Realme GT 7 Pro review: Performance and efficiency in a premium package

The Realme GT 7 Pro is the first Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered smartphone in India, but its appeal goes beyond performance

Realme has launched its flagship smartphone, the GT 7 Pro, in India, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. While the top-tier processor is its key highlight, the smartphone is loaded with new tech across various aspects. It features a 5,800mAh silicon anode battery and a new Samsung-developed OLED display, promising exceptional brightness levels. Notably, the device also incorporates several artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools designed to enhance the user experience across multiple tasks. But does the GT 7 Pro deliver a complete package? Let us find out:

 

Design

 

The Realme GT 7 Pro is a premium smartphone and its design exudes the same, thanks to a quad-curved design on both the front and rear glass panels. Despite its flat metal frame, this design enhances ergonomics. The device is a tad hefty at 222.8g, but this applies to the review unit, which is a Chinese variant with a 6,500mAh battery. The Indian variant, with a smaller battery capacity, is expected to be lighter. Nevertheless, the device offers a well-balanced weight distribution, making it comfortable for activities like video streaming and gaming.

 

 

The review unit in Galaxy Grey has a steel-like texture that resists smudges and fingerprints while providing a smooth touch experience. However, the prominent rear camera bump causes the device to wobble on flat surfaces, although it remains stable for tasks requiring minimal interaction, such as watching videos.

 

Display and Audio

 

The Realme GT 7 has a 6.78-inch display, which ranks among the best in the market, offering vibrant colours, sharp visuals, and impressive brightness. It is a fullHD+ resolution panel, which is not exactly the best you get at its price point, yet delivers a good experience while watching movies and videos. This is also because the display supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR on streaming platforms such as Netflix and YouTube.

 

To improve display performance, Realme has included value add features like Image Sharpener, which upscales lower-resolution images and videos; and Video Colour Boost, which enhances select SDR content to appear in an HDR-like colour space. These, however, work only in select apps.

 

The display boasts 1,000 nits of typical brightness and up to 2,000 nits in high-brightness mode, ensuring clear visuals even under sunlight or in brightly lit environments. While the screen automatically adjusts to high brightness levels outdoors, an “Extra Brightness” option in the display settings allows users to push brightness levels higher indoors. There is also a manual slider to set the lowest allowable brightness level.

 

With support for a 120Hz refresh rate, the scrolling experience is smooth and responsive. App switching and navigation are enhanced by quick yet fluid animations. Users can also set app-specific refresh rates, enabling some apps to exceed their default limits.

 

For audio, the Realme GT 7 Pro is equipped with a stereo speaker system that delivers clear voice output in movies and videos. While music playback ensures vocal clarity, it tends to suppress the accompanying music, resulting in a somewhat flat sound profile. However, the system maintains clarity even at maximum volume, which is adequate for indoor use.

 

Camera

 

The Realme GT 7 Pro sports a triple-camera set-up on the rear, featuring a 50-megapixel main sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS), a 50MP telephoto with OIS, and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle. On the front, there is a 16MP sensor.

 

The main camera sensor is from Sony (IMX906), which has been optimised for clearer images across lighting conditions. It captures detailed shots with a decent dynamic range and natural-looking colours that are vibrant without appearing exaggerated. White balance is generally accurate, though skin tones may appear slightly brighter than natural in artificially well-lit environments.

 

The telephoto is also a Sony sensor (IMX882), capable of capturing optical-quality images at up to 3x zoom. In daylight, shots from this camera are nearly as good as those from the primary sensor, though with a slightly reduced dynamic range. However, low-light conditions challenge this sensor, as it takes time to focus. It supports zoom up to 120x, but images beyond 10x zoom often appear overly processed and lack natural details. Notably, both the primary and telephoto cameras are equipped with optical image stabilisation (OIS). Portrait shots from these cameras offer good edge detection and facial details, though minor inaccuracies may occur around hair and ears in low light.

 

Rounding off the package is an 8MP ultra-wide sensor from Sony (IMX355), which is the least impressive of the trio. While suitable for group shots in daylight, it struggles in low-light conditions, producing images with poor detail.

 

The 16MP front-facing camera captures vibrant, social media-ready images but falls slightly short in delivering fine details.

