One of the best and worst of a flagship killer

Inexpensive flagship telephones are nonetheless a factor, with gadgets just like the Galaxy S24 FE and OnePlus 12R providing a ton of horsepower and loads of options for the value. Nevertheless, it’s beginning to appear to be the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor might severely shake up the “flagship killer” panorama. Qualcomm already confirmed that this chip is costlier than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, however that hasn’t stopped realme from launching a Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered reasonably priced flagship cellphone within the type of the realme GT7 Professional.

Does this new cellphone make for an incredible flagship killer, or are followers paying a steep value for extra efficiency? Let’s discover out.

One of many realme GT7 Professional’s main promoting factors is the aforementioned Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which is poised to be the largest improve for flagship Android telephones in fairly a while. Sadly, my preliminary hands-on with the realme GT7 Professional revealed that the cellphone was a little bit of a multitude, to place it mildly.

I used to be initially unable to finish GPU stress assessments as a result of the cellphone obtained so scorching that it really closed the benchmark app. Nevertheless, I used to be in a position to full these assessments with a disguised model of the app, whereas a disguised model of GeekBench 6 yielded a lot decrease CPU scores. This was sturdy proof of benchmark manipulation, and realme later acknowledged that the CPU scores have been as a consequence of “focused optimizations.” It additionally claimed that the stress take a look at points and related heating have been as a consequence of software program incompatibility points.

Regardless of the case could also be, realme issued an replace previous to launch in a bid to handle the overheating points particularly. I used to be then in a position to full the GPU stress assessments, which revealed some respectable stability (65% to 70%) and a large gulf to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely. Nevertheless, the cellphone nonetheless ran actually scorching in these assessments, with temperatures of about 47 to 48 levels Celsius (~116 levels Fahrenheit). This was mirrored within the aluminum body being uncomfortably scorching. It’s not the hottest-running cellphone we’ve ever examined at Android Authority, nevertheless it’s definitely up there. This heating can be notable, provided that we carried out these assessments within the balanced mode somewhat than the gaming-focused GT mode.

Try the earlier hyperlinks for full benchmarks each earlier than and after the replace.

Thankfully, demanding video games ran rather well on the GT7 Professional. I used to be routinely in a position to put in 30 to 45 minutes of Genshin Influence (operating at excessive and 30fps by default) and Struggle Thunder Cell (at excessive by default) with constantly clean efficiency and heat however not scorching temperatures. This expertise usually prolonged to different apps like Dolphin (operating F-Zero GX and Metroid Prime). You’ll wish to wait some time earlier than making an attempt to emulate PC video games on Winlator because it looks as if the requisite Adreno Turnip GPU drivers aren’t obtainable but. I used to be in a position to boot up a couple of historic PC video games like Deus Ex, Hitman 2, and Dave Mirra’s Freestyle BMX, however these titles have been principally unplayable.

realme’s cellphone brings a large 6,500mAh battery, dwarfing the likes of the Galaxy S24 Extremely (5,000mAh) and OnePlus 12 (5,400mAh). The cellphone undoubtedly impressed me with its endurance in most conditions. I used to be often in a position to get two days of average utilization, consisting of Reddit, WhatsApp, YouTube Music, podcasts, and light-weight video games. I don’t assume I ever obtained lower than eight hours of screen-on time when it comes to common utilization. Actually, it wasn’t unusual for me to recover from 10 hours of screen-on time. What occurs once you push the machine, although?

A heavier day of utilization on a Saturday noticed me take 4 Uber journeys, use the cellphone as a hotspot for a couple of hours, take some images, use WhatsApp, and play Sport Dev Story for a couple of hours. I ended up going to mattress after 11:00 PM with simply over ~20% juice remaining (take a look at the third screenshot beneath). I felt like I might’ve in all probability killed the battery in a day with a extra demanding sport or extra frequent use of the digital camera. So you possibly can undoubtedly kill this big battery in a day with extraordinarily heavy utilization, however you must anticipate one and a half to 2 days of endurance in any other case.

Fortunately, that 6,500mAh battery solely takes about 37 minutes to cost through the included 120W adapter. That’s in the identical ballpark as realme’s personal estimates. And also you thought the Pixel 9 collection supplied improved speeds?

The realme GT7 Professional additionally has a Samsung-made 6.78-inch OLED display screen (120Hz, LTPO), and the corporate famous at launch that this had a peak brightness of 6,000 nits, a “world” brightness of two,000 nits, and guide brightness of as much as 1,000 nits. Peak brightness figures are a gimmick for essentially the most half, however I’m glad to report I had completely no drawback with outside viewing in direct daylight. I’m actually glad to see 2.5D or “micro-curved” screens making a return, too, providing a extra nice tactile expertise when utilizing gesture navigation than a purely flat panel.

The display screen additionally hosts a quick, correct ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that doubles as a shutter button when the cellphone is used underwater. I don’t assume I’ve ever seen an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner used like that earlier than, so kudos to realme for that, even when the use case is extraordinarily area of interest.

The GT7 Professional doesn’t scream “premium” like Samsung and Google handsets, nevertheless it’s definitely a step up from typical price range telephones. There’s a sturdy aluminum body, a skinny design, and a glass again that, fortunately, isn’t a fingerprint magnet. My unit has a vibrant Mars Orange coloration scheme, which is a beautiful departure from boring grays and blacks. I’m additionally glad to see full-fledged water resistance from a model that has historically eschewed this degree of sturdiness. I don’t care in regards to the IP69 ranking, although, which is supposed for high-pressure water jets and high-temperature water. However pressure-washing fanatics may like this IP ranking.

