Realme 7 Pro – yet another fine class-leader

Realme 7 Pro

Let’s get this straight. The realme 7 Pro is $599 and has a 6.4″ AMOLED screen, Qualcomm SoC, NFC, 8/128GB/micro-SD, 65W SuperDart charge (100% in 34min) and a 64MP Quad camera. No, we are not dreaming!

Now, the abundance of realme 7 Pro features for the price does not surprise me. It’s a youth-focused brand sold online only and gathering a legion of followers including oldies that know value.

realme is part of the BBK family (OPPO, vivo, OnePlus and more) that is one of the largest global smartphone makers. That clout allows it to get the best deals with its supply chain and it is one of the few that owns the factories. Strength!

realme are on a six-monthly update cycle. Our review of the realme 6 Pro here scored 4.9/5 although it had somewhat of a different focus on gamers. Realme polled realme 6 Pro buyers and found that stereo speakers, AMOLED screen, fast charge and tri-slot sim/microSD were more important. So that is what it delivers.

Australian review: realme 7 Pro model RMX2170

  • Australian website here
  • Price: $599
  • From: 5 November at realme e-store, JB Hi-Fi, Officeworks, Bing Lee, Make it Mine,  5GWORLD, Essential Appliance Rentals, Amazon, eBay and Catch.com*
  • Elevator pitch: $599 buys more phone than you expect!
  • Warranty: 2-years ACL
  • Country of manufacture: China
  • realme is a youth-focused, online-only brand with the mantra ‘Dare To Leap’. So, if you are a Millennial or an old fart, don’t let youth have all the fun.
  • Other realme reviews here

* Grey market – no Australian warranty

Regulatory label for use in Australia
This C-Tick must be on the regulatory screen

We issue the standard warning that you must buy the genuine model with Australian firmware as it works on all Australian Telco carrier LTE bands and can make a 000-emergency call (not 911) without a SIM. It also comes with an AU plug 65W SuperDart Charger.

We have named and shamed the major grey marketers here. Get a genuine ‘Made for Australia’ model.

First impression – EXCEED

The more I test and use this, the more I am impressed. I love the Mirror Silver version – it changes hue under different lights from Silver, Gunmetal, light blue and, well I like it – fingerprint magnet that it is.

The power button is on the right, volume on the left, 3.5mm, USB-C and a down-firing speaker on the bottom. You can barely see the top speaker grill – it is part of the top bezel. Interestingly it has hidden antenna bars giving it a classy finish.

I like the flat screen with 2.5D edges. And the camera bump on the back looks ‘professional’ although it rocks when placed on a desk – use the bumper cover.

Screen – EXCEED

Size6.4″ Super AMOLED (Samsung) 60Hz
90.8% STBR
TypeLeft top O-Hole
Flat-screen with slightly 2.5D curved edges
Resolution2400×1800
PPI/Ratio409ppi/20:9
Colour
Brightness
Contrast
Delta E
Vivid
Gentle
Brilliant
Temp
RGB adjust
HDR10
24-bit 16.7m colours
450/600 nits typical/max (Test 460/590)
60,000:1 minimum (AMOLED is close to ∞)
3.9 (<4 is good)
DCI-P3
sRGB
Oversaturated
Slider from Cooler to Warmer – set halfway
No
Not claimed but found by DRM Info
Daylight
AOD
Dark mode
Blue light
Above average
Yes – not customisable
Yes
Certifed
DRMWidevine L1, HDCP 2.3 and HDR10 compatible
GamingPubg HD-HDR
ProtectionGorilla Glass 3+ and pre-fitted screen protector
Fingerprint
Face ID
Optical under glass – Test: 10/10
2D Face – Test: 8/10
InterestingOSIE (OPPO Screen Image Engine) tracks eye movement with precision.
Great HAPTIC feedback

This is exactly what we expect of a Samsung AMOLED – near-perfect colours and it is an unexpected pleasure on a $599 phone.

