Realme 5 review

Android Pie and Color OS 6

The Realme 5 runs Oppo's latest Color OS 6 over Android 9.0 - a combo we've already seen on the Realme X, 3 and 3 Pro. Some icons might have changed along the way, but other than that - it's the same UI we've seen on their previous models.

Color OS 6 generally revolves around a light color scheme with the settings menu using a white backdrop with light color accents and gradients.

Registering a fingerprint takes a few steps, but it's not a big deal to spend some time enrolling a print as long as it works well later on. And it does flawlessly on the 5. The sensor is always on and upon recognition unlocks the phone in a flash.

You can also set up face unlock in addition to or instead of fingerprint security. But it's far inferior to the fingerprints in terms of security. There's an option that you can set to require your eyes to be open for the phone to unlock to add some extra security, but it still won't match the fingerprint sensor security-wise.

Biometric security

The user interface of the Realme 5 is virtually identical to that of the 5 Pro and X, in turn very similar to the pre-Pie releases from the brand. There are the usual homescreens, Smart Assistant optional pane that is more like a widget page, there is also an app drawer.

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder • Widget pane • Settings • App drawer

The drop-down shade features notifications, quick toggles, and a brightness scrubber and has been redesigned for Color OS 6. The task switcher is reminiscent of Apple's, though it has an End All button. Split-screen multitasking is available for all compatible apps, and you can resize the windows and swap the two apps.

Notifications • Toggles • Task Switcher • Split screen

There are all sorts of navigation options on the Realme 5. There's the old-school nav bar on the bottom, swipe up gestures that replace it, but don't really change the dynamic much, and then there's the 'Swipe Gestures from Both Sides' option (the default one). This last one is our favorite - it mimics partially the iOS way of doing things (you swipe from the sides for Back) which we've seen one way or the other on EMUI and MIUI, but that's not why we like it. It adds a welcome twist - swipe in from the side and hold to switch between the two latest apps - how brilliant is that?

Navigation settings

Of course, the usual set of tools comes pre-installed. There is a Phone Manager for handling memory cleaner functions, app permissions and encryption, and virus scanning, among other things.

Then there's Game Space which allows you to handpick which notifications to pass through when you are playing games, and you don't want to be interrupted. There are also different performance modes and an option to lock the brightness only for certain games.

Game Space

Realme also provides basic multimedia apps - a gallery called Photos, and a Music player. A file manager is also part of the package, FM radio support and app are available, too.

Phone Manager • Gallery • Music • Files • Compass • FM radio

Performance and benchmarks

The Realme 5 is only the second smartphone we meet to be powered by the Snapdragon 665 chipset - the Mi A3 was the first one. It's a minor update over the Snapdragon 660 chip, but given the 720p resolution we expect some great gaming skills.

The Snapdragon 665 chip is based on 11nm manufacturing process compared to the 14nm Snapdragon 660. It has a similar processor as the S660 (Realme 2 Pro) - an octa-core Kryo 260 CPU with 4x2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold (Cortex-A73 derivative) & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver (Cortex-A53 derivative). There is one difference - the high-performance cores are clocked 200MHz lower than the same on the Realme 2 Pro's S660.

There is a new Adreno 610 GPU, which isn't more powerful than the Adreno 512 inside the old 660 chip but should deliver similar performance for 20% less battery.

The Snapdragon 665 has a new DSP and a new ISP for 48MP camera support. Its modem is the same as on the S660, though.

And now let's run some tests, shall we?

The Snapdragon 665 processor easily aces GeekBench for this price bracket and the Realme 5 posted some excellent scores.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme 5 Pro
  6106
• Realme 3 Pro
  5881
• Realme 5
  5707
• Xiaomi Mi A3
  5686
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  5549
• Realme 2 Pro
  5531
• Google Pixel 3a XL
  5176
• Realme 3
  4936
• Motorola Moto G7
  4755
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  4146
• Realme 2
  3881

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Realme 5 Pro
  1913
• Google Pixel 3a XL
  1615
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  1576
• Realme 5
  1537
• Xiaomi Mi A3
  1531
• Realme 3
  1482
• Realme 3 Pro
  1471
• Realme 2 Pro
  1462
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  1319
• Motorola Moto G7
  1255
• Realme 2
  790

The Realme 5, just like the Mi A3, has a massive benefit when it comes to graphics because of its lower screen resolution. It beats everything in its price bracket, offers doubled performance over the Realme 2 series, and unmatched speed across the entire competition.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi A3
  27
• Realme 5
  26
• Realme 3
  26
• Realme 5 Pro
  22
• Realme 3 Pro
  20
• Google Pixel 3a XL
  19
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  13
• Realme 2
  12
• Realme 2 Pro
  12
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  7.4
• Motorola Moto G7
  6.4

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme 3
  15
• Realme 5
  13
• Xiaomi Mi A3
  13
• Realme 5 Pro
  12
• Realme 3 Pro
  11
• Google Pixel 3a XL
  11
• Realme 2 Pro
  7.2
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  6.9
• Realme 2
  6.3
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  4.6
• Motorola Moto G7
  3.5

If you are curious about the raw performance of the GPU, it is decent though not as impressive.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme 5 Pro
  27
• Realme 3 Pro
  23
• Google Pixel 3a XL
  20
• Realme 2 Pro
  14
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  14
• Realme 5
  13
• Realme 3
  13
• Xiaomi Mi A3
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  8.1
• Motorola Moto G7
  6.9
• Realme 2
  6.1

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme 5 Pro
  15
• Realme 3 Pro
  13
• Google Pixel 3a XL
  11
• Realme 3
  8
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  7.7
• Realme 5
  7.2
• Xiaomi Mi A3
  7.1
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  4.5
• Motorola Moto G7
  3.8
• Realme 2
  3.5

3DMark SSE 3.1 Unlimited

Higher is better

• Realme 5 Pro
  2253
• Google Pixel 3a XL
  1748
• Realme 2 Pro
  1291
• Realme 3
  1189
• Realme 5
  1136
• Xiaomi Mi A3
  1131
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  988
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  587
• Motorola Moto G7
  569
• Realme 2
  497

Over at the compound AnTuTu test the Realme 5 shows some good skills and scores a very good mark.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Realme 5 Pro
  182765
• Google Pixel 3a XL
  159110
• Realme 3 Pro
  155647
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  141600
• Xiaomi Mi A3
  140633
• Realme 5
  139516
• Realme 2 Pro
  132958
• Realme 3
  132764
• Motorola Moto G7
  106292
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  96550
• Realme 2
  75434

In graphic-intensive applications, the Realme 5 may very well be one of the most powerful Realme phons so far because of the lower screen resolution benefits. We didn't notice any particular areas of the Realme 5 body heating up even when running those benchmarks for longer durations and there was no throttling at all.

Overall, the Realme 5 offers class-leading performance and nobody should be experiencing hiccups of any kind whatever the tasks at hand. And it's a phone you should seriously consider if gaming is your thing and you are on a budget.