Maybe the largest clue that compromises needed to be made is the digital camera expertise. This isn’t a 50MP+8MP+2MP digital camera setup like we’ve seen with numerous wannabe flagships prior to now. As an alternative, I’m glad to see a 50MP most important digital camera, a 50MP 3x telephoto lens, and an 8MP ultrawide digital camera. That 8MP ultrawide digital camera is undoubtedly a step down from ultrawide lenses seen on full-blown flagship telephones. However I’m okay with this compromise if it means I’m getting telephoto digital camera. Properly, about that.

The realme GT7 Professional’s 3x digital camera is fairly hit-and-miss, to the purpose the place I believed it lacked optical picture stabilization (OIS) altogether. Nevertheless, the corporate confirmed to us that OIS was certainly current on the telephoto digital camera. Anyway, I used to be in a position to get a great deal of nice photographs out of this digital camera, nevertheless it wasn’t unusual to get delicate or usually low-quality snaps, significantly in blended lighting. Actually, you possibly can even see main tiling artifacts within the pink wall within the final image. The telephoto digital camera can generally dangle with the likes of the vivo X100 Extremely, however you then get comparisons just like the one seen beneath the place there’s no query about which shot was higher. Don’t anticipate macro/close-up assist both, because the cellphone switches to a 3x crop from the principle digital camera as a substitute.

The cellphone’s most important digital camera is a stable performer, providing a wholesome quantity of element. Nevertheless, pictures can generally be approach too saturated and over-sharpened for my liking, and I additionally seen the occasional neon look in vibrant outside snaps. That 8MP ultrawide digital camera, then again, is a whole disappointment owing to extreme distortion, smeared corners, and normal softness in something aside from vibrant mild. However then once more, we anticipated this.

One huge cutback is that realme’s flagship cellphone misses out on wi-fi charging. Given the selection, I’d go for quick wired charging over wi-fi charging. But it surely’s nonetheless a lamentable omission in mild of cheaper telephones providing wi-fi top-ups and the realme GT5 Professional providing this feature. Even the included 120W adapter has the caveat of being a USB-A adapter, which suggests you aren’t getting USB-PPS assist. One other draw back price noting is that the Indian mannequin ships with a 5,800mAh battery as a substitute of a 6,500mAh battery. That’s nonetheless an enormous dimension however a notable downgrade.

I’m glad to see that the GT7 Professional ships with Android 15 out of the field, in addition to the realme UI 6 replace (principally Coloration OS 15). OPPO’s pores and skin continues to supply a great deal of options. Some standout additions embrace a Sensible Keep-style function to maintain the display screen lit, lifting your cellphone whereas taking a name through Bluetooth to modify to the receiver, and a Magic Portal-style function for sharing content material throughout apps. However there are a few gimmicky options, most notably some extraordinarily finicky hand gestures for scrolling and answering a name. The cellphone additionally forces you to put in a couple of extra apps upon setup, however I’m glad it doesn’t serve a smorgasbord of bloatware out of the field. The corporate says you possibly can anticipate 4 main OS upgrades, which is a good sufficient replace coverage for this value tier, however not on par with Google and Samsung gadgets you may get for across the identical amount of money.

The realme GT7 Professional nails the core smartphone expertise for essentially the most half. That’s because of implausible real-world efficiency, spectacular battery life with super-fast charging speeds, a vibrant display screen that’s a pleasure to make use of, and water resistance for the primary time in a realme cellphone.

Sadly, realme needed to make some sacrifices to ship this core expertise and the Snapdragon 8 Elite particularly. The telephoto digital camera is inconsistent and rigid, that 8MP ultrawide digital camera is best suited to $200 telephones, and wi-fi charging is lacking regardless that its predecessor had it. We additionally thought the cellphone ran highly regarded in excessive situations, which could not bode properly for demanding video games a couple of years from now or these in scorching climes.

realme has listed the cellphone at a promotional value of €799.99 (~$844) at launch, which makes it cheaper than the Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 9 in Europe. I can stay with these cutbacks for the promotional value once you’re getting so many different perks. Sadly, the machine has a advisable value of €999.99 (~$1,055), placing it in the identical ballpark because the Galaxy S24 Plus and Pixel 9 Professional. That’s an actual disgrace and makes the omission of wi-fi charging and a flagship-grade ultrawide digital camera deeply disappointing for the value.

There aren’t a ton of worldwide obtainable next-generation flagship telephones available on the market proper now. However you must undoubtedly look forward to the OnePlus 13‘s world launch in order for you a well-rounded Snapdragon 8 Elite cellphone, that includes a high-quality display screen, a versatile digital camera system, water resistance, and an enormous battery with wi-fi charging.

The Galaxy S25 collection can be a few months away, however the Galaxy S24 FE ($552.54 at Amazon) is completely price consideration too. You lose out on a huge battery and quick charging however achieve a protracted replace dedication, a ton of software program options, and Galaxy AI performance. You must also take into consideration the Google Pixel 9 ($799 at Amazon) in order for you a flagship cellphone that isn’t massively costly. The Pixel misses out on quick wired charging, a telephoto digital camera, and a huge battery, whereas missing horsepower in comparison with the realme cellphone. But it surely brings a superior replace coverage, extra AI options, higher fundamental digital camera high quality, and wi-fi charging.