Processor – EXCEED

SoCQualcomm SD720G 8nm
2 x 2.3GHz + 6 x 1.8GHz
5th Generation Qualcomm AI Engine
GPUAdreno 618 Compute Open CL: 1234
Game useThe SD720G (gaming) is capable of most medium to high frame rates.
Game Space app boosts performance
RAM8GB LPDDR4X
Storage128GB UFS 2.1 (107GB free)
Test: Androbench 499/191 Mbps sequential read/write
micro-SDUp to 256GB dedicated slot
Geek
Bench 5
Single – 570
Multi – 1810
It is between the Qualcomm SD845 and SD855 with performance similar to the Samsung A71
Throttle
15-minute test
Max: 142,168 GIPS, Average: 140,177
0% loss over 15 minutes
CPU temp reached – 63°
Realme 7 Pro
The lack of throttling is quite amazing

The Qualcomm SD720G is a recent chipset and its terrific value for the performance. It is more average than outstanding but better than found on most $599 phones.

Not surprisingly more than 30 phones use it including vivo V20 and OPPO Reno 4 Pro. It has the Qualcomm X15LTE modem and GPS that supports India’s NavIC.

The Adreno 618 GPU delivers up to 75% performance over the SD710/712 and supports VP9 and HEVC video codecs.

Comms – EXCEED

Wi-FiWi-Fi 5 AC dual-band, 1×1 MIMO
Signal Strength 5Ghz – distance from ASUS AX1100 router
– 2m:  -22dBm/433Mbps
– 5m: -47dBm/433Mbps
– 10m: -53/433Mbps
BluetoothBT 5.1
A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP
GPSSingle
Fine for 10m turn-by-turn navigation
NFCYes
USB-C2.0 OTG (480Mbps equates to 25MBps external read/write)
SensorsFull suite
Magnetic Induction – eCompass
Light Sensor
Proximity Sensor
Gyro
Acceleration

My only comment is that it has 1×1 MIMO 433Mbps when the SD720G supports 2×2 MU-MIMO (866Mbps) Wi-Fi. Other than that it holds signal strength very well.

If you intend to use it for video, you will be better off getting a large micro-SD as external data transfer rates are typical of USB 2.0 – 30MBps half-duplex.

LTE and 5G – EXCEED

SIMDual sim slots (one active at a time)
ModemQualcomm X15 LTE supports up to 800/150Mbps DL/UL
Ring toneSingle
SupportVoLTE – all
Wi-Fi calling – all
ViWi-Fi – Vodafone
UL (Mbps)Test: 17.5 in a three-bar area – excellent
DL (Mbps)Test: 40 – excellent
LTE Band1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7,8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41 – all you need for Australia
5GNo
Test-98dBm in a 3-bar reception area (average)
Found next tower at -101  (excellent antenna design)

The signal strength shows excellent antenna design, and it is a city and regional use phone.

Battery – EXCEED

Battery mAh4500 mAh
ChargerSuperDart 65W
5V/2A/10W or 10V/6.5A
Claim: 100% in 34 minutes
Test: 100% – 40 minutes
Using 5V/3A standard USB charger and cable – 3 hours
TestsVideo Loop test: 1080p/50%/aeroplane mode – 20 hours
Typical use 4G, Wi-Fi Test –  16 hours
MP3 music test: 50% volume from storage – 125 hours
100% load Battery drain –  9 hours
T-Rex – 60Hz – 405.8 min (6.76 hours) and 3384 frames
Drain screen off: 30  days
QiNo

SuperDart is realme’s proprietary charging system but its very similar to OPPO and vivo systems. It uses dual batteries totalling 4500Ah, and a special yellow-tipped USB-A to USB-C cable to deliver 2 x 10V/3.25A simultaneous charges – effectively halving the charge time. It is very clever.

The realme 7 Pro also supports Qualcomm QC 2.0 18W, PC 3.0 18W and OPPO VOOC 3.0 20W.

