Realme X7 Review: 5G becomes more accessible
Realme X7 is a 5G smartphone that offers quite a lot of features on a budget. Find out whether the Realme X7 is the one for you.
Realme X7 is the company's attempt at creating a cheap 5G phone for the masses. Running on Mediatek Dimensity 800U 5G enabled processor, the company is able to bring a future-ready phone for under Rs 20,000.
However, a cheap and 5G shouldn’t be the only things you look at before buying your next smartphone. Read along to find out whether the Realme X7 is the one for you.
Realme X7 Review: Specifications
Realme X7 sports a 6.4-inch FullHD+ AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 20:9. It is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 800U processor paired with 6/8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. The storage is not expandable. It runs on Android 10 based RealmeUI 1 out of the box. All of this is backed by a 4,300mAh battery.
On the optics front, the X7 features a triple rear camera setup including a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. Upfront, there is a 32-megapixel selfie snapper.
Realme X7 Review: Design and Display
Realme X7’s design is nothing extraordinary. Most smartphones nowadays look the same. The rear has a triple camera setup on the top left with individual camera bumps for each sensor which is quite reminiscent of the Oppo Reno 4. The smartphone is polycarbonate backed and has aluminium sides that feel normal in hand, partly helped by the satin finish on the back panel.
On the front, the X7 sports a 6.4-inch panel with a punch-hole camera on the left. It has thin top and side bezels offering a seamless display experience even with the punch hole camera.
As for the placements, X7 sports a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge surrounded by the speaker grille and the primary microphone and sim card tray. The right edge houses the power button and the left edge houses individual volume buttons. Unlike its Pro variant, the X7 does not have the thin Realme yellow line to the power button which looked really nice on the X7 Pro. The top edge of the phone is left clean apart from the secondary microphone.
Coming back to the display, it is a 6.4-inch AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels. The AMOLED offers deep black and rich colours, a great for watching content on the go. The display is HDR 10 compliant and gets pretty bright for outdoor reading. The smartphone has a standard 60Hz refresh rate display, which is a downgrade in my opinion. The smartphone also sports Wideline L1 certification meaning you can stream HD Netflix and Prime Video on your phone. Overall, the display is good, but nothing extraordinary for its price range. However, I expected at least a 90Hz display at this price point in 2021.
Realme X7 Review: Performance, Software and UI
Realme X7 is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 800U processor paired with 6/8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Our review unit came with 8GB of RAM. With the phone being priced below Rs. 20,000 , the all-new Mediatek Dimensity 800U seems to be a good choice. During the review period, I installed multiple social media apps on the phone and did not notice much of the performance issues. Even during long gaming sessions, I did not notice much lag.
With heavy gaming, the smartphone runs perfectly without any hiccup. While playing heavy games such as Asphalt 8 and the Call of Duty Mobile, the game ran without any issue for long durations. However, the 800U got hot really often. Even while charging the device with the included charger, the phone got quite hot.
The X7 runs on Android 10 based RealmeUI 1 out of the box. The RealmeUI 1 is based on Oppo’s ColorOS v7 which can be noticed easily while using the phone. The same is also mentioned in the About Device in settings. The user interface feels smooth. But it does bring in some features including a system-wide dark mode, a themes store and much more. Overall, the software experience is really smooth partly thanks to the powerful Dimensity 800U.
Realme X7 Review: Cameras
Realme X7 sports a triple-camera setup at the back. The setup comprises a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 2-megapixel macro. For the Selfies, it sports a 32-megapixel sensor. The smartphone also gets Portrait Mode, Night Mode, Time-Lapse, Slo-Mo and other features.
The camera app is straightforward and offers a good amount of features. The sensor can be changed easily, which is a plus point. The 2-megapixel macro sensor is there just to increase the camera count for marketing material. Taking photos from the 64-megapixel sensor and cropping them afterwards provided better shots than the 2-megapixel macro sensor.
During our tests, the X7 managed to click some decent shots. In daylight, you get a surprisingly natural shot, with nice colours, good contrast, and a well-balanced exposure. The portrait shots are also good. The low light performance is also good.
The front 32-megapixel camera has beauty mode turned on and set to 30%. You can turn it to 0%, but there is still some amount of AI beautification happening. However, the software enhances the skin tone and brightens the colour. Apart from the few purists, most of the companies do this and the users prefer this.
Overall, the camera experience is the same as its big brother, the X7 Pro which is a good thing.
Realme X7 Review: Battery
The battery segment is the most important for any smartphone. The handset comes with a respectable 4,300mAh battery which is less compared to industry standards, but it makes the phone light. During my time with the device, light to medium usage got more than a day of usage. Even with heavy usage, the phone lasted a little less than a day which is acceptable.
With the battery being so huge, the charging speeds take a hit. This is where the X7 starts to outshine its competition. It supports 50W fast charging, but the company provides the same 65W charging brick as their X7 Pro. This is quite opposite of what companies do. They generally provide a lesser wattage charger, while Realme here is providing a higher wattage charger. The included 65W charging brick charges the smartphone from zero to a hundred in less than 40 minutes. This is one of the fastest charging phones in this segment. I don’t know what the effect will be when it's running on 5G. As there is no 5G support in India yet, I would like to wait and see how it affects the battery life of this smartphone.
Realme X7Review: Verdict
The Realme X7 costs Rs. 19,999 for the 6GB RAM variant while the 8GB RAM variant which we had costs Rs 21,999. For the price it offers great design, along with great performance and a great battery with super-fast charging, the camera is also good. The support for 5G future proofs the phone. Overall, it's a good package.
However, it is India’s most affordable 5G smartphone and the 5G part is yet to be tested in India. However, at this price range, it is a better smartphone than the Mi10i and it undercuts the OnePlus Nord. Overall, I would recommend this even over the companies X7 Pro.