Realme Narzo 50 Review – Good Deal For Budget Buyers

The latest Realme Narzo 50, like previous Narzo smartphones, offers quality features at an affordable price. The smartphone has a 120Hz display and is powered by the MediaTek Helio G96 processor. The phone runs smoothly and the chipset handles everything quite well.

I have been using the Realme Narzo 50 for a few days and found it to be a very capable device. Some of the features that attract the eye include the big display, curved edges, gaming-focused features, and excellent battery backup. At the same time, there are a few drawbacks, which I’ve covered in this review. So let’s start without further ado.

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The 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant of the Reamle Narzo 50 costs Rs. 12,999 in India, whereas the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant costs Rs. 15,499. The phone comes in two colours: Speed Black and Speed Blue. The Realme Narzo 50 will be available on Amazon, as well as through the company’s own website and local retailers. The device will be on sale for the first time on March 3 at 12 p.m.

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The new offering from Realme comes with the following items inside the box:

• Realme Narzo 50
• ‎SIM Tray Ejector
• 33W Adapter
• Phone Case
• Screen Protector
• USB Cable

Before we talk in detail about the Realme Narzo 50, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.6 inches IPS LCD
• Chipset: MediaTek Helio G96
• RAM & ROM: 4GB RAM 64GB Storage, 6GB RAM 128GB Storage
• Software: Android v11
• Rear camera: 50MP + 2MP + 2MP
• Selfie camera: 16 MP
• Battery: 5000 mAh
• Weight: 194 grams
• Dimensions: 164.1 x 75.5 x 8.5 mm

Realme has been experimenting with various textures and patterns on their flagship and Narzo series smartphones. The Realme Narzo 50 features a sleek chassis that is both attractive and classy. The backside has a Kevlar Speed Texture featuring racing-like patterns that have a somewhat matte finish. The purpose is to give the phone a premium feel and look, similar to that of a racing car, which Realme has delivered.

A triple camera arrangement can be found on the upper left side, with Narzo branding on the bottom. The phone is available in two colours: Speed Blue and Speed Black; we received the Speed Blue. The Speed Blue colour of the Realme Narzo 50 that I tested here has a unique glossy texture. The back panel seems to have a gradient design when viewed at an angle, giving it an even more beautiful look.

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The power button is located on the phone’s right side, while the volume control and SIM card tray are located on the phone’s left side. The bottom contains an audio jack, a single speaker, and a type-C charging port. The smartphone is 194 grammes in weight and feels very light in the hand. Given the price of Narzo 50, the overall design looks and feels excellent.

The display is one of the finest elements of the Realme Narzo 50. The smartphone features a 6.6-inch Full HD LCD display with a refresh rate of 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 180Hz. It has a max brightness of 480 nits, a resolution of 24121080, a screen-to-body ratio of 90.8 per cent, and a 401PPI. The display brightness is also decent; using the phone outdoors will not be a problem. The touch screen was really snappy, and switching across apps was a breeze.

Since it is an LCD panel, the viewing angles aren’t as good as they are on OLED displays, and the colour profiles aren’t as saturated. The smartphone does support Widevine L1, so you can stream FHD+ videos on OTT platforms. I watched a couple of videos on YouTube and found the colours to be accurate and vibrant.

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The 120Hz refresh rate improves gaming even further, and the bigger screen offers an amazing video streaming experience. You can manually set the refresh rate to Standard, Auto or High. The standard will run on 60Hz, auto select will automatically select the best refresh rate for an app while the High option will offer you the best possible result, max 120Hz but will consume more battery. Overall, RealMe has done an excellent job with the starting price of Rs 12,999, and you will be impressed with the display quality.

The realme Narzo 50 is powered by a MediaTek Helio G96 octa-core SoC clocked at 2.05 GHz, as well as an ARM Mali-G57 MC2 GPU for gaming. When it comes to the chipset, the Mediatek Helio G96 is a midrange processor built on a 12nm process. As expected performance isn’t an issue here. I was able to run a number of apps without any problems.

The Narzo 50 comes in two RAM and storage variations, with the base variant having 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage and the top variant having 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage. I had the latter for the review and would recommend you to get the same if you like to play heavy games on your phone. A microSD card slot allows for storage expansion up to 1 TB.

