Home
Mobiles
Mobiles Reviews
Realme 16x 5G Review: A Sub Rs. 26,000 Mid Ranger With One Massive Selling Point

Realme 16x 5G Review: A Sub-Rs. 26,000 Mid-Ranger With One Massive Selling Point

Name: Realme 16x 5G Review: A Sub-Rs. 26,000 Mid-Ranger With One Massive Selling Point
Item: Realme 16x 5G

Realme 16x 5G has been launched as the fifth addition to the Realme 16 lineup, sitting below the Realme 16T. Here’s our review.

Written by Dhruv Raghav, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 12 August 2026 12:05 IST

Realme 16x 5G Review: A Sub-Rs. 26,000 Mid-Ranger With One Massive Selling Point

Realme 16x 5G price in India starts from Rs. 25,999

Click Here to Add Gadgets360 As A Trusted Source

Highlights

Realme 16x 5G gets a MediaTek Dimensity chipset
Realme 16x 5G boasts a 50-megapixel shooter
Realme 16x 5G sports a flat rear panel

Realme has launched so many 16 series phones that one can start losing track if they are not reading about the brand daily. The brand itself has gone through various changes in the past year, including being reunited with Oppo, management changes, and OS shifts. Amid all of this, the company has also clearly shifted its focus from launching premium smartphones in India to catering to the needs of more value-conscious buyers by unveiling new affordable and mid-range smartphones. The Realme 16 series has already seen four models, with the most recent one being the Realme 16T. However, rumours about the Realme 15x's successor were already making rounds on the internet.

In line with this, the company has now launched the Realme 16x 5G as the fifth model in the lineup, competing in India in the sub-Rs. 26,000 price bracket. With rising smartphone prices, most budget phones are becoming less attractive, while mid-range phones seem like a better deal. The Realme 16x 5G slots into this gap, focusing on offering value at a reasonable price.

Realme 16x 5G Design: Pretty and Heavy

Dimensions - 166.47×78.23×8.88 mm
Weight - 217g
Ingress protection - IP65 rating for dust and water resistance
Colours - Endurance Brown and Glory White

After launching multiple smartphones with a fresh design philosophy, reflecting Naoto Fukasawa's work, Realme went back to the drawing board for the design of the Realme 16x 5G. The phone looks the most unique and pleasing to the eye among the five Realme 16 series phones. Beauty is subjective, but with a slightly off-putting design of the Realme 16, and a similar design language followed for the Realme 16 Pro, Pro+, and Realme 16T, the company has finally come out with something new.

Realme 16x 5G features a metal rectangular camera module

While the rectangular rear camera module, which has been finished in metal, might not be something out of the box or innovative, other design elements on the back certainly do appear so. The entire flat rear panel has been refined thoroughly when compared to the Realme 15x, which was launched last year with a similar-looking camera island. The vertically aligned camera lens, along with the light sensor, an LED flash, and a Pulse Light, looks decent with subtle, notable tweaks.

Meanwhile, the rest of the rear panel gets a colour-changing texture, which Realme calls a “Blooming Texture”. Depending on the angle, the Realme 16x 5G's rear changes the colour to reveal a beautifully blooming flower-like image, creating a 3D visual effect. To achieve this, the company has equipped it with a less than 0.6mm thin “Shimmer Coating” with micron-level sculpting.

Your thumb sits perfectly on the Realme 16x 5G's power button

This particular colour-shifting, 3D visual effect gives the overall bold look of the Realme 16x 5G a touch of sophistication. Its catchy design gets eyeballs. The mid-frame of the Realme 16x 5G has been finished in silver, which creates a visual symmetry with the camera island when looked at from an angle. The whole design comes together surprisingly well, making it appear more premium than it actually is.

The only off-putting thing is the thick bezels around the phone's flat display. In terms of ergonomics, I have no complaints with the Realme 16x 5G. The power button has been placed in the perfect position for somebody who has slightly large hands, as my thumb always lands perfectly on it, which also happens to be the fingerprint scanner. The volume controls on the right side have also been kept short, which means that they are easy to reach and tap.

