narzo 50i Prime Unboxing and Review

narzo ends September with a mindblowing success for the narzo 50i Prime by being the #1 selling smartphone on Lazada Payday Sale last September 30, where it was made exclusively available on the platform for only Php3,799 as a limited-time offer.

Being its most affordable smartphone model to date, the narzo 50i Prime comes with a 6.5-inch HD+ IPS display, 3GB RAM plus 32GB of internal storage, an 8MP rear camera, a 5,000mAh battery, and runs on the Unisoc Tiger T612 processor.

I was able to get my hands on one and this review will further help you to decide whether this smartphone is the one you are looking for. So, let's deal first with the unboxing.

Unboxing the narzo 50i Prime

As expected, the packaging comes in narzo’s baby blue color with the narzo branding and the model name on top; while the phone details—model number, IMEI number, serial number, device variant, color, and the summary of the four important features of the narzo 50i Prime, are imprinted on the back portion of the box.

You can also find the narzo by realme print on both sides.

Inside the Box and Accessories

After opening the lid of the box, the pack contained the quick guide, SIM card ejector tool, and important information guide (including the Warranty Card).

Underneath the pack is the narzo 50i Prime smartphone wrapped in white matte plastic. Beneath is the micro-USB to USB-A charging cable. The narzo 50i Prime does not come with a USB power adapter, or a protective case – you have to provide your own.

Design and Walk Around

For the design, the narzo 50i Prime features a unique design inspired by the speed of race cars. The vertical stripe stretches out into infinity, reflecting the narzo series’ constant pursuit of speed. The matte textured finish also protects the phone from scratches and is less susceptible to fingerprint smudges.

The narzo 50i Prime is available in two colors: Dark Blue and Mint Green. My unit comes in a Dark Blue color.

On the front, the narzo 50i Prime is equipped with a large 6.5-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS display. At the top, there’s a waterdrop design notch that houses the front-facing camera and the earpiece. Like most smartphones in this segment, the side bezels are relatively slim but with a pretty thick chin. Also, there is no pre-installed screen protector.

At the back, there is a small camera hump that houses the lone rear camera along with the single LED flash and narzo branding.

Found on the left side is the card tray with a 3-card slot for two nano-SIM cards and a dedicated slot for a microSD card capable of up to 1TB of expandable storage, handy for users who want to further improve storage capacity.

On the right side, is your standard volume rocker and power button.

Located at the bottom of the phone, you can find the micro-USB charging port, downward-firing speaker, microphone, and 3.5mm audio jack.

In addition to its design, the narzo 50i Prime is only 8.5mm thick and weighs about 182g. The phone is solidly built and the flat middle frame also adds comfort and is easier to hold.

Display and Multimedia

Despite its ergonomic build, the narzo 50i Prime still provides an immersive viewing experience through its 6.5-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS display that has an 88.70% screen-to-body ratio, which is larger than other smartphones in its price segment.

The IPS panel of the narzo 50i Prime produces good colors; viewing angles are also decent and the screen can also get bright, up to 400 nits automatically depending on the ambient lighting conditions. At 270ppi, the display looks sharp even though the display comes with an HD+ resolution.

The audio quality of the loudspeaker is like your typical smartphone at this price range. It can get loud and the audio quality is average. I recommend using headphones or an external speaker using the 3.5mm audio jack for better audio quality.

Camera

Rear Camera

The narzo 50i Prime lone rear camera features an 8MP image sensor with an F2.0 aperture. It also supports AF and comes with a single LED flash.

Quality from the rear camera under bright lighting conditions is pretty decent, though dynamic range and sharpness can be better.

For low light, the narzo 50i Prime is a poor performer even with the Night Mode feature turned on.

Front Selfie Camera

The narzo 50i Prime uses a 5MP front camera with an F2.2 aperture. The camera also supports different features such as Face Beautification and Photo Filters.

For selfies, it produces good photos for its price, especially in bright conditions.

