Realme GT 2 Pro review: Testing the cheapest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 smartphone

• Realme launched Realme GT 2 Pro today in India, starting at ₹47,999
  
• Realme GT 2 Pro features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 5G chipset and a 120Hz 2K display.
  
• Realme GT 2 Pro competes against the likes of Oneplus 9RT, Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

Realme today launched their latest flagship smartphone the GT2 Pro. Packing every possible feature that a high-end smartphone is expected to have in 2022. With the brand covering solid ground in the mid-range category, GT2 Pro shows Realme’s ambition to get aggressive in the premium segment as well.

Is the Realme GT2 Pro the right candidate for both the brand and the consumer to enter the flagship segment? I have spent 5 days with it, and here’s what I think about Realme’s budget flagship.

Price & Availability

The Realme GT 2 Pro starts at a price of ₹49,999 for the 8GB RAM variant that packs in 128GB of storage. There is another variant offered at a price of ₹57,999 that packs in 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The phone is available on Flipkart and Realme India’s own official website.


Realme GT 2 Pro Design: All elite

Realme has done a commendable job with the GT 2 Pro when it comes to the design. The phone feels premium from the moment you unbox it. It’s lightweight and ergonomically built which makes it a treat to hold and use. Unlike the industry trend of making a glass sandwich design, Realme GT 2 Pro combines a polymer back with a solid glass front put together in a stainless steel frame.

The variant with me is in the paperwhite color with a textured back allowing a better grip on the phone. That being said, if your palms are dirty or sweaty they leave a smudge mark that can be cleaned only with a wet cloth, otherwise, the phone looks dirty.

There is a major branding on the top right of the back which reads “Realme and designed by Naoto Fukasava’’, was it necessary to put such a bold branding there? No. I realized Realme is proud of this collaboration when I saw that even the bundled case reads the same branding. This to me was a bit much.
There is also a fairly large triple camera set-up with an easily noticeable bump around it.

On the right side, you will find the power lock and unlock button, volume rockers are on the left. All of these physical buttons are of good quality and give a tactile feel. On the bottom, you will find a USB Type-C port alongside a speaker grille and microphone.

Surprisingly there is no official water resistance rating claimed by the company. However, after enquiring with the Realme team, I was told that the device is cascaded internally. Simply put it's well protected around the charging port, but it’s not completely water-resistant.

Realme is proudly promoting this device as the world’s first bio-based smartphone design. What does that mean? Basically, the phone shell is made up of a bio-based polymer, which is said to reduce carbon emissions. Now, the irony is that the box comes in plastic wrapping, and so does the phone inside and its charger. These contradictions made me feel, that the above claims are more suited for a marketing pitch while there’s no way to quantify the impact. Realme has gone heavy with the branding, once again, and it spoils the perfectly good design for me. Some of you may not mind it, but I’m not a fan of this particular element.

Realme GT 2 Pro Display: Best on any Realme smartphone

The GT 2 Pro comes with a 6.7-inch 2K WQHD+ display, yes that’s a mouthful, but it does its job really well. One of the best display’s I have seen on a Realme device. It makes everything on the screen a visual treat, be it playing games or watching movies.

It also gets some presets like an image sharpener, video color enhancer, and video motion enhancement in case you want to tweak the display settings. All of these functions improve upon an individual characteristic of your content, but they also consume more battery.

The phone also lets you choose the default screen resolution between FHD+ (2412 x 1080) or QHD+ (3216 X 1440) or Autoselect. During my testing, I kept the phone on the QHD+ setting for the maxed-out performance and I wasn’t disappointed.

With accurate color reproduction and surreal detail retention, I thoroughly enjoyed watching my content.

But it’s not limited just to watching movies, with an adaptive screen refresh rate the phone smoothly switches between 1Hz to 120Hz. So, casual reading on the internet, scrolling on social media, and of course, high-intensity gaming all are taken care of respectably.

Realme GT 2 Pro comes with 1000Hz touch sampling which translates into visibly faster response time. The phone so far has not missed out on a tap, touch, or swipe.

There is a Nature Tone display option on the phone that adjusts the color temperature as per the ambiance, however, I won’t suggest you keep it on since it spoils the experience. The company claims 1400 nits of max brightness on this one, while I didn’t test it with a luminance meter, I didn’t face any issues using it under direct sunlight generally.

The always-on display option is also available that comes in handy.

The screen also incorporates an in-display fingerprint sensor, which is snappy. Protected with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, you don’t have to worry about the display getting scratched easily.

Complimenting the display is a stereo speaker set-up which is fairly loud and goes well with the caliber of the screen.

