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realme 5 vs realme 5s vs realme 5i — three-way shootout!
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realme 5 vs realme 5s vs realme 5i — three-way shootout!

by Vyncent ChanJanuary 31, 2020
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The realme 5 trio is pretty poorly differentiated, with generally similar specifications across the board, with the exception of a few features here and there. We will take a look at that later, but the main difference between the trio are their cameras. There’s a 48MP camera in the realme 5s, while the realme 5 and realme 5i both sport 12MP primary cameras. The resulting images are all 12 megapixels, but lets see if there are any differences in the photo quality of the main cameras.

Good Lighting

As you can see, there’s little to no difference once we downscale the images. In fact if you scrutinize the images here properly, you might even notice that the realme 5s has a slightly cooler tint to the images, which is slightly less appealing, nor is it realistic. The corners are also a lot softer than the realme 5 and realme 5i’s results.

Dynamic range is better on the realme 5s than both the realme 5 and realme 5i, which is kinda expected considering how the 48MP sensors allow you to do real-time HDR. It’s an interesting result to say the least, and the realme 5s does have the upperhand here.

Night time?

In all three of the realme 5 series here, the night mode results in some cropping. The realme 5i for some reason resorted to an pretty interesting 8-second long exposure, while the realme 5 and realme 5s both took quick shots and then spent some time to do some processing. As you can see the realme 5i’s shot is actually the brightest of all three, but is also the noisiest one. I would say the realme 5 actually delivered the most natural results here, as the realme 5s’ Nightscape images are clean but oversharpened around the edges.

Selfie time!

So as both the realme 5 and realme 5s sport similar 13MP selfie cameras, results are evidently the same. The realme 5i overexposes my background, and gave me a fairer complexion. I am pretty sure there will be members of the fairer sex who would love that, so I won’t count it against the realme 5i just yet.

There’s more differences though…

In addition to the camera differences, there are other differences that you might spot. The realme 5i has a patterned plastic back instead of glossy plastic with a glitzy diamond motif. Aside from that, it is the only member of the realme 5 series that doesn’t support 5 GHz WiFi, thus you will be limited to 1/4th the network speeds (433 Mbps vs 96 Mbps). However it won’t really be an issue considering that the realme 5 series is targeted at the mid-range segment where the faster speeds probably won’t result in any difference.

realme 5 vs realme 5s vs realme 5i — three-way shootout! 33

Then there’s the storage configurations that each comes in. Both the realme 5i and realme 5s only come in one storage configuration, but the realme 5 was originally available in three storage configurations. Here’s a table to break down the storage, RAM and price differences.

realme 5 realme 5s realme 5i
CPU Snapdragon 665
RAM Up to 4GB 4GB 4GB
Storage Up to 128GB 128GB 64GB
Price 3 + 64: RM599
4 + 128: RM679
RM799 RM599

With the realme 5i, realme 5 and realme 5s all occupying a pretty similar price range, it might be quite easy to say, “add a little more…” and get the higher end realme 5s model. realme’s spread of realme 5 models is actually quite peculiar as you can see they are offering a realme 5 with 3GB RAM and 64GB storage for the exact same price as the realme 5i. Is a slightly better selfie camera and faster WiFi speeds enough for you to give up 1GB of RAM and an arguably more durable finish? Or would you pay an extra RM120 for the 48MP camera? As it stands, realme appears to be competing against itself more than they are competing against the other smartphone makers.

With that said If you aren’t in urgent need for a new smartphone, I would recommend holding out for a bit because what should be the realme 6i and realme C3 have already been certified by SIRIM, so their launch is just a matter of time.

About The Author
Vyncent Chan
Technology enthusiast, casual gamer, pharmacy graduate. Strongly opposes proprietary standards and always on the look out for incredible bang-for-buck.

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