The Realme GT is the latest high-end smartphone from the Chinese company and has a price tag of 549 euros. Whether that is enough to compete with the established order, you can read in this Realme GT review.
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Realme GT review: little choice, interesting price
From Realme GT is the new flagship of the Chinese smartphone maker and can be purchased here via its own webshop or Belsimpel. The model with 8/128GB memory at Realme itself costs 449 euro. Looking for the 12/256GB version? Then you can visit Belsimpel exclusively for 549 euro. With that model you have a choice of one color: Racing Yellow, where the back is made of leather.
With such a pricing, Realme competes with the established order such as Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi and Oppo. The device offers great value for money and is a good choice in many areas. However, he does not score full points in every area. Curious about the whole story? Then read on quickly.
Design: flashy and made of leather
We have been working with the yellow variant, with a leather back. A combination that you don’t see too often and therefore definitely a plus in our opinion. The black inconspicuous camera island is located in the top left corner and continues in a shiny stripe with a small motif. It is somewhat sensitive to fingerprints, but this is not very disturbing.
The weight of the device is striking: 186 grams. On paper that seems a lot, but in practice it seems to weigh much less. The sides are made of plastic and silver, which detracts slightly from the design and build quality. If you turn the device around, you will see the AMOLED screen (more on that later) with a small hole in the top left corner. One of the two speakers can also be found in the edge at the top of the device.
The right side offers space for the on/off button and on the left you will find the volume buttons and the SIM card slot. The latter is a bit fragile, so be careful with the SIM cards and sliding them in. Finally, the USB-C port, headphone jack and second speaker can be found at the bottom. To save costs, things like an IP68 certification and wireless charging are not part of the party, which we think is an understandable choice.
Screen and hardware: both nice and smooth
The AMOLED screen is 6.43 inches in size, which makes colors splash. The resolution is 2400 by 1080 pixels and it refreshes up to 120 times, making everything feel nice and smooth. Scrolling through social media or playing an optimized game are therefore very nice, but it does cost a little more power.
You can choose an automatic refresh rate that adapts to the content on your screen and then refreshes 60 or 120 times per second. You also have a fixed 60Hz mode or 120Hz mode. Screens of, for example, the more expensive OnePlus 9 Pro of Oppo Find X3 Pro are slightly different. The refresh rate is adjusted there between 1 and 120Hz and everything in between, also depending on the content. The maximum brightness also leaves something to be desired, so the screen is not easy to read in full sun.
Below the screen is an optical fingerprint scanner. We have not had any problems with that and scanning is relatively fast. An ultrasonic version, for example of the Galaxy S21series, is still slightly faster and more precise, but you only notice that if you put both devices next to each other.
What also ensures that everything feels nice and smooth is the internal hardware. Under the hood is Qualcomm’s fast Snapdragon 888 chip and 12GB of RAM. We have tested this combination several times in recent months and ensures that everything is opened quickly, multitasking is no problem and you simply have a very fast device in your hands. The standard model has the same fast chip, but 8GB of RAM.
Software: own skin, but few adjustments
Realme delivers the device with Android 11 and over that is the Realme UI, or its own shell. A nice fact is that the adjustments can be counted on one hand. For example, not much has been adjusted visually and you seem to work with stock Android for the most part.
The amount of own apps or bloatware is also not that bad, so that all in all you are presented with a bare-bones experience. Pre-installed apps such as Agoda, HeyFun, SoLoop or WPS Office can also be removed directly. That suits the manufacturer and is different from Samsung, Oppo or Xiaomi, among others, where the shell has (too) many adjustments.
In a response to our question about the exact update policy of the device, Realme said the following. They provide two years plus one additional year of Android upgrades. In terms of security patches, you will receive an update monthly for the first six months, after that the frequency will increase to once every two months.
However, this is a rather muddled explanation and so we asked counter questions. How many updates for Android will we see exactly in this case? Current Realme devices get two, and not three. Whether this response also means that we will also see three years of security patches is also the question. If we get an answer to this, we’ll update this review.
Cameras: nice for a quick snapshot, no high flyers
You shoot selfies in a maximum of 16 megapixels and there are ‘only’ three cameras on the back. That is relatively little in 2021, because even cheaper devices often have more on board. It concerns three cameras of 64, 8 and 2 megapixels respectively.
The primary camera of the Realme GT has a resolution of 64 megapixels, but pixels are fused together when taking photos. As a result, snapshots of 16 megapixels roll out and with enough daylight they are usually fine. Colors are captured naturally, details are clearly visible, but a gray sky is often too bitten.
Do you want to capture more of nature, architecture or photograph a group of people? Then you use the 8 megapixel wide-angle lens. A nice side effect, but because of the resolution you lose some details. The colors also differ considerably from the primary camera and the shots with the wider lens are too colorful compared to reality.
The macro camera is for close-ups, but due to the meager resolution of 2 megapixels, you don’t have to expect much from it. The examples below clearly show that too few details are recorded. All in all, the cameras are the weakest point of the device.
Battery life: fast charging is nice, long breath is missing
The device has a battery on board of 4500 mAh and which consists of two parts. This makes charging very fast with the supplied charger. Realme’s fast charging technology is called SuperDart and charges the smartphone with a maximum of 65 Watts. Fully charging from 0 to 100 percent takes 35 minutes and that is very nice. Do you want to be able to charge a device wirelessly? Then the Realme GT is not for you, because support for this is lacking.
In practice, the battery life is often the same as that of the OnePlus 9, which shares many specs with the Realme GT. That equates to a day of battery life with average use. If you are going to play intensive games, navigate, multitask or if you just keep taking photos and videos, the battery will run out faster and you have to recharge in the evening.
Conclusion Realme GT review
Compared to the suggested retail prices of other high-end devices, that of the GT is very reasonable. Realme certainly does battle with the established order with this device, but not every battle is won. In terms of cameras, build quality and battery life, the GT is not a high flyer.
Several luxury features are also missing. For example, the device is not dust and waterproof and wireless charging is missing. Can you live with that though, do you like the striking appearance and are you looking for speed, pure power and fairly clean software? Then the Realme GT is a great purchase, where you also keep money in your wallet.
Buy Realme GT
As mentioned, it depends on the exact model you want to purchase, where you have to knock. The most affordable version can be found on the manufacturer’s site. That’s what you buy for 449 euro the model with 8/128GB memory.
You can buy the top model with 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage via the Belsimpel web store for 549 euro. Of course you can get the Also combine Realme GT with a subscription.
Find your best Realme GT deal
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Read more about Realme on Android Planet:
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