Realme 7 Pro

The battery was the longest-lasting of the eight phones currently on the testbed. It’s a definite 2-day device but who cares when you can charge it in under 40 minutes.

Sound – EXCEED

SpeakersStereo earpiece and down-firing speaker
The down-firing has more bass response, but the overall balance is fine
AMPDolby Atmos decode and Hi-Res 24-bit/192kHz
for BT/3.5mm connected devices
Uses Qualcomm Aqstic WCD937x amp noted for low THD levels
BT codecsCodecs are SBC (standard), LDAC (Sony), aptX/HD (Qualcomm), FLAC, ACC etc.
MicDual NC
3.5mmyes
Tests dB
Anything over 80dB is excellent
Media – 73
Ring – 75
Alarm – 76
Earpiece – 54
Handsfree volume is adequate, and the dual mics are effective

Music volume is a tad low at 75dB. The sound stage is wider than the phone with good L/R separation. No phone can reproduce Dolby Atmos – that is for BT devices.

The BT 5.0 drove our reference Sony WH-1000xM4 in SBC, AAC and LDAC (OPUS) modes and provided good clear sound and plenty of volume. Buds not supplied.

Sound quality – EXCEED

Being subjective it lacks strong bass but has good strong mid/treble and minimal distortion at full volume. It is eminently listenable.

Sound signature (you can read more about that here) is more bright vocal (bass recessed, mids/treble boosted) which is great for clear voice, hip-hop and modern music. I would have liked an EQ to bring up the bass for my more jazz tastes, but it is quite good.

Deep Bass: 20-40HzVague hints
Middle Bass: 40-100HzBuilding nicely
High Bass: 100 to 200HzStill building
Low-mid: 200-400Hzflat
Mid: 400-1000Hzflat
High-mid: 1-2kHzflat
Low-treble: 2-4kHzflat
Treble:4-6kHzflat
High Treble: 6-10kHzSlight dip to avoid harshness
Dog whistle: 10-20kHzFlat all the way to 20kHz
Realme 7 Pro

Build – EXCEED

Size/Weight160.9 x 74.3 x 8.7 x 189g
ColoursMirror Silver and Mirror Blue
BuildGlass – Gorilla Glass 3+
Frame – Polycarbonate and painted
Back – PMMA (Acrylic Glass) and Polycarbonate
IPNot rated but water repellant
In the boxBumper cover
65W charger
USB-A to USB-C cable

It is a premium finish that you could easily take as a full metal and glass build. realme’s vacuum, paint deposition under the Acrylic Glass is amazing.

And it is nice to see such a high-speced 65W charger in the box – most companies would charge more, let alone provide one at all (Apple!)

Android 10 – EXCEED

AndroidGoogle Android 10
Security patch date 5/9/2020 and October rolling out now
UIRealme UI 1.0
GoogleAll standard apps, Google Lens and Assistant. Dedicated Google Assistant key.
BloatwareMostly productivity and utilities – use the Google equivalents
Update PolicyAssume one OS update.
Note: Google handles security updates in Android 11
SecurityFingerprint – ultrasonic under-screen Test: 9/10
FaceID – 2D Test – 7-10

Realme is beginning to understand what users want – pure Android with a light touch to add some device differentiation. The UI succeeds admirably with no learning curve. And its AI learns how you use the phone and starts to adjust accordingly.

I discovered a side-bar screen edge that is something you only see on far more expensive phones.

Missing – No deal breakers

BudsNo
Qi chargeNo
IPNo

Camera – EXCEED

The unique feature is the UIS camera. It produces super steady images.

