Realme X50 Pro 5G hands-on review

Android 10 and Realme UI 1.0

The Realme X50 Pro runs on Android 10 skinned with the brand new Realme UI. The maker has promised us a new take on ColorOS that's made by Oppo and with the most recent C3 and X50 series it surely delivered.

The new launcher looks a lot like vanilla Android with no-nonsense homescreens, simplistic notification/toggles area, and easy to use task switcher. App drawer is available, too, and it is as clutter-free as one could hope for.

Realme UI 1.0

The new Realme UI supports different icon packs, so if you are not happy with the default one, you can opt for material style, pebbles, or you can even fully customize them by your liking.

Customizing system icons

There are a lot of powerful tools within the settings menu if you want a full control over your Android OS. Or you can leave everything as is and enjoy hassle-free Android experience optimized by Realme's AI algorithms and machine learning.

Settings

Similar to the recent Galaxies, the Realme UI offers a Smart Sidebar on the edge of the screen - you can customize the actions and app shortcuts that appear there.

Smart Sidebar

The multimedia apps such as Gallery, Music, and Videos - are provided by Realme. There is also a redesigned File Manager, and even a Phone Manager app. And with that the non-Google app list is complete.

Gallery • Music • Videos • Phone Manager • File Manager

Finally, the Realme UI supports 90Hz and is displayed with 90fps - meaning it looks buttery smooth and blazing fast.

Performance

The Realme X50 Pro is the first smartphone we meet running on the new Snapdragon 865 chip. It also features Qualcomm's X55 modem that adds full-fledged 5G connectivity to the Realme X50 Pro!

So, the Snapdragon 865 has a new octa-core processor with a familiar core configuration - 1x2.84 GHz Kryo 585 Gold (Cortex-A77 derivative) & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 Gold (Cortex-A77 derivative) & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585 Silver (Cortex-A55 derivative).

The Adreno 650 is part of the Snapdragon 865 and should bring the gaming possibilities to another level.

The Snapdragon 865 chip supports LPDDR5 RAM and the Realme X50 Pro is available with 6, 8, or even 12GB of LPDDR5. The storage options are 128GB and 256GB, and the storage is of the UFS 3.0 kind.

Finally, the Snapdragon 865 is fabricated on TSMC's 7nm manufacturing process, same as the Snapdragon 855.

Realme has a new five-dimensional cooling system for the X50 Pro. It is comprised of a vapor chamber and multiple layers of solid graphite and it covers the entire chip area. The maker brags with the cooling efficiency, but we'll talk more when we start running them stress test.

Unfortunately, we had a pre-production unit of the Realme X50 Pro and benchmarking wasn't possible, but once we get our hands on the final unit, you bet we will run every test on it.

Battery

The Realme X50 Pro packs a 4,200 mAh battery. It is the first phone to support the new 65W SuperDart charge and the 65W charger is part of the retail bundle. Realme promises it will fully recharge the battery in 35 mins. We were eager to test it and we can confirm it fills 99% of its dead battery in 35 mins, while a full charge is achieved around the 38-39 min mark. Very impressive!

The Realme X50 Pro also supports all previous VOOC fast charging options, as well as USB-PD, so you can fast charge it with whatever you have lying around.

We can't wait to put the X50 Pro and its Snapdragon 865 chip through our battery life test and see what happens. Stay tuned!