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narzo 50 Pro 5G review: narzo’s first phone as a standalone brand is a winner

narzo recently announced its status as a standalone brand, cutting the chord away from realme. And its first handset released on its own is the narzo 50 Pro 5G, alongside the vanilla narzo 50 5G.

The Pro variant is priced at P15,999 and features a 90Hz 6.4-inch OLED display, a MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G chip, and a 48MP main camera. Everything looks all well and good on paper, but does it deliver as the brand’s first smartphone release? Let’s find out.

narzo 50 Pro 5G review

Inside the Box

The narzo 50 Pro 5G comes in a blue box. It is distinct from realme’s yellow color and styling, but they use the same font. Inside, the unit comes with the usual set of accessories.

  • narzo 50 Pro 5G unit
  • Pre-installed screen protector
  • Silicon case
  • USB-C cable
  • Charger
  • SIM eject tool
  • Documentation

Design and Display

The narzo 50 Pro 5G follows the design language of current realme smartphones, boasting a large 6.4-inch OLED display and a body that measures 160.2 x 73.3 x 7.99mm and weighs 181g. The frame is flat and narrow, while the rear panel has a metallic shine with curved sides. Its build quality is surprisingly good, better than other narzo phones, despite the mostly plastic construction.

narzo 50 Pro 5G review

Overall, I am quite impressed with what narzo has done with the 50 Pro. It inspires confidence with how comfortable it is in the hand and how solid it feels.

The phone has the volume rocker and SIM tray on the left side, while the power button is on the right. It has a headphone jack, main microphone, USB-C port, and main speaker. Another microphone is on the top side.

narzo 50 Pro 5G review

On the front, the phone has a punch hole for the selfie camera at the top-left of the display. Bezels at the sides and top of the display are thin, but the bottom bezel is more than twice as thick, which is common in mid-range phones. The earpiece is well camouflaged in the top bezel.

The display measures 6.4-inches across with an OLED panel. It has the usual mid-range screen technologies, including an FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution, a peak brightness of up to 1000 nits, a 90Hz refresh rate, a 360Hz touch sampling rate, an in-display fingerprint scanner, and Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

narzo 50 Pro 5G review

The OLED display looks good. It’s bright and saturated, with good legibility under sunlight and decent viewing angles. I found it acceptable for watching videos and viewing other content.

The narzo 50 Pro 5G also has L1 Widevine, which means it can play Full HD videos on Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services. It lacks HDR support, though.

One of the best surprises for me is that the phone has stereo speakers. It can get loud. The sound quality is good, better than others in the same price range, but not as good as the ones on the realme 9 Pro+.

Performance

The smartphone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G chipset with eight cores. It is paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB UFS 2.2 storage.

narzo 50 Pro 5G review

The phone runs on realme UI 3.0 on top of Android 12. It has realme’s RAM expansion, which converts storage space to virtual RAM. Users can add 2GB, 3GB, or 5GB RAM, which boosts total RAM to up to 13GB. It’s on 3GB by default, but you can change it in Settings> About Device> RAM> RAM Expansion. Take note that this will take up actual storage, so if you need the space then just adjust accordingly.

It has its fair share of pre-installed apps (or what some would call bloat). Some are commonly used such as Shopee, Lazada, TikTok, Facebook, and Messenger. Others not so much. It’s up to you which apps you want to keep, so just delete them accordingly.

The smartphone has decent performance and will do just fine for most things. Basic navigation is responsive without any issues. Commonly used apps open quickly.

In gaming, it can run most games up to medium settings. Genshin Impact, for example, was fine in low and medium graphics. Meanwhile, Call of Duty Mobile is playable in high settings. It can certainly run less graphics-intensive ones easily.

Here are the benchmark scores.

  • AnTuTu – 508,879
    CPU – 140,349
    GPU – 140,227
    MEM – 99,073
    UX – 129,230
  • Geekbench – 808 (Single-core); 2303 (Multi-core)
  • 3D Mark – 640 (Wildlife Extreme)

The narzo 50 Pro 5G’s performance is on par with devices within the same range, such as the realme 9 Pro+ which has the same chipset.

Cameras

The 50 Pro 5G features a triple camera setup with a 48MP main, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a 4cm macro shooter. It also has a 16MP camera for selfies.

The main camera has a Samsung S5KGM1ST sensor and a 6P lens combination.

narzo 50 Pro 5G review

Photos from the main camera are decent with good colors and details. Some of the images appear soft, but it’s only noticeable when you zoom in close. The ultra-wide shooter has slightly softer details but it’s still good enough for most scenarios.

Night shots were impressive as well. Noise levels, colors, and details are acceptable. The front camera takes good selfies. The colors are okay and look accurate.

I think those who will buy the phone will find the cameras to be satisfactory.

Check out our samples below.

Battery Life

The narzo 50 Pro 5G is equipped with a 5000mAh battery with 33W fast charging. With moderate usage, it will last a good work day. It’s possible to stretch that for longer if you’re a light user.

Also Read: realme 9 4G review: Powerful 108MP camera but with 4G

The 33W charger can charge the phone to almost 50 percent in 30 minutes. A full charge takes around 75 minutes to reach 100 percent.

Final Thoughts

As a standalone brand, narzo is off to a good start and will impress with the narzo 50 Pro 5G. The mid-range offering comes complete with decent performance and camera quality, and impressive fast charging. The build quality is also worth mentioning, thanks to its solid frame and construction. Best of all (for me at least), the stereo speakers sound great for what it’s worth.

I think the narzo 50 Pro 5G will appeal to a lot of buyers looking for a bit of everything from a phone at a decent price.

narzo 50 Pro 5G review

Price and Availability

The narzo 50 Pro 5G is priced at P15,999. It is available as an early bird offer on Lazada with a P2,000 discount from July 15 midnight until July 20. The narzo 50 5G is also available with the 2K discount. It is priced at P12,999.

Buyers of either phone will get a chance to get a free realme Powerbank 2 (10,000mAh). The narzo 50 Pro 5G and narzo 50 5G will be physically available in narzo kiosks and stores nationwide starting July 15.

narzo 50 Pro 5G specs

  • Display: 6.4-inch FHD+ AMOLED Display, 2400 x 1080, 90Hz Refresh Rate, 360Hz Touch Sampling Rate, Gorilla Glass 5
  • Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G, 2.5GHz Octa-core, 6nm
  • RAM: 8GB RAM, Up to 5GB Virtual RAM
  • Storage: 128GB Storage, UFS 2.2
  • Rear Cameras: 48MP Main, 8MP Ultra-wide, 2MP Macro
  • Front Camera: 16MP Selfie Camera
  • Network: 5G, 4G LTE
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6 Dual Band, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS
  • Others: In-display Fingerprint Scanner, USB-C, Stereo Speakers, Headphone Jack, Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res Audio, Vapor Chamber Cooling
  • OS: realme UI 3, Android 12
  • Colors: Hyper Blue, Hyper Black
  • Battery: 5000mAh Battery, 33W Fast Charger

Bryan is a geek at heart and a tech enthusiast by choice. He has a strong background in corporate communications, marketing services, and customer relations having worked in the telecommunications and banking sectors for over two decades. In his spare time, he enjoys watching clips on YouTube and binge watching shows on Netflix.

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