Realme 7 Pro hands-on review

Introduction

Realme's made it a habit of updating its mid-range number series twice per year and right on schedule the Realme 7 Pro comes six months after the 6 Pro and a year after the 5 Pro before it. Despite the rapid cycle the Realme 7 Pro comes with a slew of changes over its predecessor, and while most of them are clear upgrades there are a couple that may not go so well with potential csutomers.

For instance, the camera setup lost the telephoto camera on the rear and the ultrawide cam on the front. Realme held multiple polls over its social channels asking people to pick between a 60Hz OLED panel and a 90Hz LCD and went with the first one, but the fact that it has shrunk in size may be considered a downgrade by some.

Realme 7 Pro specs

Body: 160.9 x 74.3 x 8.7mm , 182g; Gorilla Glass 3+ front, plastic body
Screen: 6.4" Super AMOLED, FHD+ (1080 x 2400px) resolution
Camera: Primary: 64MP Quad-Bayer, f/1.8 aperture, 0.8µm pixel size, 1/1.72" sensor size; Ultra-wide: 8MP, f/2.3 aperture, 1.12µm pixel size, 1/4" sensor size; Macro: 2MP f/2.4, 1.75µm pixel size, 1/5" sensor size; Depth sensor: 2MP mono camera
Front camera: 32MP f/2.5 aperture
Chipset: Snapdragon 720G (8 nm): Octa-core (2x2.3 GHz Kryo 465 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 465 Silver)
Memory: 6GB/64GB, 8GB/128GB, expandable via microSD card
OS: Android 10, Realme UI
Battery: 4,500 mAh, 65W SuperDart Charge
Connectivity: 4G LTE; Dual SIM; Dual-band Wi-Fi, Buetooth 5.1, GPS, USB Type-C 2.0
Misc:Under-display fingerprint reader, stereo loudspeakers;

On the other hand you get 65W SuperDart charging, a first in these market segments. Moreover, the improved speeds and smaller footprint have brougth the expected reduction in capacity. In fact the 7 Pro now offers 4,500 mAh unit compared to the 4,300 mAh battery on the 6 Pro.

And, of course, there are some obvious design changes - the back is now mostly matte, the paint jobs are new, the camera module has a different design and due to the smaller display and slightly altered edges, the handset feels much more comfortable in the hand.

Unboxing the Realme 7 Pro

Realme 7 Pro's box is identical to the one carrying the vanilla 7 so it has the appropriate 65W-capable charger, the corresponding USB-A to USB-C cable and a transparent silicone case included. Certainly one of the best packages in this price range, this.

Design and handling

As we've already pointed out, the design has changed a lot coming from the Realme 6 Pro. Gone is the flashy gradient on the back and it's replaced with a two-tone matte finish. It gives the impression of a metal phone from a distance but it's still plastic. And perhaps it's due to the color variant, but this one feels more premium than the vanilla Realme 7 for some odd reason. Both phones feature identical backs so we have to believe it's the color - this one is Mirror Blue while the vanilla 7 we had was in Mist White.

Realme 7 and Realme 7 Pro

The back panel doesn't just look nice, it also provides a more comfortable and secure grip compared to the 6 Pro. The finish itself doesn't attract fingerprints as much and seems fairly sturdy, so we doubt it will easily pick up scratches.

The accented power button is a nice touch while the frame on which it sits is still plastic but the matte finish successfully mimics metal from a distance.

When it comes to ergonomics, the Realme 7 Pro feels like a big improvement over the Realme 6 Pro. The considerably shorter and a bit narrower body and 20g lighter weight make the 7 Pro feel more comfortable to hold and easier to operate with one hand.

The new camera island being shorter frees up some space for your index finger when holding the handset so you won't be smudging the bottom lens as much.

Realme 6 Pro and Realme 7 Pro

On the front we have some pleasingly thin bezels with the bottom one being somewhat thick. Also, the punch-hole for the front camera is now a lot smaller. The bigger reason is the fact that it houses only one camera, but the fact that it's sitting inside an AMOLED panel also helps, says Realme. The latter allows for less tolerance and finer cutout for the sensor compared to the IPS LCD solution.

