Realme 5 and 5 Pro hands-on review

Realme 5 camera

The Realme 5 has the same camera floor plan as the Pro - main, ultra wide, macro and portrait cameras. The difference comes from a smaller sensor on the main camera and a different selfie camera.

While both Realme 5 and 5 Pro will produce 12MP photos by default, this one has a plain 12MP sensor (no Quad Bayer). This means no pixel binning for HDR or night shots either. Also missing is the electronic image stabilization.

This is followed up by the 119° ultra wide-angle camera (8MP), the macro camera (2MP) and the portrait camera (2MP).

The selfie camera uses a 13MP sensor. Like the rear camera, it lacks pixel binning and EIS - those are features reserved for the Pro model.

But it can record 4K video at 30fps using the main camera (the ultra wide and macro cams are for photos only). Also, there are two high frame rate modes: 240fps at 720p and 120fps at 1080p.

Here are some 12MP shot from the main camera. There's no pixel binning here, but that isn't much on an issue in good daylight.

Realme 5: main camera

The 119° ultra wide camera is the same module that the Pro uses, however. It expands the field of view a great deal, making it perfect for landscapes or group shots.

Realme 5: 119° ultra wide camera

Here are some more camera samples.

Normal • HDR • Ultrawide normal • Ultrawide HDR

The main camera has a Portrait mode too:

Realme 5: portrait shot

We tried out the 2MP macro camera. It allows you to get close enough to see the fine print on currency, but getting a photo that's in focus is tricky - there's no focus peaking and it can be hard to tell on the screen if the shot is in focus or not.

Realme 5: macro shot

And here are a few low-light shots.

Normal • Normal • HDR • Nightscape • Ultrawide

The 13MP selfie camera does well when there's enough light.

Realme 5: selfie

But take things inside and the lack of pixel binning becomes apparent.

Realme 5: low-light selfie

Wrap up

The Realme 5 and Realme 5 Pro deliver great value at cut-throat prices and it seems Realme continues to be well-geared to successfully compete with Xiaomi's Redmi phones. It's quick update cycle means it's always able to deliver great value-for-money and up to date hardawre.

We'll know more about how good these two phones really are once we've completed our full reviews in the coming week or so. Stay tuned!