Realme GT review
Realme is best known for its low-cost smartphones, earphones, and smartwatches, but the company has recently released the Realme GT, a mid-range smartphone that is the firm's most visually appealing device to yet.
The Realme GT is the first of a new line of smartphones from the Chinese electronics business, and it is named after the grand tourer kind of sports vehicle, which has connotations of elegant design and great performance.
Despite the fact that Realme has previously released mid-range handsets, with its flagship X series occasionally stepping over that line with caution, this is the company's first concerted effort to enter the low-cost/high-spec market with a single distinct line – and for the most part, the Realme GT is an overwhelmingly successful device as a phone that offers impressive specs at an affordable price.
The Realme GT outperforms its competition in terms of processing power, despite the fact that it is one of the most cheap phones to include the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. This high-end CPU guarantees that the phone is very quick to operate, making it ideal for gaming and video editing, but you'll also notice the increased speed in everyday tasks.
Speaking of charging speed, the Realme GT can charge from full to empty in just over 30 minutes, making it one of the fastest smartphones on the market. That is very fast, particularly considering the fact that it is a low-cost phone.
With an AMOLED display and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, the screen looks fantastic, and the phone's body isn't overly large, making it simple to operate with one hand.
Another reoccurring issue we encountered was while streaming media on applications such as Spotify and Netflix, where the media would stutter and stall on a regular basis. This seemed to be a problem with the connection, while it's conceivable that this isn't a typical problem.
Although these are minor issues, they do make it difficult to endorse the Realme GT as a superb mid-range smartphone in general. The fact that Realme launched the phone only a few months after releasing the excellent Realme 8 Pro suggests that the Chinese technology business is now on a high after achieving success with the former.
We can't talk about the Realme GT without mentioning its design, which is undoubtedly unique. Its primary color is a bright yellow that is contrasted with a thin jet-black line on the back of the phone. It gives the phone a distinct 'Ford Mustang GT' look, and it's far more eye-catching than the normal black, white, or subdued finish on other smartphones (though silver or blue versions are also available, without this stripe).
We're going to have to make a pit stop in the middle of this list of positives in order to call attention to a couple of minor concerns with the phone. In our testing, we discovered that it warms up quickly while playing games or other hard tasks, and that it is missing out on a trick by not including a telephoto lens for optical zoom photographs, especially given that the macro snapper isn't very impressive.
The Realme GT's availability is a little complicated — it's theoretically available for purchase in the United Kingdom, but only via AliExpress, an import shop. It is not yet accessible in either Australia or the United States, and Realme's track record implies that the former will be available soon, while the latter will not.
Due to the fact that you are importing the phone, it will likely take a long time to arrive at your location, and you will need to be on the lookout for non-official and bogus listings when shopping on AliExpress. You will not be able to purchase the Realme GT via more reputable stores such as Amazon or any official carriers.
Because AliExpress exclusively utilizes euro pricing, and you'll be presented a UK equivalent based on the current exchange rate when you seek to purchase the phone, pricing is also a little confusing. The official euro pricing begins at €449, which at the time of introduction equates to around $550, £390, or AU$710 in local currency. For the sake of this review, we've considered these conversions as though they were official amounts.
For those in India, the phone is now available for purchase, with the variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage costing Rs 37,999 (about). The model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage costs Rs 41,999, and both of these configurations are available on Flipkart for purchase.
When it comes to style, the Realme GT stands out, with a yellow faux-leather back that is broken up by a black glass strip that follows down from the camera bump (as seen on the phone we examined). This seems to be the most pronounced 'grand tourer' influence on the phone, conjuring the image of racing stripes, and it is undoubtedly a striking design.
There is also a non-leather variant of the phone, which is available in silver or blue and will not attract as much attention. Don't worry if you're not a fan of leather phones due to ethical concerns; the 'fake' leather used in the Realme GT is vegan.
