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Who wants a phone with 5G, 90Hz display, and a big battery for $215? (Update)
Update, August 4, 2020 (4AM ET): According to XDA-Developers citing a realme spokesperson, the V series will also go on sale in most of realme’s international markets, including Europe, at some point this year. This includes the realme V5.
While there’s no pricing info for the phone just yet, a direct conversion from its Chinese price suggests a tag of around €180 in Europe. However, European pricing for phones is generally higher than Chinese prices.
Original article, August 3, 2020 (6:40 AM ET): The Realme V5 5G is now official in China, and with its introduction drops the price of 5G access to below the $250 mark.
The affordable phone adds bulk to the company’s previous device launches in 2020, like the X50 Pro and the X3 SuperZoom. But unlike this duo, the realme V5 isn’t meant to be a flagship killer, unless you’re only buying flagships for 5G connectivity.
Aesthetically, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before this year. You’re looking at a punch-hole selfie camera with a shimmering rear plate and a large rectangular camera array in its top-left corner. The silver version also gets that now customary ‘Realme’ print at the rear of the device, although the branding is comically huge here.
Other on-trend features also make the list. The realme V5 5G sports a 6.5-inch IPS display with 2,400 x 1,080 resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. Buyers also get a quad-camera array at the rear, headlined by a 48MP primary camera. Joining it is an 8MP ultrawide, a 2MP macro snapper, and a 2MP depth sensor. A 16MP sensor is used for the selfie camera.
Under the realme V5’s skin lies the MediaTek Dimensity 720 chipset which gives the phone sub-6GHz 5G support and eight CPU cores to play around with. The chip isn’t as powerful as the Dimensity 820, but does allow realme to add 5G support at a lower cost. A 5,000mAh battery keeps the lights on and can be topped up using realme’s 30W SuperDart charging.
The realme V5 will be offered with either 6GB or 8GB RAM, but 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage is the only storage option. There’s also a microSD card slot to boost that figure though.
Other creature comforts include a 3.5mm headphone jack, support for Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, and dual SIM slots. The device runs on Android 10 with realme UI on top.
realme V5 5G price and availability
The realme V5 5G will go on sale in China on August 7 starting at 1,499 yuan (~$215) for the 6GB RAM model. The 8GB RAM option is 1,899 yuan (~$270). That’s an awful lot more to pay for just a bit more RAM.
As for the colorways, buyers get a choice of silver, green, and blue.
No pricing or availability info beyond China has been announced just yet, but the V5 could kick off a fierce affordable 5G phone battle if it’s ever launched internationally.