Realme GT 2 Pro Review

Every self-respecting Chinese smartphone manufacturer should try their hand at the premium segment. In the case of Realme, there is a feeling that the vendor is looking for its own way, its version and understanding of the flagship smartphone.

Positioning

Nominally and in terms of performance, we have before us a flagship smartphone, but this is if you look at the GT line itself. In comparison with top models from other manufacturers, everything is not so obvious, in some aspects it falls short at comparable global prices. Let's get back to local prices. The smartphone market (and not only) this year was notably shaken by well-known events, which quite likely rewrote the plans of companies to launch devices locally. Therefore, Realme GT2 Pro got to us, in my opinion, with some delay, and the base model is not presented at all. Maybe it's for the best because the evolution from GT to GT2 is minimal.

Appearance, ergonomics

The white version of the device visited the test, which in itself is an unusual event in my practice. Yellow, green – yes, but I don’t remember white. The first thing I noticed when I took the Realme GT2 Pro in my hand was its relatively light weight, for such a diagonal, you expect a more weighty device. Design:

• Design. Well, the design here, of course, is extremely curious. And it's not even the designer's autograph on a separate panel at the back, but the very texture of the back material. Yes, it's plastic, but it doesn't really feel like that. Possibly, that's why the smartphone is perceived as not so heavy.
• Materials. The material has a fine geometric texture, it feels more like very thick paper under the fingers. The materials about the smartphone say that it is a bioplastic made from recycled materials. It is difficult to check this, and by and large it is the experience of use that is more important.
• Feelings. Apparently, during the testing of gadgets, I had a fad for tactile impressions. And despite the use of plastic, which is rarely found in flagships, in this case the feeling of a smartphone is at a high level, which also surprised me.
• The body. The body does not slip in the hand, the absence of bent display frames plays a role, the grip is stronger. Visually, there may question no doubt: not everyone will like the mentioned panel with an autograph, no matter how elegantly it is inscribed in the back. Interestingly, it is also duplicated on the complete case.
• Camera box. The camera box includes two flash LEDs, two large and one small module, as well as a completely unnecessary inscription with some camera characteristics. The panel slightly protrudes above the rest of the case, which is typical, it does not interfere with typing on a smartphone lying on the table. There is only backlash when you click in the upper-left corner of the display.
• Holes. When examining the panel above the display, in addition to the microphone hole and inserts to improve network reception, no other cutouts and elements were found. And at the same time, stereo speakers are declared. The second speaker is speech, in this case, dissonance awaited me again. Usually, the stereo effect suffers from such a speaker layout, but everything is perfectly balanced here.
• Type-C. Cutout of the second speaker from the bottom, in this case Type-C and a slot for two SIM cards, no memory expansion is provided. I, personally, don’t see any problems with this because there is 256 GB of my memory, and the average memory card will obviously slow down the system. The power key is located on the right and has small notches. At the same height on the left is a double volume key.
• Antennas. It is unusual to see an insert on every edge of a smartphone to improve the network signal, both mobile and Wi-Fi. If one of the antennas is blocked by a hand, then it switches to another. During testing, the smartphone was almost always in the zone of stable network reception, however, the presence of such an option is a plus for those who often travel around the regions.
• Vibration. For my taste, a more minimalistic design would add to the positive impression, but only if the same coating was preserved. Oh, what- I wouldn’t say status, but it’s very pleasant to use Realme GT2 Pro, the design, and ergonomics are well combined, as well as a high-quality vibration motor. I would call a fly in the ointment the absence of the declared protection against water and dust, splash protection for a top-end smartphone is not enough.

Display and autonomy

At first glance, the screen in the smartphone does not seek to surprise. The cutout for the front camera is located on the left, and if you find fault, it doesn’t quite fit nicely into the bend of the corner. But impressions from the display itself can easily push this oversight into the background. Display:

