realme debuts the Narzo N series in India by launching the Narzo N55, the newest Narzo Series smartphone. The realme Narzo N55 is the first smartphone in the Narzo N-Series highlighting its primary features which are a 64 MP AI camera and 33W SuperVOOC Charge fast charging and is the thinnest smartphone in the segment with a 7.89 mm slim design. The is probably the first Narzo series smartphone to receive realme UI 4.0 out-of-the-box as far as we know and comes with additional features like Mini Capsule similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island. Here’s more about the smartphone in our realme Narzo N55 review.
realme Narzo N55 Specifications
- Display & Design: 6.72-inch IPS display, Full HD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels), 90 Hz refresh rate, 91.4% screen-to-body ratio, 680 nits peak brightness, 16.7M colors, 7.89 mm slim, 189.5 grams weight
- Software: realme UI 4.0 interface, Android 13 operating system
- CPU: 12nm MediaTek Helio G88 octa-core SoC clocked up to 2.0 GHz (2x Cortex-A75 + 6x Cortex-A55 processors)
- GPU: Mali-G52 MP2 Graphics
- Memory: 4 GB OR 6 GB RAM (+6 GB Dynamic RAM)
- Storage: 64 GB OR 128 GB internal storage
- Main Camera: Dual cameras (64 MP f/1.8 main + 2 MP f/2.4 depth), LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 8 MP
- Others: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner, 3.5 mm audio jack, Face Unlock
- Connectivity: USB Type-C, 3.5 mm audio jack, Bluetooth 5.2, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, Beidou
- Cellular: 4G network, dual SIM dual 4G, VoLTE support
- Battery & Charging: 5,000 mAh battery, 33W SuperVOOC Charge fast charging (11V, 3A), 50% in 29 minutes
- Colors: Prime Blue, Prime Black
- Price: ₹10,999 (4 GB + 64 GB), ₹12,999 (6 GB + 128 GB)
- Availability: Flash sale on 13th April 2023 (limited quantity), regular sale on 18th April 2023 at 12 PM on realme.com, and Amazon India
- Offers: Up to ₹1,000 off on ICICI, HDFC, SBI bank cards, and EMI
Design, Display, & Build Quality
In terms of design, the realme Narzo N55 is the thinnest smartphone in the segment according to realme with a thickness of 7.89 mm. We believe this is likely the thinnest Narzo ever made, it uses a C-angle design with flat edges making it easier to hold and carry and providing a comfortable grip.
The backside has a dual-tone glossy glittering surface with textures and patterns when exposed to light. This is the Prime Blue color as you can see, the phone is available in two color variants – Prime Blue and Prime Black. The overall design of the Narzo N55 appears to be pretty sleek, slim, and impressive.
You can see two big camera modules means it has dual cameras if you closely look. Other things on the phone are a fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button and a punch-hole selfie camera in the top center of the screen which has a software optimization similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island called Mini Capsule.
The realme Narzo N55 comes with a 6.72-inch IPS display with Full HD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels) and a 90 Hz refresh rate. For this price, Narzo N55 provides a 90 Hz display which is great, a higher refresh rate adds smoothness and responsiveness while interacting with the user interface. Other display features include a 91.4% screen-to-body ratio, 8-bit color depth (16.7M colors), and 680 nits peak brightness.
The right side has a power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner and volume controls just above while the left side has a dual SIM tray with a dedicated slot for microSD card storage expansion. Moving to the bottom side, there’s a USB Type-C, a loudspeaker (mono), a microphone, and a 3.5 mm jack for earphones/headphones.
Software, User Interface, & Features
The Narzo N55 runs on the new realme UI 4.0 which is based on Android 13. realme UI 4.0 is currently the latest interface from realme, we saw it for the first time in realme 10 Pro Series smartphones – the realme UI 4.0 was launched alongside.
The realme Narzo N55 has a new user interface compared to its predecessors and is also the first Narzo series smartphone to receive realme UI 4.0 out-of-the-box as far as we know. It’s based on the Android 13 operating system and comes with a security patch on the phone dated 5th March 2023.
The realme UI 4.0 is based on Android 13 which means you get many of the latest features of the realme UI 4.0 and Android 13 on the realme Narzo N55 with additional features from the customized interface including the Mini Capsule (similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island) and Auto Pixelate chats for privacy.
The realme UI 4.0 is upgraded from the realme UI 3.0 with all the native features you get from the Android 13 build on top of customized perks from the interface. The realme UI 4.0 has been seamlessly optimized for Android 13 and it’s much more improved compared to its predecessors. realme brings in a refreshing UI experience with the new design, a new home screen, an Always-on display for multi-tasking, Dynamic Computing Engine, privacy and security, and more.
A new feature in the realme UI 4.0 you will see on the Narzo N55 is the Mini Capsule for Android, realme has tweaked the realme UI 4.0 to add a special feature that gives you a glimpse of information right on the selfie camera at the top. Once deployed, can show you information such as a step count, data usage, or SuperVOOC charging status. The Mini Capsule effect works similarly to Apple’s Dynamic Island, it converts the punch-hole selfie camera into an elongated pill-shaped window.
