realme recently launched the realme 10 Pro 5G, along with its bigger brother, the realme 10 Pro+ 5G. In this review, we’re going to take a look at the former to see if it deserves a place in your pocket.
Priced at ₱16,999, the realme 10 Pro 5G features a 120Hz IPS display, a 108MP camera, and a 5000mAh battery with 33W SUPERVOOC. Is this the phone for you? Let’s find out.
realme 10 Pro 5G specs
| Display | 6.72-inch FHD IPS Display, 2412×1080, 120Hz Refresh Rate, 240Hz Instantaneous Touch Sampling Rate |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 |
| RAM/Storage | 8GB+256GB |
| Rear Camera | 108MP Prolight Camera 2MP Depth |
| Front Camera | 16MP |
| Network | 5G, 4G LTE, Dual SIM, Triple Slot |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 5 Dual Band, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS |
| Others | Side Fingerprint Scanner, USB-C, Stereo Speakers, Hi-Res Audio, 3.5mm Headphone Jack |
| OS | realme UI 4.0, Android 13 |
| Colors | Hyperspace Gold, Dark Matter, Nebula Blue |
| Battery | 5000mAh Battery, 33W SUPERVOOC |
Design & Display
The realme 10 Pro 5G sports a bar-like design with a flat display, flat sides, and curved corners, similar to that of the current iPhone 14 and Galaxy S23 series. Thanks to this, however, the handset is more ergonomic with a better hand feel, making it easier and more comfortable to hold.
Our review unit is in Dark Matter, a black color with a fingerprint-resistant matte black finish, similar in texture to vivo’s AG glass. The other available colors of the realme 10 Pro 5G are Hyperspace Gold and Nebula Blue. It is on the slippery side, so best to use the case.
There’s no camera island to speak off. Instead, the two large lenses are sticking out prominently from the back panel. It looks clean, further adding to a minimalist appearance.
The realme 10 Pro 5G has the volume rocker and power button/fingerprint scanner on the right side, while on the left sits the dual tray SIM slot. The second SIM slot shares the space with the microSD card slot, so choose which one is more important for you.
At the bottom, we have the 3.5mm headphone jack, the primary microphone, the USB-C port, and the main speaker. There’s a second microphone at the top.
The phone has a 6.72-inch FHD IPS display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 240Hz touch sampling rate. It has up to 680 nits of brightness and TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certification for eye care. The display has deep, solid colors with good clarity.
The side bezels are really narrow, measuring just 1 mm, giving it an almost full viewing experience. It retains the chin, though, which is expected in this price range. I also noticed that the display is more flushed to the frame. Gone is that elevated glass, giving us a flatter, more streamlined appearance.
Cameras
The realme 10 Pro 5G features a dual-camera setup with a 108MP primary camera and a 2MP depth secondary camera. You don’t get an ultra-wide lens here, which is fine. For selfies and video calls, it has a 16MP front shooter.
The image quality of photos from the primary camera is mostly fine in good lighting conditions. The colors look natural with adequate sharpness and details. But there are instances where the phone overprocesses photos, such as boosting the greens and reds too much. It also comes with 3x zoom, which is a digital crop. The results are, sadly, unimpressive. You lose some sharpness and you start to see noise creeping in.
In low light, the phone struggles slightly, having more noise and losing sharpness with limited dynamic range. It does come which Night Mode, which helps light up really dark shots. It’s there, at least, should you need it.
Selfies are okay. Quality is average, which is fine for social media. Colors look good with natural-looking skin tones. Details and sharpness could be better. It comes with its version of beauty mode, renamed “Retouch” which allows you to apply airbrushes with options to make parts of your face slimmer.
Performance
The realme 10 Pro 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 with 8GB of RAM. Our review unit has 128GB storage, but the retail version will come with 256GB. It also has the aforementioned dual tray SIM slot, where the second SIM shares the space with the microSD card slot.
The phone comes with Android 13-based realme UI 4.0 out of the box. Unlike the Plus variant, this has its share of third-party apps and games, which ruins the unboxing and start-up experience a bit. As usual, just uninstall or disable what you don’t need.
As a daily driver, the phone runs fine. It’s smooth as butter, thanks to the 120Hz display, and very responsive. Apps load fairly quickly without much issue.
In gaming, the realme 10 Pro 5G ran Genshin Impact just fine, in default graphics settings, of course. Call of Duty Mobile was better with high settings. The phone became slightly warm, but nothing alarming.
- AnTuTu: 414,224
CPU: 123,962
GPU: 101,611
MEM: 74,572
UX: 114,079 - Geekbench 5: 686 (Single-core); 1,913 (Multi-core)
- 3DMark Wildlife: 1,214
The realme 10 Pro 5G features a 5000mAh battery with 33W fast charging. Battery life is excellent, able to comfortably last a day. The charging speed is also impressive. A 30-minute charge yielded around 50 percent. While a full 100 percent change took 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Verdict
If you’re a fan of realme and want to have their latest releases, then by all means check out the realme 10 Pro 5G. It has the same processor as its predecessor, the realme 9 Pro, but brings upgrades to the table with a better 108MP camera and a larger display.
The design is also a big improvement with the flat sides and curved corners, plus the impressively narrow side bezels along with the more flushed display panel give it a much better viewing experience.
The realme 10 Pro 5G’s performance is on par for its price of ₱16,999, and it’s not a bad thing. However, it does come close to realme’s current crop of phones. If you don’t mind a 90Hz OLED display and a 50MP camera, the realme 9 Pro+ 5G (₱18,599) is a great option. The realme 10 (₱14,999) is another good option. It also has a 90Hz OLED display and a 50MP camera, but with 4G connectivity.
Price and Availability
The realme 10 Pro 5G 8GB+256GB is priced at ₱16,999, available in offline stores starting February 15 to 19, 2023. Every purchase comes with a free DIZO Power Bank (10000mAh) and a pair of TechLife Buds Classic, worth ₱1,198.
It is also going to be available online on realme’s official store on Lazada from February 15 to 17, and on Shopee on February 15.
Both Shopee and Lazada offers come with a ₱2,000 discount, for a sale price of ₱14,999. It will also come with an added 1 Year warranty for a total of two years, and a free Globe SIM Card with 65GB of data.
Additionally, realme 10 Pro 5G is available on the SM Malls Online app on February 15 only. It will come with a ₱1,000 discount (for a sale price of ₱15,999), bundled with a free realme Pocket Bluetooth Speaker worth ₱990. This offer will be available only via selected malls that you can tap in the SM Malls Online app, which includes SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, and SM North EDSA.
The realme 10 Pro 5G will also be available on Home Credit which can be payable for up to 9 months at 0% interest.