• AMOLED. The case when just looking at the characteristics, I already understood that the display is excellent. Of course, in the matter of “taste” because the characteristics of the screen are as close and familiar to me as possible: AMOLED, Gorilla Glass Victus protection, 120 Hz in the top, QHD + resolution, a confident margin of brightness, many settings.
• DC Dimming. A pleasure to use, exceptional color reproduction, fast and responsive display. But for those who are sensitive to PWM, you should probably think about it, there is no built-in solution with DC Dimming. More about the cons, if you use a smartphone on the street, then auto brightness does not always produce the desired results, and manually above 800 nits cannot be unscrewed. Maybe they will fix it with the firmware.
• LTPO. There is a fingerprint scanner on the screen, it works quickly, literally instantly. LTPO is also a plus, although such fine control over the refresh rate is not always needed. On the other hand, in QHD + mode with a rather large diagonal, it will not be superfluous to take extra care of autonomy.
• 65W. The already familiar 65 W charging from Realme GT Neo2 is responsible for this aspect. 90% charge in half an hour, full charge from scratch in 40 minutes – not at the level of “tops”, but not the worst option. As for the operation of the device itself, under certain scenarios, it is possible to achieve two days of operation from a single charge. I preferred to carve out 20–30 minutes at the outlet, this was quite enough. Of course, if this is not an option, then lowering the resolution, power-saving modes, settings in place to help.
• Wireless charging. But there is no wireless charging, and this is sad in the context of a seeming flagship model. I would appreciate it if there were wired charging more powerful than the standard one, about 100W, then this moment would be smoothed out.

Cameras, system interface

Here, Realme once again tried to break the formula that had already taken place, this time – cameras in a premium device. It seems to be two lenses of 50 megapixels (the wide-angle one even has OIS), but there is no telephoto camera. The main sensor – Sony IMX766 – is familiar from many devices, and not the most expensive ones. Cameras:

• Quad Bayer. Improved night mode because there are no problems with good lighting conditions. By default, photos come in a resolution of 12.5 megapixels, Quad Bayer, that's it. Shooting speed is fast, nothing to complain about. I preferred to turn off HDR and AI, and without them the color reproduction is adequate. Video lovers will rejoice, resolutions up to 8K at 24 fps are available, but 4K / 60 fps is worth it.
• 3D photo. The camera app, as usual, has a number of modes and settings. For example, I like the color highlight mode that is available for video shooting and where you can take shots while shooting. The resolution is lower, but the effect looks nice, it will do for social networks. The astronomical mode will be appreciated by lovers of the night sky and long exposure, the 3D photo looks cool.
• 20x. An ultra-wide lens with this resolution looks good, and actually shows adequate results. If you would rather not remove the perspective, but rather increase it, then the maximum zoom level here is 20x, I don’t advise you to set it above 10x without a tripod.
• 40x. The third lens is a microscope lens with a magnification of up to 40x, and this, for the most part, just breaks the mentioned patterns and ideas. In addition to the very orientation of the sensor, the resolution is not canonical. The option works in a separate tab, so you won't accidentally switch.
• Microscope. The scenario is definitely not massive, so most likely the microscope will be technology for technology, to show friends its capabilities. The decision to include such a module in the device is slightly discouraging, and for myself, I have not yet found the answer to the question “why”. The overall impression of the cameras is calm, the level is high, but not the best.
• Android 12. Out of the box, Realme GT2 Pro runs on Android 12, the proprietary shell has also received a new version. The interface has become visually lighter, while the personalization trend has been preserved and continued: the appearance of the system can be easily customized to your preferences.

Performance

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in some way was designed to deal with the negativity around the glowing heat and dropping the frequency of its predecessor, and in general, the situation has become a little better. However, it is already obvious that the TSMC process technology, which runs 8+ Gen 1, is more successful in terms of heat transfer than the solution from Samsung. Processor.

• UFS 3.1. In addition to the standard 12 GB of RAM in the settings, you can add up to 7 GB from the ROM array. In the case of UFS 3.1, this decision seems justified. However, there is no understanding of the scenario in which such an amount of RAM may be needed. The benchmarks are already decent, the system works perfectly and as smoothly as possible.
• Heating. At the same time, even under load, the smartphone almost does not heat outwardly, the heat is removed successfully, but, strangely, this does not help the chip itself. Throttling tests show periodic draw-downs, which confirms the thesis about the processor. Be that as it may, in games there will be good performance, albeit not at the level of gaming smartphones.

Impressions

Actually, I was interested in testing Realme GT2 Pro solely for forming my opinion about it. The model, in my opinion, turned out to be ambiguous. On the one hand, there is a divine screen, excellent system performance and cool tactile impressions of case materials. On the other hand, the price is invigorating, there is no wireless charging and no IPXX rating, and also a non-canonical and certainly not the most versatile set of cameras.