Realme 16x 5G features a 3D, colour-changing rear panel

However, with a 6.8-inch screen, the Realme 16x 5G is almost as large as a phablet from 2016. This means reaching its corners when being used with one hand requires a lot of hand gymnastics. The large size also means that the smartphone is quite heavy, tipping the scales at 217g. Hence, one-hand usage for more than 15 minutes could be slightly painful, but an hour-long Reels scrolling session could make you feel like you just bicep-curled a brick.

The Realme 16x 5G is offered in two colour options, namely Endurance Brown and Glory White. I got to test the Glory White shade, which looks objectively more premium. Overall, the Realme 16x 5G's design is less polarising than Realme 16's. However, it comes with its own shortcomings, most of which you can learn to live with.

Realme 16x 5G Display: Where Have I Seen This Before?

Screen size - 6.8-inch HD+ (720 x 1,570 pixels) LCD
Refresh rate - Up to 144Hz

Moving on, the Realme 16x 5 G's display is rather underwhelming. While I enjoyed watching content on it, the lower HD+ resolution standard makes itself apparent in most use cases, whether you are watching a movie, scrolling social media, or reading a book or an article. However, this is not new. We have previously seen Realme using higher refresh rate panels instead of higher resolution screens, making it a huge trade-off for the customers.

Realme 16x 5G gets the same display as the Realme 16T 5G

Beyond 120Hz peak refresh rate, the differences become apparent only in specific scenarios. Moreover, the 144Hz adaptive refresh rate is only useful when you are playing a first-person shooter (FPS) game online, which involves sudden movements. On the other hand, the lower-resolution display makes the overall user experience underwhelming throughout the day.

Apart from this, to save costs, Realme appears to have equipped the Realme 16x 5G with the same panel as the Realme 16T 5G, which had the same problems. The peak brightness of 1,200 nits in high-brightness mode is more than sufficient for both outdoor and indoor usage. In my testing, I never faced any issues, even when I was using the handset under direct sunlight.

Realme 16x 5G sports a relatively low-resolution display

Along with the lower resolution standard, the Realme 16x 5G display comes with 83 per cent NTSC coverage and 16.7 million colours. The display looks vivid with decent colour reproduction for the most part. However, it is not as vibrant as a 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut panel is. But you would not notice this particular problem ever. In my casual usage, I watched various YouTube videos, Ravi Kishan-starrer Mamla Legal Hai season 2, and Hustle Season 5 on Jio Hotstar.

The content-watching experience did not feel dull, except for the times something really detailed came on screen. In these situations, the softer images seem quite unimpressive. However, for its price, the Realme 16x 5g definitely does well. Bringing the same panel as the Realme 16T 5G might be a strategic decision, but to customers, the move brings a display from a larger phone to a more affordable handset.

Realme 16x 5G Software: Smooth But Bloated

Software - Android 16
Version - Realme UI 7.0

Coming to the OS, there isn't much difference here either. As soon as I set up the phone, a software update was waiting for me. Out of the box, the Realme 16x 5G shipped with the latest Realme UI 7, which is based on Android 16. The OS brings everything good that is present in the Realme UI, and of course, all the drawbacks that the skin has to offer. For a mid-range smartphone, the Realme 16x 5G displayed almost no ads in the notifications panel, which is commendable.

Realme 16x 5G ships with the latest Realme UI 7.0

The software barely jitters or lags, while remaining buttery smooth for the most part. The UI is extremely familiar, even for somebody who is switching over from iOS. However, no matter how much you try to avoid downloading bloatware during setup, unwanted apps still show up on your Realme 16x 5G anyway.

Along with the infamous Block Blast! game, which is annoyingly found on most budget and mid-range phones, the list of bloatware includes Bubble Pop!, ChatGPT, Meesho, Paytm, Mahjong Blast, and Candy Crush.

Realme 16x 5G Performance: Two-Year-Old Chip Breathing Its Last

Chipset - MediaTek Dimensity 6300 (6nm)
RAM - 6GB LPDDR4x
Storage - 256GB UFS 2.2

The MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset has lately been found on many mid-range smartphones. Two years ago, when the octa-core SoC was released, it was mostly seen on budget smartphones. Last year, OEMs moved on to new, more efficient chipsets for their budget offerings. In the second half of 2025, the Dimensity 6300 made a major comeback. Since then, the SoC has been found on more than 10 mid-range smartphones launched in 2026.

