Realme 5i, another variant in the Realme 5 series, was launched in India, and the phone is positioned to be a slightly pared down version of the vanilla Realme 5. With the addition of the Realme 5i, there are now three phones in the Realme 5 series – Realme 5, Realme 5i, and Realme 5s. The new entrant has an identical processor, identical battery, and an HD display just like the other two, but comes with tweaks in the camera department. For instance, the Realme 5 and Realme 5s sport a 13-megapixel selfie camera, but the Realme 5i strips it down to 8-megapixel.
We pit the newly launched Realme 5i against the Realme 5 and Realme 5s to see how the new entrant is different from the other two, and give you more clarity on which one to buy.
Realme 5i is priced at Rs. 8,999 for the lone 4GB + 64GB option, and has been made available in Aqua Blue and Forest Green options. The phone will go on sale at 12pm (noon) IST on January 15 via Flipkart and Realme.com website. Launch offers include Rs. 7,550 worth of benefits from Jio, 10 percent SuperCash via MobiKwik, and extra exchange discount via Cashify.
Realme 5s was launched in November last year, and its price is set at Rs. 9,999 for the 4GB + 64GB variant, and Rs. 10,999 for the 4GB + 128GB model. The phone comes in Crystal Blue, Crystal Purple, and Crystal Red options, and is available on Flipkart and Realme.com.
Lastly, Realme 5 comes in a lower 3GB + 32GB model, and its price in India is set at Rs. 8,999. The 4GB + 64GB model is priced at Rs. 9,999, and the 4GB + 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 10,999. The phone comes in Crystal Purple and Crystal Blue options, and is available via Flipkart, Realme.com, and offline stores as well.
Design wise, all three phones look similar with a waterdrop notch up front, a quad camera setup at the back, and a rear fingerprint sensor as well. The Realme 5i, Realme 5, and Realm 5s support dual-SIM slots, and run on Android Pie based ColorOS software. The Realme 5i features a 6.52-inch HD+ (720x1600 pixels) in-cell display, while the other two sport a slightly smaller 6.5-inch HD+ (720x1600 pixels) display. All three phones are powered by the Snapdragon 665 SoC.
The Realme 5i and Realme 5s pack 4GB RAM only, while Realme 5 offers 3GB RAM and 4GB RAM options. Realme 5i offers a single 64GB storage option, whereas the Realme 5s offers 64GB and 128GB storage options. Lastly, the Realme 5 offers an additional 32GB storage options alongside the 64GB and 128GB options. The phones come with a dedicated microSD card slot for storage expansion (up to 256GB).
Coming to the quad rear camera setup, the Realme 5s leads the way with a 48-megapixel primary snapper (f/1.8 aperture), an 8-megapixel wide-angle shooter (f/2.25 aperture), a 2-megapixel macro lens (f/2.4 aperture), and a 2-megapixel portrait camera (f/2.4 aperture). The Realme 5i and Realme 5 phones, on the other hand, come with a 12-megapixel primary camera (PDAF and an f/1.8 aperture). All the other three rear sensors on the Realme 5i and Realme 5 are same as the Realme 5s.
Up front, the Realme 5i has an 8-megapixel selfie camera (f/2.0 aperture), while the Realme 5s and Realme 5 both have a 13-megapixel selfie camera. The phones pack a 5,000mAh battery, and connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Micro-USB port. The Realme 5s and Realme 5 measure 164.4x75.6x9.3mm, and weigh at 198 grams. In comparison, the new Realme 5 measures 164.4x75.00x9.3mm, and weighs 195 grams.
Realme 5 or Redmi Note 8: Which one should you buy? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
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