Realme 7 Pro
 CameraPrimary
64MP wide
binned to 16MP
Ultra-Wide 8MPMono 2MP

Macro
2MP
Selfie
32MP
bins to 8MP
SensorSony IMX682Hynix HK846GalaxyCore GC02K0Omnivision OB02B1BOmniVision OV32A1Q
Lens6P5P3P3P5P
FocusPDAFAFFFsameFF
Aperture f-stop 1.82.32.42.42.5
Pixel size um.8 bins to 1.61.121.751.75.8 bins to 1.6
FOV° and cropped66.9119 4cm73.8
StabilisationGyro-EIS and AI UIS    
FlashSingle LED   No
Zoom2X optical to 10X digital    
Video Max4K@30fps
UIS
UIS Max Video Ultra Nightscape AI Color Portrait Ultra Wide-angle
Real-time Bokeh
   1080p@30fps
Features64MP Mode
Pro Nightscape
Starry Mode
Super NightScape
Panoramic View
Expert Mode
Timelapse
Portrait Mode
HDR auto
Ultra Wide-angle
Ultra Macro
AI Scene Recognition
AI Beauty
Chroma Boost
Slow Motion
Bokeh Effect Control
   Time-lapse
HDR
Front Panorama
Beauty
Flip Selfie
Nightscape Portrait  

General camera comments

You can’t take a poor shot in day or office light, and the night mode really pops. In all, accurate life-like colours, excellent contrast, low noise and nice use of auto HDR. AI does not over-process or sharpen.

Having said that play with AI and you will get the super colour saturated colours.

There is also a mono mode for mood shots.

Daylight, outdoors

1X – colours are accurate and details are good
64MP 1X brings up a little more detail
Realme 7 Pro
2X optical – excellent
5X digital – pretty good
Realme 7 Pro
10X digital – passable
Realme 7 Pro
Perfect Macro

Indoors Office Light (400 lumen)

Low light (room with less than <50 lumen)

Good shot but struggling a little with low light
Realme 7 Pro
Night Mode – amazing detail, colours, and very little noise

Selfie

32MP binned to 8MP means that you always get a computational photography result. I don’t mind that as colour, contrast, and balance is great. But AI can induce some softness so take a few shots.

Video

We tested 4K@30FPS (50MBps so it chews up storage) and it was more than adequate. Not award-winning lacking some of the detail we are used to.

It has UIS stabilisation (first in the realme 6 Pro). It uses the 8MP lens (ultra-wide-angle) crops from a larger image using an artificial horizon as a reference.

We prefer 1080p@30fps (20MBps) which is far sharper as it does not need UIS.

GadgetGuy’s take – realme 7 Pro is another class-leading, category-killer

Incredible finish (Mirror Silver), AMOLED screen, above-class camera, killer battery life and decent performance. At $599 it is as good as it gets.

It’s a phone worthy of my pocket – it is a sensible choice.

5G has failed miserably in Australia due to very limited and patchy reception, so there is no benefit in spending more for something you won’t need for years yet.

Rating explanation

We work out what to expect from a $599 device. We set the PASS mark at 4/5. Every time it EXCEEDs, it goes up a notch and vice versa.

This phone has exceeded every parameter and then some. If the market was not so COVID price-sensitive this could easily cost a hundred or so more dollars.

Alternatives

  • Google Pixel 4a 4.6/5,  128GB $599 is a terrific device with Pure Android and a ‘computational’ camera.
  • Oppo Reno 4 Z 5G (review coming) is $599 using a MediaTek Dimensity 5G chip – tempting but unproven SoC.
  • Samsung Galaxy A51 4G (not tested)  A51 128GB $599
  • OPPO Find X2 Lite 5G  (not tested) on sale $649 (was $749) is tempting

I would narrow it down to Google Pixel 4a and the realme 7 Pro – I know which way you will go – get real!

Features
Value for money
Performance
Ease of Use
Design
Reader Rating5 Votes
Positives
Realme build quality is excellent
Style – love Mirror Silver
Battery life – good 2 day device and insane fast charge
Camera – shoots above its class
Display – AMOLED – bright and colourful
Storage – 8/128GB/microSD
Negatives
None – it gets an unreserved recommendation for a $599 device
4.9