When I found out that realme is coming out with a new Note series, I got so curious as to what this new realme Note 50 has to offer. So, as soon as I got my hands on the review device, I didn’t even bother checking the price. I just started using it in my daily grind—snapping pics, binging content, and soaking in its features like it was part of my routine.
You can just imagine how shocked I was when I found out that this phone was only priced under PhP 4,000.
Allow me to share my experience with this so far.
Design and display
Taking the phone out of the box, I immediately knew that this belonged in the affordable smartphone segment.
The giveaway was the side mounted fingerprint scanner and the dew drop notch on the screen.
These aren’t necessarily bad, but if you know current smartphones, these are the things you’d mostly see on lower priced devices or those from older generations.
For everything else, the realme Note 50 looks and feels great. The back case looks unique with its split design which is something I really appreciate.
Probably the best part and what I can say would be my favorite aspect on the realme Note 50, is its display. This is a 6.74-inch, 720p IPS display with a 90Hz refresh rate. It produces nice punchy colors, decent contrast ratio and provides a smooth experience.
It also manages to be mostly visible even outdoors. I can really see this being a good choice for people on-the-go and motorcycle riders as this also has an IP54 dust and water resistance rating.
Something unique realme has added to the Note 50, is the mini capsule which displays on top of the device. This works similarly to the one they’ve included on their other devices like the realme C53.
While some might consider this to just be another gimmick which really doesn’t add much functionality to the device, I do appreciate its inclusion on this very affordable package.
I just hope that realme adds more features to make more use out of this feature as right now, it is only limited to some notifications and battery and charging status.
Performance
If you’re not keen on checking internal specs, this phone just right away feels snappy to operate. The realme Note 50 is running on the UniSoc T612 chipset with 4GB or RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
realme has done a great job in optimizing the realme UI T Edition on this which I think is a slightly less version of their full operating system. With this move, they’ve done a splendid job squeezing every ounce of power to get the most out of its hardware.
Navigating feels responsive through most basic tasks which to me, felt a bit surprising since I was honestly expecting this not to perform as well as it did.
The device seems to be achieving a decent level of performance by using some lighter versions of some software. Like the Photo Gallery app which previews images at a lower resolution and faster animation time to make the phone feel even faster.
If you're into gaming, do expect that you'll only be able to run more demanding games like Call of Duty: Mobile at low graphic settings for satisfactory performance. While there's an option to push it to medium, I recommend sticking to the lowest settings. You won't achieve the best-looking graphics, but surely the experience on the Note 50 will still be enjoyable.
As long as you’re not planning on playing graphically intensive games like Genshin Impact, lighter games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the likes work great.
To quickly add, the sound quality of the speakers also accentuated the gaming experience on this as it did pack a nice thick sound that didn’t sound tiny at all.
Camera
On to its camera department, the realme Note 50 is equipped with a 13MP main camera and a 5MP selfie camera. These numbers may seem a bit low for today’s rising megapixel counts on smartphone cameras, but the shooters on the Note 50 are indeed decent.
It is totally possible to take nice photos especially if you have great light available outdoors. It doesn’t have amazing dynamic range, but as long as you pull the exposure down, you can get nice contrast and colors.
Keeping everything auto, will tend to overexpose most of the time which will result in a somewhat flat looking image.
Indoor shooting also isn’t half bad. As long as you find decently lit areas, photos from this are perfectly usable. Just remember to keep a steady hand when snapping your shots, otherwise you’ll get blurry results.
There aren’t many available shooting options here, but we do get the portrait mode and some photo filters for those who like to experiment with creative shooting.
Of course, there’s also night mode which also performs relatively well IMHO.
Selfies aren't its strong point though. Here, it is more noticeable that the images do suffer from that lower 5MP sensor. Photos here are just okay at best and so-so for most of the time.
Battery and charging
The realme Note 50 packs a 5000mAh battery paired with 10W charging. Running our PCMark battery loop test, the device lasted a very decent 16 hours before reaching 20 percent. Aligned with that result, in a real world use case, this can easily last two days if we’re just running the typical apps.
A bit of a downside though is, it did take us more than two hours to fully charge this device with its 10W charging speeds. That's pretty slow for today's standards.
realme Note 50 Specifications:
- Processor: Unisoc T612
- Display: 6.74-inch HD+, 90Hz, IPS Display (720x1600px)
- RAM and Storage: 4GB, 64GB
- Camera: 13MP Main, 5MP Front
- Battery and Charging: 5000mAh Li-Po, 10W Charging
- Connectivity: 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, USB-C, 3.5mm Audio Jack
- Biometric Scanner: Side-mounted Fingerprint
- Other notable specs: IP54 Dust and splash resistant
Conclusion
The realme Note 50 has got to be the most affordable usable smartphone that’s available in the market.
While there are aspects which we feel can still be improved, for what we’re getting out of its price, asking for more just feels wrong.
Of course this won’t provide you with the best experience, but if the budget is really tight, and you just need a smartphone for the basics like being connected, casually snapping some photos and probably sneaking some game time, the realme Note 50 can definitely do all of that.
Price and availablility
The realme Note 50 retails for PhP 3,599 and is available in Sky Blue and Midnight Black color variants. Check out realme's offical Shopee and TikTok stores for discounts and promos.