Beyond its outward look, the Realme GT is a bit more conventional in terms of smartphone design, but there are still a few things to like about it. With dimensions of 158.5 x 73.3 x 8.4mm and a weight of 186g, it's a touch on the tiny side when compared to the plethora of super-sized Android phones that are now available in stores, but it's still a good-sized phone. It is not insignificant, but it is below average.
Because of its size, we found the Realme GT to be rather pleasant to use, with all of the side buttons and a large portion of the screen easily accessible. The camera hump on the back of the phone is hardly visible above the rest of the back, which contributes to the phone's sleek appearance.
The power button is located on the right side of the phone, while the volume rocker is located on the opposite edge. The phone also contains a 3.5mm headphone socket, which will be welcomed by those who like to use wired headphones, as well as a USB-C connector.
With a 6.43-inch display that is split up at the top-left by the front camera cutout, the Realme GT is a good choice for those looking for a budget smartphone. Because there is very little bezel on the front of the device, the screen takes up the majority of the front surface area.
Because of the usage of Super AMOLED technology, colors are vibrant and vivid, with excellent contrast, yet this kind of screen may be more difficult to view in direct sunlight than other types (an issue we encountered). When it comes to smartphone screen resolution, 1080 x 2400 is about average, and you should have no trouble using it for streaming, gaming, or navigating through social media.
The Realme GT's 120Hz display, which means the screen picture changes 120 times per second, is something you don't usually see at this price range, and it sets it apart from the competition. The norm used to be 60Hz, and many phones still adhere to this standard, but the improvement here ensures that action will seem smooth and sleek (though you can downgrade to 60Hz or use a variable refresh rate, both of which will save on battery life, if you prefer).
The screen of the Realme GT is fantastic for the price of the phone and is more than capable of handling whatever task you'll be putting it through.
The Realme GT boasts three rear cameras and one front camera: a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro camera on the back, and a 16MP camera for selfies and video calls on the front. The Realme GT is available in two colors: black and gold.
Photographs shot with the front camera seemed very brilliant, due to the post-processing beauty features – possibly a touch too bright, as some photos appeared a little fake at times, according to our testing. You can correct this to some extent by adjusting your beauty settings, but if you're simply taking selfies to post on social media, this isn't a big deal.
Photos shot with the primary camera are acceptable but fall short of being outstanding. However, several photographs exhibited evident traces of oversharpening, while others had highlights that were overexposed. We also observed that the camera failed to focus on near objects when the lighting conditions were favorable.
Photographs shot with an ultra-wide lens were quite good, with very little distortion when compared to those taken with competing phones at this price. These photographs were rather bright, and the field of vision was far broader than those of photographs produced with the primary camera, due to the 119-degree angle of the lens.
The macro camera, on the other hand, did not impress us. Although we were able to get some good close-up images with this, they were never as good as identical shots taken with the main camera. As is the case with most 2MP macro cameras on smartphones, their presence here seems to be primarily for the purpose of expanding the features list rather than improving the shooting experience.
There is no telephoto lens included for zoom photography, which is a pity since we would have been considerably more impressed with the camera's performance if we had used one of them instead of the macro lens instead of the macro lens. Digital zooming is possible up to a maximum of 10x, however after 2x, photographs become too fuzzy to be worth it.
The Realme GT is capable of recording video in up to 4K resolution at 30fps or 60fps. There's also a mode that makes use of artificial intelligence to recognize colors, allowing you to film in monochrome but with one color still present – think of the girl in the red coat from Schindler's List – which was interesting to experiment with and could result in some interesting videos for social media.
There aren't many powerful phones available at the Realme GT's price point — the phone is equipped with the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 888 chipset, which is the most powerful CPU currently available for Android phones at the time of its debut.
In addition to this, the phone has 8GB or 12GB of RAM – our testing unit had 8GB – and 128GB of internal storage.