Strangely enough, the 7 Pro has Gorilla Glass 3+ protection instead of Gorilla Glass 5 that the Pro 6 had.

The OLED screen has also allowed Realme to put an under-display fingerprint reader. Our initial impressions aren't great, though. The sensor felt a bit of a hit and miss - fast but would sometimes misread our fingers and refuse to authorize us.

Hardware overview

With the chipset remaining unchanged, the biggest change is the new display, which comes with an OLED panel but lower 60Hz refresh rate. The HRR displays are trending lately and everyone is rushing to put them on their phones, so why the move in the opposite direction?

The company has good reasons - its research showed that having an AMOLED panel is more important than having a 90Hz display when the budget can't be stretched to fit in both.

We can definitely see how this is a good point. The difference in image quality between an OLED panel and even one of the best LCD panels is more noticeable than the smooth 90Hz animations, which are lost on a large portion of the users. So for most people the shift from a 90Hz LCD panel to a 60Hz OLED one is definitely an upgrade. Supporting the Widevine L1 standard is a must these days and the 7 Pro is well-equipped. You can enjoy Amazon Prime and Netflix content in Full HD.

Then there's the matter of size - Realme has reduced the diagonal to 6.4" from 6.6". It certainly benefits handling, though, so depending on how much you like the trend of ever-growing displays you might even consider this an upgrade.

It's a bit harder to maintain the same feeling when it comes to cameras though. Gone is the telephoto shooter, replaced with a depth sensor with questionable real life application and the ultrawide module at the front is no more. The main 64MP camera has received a new second-gen sensor that will be tasked with zooming and offsetting the loss. We'll see how well that goes when we complete our Realme 7 Pro review though.

The other two rear cameras - the 8MP ultrawide and the 2MP macro snappers are unchanged.

Next up there's the charging boost. Yep, the new 7 Pro is finally on par with the company's flagships and offers even 65W charging capable of topping up the battery from flat to 100% in just 42 minutes according to our initial testing. Not bad for a 4,500 mAh battery. The best part is that the phone and charger are compatible with the 18W USB Power Delivery standard, so you can get decently fast charges even if you don't carry the charger from the box with you.

Finally, the Realme 7 Pro is now equipped with stereo loudspeakers with Dolby Atmos tuning. Those are certainly a big upgrade over what the Realme 6 Pro offered, but we weren't able to properly test their performance in the short time we had with the phone.

Software and features

Realme's UI is dropping a lot of the ColorOS, well, colorfulness and is looking closer to stock Android with each iteration. Depending on where you stand this may or may not be a step in the right direction, but there's two ways of looking at the diminishing amount of bloatware and the option to uninstall completely whatever few apps come preinstalled if you decide you don't want them. Moreover, the handset ships with Google's Phone and Messages apps as default ones instead of Realme's.

The Super Power Saving mode is available as well to get you out of tricky situations. This mode was introduced with Realme C15 and will likely appear with every Realme phone to come.

Home screen and notification shade

Many of the new software features concern the camera. The Night and 64MP modes both have an AI and Pro toggles with the latter giving you more control over the camera settings just like the dedicated Expert Mode (read Manual mode). Starry mode is a new addition along with filters for the Night mode. Last, but not least, the so-called Movie Mode gives access to manual controls for video recording, which is a very rare feature and it's probably the only handset to do so in the mid-range segment.

New camera settings

Wrap-up

The new Realme 7 Pro seems to be getting most of the things right but it does take a few risky decisions. The lack of what wasn't a great telephoto module might be offset if the main camera really is notably better, but we're yet to see about that. Even so, the absence of an ultrawide camera, smaller display and the downgrade to 60Hz might alienate some of the existing Realme number series fans.

However, the boost in battery capacity, the faster charging, the stereo speakers and more importantly, the crisp Super AMOLED panel are valid reasons why this to be your next mid-range daily driver. With prices starting from INR 19,999, the Realme 7 Pro is certainly in the running. Hopefully we'll soon be able to complete our review and find out if it's on pole position or a backmarker.

Let's block ads! (Why?)