It has RAM expansion technology which extends the RAM up to 5 GB extra i.e. on its top variant 6 GB RAM can be extended to 11 GB. This is the first time that I’m seeing a 5GB RAM expansion on a 6GB variant. Furthermore, the 120hz refresh rate is extremely useful when using the phone in daily life.

When it comes to gaming, the Realme Narzo 50 has a dedicated Game Mode that lets users customise their settings while playing. I played a couple of games like BGMI, Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9. BGMI maxed out to HD settings with High frame rate while the COD: Mobile went up to Medium settings with High frame rate. The game ran smoothly with occasional frame drops which you can easily avoid by dropping the graphics settings. Asphalt 9 also ran well without any issues and lags. I did not notice any heating issues although the phone was a little warm after a lengthy session of gaming which is excepted.

In terms of software, the Realme Narzo 50 runs Realme UI 2.0, which is based on Android 11. The realme UI 2.0 has been optimised for Android 11 and has over 100+ customizations such as theme, dark mode, icons, and more. The realme UI 2.0 feels fluid and light in weight thanks to its 120 Hz display. However, the lack of Android 12 at a time when Android 13 is on the brink is a big disappointment for me.

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Realme Narzo 50 comes with a bunch of bloatware, however, it can be uninstalled if you don’t need it. A number of third-party apps, including Facebook, Josh, Dailyhunt, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Booking.com, Moj, PhonePe, Amazon, and a few others, are among the bloatware on the phone.

I would recommend you to uninstall them as soon as possible because I was getting bombarded with notifications all the time while I was using the device. After removing unnecessary apps, the phone feels light and snappy.

The Realme Narzo 50 has a triple camera layout on the back. It has a 50MP primary sensor, a 2MP macro sensor, and a 2MP depth sensor on the back, as well as a 16MP selfie camera on the front. For the first time, I believe RealMe has done a good job with the camera; the images come out to be detailed.

I took some shots in the daylight and outside and found the photos to be very good. What pleased me the most was the Portrait mode, which captures detailed images (close-up shots). Night mode is just average and may only be acceptable for casual users. I also tried taking some shots in Night mode, but the results were less than ideal.

The macro sensor and depth sensor is now purely cosmetic; they don’t offer much help. The results were rarely any good, it was a hit or miss.

The 16MP front camera on the Realme Narzo 50 also takes some decent photos. The selfies were great during the day, but not so much at night.

The camera app comes with some really interesting features like the Portrait mode, Night mode, 50MP mode, HDR support, AI scene enhancement, Pro expert mode, dual-video support, ultra macro, and so on.

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Both the back and front cameras can record videos at 1080p@30fps. The videos come out good but it relies on EIS, so you need to have steady hands for a stable result.

The one big flaw in the camera department that I noticed was that Realme could have used one ultra-wide-angle lens instead of two 2MP lenses. You could use the ultra-wide lens when you need a wider field of view, something that Narzo 50 cannot do.

The realme Narzo 50 packs a big 5,000 mAh battery and supports a 33W Dart Charge fast charging which is actually fast, if not the fastest in its segment. The phone lasted two days for me before I had to charge it again. My usage involved some gaming, a couple of videos on YouTube, playing music, and using Google Maps. It will still give you a day of battery backup even if you are a heavy user and enjoy long gaming sessions.

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I really appreciated the battery-saving features, such as super-power saving mode,  app freezer, sleep optimization, and so on. These features make sure that the Realme Narzo 50 never runs out of juice. The 33W Dart Charger will take around an hour to fully charge the device from 0 to 100 per cent.

The Realme Narzo 50 sports a single bottom-firing speaker that produces decent sound. A stereo speaker setup would be better. RealMe has also included a 3.5mm audio jack, which is a welcome addition. Overall, the sound quality and call quality are both decent.

It has a dedicated microSD card slot and supports dual 4G SIM cards. Because the processor does not include a 5G modem, there is no 5G connectivity. You get standard connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1 and navigation. No NFC here, as expected.

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There is a side-mounted fingerprint reader built into the power button for unlocking the phone. The fingerprint scanner is pretty quick and accurate. You can also use face unlock which is also fast and works well.