Because of its high-end processor, the Realme GT breezes through games – we saw no stuttering or latency when playing popular titles – and applications load in a flash. This is one of the greatest low-cost smartphones available for gaming right now.
The phone scored 3508 on the Geekbench 5 testing tool, which is precisely the same as the Asus Zenfone 8, and only a hair behind the Xiaomi Mi 11, which scored 3569, the OnePlus 9, which scored 3654, and the Nubia Red Magic 6, which scored 3606, all of which employ the same processor but cost more.
While playing games or putting the device through the benchmark test, we discovered that the gadget may sometimes become overheated - not to the point where it had a negative impact on performance, but enough to warrant caution.
The Realme GT's speakers are... well, they're adequate for the task at hand. When listening to a podcast in the shower or making a phone conversation on loudspeaker, they'll do, but using them for music or streaming isn't suggested since the sound is a touch tinny.
Similar to other Realme phones, the GT is powered by Realme UI, which is a derivative of normal Android that's simply a re-skinned version of Android 11 that looks and feels a lot like Oppo's ColorOS.
Realme UI, like ColorOS, allows for a plethora of customization options. You can customize your phone's always-on display, choose from a selection of animations that appear when you press the fingerprint scanner, change the color and size of icons throughout the phone, design your own app icons by selecting from a variety of sizes and shapes, and change the system font, in addition to changing the wallpaper and app layout, as you can on all phones.
Because Oppo and Realme are both owned by the same parent company, which also owns Vivo and OnePlus, there are many similarities between the phones and their software. Despite this, the Realme UI is almost comparable to ColorOS.
When we turned on the Realme GT for the first time, we discovered that it had been pre-loaded with a significant amount of bloatware. This includes Realme's own applications, such as Phone Manager and Realme Link, as well as a theme shop, as well as a strange mix of third-party apps, such as Booking.com, Agoda, and LinkedIn, among others (a selection which is probably dependent on region). Below is a snapshot of the home screens before we started cleaning them up — it's quite an overwhelming spread to see on your 'new' phone while it's still completely uncluttered.
The Realme GT is a pleasure to use when it comes to navigation. Swiping across the user interface is swift and simple thanks to the CPU and 120Hz screen on this device.
This is perhaps the best spot to bring up a minor problem we found when streaming music from Spotify and television from Netflix — the playback would often stutter, as if we were continuously hitting the 'play' and 'pause' buttons on our smartphones. Our was not caused by issues with our headphones or a weak data connection, and we encountered it on a frequent basis, which we felt was important to include in this review.
This problem may not be common, therefore if you purchase this phone, it is conceivable that you will not be affected by it. However, we would be failing in our duty if we did not disclose it.
We discovered that the Realme GT easily lasted a whole day between charges, regardless of whether we were merely checking social media every now and then, streaming Netflix, playing a fast game of Call of Duty: Mobile, or listening to music over the course of the day.
When we used the phone more often, the battery life dropped to single digit percentages by nighttime, but we never had to charge the phone throughout the day; nonetheless, a second full day of usage was typically out of the question.
One day of battery life is pretty ordinary for a smartphone, but what isn't so average is the charging speed of the Realme GT, which is 65W, much outpacing its rivals in this regard.
The phone goes from empty to full in little over half an hour, so you don't have to worry about remembering to plug it in every night; you can easily keep it topped up with just a few minutes every morning if you do it this quickly.
You're looking for a high-performance smartphone.
With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor and 8GB or 12GB of RAM on board, this is a really powerful phone, particularly when compared to similarly-priced competitors.
You don't want to have to be concerned about battery life.
Featuring a battery that charges from empty to full in half an hour or less, the Realme GT is an excellent choice if your daily schedule does not allow for much time spent charging your smartphone.
You enjoy the way it seems.
When it comes to appearance, the Realme GT is undoubtedly eye-catching, and if you enjoy how it appears, you're not alone in your opinion. Is it enough to persuade you to purchase the smartphone? We wouldn't hold it against you.