realme Note 50 Unboxing and Review

Following the announcement of realme's CEO Sky Li of a significant product strategy named "Top to Bottom Expansion”, realme Philippines, alongside Global HQ, unveiled a brand-new product line and introduced the realme Note 50 to the local Filipino market.

Tagged as “Long-lasting Value Companion,” realme’s all-new Note Series is a fresh lineup of affordable and durable smartphones that reflect realme's commitment to excellence in the entry-level smartphone market.

The realme Note 50 comes with a 6.74-inch 90Hz HD+ display, 4GB RAM with realme’s Dynamic RAM Expansion technology, and IP54 dust and water resistance. It is backed by a Unisoc Tiger T612 processor and a 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging. Just like the realme C-series last year, it also features a Mini Capsule with all its three functions.

I was able to get my hands on one. Hence, this review will further explore the capabilities offered by this smartphone and see if it is poised to disrupt the budget smartphone segment. Let's start with the unboxing process, shall we?

Unboxing the realme Note 50

As expected, the packaging comes in realme's signature yellow-colored box. The front portion indicates the realme Note 50 branding. In contrast, the brand details—model number, IMEI number, serial number, color, and the four key features of the realme Note 50, are imprinted on the back portion of the box.

Inside the Box and Accessories

Once you slide the cover, you will see realme's latest slogan - Make it real. Inside the pack, you will find a SIM card ejector tool, a protective silicone case, and an information guide which includes the Warranty Card.

Revealed underneath is the realme Note 50 smartphone wrapped in white matte plastic. Beneath is the USB-C to USB-A charging cable and 10W charging adapter. The realme Note 50 does not come with a headset – you have to provide your own.

Design and Walk Around

For the design, realme made sure that its new Long-lasting Value Companion device will turn heads by implementing what’s called the “Trendy Glittering Design” which adopts a Splicing Philosophy with a glossy finish on the top, and a matte finish on the bottom for the back panel.

The realme Note 50 will be available in the Philippines in just two color variants: Sky Blue and Midnight Black.

On the front, the realme Note 50 is equipped with a large 6.74-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS display. At the top, there’s a dewdrop 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. Additionally, the phone comes with a pre-installed screen protector.

Found at the back are three circular camera modules that house a dual-camera set-up along with a single LED flash. The two cameras are the 13MP main and the black & white lens.

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 2TB of expandable storage.

On the right are your standard volume rocker button and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the power button.

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

In addition to its design, the realme Note 50 is very slim at 7.99mm thick and weighs about 186g. The phone also comes with a squared-off box-type build, paired with rounded edges at the corners that add comfort and allow ease of use with one hand.

Display and Multimedia

The realme Note 50 comes with a larger 6.74-inch display than many other smartphones in its price range. However, it has an HD+ (1600 x 720) resolution. Additionally, the phone features a 90.3% screen-to-body ratio, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a touch response rate of 180Hz, making it a great choice for those looking for a smooth and responsive display.

The IPS panel of the realme Note 50 is capable of producing good colors with decent viewing angles. However, you might face difficulties while using the device in direct sunlight even with its peak brightness of 560 nits on HBM (High Brightness Mode on Auto).

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 for better audio quality.

Cameras

Rear Cameras

As for the camera, the realme Note 50 boasts a dual-camera set-up—consisting of a 13MP F2.2 main camera with Phase Detection autofocus (PDAF) and a B&W lens.

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

For indoor and low light, photos can be muddy in certain situations even with the Night Mode feature turned on, still, it is good enough and usable for casual social media postings.

Front Selfie Camera

In terms of the front camera, the realme Note 50 boasts a 5MP front camera with an F2.2 aperture. The camera is also paired with the usual camera UI features for selfies.

For selfies, it produced decent photos for its price, especially in bright conditions. Background blurring for portrait selfies isn’t that perfect but good enough.

Video

For video, the realme Note 50 supports up to 1080p@30fps video recording with its main camera and 720p@30fps for the front-facing camera.