Realme 16x 5G offers adequate performance for casual daily usage

Realme seems to be one of the major MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset buyers, as it is also found on the Realme 16T 5G and Realme P4R 5G, priced at about Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 20,000, respectively, apart from the newly launched Realme 16x 5G. There isn't much left to say about the two-year-old chipset that has not already been said. The story is the same on the Realme 16x 5G. However, slightly better when compared to its other two siblings.

The performance is just adequate for daily, casual usage. You will not have any complaints with the Realme 16x 5G's performance if you are not working on more than 15 apps at a time. I was able to keep 10 active Google Chrome tabs active, edit images in the phone's gallery, and play a YouTube video in the background without any issues. The handset does show its limitations when you download a third-party app to edit videos.

Realme 16x 5G delivers decent heat management with minimal throttling

Due to better optimisation and a large vapour chamber cooling system, the Realme 16x 5G managed to outperform most of the smartphones in its price segment, featuring the same chipset, on all benchmark tests. I put the phone through our usual tests, and it performed reasonably well. When pitted against the more expensive Realme 16T 5G and the similarly priced Oppo K14x 5G, the Realme 16x 5G also showed minimal thermal issues.

Benchmark	Realme 16x 5G	Realme 16T 5G	Oppo K14x 5G
Display Resolution	HD+	HD+	HD+
Chipset	MediaTek Dimensity 6300 (6nm)	MediaTek Dimensity 6300 (6nm)	Dimensity 6300 (6nm)
AnTuTu v10/11	6,32,556	6,11,804	5,67,854
PCMark Work Performance 3.0	9,992	10,011	7,991
Geekbench 6 CPU Single Core	787	771	761
Geekbench 6 CPU Multi Core	2,023	1,957	1,761
Geekbench AI CPU (Quantized)	1,060	1,056	1,050
Geekbench AI GPU (Quantized)	490	474	923
3DM Wild Life	1,390	1,390	359
3DM Wild Life Unlimited	1,368	1,359	FTR
3DM Steel Nomad Light	FTR	153	FTR

The Realme 16x 5G is also a decent machine for casual gamers. I ran my favourite Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfers back-to-back for 30 minutes each. As expected, both titles ran without any issues. Moving on to Asphalt Legends, the phone ran on the default (low) graphics. However, if you want better visual performance, the Realme 16x 5G will disappoint you with constant frame drops.

Similarly, an hour-long session of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) on default presets felt breezy and smooth. The 144Hz refresh rate came in handy as the quick gun draws and close combat felt buttery smooth. However, the game itself never seemed visually appealing.

Realme 16x 5G can easily run BGMI at 60 fps at lower resolution

The AirFlow vapour chamber cooling solution, with a 5,300 sq mm heat dissipation area, did its job well, as the Realme 16x 5G never went beyond feeling slightly warm, even under stress. Even with GPS activated for navigation via Google Maps, the phone never felt out of its depth.

Overall, the Realme 16x 5G offers decent performance for its price, considering the competition.

Realme 16x 5G Cameras: Better Than Many

Rear camera - 50-megapixel (f/1.8)
Selfie camera - 8-megapixel (f/2.0)

The Realme 16x 5G gets the basics right with a 50-megapixel camera on the back. Its camera performance is neither too good nor too bad for its price. Unlike its more expensive sibling, which features a similar primary rear shooter, the Realme 16x 5G can capture more than decent images. The colour accuracy is good, and the sensor captures many details, regardless of the time of day and lighting conditions.

Realme 16x 5G camera performance during the day

Starting with the daytime camera performance, the Realme 16x 5G gets quite a few things right. The images appear sharp and do not suffer from the problem of overexposure, which its competitors do. It also gets the edges and borders of subjects just right. However, we have seen better in the past.

Realme 16x 5G offers up to 10x digital zoom

The only noticeable issue I would like to point out is that the camera sensor does not behave well when you wish to capture different shades of green. When you are trying to capture trees in different hues of the same colour, the images suddenly become noisier and unpleasing. However, it works quite well when you are trying to capture more neutral colours.