Video

For video, the narzo 50i Prime supports 1080p@30fps video recording with its main camera and 720p@30fps for the front-facing camera. There is no 60fps shooting, SLO-MO videos, and electronic image stabilization (EIS).

The recorded video from the main camera is shaky since there is no image stabilization, but is usable for casual social media postings.

realme UI R Edition, Apps, and Security

The narzo 50i Prime runs on realme UI R Edition, which is based on Android 11 and is a stripped-down version of realme UI. The UI is seamless, clean, and easy to navigate. Pre-installed are the standard Google suite of apps, as well as some bloatware apps.

In terms of security, the narzo 50i is only equipped with facial recognition for unlocking the device. The face recognition feature works well and can be slow in situations where there isn’t much light.

Hardware and Performance

The narzo 50i Prime comes with a Unisoc Tiger T612 processor. This processor is made using a 12nm process and is equipped with two high-performance Cortex-A75 cores at 1.8GHz and six high-efficiency Cortex-A55 cores at 1.8GHz, along with Mali-G57 GPU.

The device can perform smoothly in casual and light tasks; the gaming experience in graphics-intensive games is okay and tolerable with slight stutters and lags, even with the use of the lowest available settings. Take note that this is a sulit gaming smartphone so don’t expect too much.

The narzo 50i Prime is available in the Philippines in one storage variant - 32GB storage, with 14.45GB of used storage. If you need additional storage, you can further expand the storage up to 1TB via its dedicated microSD card slot.

Below are the benchmark scores from this device:

• AnTuTu v9.4.4 – 180,363
• AnTuTu Storage Test v9.4.4 – 7,511 (383.8 MB/s Seq. Read, 15.3 MB/s Seq. Write)
• Geekbench 5.4.4 – 345 (Single-core), 1,290 (Multi-core)
• PCMark – 7,876 (Work 3.0)
• 3DMark – 995 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1) 966 (SSE – Vulkan)

Battery and Connectivity

The narzo 50i Prime features a large 5,000mAh battery and is good enough to last you a day of moderate usage without an additional charge. In the PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life Test, the unit yielded a score of around 14 hours and 57 minutes.

With its large battery capacity, the narzo 50i Prime can also serve as a battery life saver for other devices and gadgets with its special OTG reverse charge. It also comes with different battery optimization features such as Ultra Saving Mode, and App Standby Optimizer that can optimize the power consumption of apps while on standby.

Aside from the battery, the narzo 50i Prime has your usual connectivity features, including dual SIM (nano-SIM, dual stand-by), 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, a 3.5mm audio jack, and micro-USB.

narzo 50i Prime Specifications

6.5-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS display, 270ppi
Unisoc Tiger T612 processor, 12nm
Mali-G57 GPU
3GB/4GB RAM
32GB/64GB storage (UFS 2.2)
microSD card up to 1TB (dedicated slot)
8MP F2.0 rear camera
5MP F2.2 front camera
Dual-SIM / 4G LTE
WiFi / Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
micro-USB 2.0 / 3.5mm audio jack
realme UI R Edition (Android 11)
5,000mAh battery with reverse charging
164.1 x 75.6 x 8.5mm (dimension)
182g (weight)
Colors: Dark Blue and Mint Green

Price and Availability

The narzo 50i Prime is available in a 3GB+32GB single variant and now retails for only Php3,999 (from the original SRP of Php4,999).

The narzo 50i Prime will be restocked across all platforms for the 10.10 campaign. Aside from Lazada and Shopee, the model is also available on TikTok Shop with daily liveselling from 2 pm-10 pm. Customers can also inquire at any of the 30 narzo stores and kiosks nationwide.

Verdict

Is this the smartphone you are looking for? The answer is YES!

For those looking for a simple and effective smartphone that will last for a long time, the narzo 50i Prime contained all the essential features - excellent battery life, decent cameras, and surprisingly good performance, given its price.

It is also ideal for Filipino students and workers that are looking for a reliable smartphone without going over their allowance and budget.