The smartphone has some pre-installed apps that can be removed if not need them. Apps such as Facebook, Amazon, Snapchat, ShareChat, Dailyhunt, Josh, PhonePe, Moj, Public, Spotify, LinkedIn, and more come installed on the phone. The realme UI 4.0 on the realme Narzo N55 works fairly well in our initial usage, thanks to the 90 Hz refresh rate which delivers a smoother UI experience.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
Moving to the specifications of the device, the realme Narzo N55 is powered by the new MediaTek Helio G88 octa-core SoC clocked up to 2.0 GHz. The SoC comes paired with up to 6 GB LPDDR4x RAM, 128 GB eMMC 5.1 internal storage, and offers a Mali-G52 MP2 GPU for gamers.
The MediaTek Helio G88 is a midrange SoC manufactured in a 12nm FinFET process (unlike 6nm which we see nowadays) and consists of 8x Cortex CPUs (2x Cortex-A75 and 6x Cortex-A55 processors). The two performance ARM Cortex-A78 cores are clocked at 2.0 GHz, and the six power-efficient ARM Cortex-A55 cores are clocked at 1.8 GHz or more (unverified).
Speaking about the CPU and its performance, the Helio G88 SoC is very similar to Helio G85, it appears to be very identical to the Helio G80 in terms of specs and performance when comparing both of them. You might get a similar performance as you see on the Helio G85, slightly on the higher side compared to Helio G80, but it all may not be noticeable in the real world. The performance of the CPU is below the 6nm Snapdragon 680, but better than Helio G80, you can expect a decent performance for this price (₹10,999).
Another important aspect of the SoC is it is laced with a GPU which is now clocked up to 1,000 MHz (up from 950 MHz found on the Helio G80). This might give you a slight advantage in the games. The SoC is upgraded to support 90 Hz displays and features HyperEngine version 2.0. The RAM is an LPDDR4x type and the storage is an eMMC 5.1 type. A UFS storage is significantly faster than eMMC, and hence you might want to choose a different SoC with UFS storage if you are looking for more performance (in a higher budget of course).
About the variants of the phone, the realme Narzo N55 comes in two RAM and storage variants i.e. 4 GB RAM with 64 GB storage as the base variant and 6 GB RAM with 128 GB storage as the top variant. The RAM can be dynamically expanded up to 12 GB (+6 GB virtual RAM) via its Dynamic RAM expansion technology and the storage can be expanded via a microSD card on a dedicated slot.
Cameras
About the cameras, the realme Narzo N55 comes with a dual camera setup at the back, it has a 64 MP main camera and a 2 MP depth on the rear side while the front side comes with an 8 MP f/2.0 selfie camera. We can see its two big camera modules, one housing a 64 MP f/1.8 main camera and the other a 2 MP f/2.4 depth camera on the rear side. You don’t get a fancy triple or quad setup, the phone relies on the main 64 MP camera while the other features you get might be minimal. For this price, you will rarely find a dedicated wide-angle camera and a macro camera.
About the camera interface, it’s similar to what you see in the realme phones, however, this is from the realme UI 4.0 with camera optimizations. The camera app offers 64 MP Mode, Night Mode, Street Mode, Panorama Mode, Pro Mode, Timelapse Mode, Portrait Mode, HDR Mode, Chroma Boost, AI Beauty, Filters, Slow Motion, Bokeh Effect Control, and more.
The user can record videos of up to 1080p videos at 60 fps and slow-motion videos of 720p at 120 fps. Moving to the quality of the cameras, the 64 MP camera takes fairly good shots in the daylight for this price. No wide-angle camera is available on the phone which limits its capabilities on phone, however, the main camera takes quite decent shots and that’s all you need. Take a look at the camera samples below that we took from realme Narzo N55.
realme Narzo N55 Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Fast Charging
The Narzo N55 uses a typical 5,000 mAh battery but it comes with 33W fast charging support. This is an excellent addition to the phone to enhance its battery and charging features. The realme Narzo N55 supports 33W SuperVOOC Charge fast charging that charges the phone up to 50% in 29 minutes. The 5,000 mAh may deliver up to 2 days of battery backup, you can expect the smartphone to last long depending on your usage.
Verdict – realme Narzo N55 Review
The realme Narzo N55 comes in a slim form factor, equips an impressive 64 MP camera, and a 33W SuperVOOC Charge fast charging. It also offers a decent set of specs – MediaTek Helio G88 which performs well in this segment, a smooth 90 Hz display, and offers several features from the realme UI 4.0 with a new Mini Capsule addition to the interface. The realme Narzo N55 is priced at ₹10,999 and for this price, it has plenty of features and perks to offer and making it a value-for-money smartphone. The smartphone is a great choice for midrangers on a budget.
realme Narzo N55 – Where To Buy?
The price for the realme Narzo N55 starts at ₹10,999 for its base variant 4 GB + 64 GB variant and ₹12,999 for its top-variant 6 GB + 128 GB variant. The realme Narzo N55 will be available from 18th April 2023 on realme.com and Amazon India. You can grab the ongoing offers which include up to ₹1,000 off on ICICI, HDFC, SBI bank cards, and EMI.