Images can appear noisier with brighter colours

Realme's 16x 5G lacks a telephoto camera. However, the 50-megapixel shooter does support up to 10x digital zoom by cropping into the image itself, which I believe is best left unused. The sharp images suddenly become pixelated, even at 2.5x digital zoom, while completely losing even a semblance of clarity beyond 5x zoom.

Realme 16x 5G camera performance in Portrait Mode

The portrait mode of the Realme 16x 5G works surprisingly well, whether you are taking the picture indoors, outdoors, at night, or during the day. The sensor is quick to focus on the subject and separates the subject by blurring the background. The edge detection works well, too.

Realme 16x 5G camera performance at night

In a dimly lit environment, with the night mode on, the Realme 16x 5G manages to capture decent stills. The performance remains consistent with how it behaves during the daytime. But with the artificial light directly falling on the sensor, the Realme 16x 5G tends to capture the light source and its surroundings as a blurred object.

Realme 16x 5G selfie camera performance

The selfie camera also performs surprisingly well, getting the skin tones just about right. But the image processing tends to make skin appear smoother than it actually is, making the images appear artificial.

Realme 16x 5G Battery: A Battery Life Beast

Capacity - 7,000mAh
Fast charging - 45W
Charging Adapter - Included

When it comes to battery life, the Realme 16x 5G blows its competition out of the water. With casual usage, involving a few hours of listening to music on Spotify, watching videos on YouTube and Netflix, playing games, and taking pictures and videos, I managed to get nearly two days of battery life with the smartphone. This is much more than any other phone in this particular price range, even the ones that have “Power” in their name.

Realme 16x 5G provides up to two days of battery life with casual usage

On the PCMark Work 3.1 Battery Life test, the Realme 16x 5G lasted for a whopping 28 hours 57 minutes, going from 100 percent to 19 percent battery percentage. The charging speed is also sufficient for its price. With 30 minutes of charging via the cable and adapter included in the box, the Realme 16x 5G charged from 0 to 37 percent, while going from 37 to 71 percent in about an hour. To fully charge, the phone took an hour and 38 minutes.

Realme 16x 5G Verdict

To conclude, the Realme 16x 5G, with a price tag of Rs. 25,999 for the base 4GB + 128GB RAM and storage option, is more than just a decent device. Sitting between the Realme 16T 5G and Realme P4R, the Realme 16x 5G offers better camera performance and battery life, while offering the same underwhelming display, underpowered MediaTek chipset, and a decent UI experience. Hence, if you are considering one of these Realme phones, the Realme 16x 5G is the winner hands down.

However, if having a better chipset and display are deal breakers for you, you should definitely look elsewhere. Its rivals, like the OnePlus N6 or the OnePlus Nord CE 6 Lite, offer a much better display, owing to the superior panel quality and a newer chipset. I would also recommend spending a little more on the Motorola Edge 70 5G, which is a better value-for-money smartphone.

Realme 16x 5G

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Large display with decent colour reproduction
The 7,000mAh battery lasts really long
Adequately priced considering the current market situation
Decent selfie camera performance
The speaker is loud enough for outdoor media consumption

Bad
Underpowered, two-year-old SoC
Low-resolution display
Realme UI bloatware
Top-heavy build tires the hand quickly

Read detailed Realme 16x 5G review

Display 6.80-inch

Front Camera 8-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel

RAM 4GB

Storage 64GB

Battery Capacity 7000mAh

OS Android 16

Resolution 720x1570 pixels

More Realme mobiles Realme mobiles price in India

Comments

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Further reading: Realme 16x 5G, Realme, Realme 16x 5G Review, Realme 16x 5G Price in India, Realme 16x 5G Specifications

Dhruv Raghav

Email Dhruv Raghav

Dhruv Raghav is currently working as a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets360. He has previously covered the North American financial markets as a Headline News Correspondent for a major news agency. After taking a sabbatical to prepare for the Civil Services examination, he returned to journalism to cover tech policy, with a special focus on AI laws and online gaming regulation. Now, he is back in Gadgets360 to write features and edit stories. To unwind, he likes to spend time with his PS5, listening ...More