye-catching, the material feels a bit cheap and is prone to scratches and fingerprints. Its protruding camera lenses look like it comes with three cameras. But in reality, it only has two, as the other one only houses the LED flash. A clever effort to make it look like a premium phone.
Overall, the phone boasts a slim and lightweight body, making it comfortable to use even with just one hand. It’s also worth mentioning that the realme Note 50 is IP54 rated for protection against dust and some water splashes.
realme Note 50 Multimedia
The realme Note 50 features a 6.74-inch IPS LCD screen with an HD+ resolution, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a 180Hz touch sampling rate. While the display is decent for multimedia consumption, its brightness is too dim, making it slightly challenging to use under direct sunlight. Therefore, we suggest turning off its adaptive brightness to choose the best brightness level for your preferences.
At first glance, you’ll notice its dated design featuring a dew-drop notch to accommodate its selfie camera. But considering its price point, we appreciate this design choice. Furthermore, it comes equipped with a Mini Capsule feature, copying the iPhone’s Dynamic Island, which adds gimmick not only to its display features but also to its entire offerings.
In terms of audio, it delivers a hit-and-miss performance. For instance, the loudspeaker provided satisfactory sound quality, but we also encountered sound distortion at maximum volume. On the other hand, we’re glad it includes a 3.5mm audio jack, catering to budget-conscious users who prefer wired, affordable earphones. By the way, the sound quality remains acceptable when using earphones.
realme Note 50 Software
Running on realme UI T Edition based on Android 13, it offers a clean and intuitive user interface. With a stock Android-like experience and an app drawer, navigation is straightforward and user-friendly.
The Mini Capsule feature adds convenience by displaying various notifications and details, such as charging status.
Meanwhile, our unit comes with 64GB of internal storage, with the option to expand via a dedicated microSD slot. As a result, we had to delete various pre-installed apps to make room for more of our preferred apps.
realme Note 50 Performance
Under the hood, the device is powered by an entry-level chipset, the Unisoc T612, paired with 4GB of RAM, an additional 4GB of virtual RAM, and 64GB of expandable storage.
We encountered no major issues while using the phone as our main device. However, we did notice some visible lag when switching between apps, especially with multiple apps running in the background. This is to be expected, given its specifications.
In addition, while the realme Note 50 can handle gaming, you should expect to play games at low settings. For example, we could run Call of Duty Mobile, but we kept it at low settings despite the device’s 90Hz refresh rate. We also noticed that the device tends to heat up after extended gaming sessions, particularly lasting over an hour.
realme Note 50 Camera
Equipped with a 13-megapixel main camera and a black-and-white camera, the phone captures acceptable images in well-lit environments. Daylight shots came with vibrant colors and sharp details, while indoor shots may suffer from noise.
Night photography is not the device’s strong suit, with noticeable noise and graininess even in Night mode.
However, features like in-app Retouch and Portrait mode help enhance selfies captured by the 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
Sample Photos:
realme Note 50 Battery Life
The device boasts a 5000mAh battery paired with 10W charging capabilities. During our extensive usage as our primary device, we found that it could last up to 8 hours on a single charge. This heavy usage included extensive social media browsing, casual gaming, basic communications, and video streaming.
Conversely, with more moderate usage limited to social media browsing, video watching, and basic communications, the battery life extended to over 12 hours.
When charging the phone from 30% to 100%, it took over two and a half hours to reach a full charge.
Meanwhile, we attempted to install the PCMark Battery Life Test app but encountered an issue where the device was not permitted to install it.
realme Note 50 Verdict
Priced at Php3,599, the realme Note 50 offers decent overall performance for its price range. The device excels in battery life, making it an ideal choice for users prioritizing long-lasting usage between charges.
If you’re on a tight budget and need a reliable smartphone with extended battery life, the device is worth considering.
