NOTEworthy Alternative: realme Note 50 Review! [PART 1]

At this rate, the “note” name is just overused. Naming aside, is the phone truly worth purchasing?

Many Filipinos said that realme’s new products are just not the same as before, with each new release getting fewer features but higher in price. The realme Note50 (oddly named, and possibly bandwagoned) is designed to detest those complaints. Did realme go back to their roots or this is just another one to dispose in the trash?

We took this phone for a trip to Baguio to find out. We purchased a unit at a price of PHP 3,699 at the realme store in SM Marilao beforehand. Its SRP is PHP 3,599 (4/64) but the additional PHP 100 was probably due to the store also paying rent, so there is a slightly higher markup. Online, during its early bird sale, it debuted for only PHP 2,599 and you can even purchase one for even lower with the right vouchers and discounts. It’s almost as if realme is giving away the device for free. However, we bet the reason realme released this was so they can go back to being the top spot in terms of number of smartphones sold and shipped as a certain Transsion has took over their place, ending their 3-year streak.

SPECS:

• 6.74″ HD+ (1600x720px) IPS LCD, 90Hz refresh rate
• UNISOC Tiger T612
• CAMERAS:
  • 13MP (Primary)
  • 2MP (Depth)
  • FRONT: 5MP
• realmeUI R Edition based on Android 13 Go Edition
• 5000mAh, 10W charging
• USB-C, 3.5mm jack, Dual Nano-SIM Slot, Virtual RAM, MicroSD Card Slot
• 4G LTE, Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0
• Sky Blue, Midnight Black
• PRICE:
  • 4/64: PHP 3,599

UNBOXING:

The realme note 50 ships with the standard yellow realme box with the phone’s name written on top. It does come with the essentials including the 10W charger, the manuals and guides, a SIM Ejector tool, and a dark silicone case. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. However, we think that realme should have shipped the Sky Blue variant of the phone with a bluish case instead of black to further match its colour. The silicone case just hides the back more.

DESIGN:

In terms of its design, the realme note 50 is quite identical to the realme c51 just with some specification nerfs. For instance, this phone gets rid of the 50MP primary for a 13MP shooter (the sensor used cannot be identified by DeviceInfo HW), it has 1GB more RAM than the C51 at its base variant, and it uses realmeUI R edition which we will discuss a little while later.

There are two colours to choose from: Sky Blue and Midnight Black. We went with Sky Blue because Black is just way too common in our reviews and there was no Midnight Black option at the time we were purchasing the phone. The phone is entirely made of plastic and its camera layout is arranged similarly to an iPhone and it’s made even more blatant when the given free case is installed.

The phone has a glossy, glittery blue top half while the bottom half is solid. The top half is smudge resistant but the bottom one is not, unfortunately. We do like the combination of this glittery and standard texture design and we think realme should keep it for the rest of their budget phones from now on.

However, it’s 2024 and that ugly waterdrop/dewdrop notch should really be extinct by now. While yes, it is a budget phone priced at PHP 3,599 (4/64), many other brands like Tecno and Infinix already ditched this type of cutout for a more modern dot notch. If they can do it, so can realme and all other manufacturers. That cutout is already dated.

The realme note 50 features both of its power button and volume rockers at the right side of the plastic frame. The power button also functions as a fingerprint scanner. The top is empty while the bottom is quite busy as this is where the 3.5mm jack, USB-C port, and the single speaker are located. At the left-hand side, you get the MicroSD Card slot and Nano-SIM tr ay. Up to 2TB of MicroSD Card space are supported with the phone which should offset the phone’s lack of storage.

Yes, we asked the salespeople from realme to install tempered glass on it but it’s installed well so it’s hidden and doesn’t feel too different versus the flimsy plastic that’s usually inserted on top of the screen.

DISPLAY:

The realme note50’s display comes with a dated waterdrop notch and measures 6.5 inches. This IPS LCD screen comes with a 1600x720px resolution. However it does come with one knick knack that was retained from the C51: The 90Hz refresh rate! It does feel alienating when you came from a 120Hz OLED down to a measly IPS LCD. In our perspective, it feels like the quality heavily downgraded.

However, removing that perspective, the screen is actually pretty bright. Although it will suffer under extreme sunlight conditions, such as during the hot 12 noon. You can really feel its HD+ resolution because some of the text feel soft, and so do images. It’s even more felt when we used it to play games or watch movies full screen. For those who are asking, it’s only L3 WideVine certified. So no, it cannot curate DRM-locked 1080p content on streaming platforms like Netflix and YouTube Premium.

While it does have a 90Hz refresh rate, you cannot change to this refresh rate by default in the display settings. Instead, your only options are “Auto” and “60Hz” so the 90Hz is adaptive and is most likely software tweaked. The refresh rate does appear in some games however.

Because it’s not a TFT screen, it has decent viewing angles. You can view it at a 45-degree angle and still see most of the details present and colors remain bright and consistent no matter what angle you view the display in. Software-based display enhancement is also frankly available but is disabled by default. You can see what apps are compatible with this display enhancement which includes YouTube and Google Meet.

SOFTWARE:

As mentioned earlier, the realme note50 boots with a watered-down version of realmeUI called realmeUI R edition. This version retains many elements of stock Android. Noticeably, the notification dock and quick settings screen. Unlike regular realmeUI, realmeUI R edition is more barebones and there are fewer customization options but still a noticeable amount of bloatware in the home screen. Thankfully, you can remove most of them (keyword: most).

By default, the app drawer is enabled, just scroll up from your home screen to view it. This version is taken directly from stock Android with little to no changes. The navigation buttons are located below but its position, specifically, the back button, cannot be moved without a third-party app.

Thanks to UnboxPH’s confirmation, the phone is designed to truly last because it will receive two years of major upgrades and three security updates. In fact, the moment we opened it up, we were immediately greeted by a security update for January 2024. Woah, that’s very fast! We’re hoping realme can continue this pace consistently.

The phone has no dedicated gallery, music app, or notes. It still does have that bloaty AppMarket though. For photos, you rely on Google Photos and for music, you use YouTube Music.

One thing we don’t like about this software is that upon booting up, you’re forced to download unnecessary apps and you cannot skip them in the setup screen. The phone already has a low amount of storage as it is, occupying a quarter of it once booted. We’d like to see that feature removed. Once you restart the phone after the update has been installed, the phone takes a whole minute to boot but that’s only when applying updates. Normally, it only takes a few seconds.

Gestures such as the three-fingered screenshot are still supported so it’s not completely barebones, unlike the Wiko T50 we also reviewed a few months back. Moreover, “Lift-to-Check”, One-handed Mode, and Google Assistant are also present. Split screen is present by pressing the multi-task button (the square button on the right) and pressing the app icon for a few seconds until a dropdown menu appears.

If you’re new to realmeUI, realmeUI R is like the training variant so you get used to the actual UI’s basic features before moving on the more advanced ones. However, if you own a OnePlus or Oppo device, realmeUI will feel right at home as the three are very similar in features.

Chapter One Episode One complete! The phone is pretty standard but mindblowing for its price. Well, we’re not expecting a lot from a measly 13MP camera but it doesn’t hurt to try using it. What do you think? Stay tuned for Episode 2!