With a starting price of Rs 49,999, the GT 2 Pro has a lot going for it. Like a 2K display, fast charging, a decent camera suite, and the promise of decent gaming performance. So is it a better option than a Moto phone? Let’s find out.
Realme GT 2 Pro design
The rear panel of Realme GT 2 Pro has an optional unique texture. It is said to be an imitation made to give a feel of paper products. As for the special material used on its back, Realme says that it has been taken from renewable sources and has been used in the white and green versions of the phone. While the Steel Black variant has a common glass panel with a frosted texture.
After using the white unit for a few weeks, I’m happy to report that the phone doesn’t suffer from permanent smudges or marks from daily use, as I thought it would. Its wavy texture allows a good grip. It also ensures that fingerprints and smudges are not a problem. I like the look of its matte-finish aluminum frame and the overall aesthetic of the phone, but I really wish it had given its pricier model a bit more character to make it stand out from the rest of the phones in the portfolio.
One of the big selling points of the Realme GT 2 Pro is its display, which is usually found on expensive Android flagships. Its 6.7-inch AMOLED panel has 2K (3216×1440) resolution, 10-bit color depth, and 1,400 nits of maximum brightness. It also features LTPO 2.0 technology, which means the refresh rate can vary from 1Hz to 120Hz depending on your activity. Other than this, Realme has used Corning Gorilla Glass Victus for scratch protection. It goes without saying that the screen offers great performance when it comes to playing games and watching videos.
Included in the Realme GT 2 Pro box is a 65W SuperDart fast charger, a USB cable, and a case.
Realme GT 2 Pro price, specifications and software
The base variant of Realme Gt 2 Pro is priced in the range of Rs 50,000. This is an 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant. While the Rs 57,999 variant has 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage and this is the variant I have.
Realme GT 2 Pro has Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. It supports 13 5G bands and you get DUAL 5G support for both SIMs. This should be enough for the upcoming 5G network in India.
The phone has stereo speakers, which are Dolby Atmos certified. Similar to Apple’s True Tone feature, color temperature sensors have been provided on the front and rear of the phone to adjust the display’s color (white balance). In addition, heart rate monitoring on the in-display fingerprint sensor has been implemented as an experimental feature.
The Realme Gt 2 Pro features a stainless steel vapor cooling chamber, which promises to prevent the phone from overheating. The software includes a GT mode toggle, which is supposed to prevent throttling of the phone’s processor for better performance in heavy applications.
Two features are missing from the phone. Wireless charging and IP rating. Although there is a rubber gasket around the SIM tray to keep out water, which suggests that steps have been taken to protect the phone from water. But, Realme has not given any official guarantee. By comparison, both features have been offered on the Motorola Edge 30 Pro, which may turn customers away from the Gt 2 Pro.
Realme GT 2 Pro runs on Realme UI 3.0 based on Android 12. The interface look is customizable and runs smoothly. There are many apps included in the phone including Realme Store and Community. Most of these can be uninstalled. Realme’s own apps did not encounter spam notifications or any other issues, which surprised me.
With this phone, Realme has promised three years of Android OS updates and four years of security updates. I think this is a good way to keep the faith.
Realme GT 2 Pro performance and battery life
Carrying the Realme GT 2 Pro does not feel cumbersome or heavy. Although for many Android flagships it is said to be the same. The phone is also not very thick and weighs (189 grams), which makes it feel light and easy to carry. However, its glass-backed variant is slightly heavier, weighing in at 199g.
The GT 2 Pro handled popular productivity and social apps well. Its interface was always fast and smooth. I also liked that the in-display fingerprint sensor is closer to the center of the screen.
The phone screen becomes bright enough so that the content is clearly visible. It becomes bright even in direct sunlight. The screen resolution was “auto select” during my review period and I found it displayed all apps and content, including games, very well at WQHD+ resolution.
Realme GT 2 Pro excels with gaming and media playback.
Videos looked great, with excellent color saturation, adequate brightness, and good HDR playback. The stereo speakers were also very loud and sounded good. Game performance was also solid. Asphalt 9: Legends ran smoothly, with solid frame rates and decent graphics. However, the body of the phone got hot after playing a more demanding game like Fortnite for a long time. Even when gaming indoors, I noticed the top half of the frame and parts of the back panel getting very hot after about 20 minutes. After a point I had to put a case on the phone as the heating was unbearable.
This problem was not in all games. But graphically demanding games push the GT 2 Pro’s cooling system to the limit. The phone’s benchmarks were also very good. He got an impressive score of 972,119 points on AnTuTu.
The phone’s battery life was also very good. I was able to use the phone for a day and a bit more on a single charge. In our HD video loop test, this phone ran for 20 hours and 41 minutes. Charging its 5000 mAh battery with a 65W charger doesn’t take long. You can fully charge it in just over half an hour. I mean, it loads very fast.
Realme GT 2 Pro cameras
Realme GT 2 Pro has a good set of cameras. It works well in daylight and low light. Realme has used the 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 sensor for the main rear camera. It also has a wide F/1.8 aperture with optical stabilization. You can record videos in 8K resolution at 24 fps. Autofocus was quick in daylight, and landscape shots showed rich color and detail. Close-ups came through with excellent background blur with excellent detail. Low-light photos were also very good. It had less noise and more detail than average. Thanks to OIS, sharp and good details were found in close-ups in low light.
Realme GT 2 Pro has a 50-megapixel Samsung JN1 sensor ultra-wide camera. We have seen this in the OnePlus 10 Pro (Review). Ultra-wide shots produced less detail and colors weren’t quite as accurate in the actual scene, but barrel distortion and HDR were better handled. The camera app has a 150-degree shooting mode, like the 10 Pro. This allows you to take advantage of the lens’s full field of view. Low-light photos weren’t as bright as those we got from the main camera. Although there was still much to experience.
The phone’s third camera is a 2-megapixel sensor with a ‘microlens’. This allows you to capture extreme close-ups at 20x or 40x magnification. This lens can be used to capture something special from everyday things. In “microscope” shooting mode, the phone should be one millimeter away from the subject. Because light is an issue in this mode, the two LEDs at the top and bottom of the microlens are automatically activated when this mode is used. Apart from this, there are also some fun filters.
The Realme GT 2 Pro has the same 32-megapixel Sony IMX615 sensor selfie camera as the OnePlus 10 Pro. It takes good photos in daylight and low light. Skin softening is enabled by default for selfies. However, if you switch to the Natural profile, the skin tone and texture are much better.
The video recording capabilities of the Realme GT 2 Pro are also top-notch. 8K videos taken during the day and at night looked decent, but the stabilization made camera shake look a bit choppy. Videos shot in 4K also looked great and had smooth stabilization. The camera app also allows you to switch between the main and ultra-wide cameras while recording at this resolution.
what is our verdict
There should be no doubt that the Realme GT 2 Pro is a very good premium smartphone. In my opinion, the basic variant with 8 GB of RAM offers the best value. I would recommend it for the great performance, unique texture design, great battery life, and cameras. However, if IP rating and wireless charging are important to you, then Motorola would be a smarter choice.
Its 12GB variant is less expensive than the rest of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 smartphones but costs around Rs 58,000. I think alternatives like the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Review) or the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G (Review) are more well-rounded flagships and offer better value. Yes, they may lack the processor power of the GT 2 Pro, but they make up for it with features like wireless charging and official IP ratings.