The Realme Narzo 60 5G could have been the Realme 11, but instead, Realme decided to launch two pro smartphones in the Realme 11 series, which is why there is the Realme Narzo 60 5G. The Realme Narzo 60 5G is an Android smartphone that looks more expensive than it actually is while maintaining the price-performance ratio of budget smartphones. The Realme Narzo 60 5G offers some exciting features while saving money where it is needed.

The Realme Narzo 60 5G is equipped with the Dimensity 6020 chipset at its core. Our device is the high-end variant with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB of storage. We tested the Mars Orange variant of the Realme Narzo 60 5G and this is our review after using the device as our primary Android smartphone for more than two weeks. Let us get started.

Realme Narzo 60 5G: Design and Build

The Realme Narzo 60 5G is a beautiful smartphone, especially in the Mars Orange variant, which features a vegan leather back that offers a leather-like soft-touch texture on the back. This material feels good in the hand but is extremely slippery. Realme included a standard TPU case, but it turned yellowish within the first few days. The phone weighs about 183 grams without the cover and feels quite light.

We used the Realme Narzo 60 5G without a case for most of the time, and the flat sides definitely press into the hands. The glossy flat sides resemble pro iPhones so much that a few people actually mistook it for an iPhone when they looked at it from the side. But people also liked the Mars Orange color of the Realme Narzo 60 5G. However, the entire smartphone is made of polycarbonate and we are very skeptical about how long the color will last on the flat frame, as we have already seen some of the paint on the back of the phone peeling off.

But unfortunately, the Realme Narzo 60 5G looks like a smartphone from 2020 with a big chin on the bottom. Apart from that, the power button and volume rocker are on the right frame. The buttons are big and tactile and provide good feedback when pressed. The left frame houses the hybrid SIM card slot that supports either two SIM cards or one SIM card, and a microSD card. The bottom frame houses the USB Type-C port as well as the primary speaker and microphone. Although the Realme Narzo 60 5G has a single speaker setup, you do have a 3.5mm headphone jack on this phone located on the bottom frame. On the top frame, there is only the secondary microphone with noise cancelation. The back of the Realme Narzo 60 5G has a large camera ring with the primary 64MP camera and macro camera. There is also a Narzo logo on the back.

Overall, the design of the Realme Narzo 60 5G draws some eyeballs, but the phone might not keep its charm for long if not properly taken care of.

Realme Narzo 60 5G: Display and Audio

The Realme Narzo 60 5G has a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 90 Hz. The display is fluid, and the UI is optimized for it. The resolution is an FHD+ display with a resolution of 1080×2400 and a peak brightness of up to 1000 nits. The automatic brightness sensor is not well calibrated as it usually dims the screen a lot when it is not needed. The display has even borders on three sides but a large chin on the bottom that honestly does not look that good. In the upper left corner of the display is a notch for the front camera, which houses the 16 MP sensor.

The display is bright enough indoors, but in direct sunlight, it can sometimes be difficult to see the display. Colors are saturated, contrast is reasonable, and you can even adjust the display to your taste with the built-in color profiles. Blacks are deep, and there are no major color shifts when viewing the display from unusual angles. We also did not notice any issues with color shifts on the display. The Realme Narzo 60 5G has an in-display fingerprint sensor that works well and unlocks the phone 99% of the time, and is fast enough.

There is no HDR support on OTT platforms and YouTube can only play videos at a maximum resolution of 1440p on this phone. However, that could just be a limitation of the processor. The display is protected with Gorilla Glass 5 and comes with a pre-installed screen protector. Overall, the Realme Narzo 60 5G has a decent display, but the thick bottom bezel detracts from the look of the rest of the phone.

As for audio output, the Realme Narzo 60 5G only has a single speaker on the bottom. While it is loud and has a 200% volume mode, it simply can not compete with the other devices in this price range without a stereo speaker setup. There is a 3.5mm audio jack on the phone, and its output is quite good. However, do not expect to be able to use it to drive highly efficient headphones with maximum capacity.

Overall, the Realme Narzo 60 5G is a mixed bag in terms of media experience, with a good display without 4K or HDR playback. But the speaker is not that good either, yet the headphone jack saves it a bit.

Realme Narzo 60 5G: Performance

The performance of the Realme Narzo 60 5G is nothing to boast about. It is equipped with MediaTek’s Dimensity 6020 chipset, which performs well in everyday tasks like scrolling, browsing social media, reading documents, etc., but falls short in demanding tasks like gaming, frequent use of the camera app, or video editing. There is a slight lag when multitasking, and we noticed a few stutters here and there, even when navigating through UI. Although the display itself is smooth thanks to the 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate.

