Realme GT looks astonishing in this Racing Yellow colour.
Realme GT is the top of the line smartphone offering by Realme in its GT Lineup of devices. The GT Lineup is aimed at being the best balance between performance, style and elegance, like a Grand Touring car that we all love. However, with the absence of things like an IP rating or wireless charging, the Realme GT is more of a functional GT like the BMW 6-series GT and not a Premium GT like Aston Martin DBS.
In simple words, the Realme GT is not a premium smartphone but a flagship offering by Realme. However, is the GT smartphone by Realme a really good all-rounder that should be your next smartphone? Let’s find out.
Realme GT Review: Specifications
Realme GT sports a 6.43-inch FullHD+ AMOLED display with an aspect ratio of 20:9 and a refresh rate of 120Hz. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor paired with 8/12GB of RAM and 128/256GB of onboard storage. The storage is non-expandable. It runs on Android 11 based Realme UI 2.0 out of the box. All of this is backed by a 4,500mAh battery
On the optics front, the Realme GT 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 16-megapixel selfie snapper.
Realme GT Review: Design and Display
Realme GT technically comes in two design options. The base 8GB RAM and 128GB storage variant comes in Dashing Silver and Dashing Blue color options while the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant comes only in the Racing Yellow. We got the Racing Yellow variant for review and I was really excited to try it out. It's not only the color difference, the Racing Yellow variant comes with a Yellow Vegan Leather back along with a black polycarbonate insert which is quite eye-catching while the other variants come with a polycarbonate back.
The Vegan Leather has a sort of rubbery and tough textured feel to it which feels good to hold in hand. However, the colour may not be to everyone's liking. The black insert which the company calls the Racing Stripe, manages to visually hide most of the camera bump which looks nice.
It feels good to see a 3.5mm headphone jack.
As for the placements, the Realme GT sports a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge surrounded by a 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker grille and the primary microphone. The right edge houses the power button which is not textured, but has a small yellow strip of paint, which ties it in with the yellow vegan leather. On the left edge, there are volume buttons and a dual sim card tray. The top edge of the phone is mostly left clean with the exception of the secondary microphone.
There is an AMOLED panel on the front.
Coming back to the display, it is a 6.43-inch Fluid AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz, 360 Hz touch sampling rate and HDR 10+ support. This display makes a great option for your on the go binge-watching. The addition of a 120Hz refresh rate means the display feels super smooth, may it be gaming or scrolling Instagram. The in-display fingerprint sensor works great. My only gripe is the display cutout for the front camera could be centred for a more symmetrical look like that of Samsung Devices.
Realme GT Review: Performance, Software and UI
Realme GT is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor paired with 12GB of RAM on our review unit. The added 5G capability is a plus which would be helpful when 5G starts to roll out completely. During the review period, the combination of gaming, internet browsing and music playback didn’t cause the phone to sweat even a bit. The 12GB of RAM is more than enough for any task you throw at it.
There is a punch-hole selfie camera on the front.
Gaming on the highest settings possible or during any day to day task, there was no sign of lag or stuttering that was felt on the smartphone. There was a slight heat that could be felt on the display side, but it was after a 3 hour long gaming session with the phone plugged into the charger the whole time and that was also not that much noticeable if you are not looking for it.
The Realme GT runs on Android 11 based Realme UI 2.0 out of the box. The user interface feels super smooth. It does bring in a host of features including a system-wide dark mode, an always-on display along with fingerprint animation customization and much more. The company has worked hard on making the software more subtle and a ton of more customization to help you make the device your own. One thing I didn't like about the OS was the amount of bloatware and the notifications shown by those said bloatware. Even if you remove all the bloatware apps, the themes app sends you notifications. Nothing that cannot be fixed with a block notification feature of Android, but a little work that shouldn’t be needed on a premium device.
Realme GT Review: Cameras
There is a 64MP triple camera setup on the back.
Realme GT 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 sensor. The 2-megapixel macro sensor feels like quite a waste on otherwise good specced camera modules. Like the other smartphones, the 2-megapixel macro sensor is quite the waste of money whose existence only fuels marketing teams as they show it off as a triple camera setup instead of a dual-camera setup.
The camera app is straightforward and offers a good amount of features. The smartphone does not auto switch to macro mode when you come in real close instead says to move further away. After you manually switch to the macro sensor, the 2-megapixel macro sensor provides images that are unusable.
During our tests, the Realme GT managed to click some decent shots. The details were good, but the images looked a bit oversaturated. The colours were a bit brother than natural which looked good but not natural. The lowlight performance is also good, with minimal noise and good details with the Night Mode. The wide-angle lens had good focus, but the difference could be felt between the primary 64-megapixels and the 8-megapixels of this lens. In low light, the wide-angle became completely useless.
Realme GT Review: Battery
The battery of 4500mAh is not really that impressive nowadays. However, what’s impressive is the 65W charging capability. During my time with the device, light to medium usage got me around a day and a half of usage. I am sure the battery life will take a hit when 5G becomes available in India and we start using it.
With companies skimping on fast charging and removing chargers from the box, I am happy to see that the Realme GT comes with a charger in the box. The Realme GT takes around 35 minutes to charge from zero to a hundred which is pretty good especially if you are someone who is almost always on the move.
Realme GT Review: Verdict
The back of the Racing Yellow colour variant looks stunning.
Realme GT costs Rs. 37,999 for the 8GB RAM 128GB storage variant. However, that comes with a standard back. The Vegan leather one with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant costs Rs 41,999. That’s quite a premium for the RAM and storage upgrade, but makes a lot of sense when combined with the vegan leather. With that price and spec sheet, it feels like a direct competition to the OnePlus 9R. However, looking at the phone in the present smartphone market, you have got a great looking handset with lightweight construction, ample performance for the money, great battery and charging capabilities and much more.
If you are considering the base spec, it will be a good value for money, and you won’t regret it. However, at the top of the line, the Yellow Vegan leather is not for everyone's eyes. Many people dislike how bright that yellow is. Realme should have also offered another colour option for the vegan leather, like white which is a bit subtle. You can consider the iQoo 7 Legend or the Mi 11X Pro or the OnePlus 9R if you don’t like the Racing Yellow. If you are happy with the colour option, the Racing Yellow variant won’t disappoint you.