The recorded video from the main camera is shaky having no image stabilization.

realme UI T Edition, Apps, and Security

The realme Note 50 runs on a compact and stable realme UI T Edition, which is based on Android 13. The UI is seamless, clean, and easy to navigate. Pre-installed are the standard Google suite of apps, as well as some bloatware apps.

Originally debuting on the realme C55, the realme Note 50 also comes with Mini Capsule which is designed to show detailed information for selected items such as charging & battery status, mobile data usage, and step tracking/step counting.

In terms of security, realme Note 50 is equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the power button. It is also equipped with facial recognition for unlocking the device.

Both work well---the side-mounted fingerprint sensor is fast and accurate. However, the face unlock feature can slow down in situations where there isn’t much light.

Hardware and Performance

The realme Note 50 is powered by 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. Meanwhile, 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 not a gaming smartphone so don’t expect too much.

The realme Note 50 also supports Dynamic RAM Expansion technology. Dynamic RAM Expansion lets you expand your phone's RAM virtually by using the phone's internal storage. realme Note 50 can make use of up to 4GB for up to 8GB total usable RAM.

The realme Note 50 is available in the Philippines in one storage variant - 64GB storage, with 17GB of used storage out of the box. If you need additional storage, you can further expand the storage up to 2TB via its dedicated microSD card slot.

Additionally, the realme Note 50 comes with IP54 Dust & Water Resistance for added peace of mind in case of accidental splashes and other incidents.

Below are the benchmark scores from this device:

• AnTuTu v10.1.9 – 249,033
• AnTuTu Storage Test v10.1.9 – 12,360 (312.3 MB/s Seq. Read, 238.3 MB/s Seq. Write)
• Geekbench 6.2.2 – 422 (Single-core), 1,503 (Multi-core)
• PCMark – 7,708 (Work 3.0)
• 3DMark – 991 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 984 (SSE – Vulkan)

Battery and Connectivity

The realme Note 50 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 16 hours and 39 minutes.

realme Note 50's 5,000mAh battery can be fully charged in approximately 3 hours with its 10W charging, which is slower than expected for a smartphone in 2024.

Aside from the battery, the realme Note 50 has your usual connectivity features, including dual SIM (nano-SIM, dual stand-by), 4G LTE, dual-frequency WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, a 3.5mm audio jack, and USB Type-C.

realme Note 50 Specifications

6.74-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS display, 260ppi
90Hz Refresh Rate / 180Hz Touch Sampling Rate
Unisoc Tiger T612 processor, 12nm
ARM Mali-G57 GPU
4GB LPDDR4x
64GB of internal storage, еMMC 5.1
microSD card up to 2TB (dedicated slot)
13MP F2.2 main + B&W camera
5MP F2.2 selfie camera
Dual-SIM (nano) / 4G LTE
WiFi / Bluetooth 5.0
GPS/AGPS / GLONASS / GALILEO
USB Type-C / 3.5mm audio jack
IP54 Dust & Water Resistance
realme UI T Edition (Android 13)
5,000mAh battery w/ 10W charging
167.7 x 76.67 x 7.99mm (dimension)
186g (weight)
Colors: Sky Blue and Midnight Black

Price and Availability

realme Philippines has officially released the realme Note 50 at a retail price of Php3,599 SRP. To celebrate the launch, realme is offering special surprises for a limited time only. Customers can enjoy discounts when purchasing the realme Note 50 from TikTok and Shopee.

If you want to know how to get a huge discount on the new smartphone, you can watch realme Philippine's livestream on its official TikTok page on January 23 at 7:00 PM. Additionally, fans can head over to James Afante's TikTok account for a special live selling at 7:30 PM.

For Shopee users, you can claim a Mega Discount Voucher worth Php1,071 upon checkout of the realme Note 50. By doing so, you can purchase the smartphone for only Php2,499.

Conclusion

The realme Note 50 is a reliable and affordable entry-level smartphone that offers many essential features that first-time owners will need. It boasts decent performance, a good-looking design, a large and smooth display, and a long-lasting battery, all for only Php3,599.

If you're looking for a smartphone that won't break the bank but still delivers on quality, the realme Note 50 is definitely worth considering. With its impressive features, the realme Note 50 is set to shake up the entry-level smartphone market once again.