realme just launched another budget smartphone, because it can

Realme’s first smartphone launch of the year is a budget device named realme 5i. After making its debut in Vietnam, the smartphone has become the latest entrant in India’s sub Rs 10K price segment (under ~$140). Here’s everything you need to know about the device.

realme 5i specifications

The realme 5i features a 6.5-inch HD+ display (720 x 1600 pixels) covered in Corning Gorilla Glass 3. realme calls it the Mini-drop display owing to the small dewdrop-style notch in the center. The company says that the notch is 39% smaller than the one found on the realme 5. This brings the phone’s screen-to-body ratio to 89%.

At the back, realme has moved on from realme 5’s diamond-cut finish to adopt what it calls the Sunrise design. The back panel looks like sun rays are emerging from the bottom left corner, hence the name Sunrise.

The realme 5i runs on the octa-core Snapdragon 665 SoC. It has a single 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. Given its dedicated microSD card slot, you can expand the storage to 256GB. Apart from the storage expansion slot, there are two additional 4G-enabled SIM slots on the phone.

In terms of camera, the realme 5i features four rear shooters — a 12MP main camera, an 8MP wide-angle camera, a 2MP portrait camera, and a 2MP macro lens. At the front is an 8MP selfie snapper that rests within the notch.

The primary camera setup supports Super Nightscape 2.0 for enhanced low-light images. There’s Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) for videos and the phone can shoot 4K as well as 240fps slow-motion footage.

The entire package is powered by a 5,000mAh battery. realme claims it has a 30-day standby capacity. It also supports reverse charging to power other devices.

realme will load up the phone with ColorOS 6.1 out of the box. The company has promised that the device will be updated to realme UI when it launches.

realme 5i price and availability

The realme 5i is priced at Rs 8,999 (~$125) in India. At this price point, it competes with the likes of the  Redmi Note 8 and Samsung Galaxy M20. We’ll talk more about its performance when we eventually get the device for review.

The first sale for the realme 5i will start on January 15, at 12 noon IST. It will be available Aqua Blue and Forest Green colorways. Interested buyers can pick it up from ecommerce platform Flipkart.