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Realme’s Narzo 30A, which was released in February of this year, is still a solid buy (at 12.990 BDT for the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant). It has a convenient design and good daytime camera performance, as well as long battery life. However, many things have changed since then, and other brands have managed to offer even better value. For example, the Infinix Hot 11S has a 90Hz refresh rate screen, stereo speakers, and good specifications for 12,999 BDT.
The Realme Narzo 50A is not the successor to the Narzo 30A (Reviewed), but rather a completely different model that fits comfortably between the Narzo 20 (starting at BDT. 10,499) and the more expensive Narzo 30 5G (Reviewed) (starting at 14,999 BDT ). After using the Realme Narzo 50A for a week, it is clear that it offers excellent battery life. However, compare it to similarly priced smartphones like the Infinix Hot 11S and Redmi 10 Prime (Review), and it’s not a clear winner. Is it still sufficient for those looking for a low-cost phone with lengthy battery life?
Oxygen Blue and Oxygen Green are the two colors offered for the Realme Narzo 50A. There are two variations to choose from. The model with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage costs BDT. 14,000, but it’s also available with 128GB of storage for BDT. 17,499. The 128GB storage edition of the Narzo 50A offers greater value than the competition, owing to the Redmi 10 Prime’s 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant being substantially more expensive than BDT 17,499.
The Realme Narzo 50A adheres to the company’s familiar design principles, with a simple yet practical polycarbonate back panel. The rear has a thin groove-like texture that aids grip, which is vital given the 207g weight of this smartphone. The rear camera module extends to the center of the phone and incorporates the fingerprint reader. Since this doesn’t protrude much from the rest of the rear panel, I often had trouble finding the newly recessed fingerprint reader.
The Realme Narzo 50A’s back panel is composed of polycarbonate. The matte finish of the plastic body along with the subtle ridged texture kept the back of the smartphone smudge-free. What I didn’t like was how great this device was in everyday use. The 6.5-inch screen features a waterdrop notch. It’s a stain magnet and I had a really hard time keeping it clean because those stains weren’t easy to remove.
The Narzo 50A has a MediaTek Helio G85 SoC and 4 GB of standard LPDDR4X RAM, with 64 GB and 128 GB of storage choices. For memory expansion, the phone has a dedicated microSD card slot (up to 256GB). Communication technologies include Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5, and a variety of satellite navigation systems.
A 50-megapixel primary camera is included in the Narzo 50A’s triple rear camera arrangement. Realme UI 2.0, based on Android 11, powers the Realme Narzo 50A. It looks identical to other Realme smartphones in terms of appearance. The goal of the user interface is customization. There are also many third-party apps pre-installed, most of which can be uninstalled. While third-party apps never sent annoying notifications (unless I turned them on), the theme store never failed to send a promotional notification or two on a daily basis. I was also a bit surprised to see the ads displayed in the default File Manager app (there are two such apps).
In GFXBench’s T-Rex and Manhattan 3.1 tests, the Realme Narzo 50A managed 55 fps and 16 fps, respectively. It also achieved scores of 356 and 1352 in Geekbench’s single and multi-core tests.
When it comes to gaming, the Narzo 50A is good for casual titles, but demanding games don’t run smoothly. Call of Duty: Mobile was almost playable on the default settings of low graphics and medium frame rate. The phone also quickly heated up during gaming, after which performance suffered. Asphalt 9: Legends performed better, but with dropped frames and some lag, especially when there was a lot of action on screen. If you’re looking for a budget gaming device, the Infinix Hot 11S is definitely a better option.
The 6.5-inch HD+ LCD display on the Realme Narzo 50A is sharp enough. The Narzo 50A’s waterdrop notch looks a bit dated compared to the hole-punch displays offered by competitors. With extended HD+ resolution on a 6.5-inch screen, I was surprised to find text and icons sharp enough. The screen had good viewing angles and it was bright enough outside.
What was a bit disappointing was the Widevine L3 certification, which only allowed playback quality of the SD video stream. The content streamed on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix didn’t look sharp. There are no stereo speakers, but the single speaker was loud and clear enough to watch movies and make calls. If you use your smartphone to view films on a regular basis, the Redmi 10 Prime has a better Full-HD+ display and Widevine L1 certification for HD playing quality.
The Narzo 50A’s 6,000mAh battery lasted me a full two days with regular use, which included taking photos and playing casual games. The phone can last up to three days on a single charge when used sparingly (calls and messages). Our HD video loop battery test lasted 30 hours and 12 minutes, Even for such a massive battery, this is excellent. The included 18W charger took the phone from a dead battery to a 100% charge in 3 hours and 5 minutes with no charging improvements.
The Narzo 50A is equipped with a 50-megapixel main camera, a 2-megapixel vertical lens for depth estimation, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. An 8-megapixel front camera handles selfies. The camera interface remains unchanged. Video recording is limited to 1080p at 30fps for the front and rear cameras. Realme Narzo 50A daylight camera samples. Top: primary; in the center: ultra wide-angle; bottom: close-up (tap to see full screen)
Photos taken in daylight had little detail resolved. Zooming in even a bit on-screen made the textures appear flat. The dynamic range was decent, and the colors were fairly neutral. Selfies came out with good detail and dynamic range, but they looked a bit too sharp.
Edge detection when using portrait mode was below average, cutting my hair short and erasing my ears at times. Macros taken with the 2-megapixel macro camera weren’t great either, looking too sharp and dramatic with high contrast.
The level of detail dropped even more when shooting indoors and in artificially lit spaces. Night mode managed to reduce the glare from bright streetlights when shooting in low light, but these photos lacked depth and didn’t look sharp.
Videos looked pretty average with a decent amount of detail but turned out to be pretty shaky due to a lack of stabilization. The low-light video showed a lot of dull highlights and a lot of noise with dark details.
Despite its issues, the Realme Narzo 50A could still be a good smartphone if all you needed was a top-tier battery and only ran basic apps. However, it’s difficult to overlook the competition, which most often provides greater performance and hardware at comparable rates. The Infinix Hot 11S offers a Full-HD+ 90Hz refresh rate display, smooth software, and dual speakers at BDT. 14,000. There is also the Redmi 10 Prime (Review), which offers a better video streaming experience with Widevine L1 support, stereo speakers, four rear cameras, and a 6,000mAh battery and costs BDT. 14,000 for the 4GB and 64GB RAM variants.
