Realme X50 Pro 5G review

Latest Android + fresh Realme UI

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 Realme 6 and X50 series it surely delivered.

First, always-on screen is available (called Screen Off) and it can show the usual content - clock, date, notifications icons, battery. Or you can opt for your personal mantra (i.e. Dare to Leap) and see only this message when the screen is off.

You can also turn screen light effects for new notifications, which is much more battery saving than having an AOD screen and you can fully customize it. This also makes up for the lack of dedicated notification LED.

Screen-off • Clock style • Clock style • Cock style • Mantra • Screen effects

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 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. This completes the non-Google app list.

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 among 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.

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.

Well, the benchmark scores are in, and they show what we all expected to see - uncompromised performance across the board.

The updated 8-core processor is a skilled performer, on par with the latest Exynos (S20 series), and a meaningful upgrade over the S855 CPU.

GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  3269
• Realme X50 Pro
  3175
• Huawei P40
  3148
• LG V60 ThinQ 5G
  2942
• Sony Xperia 5
  2825
• OnePlus 7T Pro
  2803
• Samsung Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  2750
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  2732

GeekBench 5.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  931
• Realme X50 Pro
  911
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  900
• Huawei P40
  778
• OnePlus 7T Pro
  773
• LG V60 ThinQ 5G
  764
• Sony Xperia 5
  750
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  744

The Adreno 650 is the best mobile GPU right now and it thrives under 1080p screens. Unfortunately, the X50 Pro screen wasn't recognized as 90fps-capable by GFXBench for some reason.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  87
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  87
• Realme X50 Pro
  86
• Samsung Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  86
• LG V60 ThinQ 5G
  81
• OnePlus 7T Pro
  80
• Realme X2 Pro
  78
• Huawei P40
  75
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  71
• Sony Xperia 5
  69

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  79
• Realme X50 Pro
  60
• LG V60 ThinQ 5G
  59
• Huawei P40
  58
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  57
• Realme X2 Pro
  57
• Sony Xperia 5
  52
• Samsung Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  45
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  43
• OnePlus 7T Pro
  40

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme X50 Pro
  45
• Samsung Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  44
• LG V60 ThinQ 5G
  43
• Huawei P40
  37
• Realme X2 Pro
  37
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  36
• Sony Xperia 5
  33
• Samsung Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  26
• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  25
• OnePlus 7T Pro
  24

And finally, the one number to rule them all AnTuTu was an easy test for the Realme X50 Pro and it simply aced it.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Oppo Find X2 Pro (120Hz, 1440p)
  593717
• Realme X50 Pro
  592447
• Samsung Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
  525029
• Samsung Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
  515538
• OnePlus 7T Pro
  493901
• Huawei P40
  486583
• LG V60 ThinQ 5G
  485908
• Realme X2 Pro
  467653
• Redmi K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro
  437823
• Sony Xperia 5
  416601

The Realme X50 Pro's chipset of choice means it's over-equipped for its class and screen resolution. It's a flagship phone with flagship-worthy performance and will behave hiccup-free for years to come no matter what. It has a very good cooling system, which managed to keep the back rather cool and provide for a sustained performance even when running benchmarks for a long time.

Our only concern is with the 90Hz support - currently, there are few popular games that support 90+ fps, and even fewer of those recognize all HRR screens currently available, Realme's included. So, just don't expect to get 90fps in games or tests just because your screen supports it - you might be in for a disappointment.