But the performance of the Realme Narzo 60 5G is not something you would buy this phone for. You can play games like Call of Duty Mobile and Genshin Impact on this phone, but it will not be a smooth experience. Realme has a few gaming-related features, like a 180Hz touch sampling rate during gameplay, but yes, if you are someone who plays a lot of high-end games on their smartphone, then the Realme Narzo 60 5G is not for you. The saddest part about the performance of the Realme Narzo 60 5G is the camera application. There is a lot of shutter lag when clicking pictures, which usually results in a blurry image and is very annoying.

All in all, the Realme Narzo 60 5G will not be at the top of the list if you are looking for a smartphone-based solely on its performance features.

Realme Narzo 60 5G: Camera

The cameras on the Realme Narzo 60 5G are just like the rest of the phone – decent. There’s a 64MP sensor on the back that takes some good shots in bright daylight but falls off badly in low light. The images have the typical Realme look, although there is a lot of detail, the images are very high contrast. The colors look good though, capturing mostly natural colors but enhancing reds and greens to some degree in some scenarios.

The HDR feature works well in difficult lighting conditions, but the phone takes a long time to process the images. The camera app has a big shutter lag, which often results in blurry images, and the viewfinder shows a different image, but the processed image is generally better than the previous one. All of this takes a bit of time, so you need to be patient while clicking pictures with the Realme Narzo 60 5G.

There’s a depth sensor on the back, which mainly helps with edge detection in portrait mode, which is quite good on the Realme Narzo 60 5G. Edge detection is good enough, but the blur looks totally artificial and the phone tries to brighten up people’s faces. The effect is more noticeable with darker skin tones. The 16 MP front-facing camera also brightens faces, although all beauty filters are turned off. The pictures become a bit softer, but people do not really mind these adjustments in selfies.

The videos, however, are not very good. Both the rear and front cameras can only record videos at up to 1080p 30fps. The videos are shaky and not very sharp. Artificial lighting causes a lot of graininess in the videos, which usually results in a not-so-good video image. We do not know if the resolution limitation is due to the processor or if Realme simply did not want to integrate it into the Realme Narzo 60 5G.

Overall, the cameras are good enough to be used for social media posts and general use. However, do not expect to take great pictures and videos with them.

You can check out the camera samples in full resolution over here.

Realme Narzo 60 5G: Software and Connectivity

The Realme Narzo 60 5G comes with Realme UI 4.0 based on Android 13. Our unit is on the July 2023 security during testing. We overall like Realme UI as it provides a ton of customization options and incorporates the Android 13 features really well. We did notice a few bugs here and there like the AOD shows that we have received a notification, but there is nothing showing up on the lock screen or the notification panel. Then the UI gets stuck a few times and only starts working again once we have locked and unlocked the phone. There is no option for lock screen text in Realme UI, but it still shows the text under the in-display fingerprint, which was migrated from another device while setting up the Narzo 60.

Things like this, along with the tons of bloatware that are packed into the phone, make the experience a little less pleasant as you are constantly bombarded with unwanted notifications. The best thing to do is to remove all the apps that can be uninstalled and mute the notifications for the others. We did the same when setting up the phone, and the experience is a bit better now. Overall, the software on the Realme Narzo 60 5G looks good and is well-optimized, but it still needs some tidying up.

Call quality via the earpiece is good and clear, while the microphones work perfectly. Network reception is decent when using Jio 5G, and 4G and 5G speeds were also good enough. The Narzo 60 also offers 4G+ carrier aggregation for better network reception in difficult areas. WiFi reception was solid and we did not experience any issues during our usage.

Realme Narzo 60 5G: Battery

In terms of battery life, the Realme Narzo 60 5G is a winner. It has a 5000mAh battery that lasts up to 2 days with moderate usage. We averaged about 7 hours of screen time on the Narzo 60 with more than 24 hours of use. The AOD was on all the time, and we still managed to get a full day of use out of the Narzo 60 5G with mixed WiFi and 5G usage.

It comes with a 33W SuperVOOC charger that can fully charge the phone in less than 90 minutes. The phone does not get warm during use or charging. Overall, the Realme Narzo 60 5G is a winner in terms of battery life.

Realme Narzo 60 5G Review: Verdict

The Realme Narzo 60 5G is a good-looking smartphone with a few compromises made to keep costs down. The single speaker at this price point is an annoyance, as is the large chin on the display. The software could be cleaner, while an Ultrawide sensor instead of 2x crop mode would have made more sense along with 1080p 60fps recording. There are so many options in the market now under the INR 20000 price segment like the Lava Agni 2, iQOO Z7, Tecno Camon 20 Premier, etc.

If you are looking for a good-looking smartphone that can do everything but is not that good, then the Realme Narzo 60 5G can be a good choice for you because it stands out in public and the design is a real eye-catcher.

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