 

For videography, the Realme GT 7 Pro supports recording at up to 8K resolution at 24fps with the main sensor and up to 4K resolution at 60fps with the telephoto sensor. The ultrawide and front cameras are limited to 1080p resolution. Stabilisation options include a standard mode available across all resolutions and frame rates, with an Ultra Steady mode that maxes out at 4K 30fps. Additionally, the IP69 rating enables an underwater shooting mode.

 

Performance and Gaming

 

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, latest smartphone chipset from Qualcomm, the Realme GT 7 Pro delivers impressive performance, handling extensive multitasking and long hours of graphics-intensive gaming with ease.

 

Everyday tasks are no problem for the smartphone, and switching between apps is smooth and responsive. For a top-tier chip focused on performance, thermals are surprisingly good on the smartphone. Even after extended gaming sessions on Genshin Impact at the highest graphics settings, the device remains comfortable to hold. However, recording 8K or 4K videos at 60fps does cause the device to warm up quickly, though it never becomes excessively hot.

 

The gaming experience on the Realme GT 7 Pro stands out. While the combination of the powerful system-on-chip (SoC) and 16GB RAM ensures smooth performance, Realme has enhanced the experience further with impressive software features. The game panel includes GT Mode for performance boosts and additional enhancements such as:

• Frame Plus, which generates extra frames for smoother gameplay.
• AI Super Resolution, which improves in-game graphics.
• Hyper HDR Mode, for vibrant in-game colours.
• UHD Graphics Mode, specifically optimised for Genshin Impact to enhance graphics performance.

These features deliver noticeable improvements. For instance, AI Super Resolution enhances in-game details, while Frame Plus can push Genshin Impact to 120fps, surpassing its in-game 60fps limit.

 

There are, however, limitations to note. AI Super Resolution cannot be used alongside Hyper HDR Mode. Additionally, Frame Plus significantly increases device warmth, particularly on the top edge, making it somewhat uncomfortable to hold during extended sessions. To address this, the Frame Plus option automatically disables when the device overheats and cannot be re-enabled until the smartphone cools down.

 

Software

 

Gaming is not the only front where Realme has put in a lot of work on software optimisation. Powered by the Android 15-based Realme UI 6.0, the smartphone has some impressive AI tools up its sleeve. Given that Realme is a sister brand to OPPO, it has some of the AI features that OPPO introduced with the Reno 12 series. This includes AI Summarise in Recording for generating text summaries of voice recordings; AI Summarise for summarising articles on the web; AI Translate for translating on-screen content, and more.

 

There are also similar AI-powered image editing tools such as AI Eraser, AI Ultra Clarity, and others. However, the most notable new inclusion is the AI Sketch to Image, which lets you scribble to generate images in different styles based on your drawing. While it is available as a standalone feature, you can also draw on images from the gallery to add new elements.

 

The Realme GT 7 Pro also features Google’s Circle to Search.

 

Apart from AI, the phone introduces an AirDrop-like feature for sharing files with an iPhone. However, it requires the O+ Connect app on the iPhone, which is a bit buggy. Although the file-sharing process is decently fast, the initial pairing process is not the smoothest. You also get Apple’s Dynamic Island-style floating notification banners for timers and more. Overall, the software feels smooth and quick. While it comes with some pre-installed apps like Netflix and Facebook, none are intrusive or non-uninstallable.

 

Battery

 

The Realme GT 7 Pro’s India unit is powered by a 5,800mAh battery, though the review unit provided was the China variant with a larger 6,500mAh capacity. For its size, the smartphone delivers impressive on-battery performance, dropping only 10-12 per cent after an hour of intensive gaming. It easily provides multi-day battery life on a single charge with regular usage. While the Indian variant comes with a slightly lower capacity, it remains among the largest battery capacities available in the market.

 

Regarding charging speed, Realme claims that the Indian variant can charge up to 50 per cent in approximately 11 minutes, with a full charge achievable in about 30 minutes.

 

Verdict

 

Priced at Rs 59,999 onwards , the Realme GT 7 Pro is a compelling flagship offered at an attractive price point. It delivers top-notch performance, supported by advanced software features, a bright and vibrant display, and a lasting battery. While the camera system may not be the best in the flagship segment, it performs adequately in most scenarios.

 

The Realme GT 7 Pro is an excellent choice for those seeking a gaming or performance-centric smartphone without compromising on everyday usability. It also serves as a great entertainment companion, thanks to its display. However, for users prioritising camera performance, there are better options available in the market.