Realme GT Review: 2021 Underdog Flagship 5G Smartphone?
Realme GT a new beginning; A smartphone with all the flagship features at a very affordable price. The brand is new, but it’s not another garage brand from China. Realme belongs to BBK electronics, the company that is behind successful brands like Oppo and OnePlus.
So, it is a new company with a solid background.
Let’s inspect!
Overview
In a hurry, read this short overview stating the pros and cons of Realme GT.
Pros
- Beautiful eco-leather finish.
- Slim and lightweight.
- Flagship Snapdragon 888 processor.
- Triple camera setup.
- 65W fast charging, 0 to 100 in 35 minutes.
- Fast in-display fingerprint sensor.
- 120hz refresh rate.
- Handsfree comes in the box.
Cons
- Limited games refresh rate.
- Telephoto lens is useless.
- Low light photos are not great.
- No optical image stabilization.
Realme GT – Price
OnePlus devices are well known for their flagship killer status, and it doesn’t look like Realme will take its place. So we can consider it as a budget-friendly flagship mobile phone.
Realme GT cost 439$ with 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage. The price is better than any other Snapdragon 888 device.
Realme GT – Unboxing
The unboxing experience is exceptional. The appearance of the box is the best. There is Realme branding on the top and sides of the box with highlighting specs written in big fonts. Unlike other packages, there is no small lettering that is hard to read.
Opening the box will reveal a box with the text “Hey, welcome to the family.” The box has the user manual and semitransparent case. Removing it will unveil the main contents. We have the Realme GT, charger and a 3.5mm hand free. Realme GT is the only Snapdragon 888 device with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Technical Specifications
- Body: Gorilla Glass 5 front and a plastic frame, Eco Leather or Glass Back
- Weight: 186 grams
- Screen: 6.43-inches screen, 1080 x 2400 resolution, 20:9 ratio
- Processor: 5nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G
- Memory: 128GB + 8GB, 256GB + 12GB
- OS: Android 11 and Realme UI 2.0
- Rear Cameras: Triple Camera setup: 64mp wide-angle main camera, 8mp ultrawide camera with 119° FOV, 2mp macro lens
- Front Camera: 16mp wide-angle camera with f/2.5
- Battery: 4500mAh battery with 65W fast charging
- Speakers: Stereo Speakers
- Sensors: In-display fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor and compass
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, 5G connectivity with 3G and 4G bands.
Realme GT – Camera
Cameras are a deciding factor for many people. They are looking for a camera with some mobile phone functions. Realme GT has a triple camera setup on the back with a 16mp front camera. None of the cameras has optical image stabilization, but the electronic image stabilization is OK.
The camera app is lightweight and has a good number of features with AI integration.
Rear Cameras
First is the 64MP primary camera. It is a Sony IMX 682 lens, which is used in most of the 2020 flagship mobiles. The camera is old, but it’s acceptable considering the price of the mobile. The camera performance is excellent, electronic image stabilization is good in daylight, but you have to hold your hands steady in low light. 64mp camera is not a small thing; it has a lot of pixels and can take amazing shots when the light is good. Low light pictures are good as well.
You can shoot 4k at 60 fps and 1080 up to 240fps through the primary camera.
The 8mp Ultrawide camera has an f/2.3 aperture with 119° field of view. The performance of the ultrawide camera is great pictures are bright and crisp when the light is enough, but it struggles a bit in low light.
2mp macro lens is just a showpiece. It is useless; even the main sensor can take better macro shots than the macro lens.
Front Camera
The front camera is a 16mp with no image stabilization. The pictures are fine and struggles a lot in low light.
Realme GT – Display
Realme GT has a solid display; it has a 6.43-inches super AMOLED display. Screen is bright, and colour accuracy is alright. GT has a 120hz screen. The colours are a bit pale; you will notice a red tint when you look at the screen with a specific angle.
The screen is protected by the Gorilla Glass 5, which is old but still provides good security. But using a screen protector is always better.
The gaming experience is not as good as expected. GT has an exclusive game app that lets you boost settings and provide performance information. I am not sure about all the games, but the games I have played are capped at 60fps. So, there is not much advantage of a 120Hz display for gaming.
Design and Construction
Realme GT has a beautiful appearance. It has a solid glass screen on the front with a bright yellow leather finish on back. The leather variant is 9.1mm thick, which is slightly thicker than the glass 8.4mm. But still, it’s pretty thin and feels great in hand.
It has a standard button and ports configuration. We have the power button on the right while the volume rocker and sim card tray are on the left. On top, we have a microphone for the rear camera, and there is the type-C port, 3.5mm jack and speaker on the bottom of the phone.
Realme GT – Battery
Realme GT is a relatively thin mobile, so the battery is not very big. It has a 4500mAh battery with satisfactory battery endurance. Realme is relying on 65W superdart charging and optimized OS.
65W charger comes in the box and can charge the phone in merely 35 minutes. A missing feature is the wireless charging; I don’t have any problem with its absence.
User Experience
Overall user experience is good. The fingerprint sensor is blazing fast, the screen is bright, although there are some issues like pale and red tint at a certain angle. The gaming experience is excellent. It can be enhanced if we get the 120hz experience. Lastly, the battery endurance is satisfactory, but superdart charging equals the shortcomings.
The only bad thing with the international version is the Google Dialer. It is a horrible app for a dual sim smartphone because there is no call recording feature and switching between the sims is tough.
Realme GT – Drawbacks
The drawbacks of Realme GT are as follows.
- Games are not working over 60fps.
- Battery endurance is not great.
- Mobile is not waterproof.
- No wireless charging.
Final Thoughts
In my opinion, Realme GT is 2021’s underdog flagship. Remarkable hardware pack extracting the best of androids SoC. Great 120hz display, however, hindered colours and currently limited refresh rate while gaming. The battery is not great, but it can charge up in just 35 minutes. A fantastic camera, low light performance and telephoto shots are not good.
Moreover, make sure you won’t drop it in water and keep it away from sand and dust. I’m pretty sure you’ll be more than happy with what this 400-dollar device can offer. Unique design with handsfree included. You clearly can’t go wrong with this buddy if the idea is to focus on the best essentials.
Where to Buy?
Follow this link to get the best deal on Realme GT and watch the video review on YouTube. You can also learn about more cool tech at tech4all.net.