Realme GT 2 Pro UI experience

Up until now, I was convinced Realme has done it, they have outperformed themselves and have made an outright flagship. Until I realized the software woes. Mixed between an almost perfect amalgamation of Realme UI 3.0 and Android 12 was a package of applications. The usual suspects are all here - Josh, Moj, Mx Takatak, PhonePe, Sloop cut, and Bookings.com. Yes, all these can be uninstalled if you wish to, but I wished they were not there in the first place.

Ignoring them, Realme UI works smoothly on the GT 2 Pro. With the fresh animation style for actions like uninstallation, or switching between tabs you enjoy using the smartphone. We do have to note here that this is a brand new unit, and the performance tends to go down with time.

Before switching to the GT2 Pro, I was using the Realme 9 5G Speed Edition and even though the UI is similar on both devices, I found the execution on GT2 Pro leaps ahead.

Realme also offers a ton of customization options utilizing the potential of Android 12 features and the brand's own custom skin. From generic options like selecting Dark mode, you can also go full custom. Choose a design of your liking and play around with the theme colors as you please.

Realme GT 2 Pro Performance - Master of all

The GT2 Pro is a device that not only looks solid on paper but also translates into real-life performance. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Processor which is top of the line and works in sync with the UI on board. The smartphone is blazing fast with non-existent boot-up times and a performance that does not lag behind in any sense.

The variant with me packs in 12GB of RAM which is more than capable of handling heavy tasks and retaining applications for upto 2 days. Yes, there have been instances where I didn’t close an app, opened it 2 days later and the phone took me to the exact same page where I had left it.

This performance also shows up when you are gaming, after 2 hour long intense sessions of Genshin Impact and BGMI, I can say this is also a gaming device. With no lags or ugly frame drops the Realme GT 2 pro makes you enjoy your games. I played both the games on maxed-out settings, and I have no complaints so far.

The phone did heat up, but not to the point where I couldn’t hold it. Realme’s stainless steel vapour cooling max system does work like advertised, so far.

You can take the performance a notch higher with a dedicated GT Mode, which maxes out phone settings, I did my test with it turned on.

The variant with me packs in 256GB of internal storage which is sufficient for high-performance users.

The streak continues in battery performance as well, with the GT 2 Pro giving me a screen-on time of upto 5 hours. This includes watching content playing games and some social media scrolling. Do note, that the battery life also depends on your usage pattern.

The Qualcomm chipset is working in sync with the battery and it's good news. However, I do wish that the charging speed was better. The 65W SuperDart charger takes about 1 hour to charge the 5000 mAh cell from 0 to 100%.

Realme GT2 Pro Camera - There’s potential

Realme GT2 Pro comes with a 50MP primary sensor which is a Sony IMX766 unit. This sensor is seen on high-end devices and performs really well in natural lighting conditions to deliver images that retain great details. The frames look beautiful and it manages to capture natural colors as well.

With Optical image stabilization, the video performance is also satisfying and the outcome is generally favorable. You can also shoot 8K videos with a 60 fps setting with the GT 2 Pro, do you need this much firepower? Not really. But in case you ever want to use it, make sure the lighting conditions are favorable.

Then there is a 50MP ultra-wide lens which is as per Realme is the world’s first 150 Degree ultra-wide sensor. This also enables a fish-eye mode. Keeping that promotional lingo aside, it works really well and creates bigger frames. You will have a good time clicking pictures with it.

Then there is a 3MP microlens that comes with a 40x magnification feature, do you really need that? No. But does it work? Somewhat. Essentially a macro lens, it works wonders in certain situations mostly outdoor subjects. But if you try to click pictures indoors then the results are disappointing.

The front camera is a 32 MP shooter and can click decent selfies, and comes with classic Realme AI features. I am still adjusting my head around them, but if you are a fan of changing everything about your selfies, from skin tone to Nose size, then you will have a ball.

There are other camera features on board as well, like the usual portrait mode which works well and edge detection is usually accurate. A feature that stood out for me was 3D pictures, which allow you to give different moments in a picture. Like Pan in or out, while the results do look good, there is room for improvement. You also get dual video mode on the phone.

The dedicated street photography mode enables a 24mm resolution, and does add a bounce to the pictures.

As of now, I can say, There is the right set of hardware on the Realme GT 2 Pro, hopefully, with future software updates, we will be able to see the complete optical potential of this device.

Realme GT 2 Pro - Verdict
Realme has a winner in their hands with the GT2 Pro. Top-of-the-line specs, commendable camera hardware, and an intuitive UI are the hallmark of a good device, this device has it all.

This smartphone is for performance-hungry users who might be bored off the obvious or want the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 experience under a budget. At a starting price of ₹47,999 this phone is a solid alternative to the likes of Samsung’s S21 FE and Oneplus 9RT.