Friends+Design
- Great design, similar to the Realme 5 - like all Realme phones recently, the Realme 5s has both a good build quality, and striking looks (with a crystal back polycarbonate design)
- The front is modern and sharp too with a 6.5-inch display, with a small dewdrop notch and fairly slim bezels all around
- Both the rear fingerprint sensor, and face unlock work accurately and fast
- This is a fairly large phone though - the size does make one-handed use cumbersome, and even with large hands, you will struggle to tap anywhere near the top of the display (thankfully, ColorOS offers a one-handed mode to help tackle this issue)
- The Realme 5s is a bit heavy too, at nearly 200g - and it's also a little top heavy - which again hinders long-time one handed use
- If you like more premium glass builds (instead of plastic), then there are options like the Redmi Note 8 available in this price bracket now
Display
- Nice, large 6.5inch IPS display, well suited to media consumption - with good color saturation, and good sunlight legibility
- Screen resolution is on the low side, so long text reading is not the most ideal experience
Software
- ColorOS is now more streamlined, and cleaner than before, and of course packs a bunch of additional functionality over stock Android
- There is, as always, a plethora of preinstalled apps - though thankfully these can be uninstalled
Performance
- Good performance for the price bracket, with the fast Snapdragon 665 at the core - everything from day-to-day use to high-end games is fairly smooth
- Thermal control is good too - the phone doesn't get more than a little warm, even with long sessions of gaming
Camera
- The cameras are the main upgrade for the Realme 5s, with a new 48MP primary camera (the rest of the camera setup is the same: 2MP depth sensor + 8MP wide-angle camera + 2MP macro camera for closeup shots)
- Overall image quality is slightly improved from the primary camera, especially in daylight
- The 119-degree ultrawide-angle camera is the same as on the Realme 5 Pro, and captures decent images for sharing on social media platforms
- Portrait shots come out decent too
- Decent 13-megapixel selfie camera - it delivers decent portrait shots too
- The 2-megapixel macro lens gives interesting framing options, but is ordinary otherwise - it takes a few tries to get a detailed macro shot - in fact, there are times when you will get slightly better results with the main camera
- Low light performance is still average however, both for images, and video - there is some noise, and less detail in low light images - the Nightscape mode helps a bit, but not a lot
- Overall, while the camera is improved, and quite decent for the price bracket, it's not quite as good as its main competitor, the Redmi Note 8, which delivers relatively more true-to-life images with natural-looking colors, more details, and better low-light performance
Audio
- Decent bottom loudspeaker
Connectivity
- Uses the old Micro USB port - some competitors like the Redmi Note 8 have now shifted to the modern USB-C standard
Battery
- Outstanding battery life with a gigantic 5000mAh battery - you will get a cool 2 days of moderate use
- No fast charging support - with the supplied charger, you will get a full charge in more than two and a half hours
Verdict
- Overall, the Realme 5s is a pretty good option to consider if you want to optimize for a stylish design, and good battery
- It has a strong competitor in the Redmi Note 8 though, which offers a premium glass build, 18W fast charging, Gorilla Glass 5 protection, a full HD+ display, and perhaps most importantly a better 48-megapixel camera - unless you have a strong preference for the crystal back design of the Realme 5S or want the best possible battery life, the Redmi Note 8 is looking like the better all-rounder for most people
- Additionally, if you want stock Android phones, then the Moto One Action and Moto One Macro are also worth considering, and if you want the best display for your buck, then the Samsung's Galaxy M30 with an AMOLED display is a good option as well
- Another caveat to keep in mind is the size and weight of the phone - if you like your phones compact, and your routine involves a lot of one-handed use, then this might not be for you
