Review Verdict: The narzo 50 has ticked the boxes of a good budget phone in the Philippines. Simply speaking, you really can’t go wrong with this phone that has a lot of strong features.
Pros
- 120hz Display for under Php 10k
- Decent processor choice
- Stellar battery life
Cons
- Stuck with Android 11 (for now)
- No ultra-wide-angle camera
realme narzo 50 Philippines Specs
- Helio G96 processor
- 6GB LPDDR4X RAM
- 128GB internal storage
- 6.6-inch Full HD+ 120hz IPS display
- 50-megapixel f/1.8 main camera with PDAF, 2-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera, 2-megapixel f/2.4 mono camera
- 16-megapixel f/2.0 selfie camera
- 4G, LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, rear-mounted fingerprint scanner
- 5000mAh battery
- 33w fast charging
- Android 11, realme UI 2.0
Packaging and Contents
The phone comes in a simple blue box with narzo branding on it. Inside, you’ll find the unit itself, a USB-C Cable, a 33W charger, SIM ejector tool, jelly case, and documentation.
Design
The narzo 50’s “kevlar speed” texture design at the back is inspired by racing cars. True enough, it is something you would normally see in high-end cars. Even though this is just a replication of the real thing, it still gives an exquisite and sporty look, making it appear expensive and premium.
Even the camera module is neatly designed. The three cameras and LED flash are positioned evenly inside a rectangular housing.
The volume rocker is located on the left side just below the sim card tray. The power button, which also doubles as a fingerprint scanner, sits nicely on the right side where you can easily reach for it. At the bottom corner, there’s a USB-C port, a loudspeaker, and a headphone jack.
Display
Despite not having an OLED display, the narzo 50 boasts a 6.6-inch screen with a Full HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 180Hz touch sampling rate.
To maximize both refresh rate and power efficiency, the phone includes 6 available modes: static (30Hz), movie (48Hz), TV play (50Hz), game (60Hz), and information stream (90Hz-120Hz). These modes do help in extending the narzo 50’s battery life.
Moreover, the 6.6-inch screen will surely make you enjoy watching movies and playing games. The 90.8% body-to-screen ratio translates to a large field of view. The screen is also capable of producing vivid colors and sharp details despite using an IPS panel.
For audio, the narzo 50 only comes with a single bottom-firing speaker. Despite having only a single speaker, the narzo 50 can produce sounds with enough clarity, even on maximum volume. Should you find it lacking, there’s a headphone jack to plug in your wired cans.
Cameras
The narzo 50 has a triple rear camera setup that’s composed of a 50-megapixel main, and a pair of 2-megapixel cameras. The latter are stat stuffers, and we wished realme swapped one of the 2-megapixel snappers with something more useful like an ultra-wide-angle camera.
The main camera is capable of producing sharp details, whether it’s daytime or nighttime. However, you will start to lose sharpness and detail once you utilize its digital zoom feature. As for the selfie camera, the 16-megapixel f/2.1 shooter struggles in low-light scenarios, making your photos either grainy or dark.
Despite all that, the phone produces photos with more than average quality, enough for the usual social media content—stories, feed, TikTok videos, and the like.
Internals and Battery Life
At the heart of the narzo 50 is an Helio G96 processor that’s paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. While the Helio G96 sits lower than the G95 and G90/G09T, it is a good processor choice in a segment where brands opt to use a Snapdragon 680. Unlike Qualcomm’s budget mid-range chip, the Helio G96 is a serviceable processor for games because of its superior GPU.
That being said, the narzo 50 can manage hardware demanding games such as Asphalt 9, League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Call of Duty: Mobile. Our past experience with the Helio G96 reveals that it can run Genshin Impact smoothly at low graphics.
For software, the narzo 50 is stuck on Android 11, and realme has yet any update on when it will get Android 12. With Android 13 expected to official later this year, we hope realme gives at least one major Android update to the narzo 50.
As for the battery life, the narzo 50’s 5000mAh battery managed to pull off 20 hours and 10 minutes in PCMark’s battery benchmark test. This makes the narzo 50 one of the more battery-efficient phones for its price point. Aside from a stellar battery life, the narzo 50 comes with 33w wired charging, which can top up the battery from 19% to 80% in around 30 minutes.
Wrap up and Conclusions
For under Php 10k, the narzo 50 ticks a lot of must-haves for a compelling budget phone in the Philippines. Our main concerns for the narzo 50 is the lack of an ultra-wide-angle camera and being stuck on Android 11–we hope we get an answer from realme on when it will get updated to Android 12.
narzo 50 Review Price Philippines
The narzo 50 has a price tag of Php 9,999 in the Philippines. You can get one on Lazada or Shopee.