realme GT 7 review: Value flagships still make a whole lot of sense

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

When we talk about a special category of phones in India called 'flagship killers,' a simple Venn diagram can help explain them. Imagine three overlapping circles: one representing 'True Flagship' features (think cutting-edge processors, premium displays, and top-tier camera systems), another representing 'Budget Phone' characteristics (which might include some minimal bloatware or more functional rather than luxurious materials), and a third, 'Mid-Range Pricing.' The exciting space where these three circles intersect, that small zone drawing elements from all three: that's the area of the 'Value Flagship.'
I think it is far from being an outdated concept, and feel this category is more relevant than ever, representing the sweet spot many consumers actively seek. It's a challenging experience to get right, but when a phone gets it right, it becomes a much sought after option. This is precisely what I kept in mind after testing the realme GT 7, which was launched yesterday in the Indian market. Priced at ₹39,999 (with launch offers bringing it closer to ₹35,000 for the standard version), it directly targets this Value Flagship space. There's also the realme GT 7 Dream Edition, which is essentially a special edition phone with more RAM compared to the regular GT 7, for ₹49,999, F1 goodies, and a unique Aston Martin green colour; unboxing here:
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Well, I have been using the phone for over 15 days now, at least the standard edition of the phone. I got access to the Dream Edition only a while ago, but they are essentially the same phones. It is just that the aesthetics are different with the Dream Edition, and there is more RAM, but mostly, every point applies to both unless I state otherwise in this review later on.
Having said that, the realme GT 7 was an interesting experience because, in a way, I did not feel that it compromised on many things. It gets the basic pillars of a smartphone right. However, there are still minor annoyances, which could be easily removed, and it would certainly make the phone a nearly perfect device. And luckily, most of it has to do with software, not hardware, so this is something that realme can address soon.
Well, firstly, let's talk about what is good, and there is a lot of it here. No curved displays to see here: a flat display, and that makes it ideal for gaming, practicality, and installing screen protectors. The phone has flat sides, which is standard at this point. The back has subtle curves on the edges, which makes it comfortable to hold. The corners are not particularly sharp, and this makes long-term usage a comfortable affair. The camera bump is flat, and that means there is not a lot of dust that gets attracted because, with individual circles for cameras, what I have seen is there is a lot of pocket lint that gets deposited on the edges.
And then there is little attention to detail, especially with the IceSense Blue colourway, as well as the special edition Aston Martin green colourway. The IceSense Blue has a subtle red lining that goes across the camera module, and that certainly makes it pop. And it also has a red camera button, which adds a nice visual flair to the overall design.
The weight balance has been done quite well; despite the phone having a massive 7000 mAh battery, it weighs around 200 grams, and that is quite commendable. The phone is also quite durable. It has IP69 dust and water resistance, so you do not have to worry about the elements a lot. Having said that, the phone, whilst certainly not feeling cheap, does not feel as premium as, let's say, something like the OnePlus 13R per se. It has a functional design. It is comfortable in hand, and that is what I appreciate about it. It puts function first.
While, we are at it, there is also a supplied case, which seems sturdy enough, though it is not going to protect a lot. And then there is also an IR blaster on top of the phone, which will let you control a lot of appliances like air conditioners and more.
Also, talking about the aesthetics, the Aston Martin green colourway, which is part of the Dream Edition of the phone, is certainly a looker. It has gold accents with the power button. The rest of the phone is, as expected, green. And apart from the aesthetics, virtually everything remains the same. It will certainly appeal to you if you are big F1 fan.
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Performance is key for a value flagship, and here, the realme GT 7 certainly gets things right. Getting the synthetic benchmarks first, I tested both editions of the phone because I have both for testing: the realme GT 7 as well as the Dream Edition. The Dream Edition packs 16 GB of RAM by default, compared to the 12 GB maximum of the standard variant. But apart from this, most of the things remain the same. The realme Dream Edition, in the Geekbench 6 benchmark, scored 7238 in the multi-core score and 2210 in the single-core score in the CPU benchmark. The standard edition scored 7184 in the multi-core score and 2119 in the single-core score. And, as you can see, these are very similar, so you should not really buy the Dream Edition for the performance side of things. 12 GB RAM should be enough for the most part.
Having said that, in general UI operation, the phone absolutely flies. There are no lags or hiccups or frame drops that I noticed. I did notice that sometimes the phone could suddenly switch to 60 Hertz. So, what I did was, I switched the display frame rate to 120 Hertz at all times instead of Auto Select, and this solved the problem. And then also, a couple of rather heavy games, including GTA Vice City and BGMI. And I can say that this, in games like BGMI, can certainly give you 120 FPS, which is going to be almost necessary at this point for most gamers investing around ₹35,000 in a phone.
So, performance-wise, you are not going to be unhappy with this. The MediaTek Dimensity 9400e, whilst based on a 4-nm architecture instead of the 3-nm architecture that the flagship 9400 comes with, still holds its own. It is one of the fastest processors around this price point and goes toe-to-toe with flagships like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and sits just slightly below the other top dogs like the Snapdragon 8 Elite as well as MediaTek's own 9400.
How is the battery life with the 7000 mAh battery? Let me start by saying that the combo of the 7000 mAh battery and 120-watt fast charging, for which you do get the charger in the box, is certainly a godsend for someone who has battery anxiety, because this is easily a two-day phone. This is one of the best battery lives I have experienced on a phone so far.
What I did was, whilst preparing for Monday, the phone was around 10 to 15 percent. I plugged it in before going to the shower, and after coming back, it was fully charged. And then, after being at 100%, the phone lasted for two entire days, easily crossing the 10-hour screen-on time threshold. So, this is going to be a two-day phone for most people. Even if you are a power user, who could be taking a lot of photos, recording videos, and whatnot, the phone will just go on. So, battery anxiety is not going to be a problem.
How is realme UI 6.0? Okay, so, whilst my experience of the realme UI 6.0 is positive for the most part, there are annoyances which brands just have to fix because this is not ideal for a phone that costs ₹35,000. Firstly, the phone absolutely flies. The UI has been optimised quite well. The phone does give you a lot of options to customise, including being able to choose how your quick settings look, including a split layout or a classic layout (I am more of a classic guy). You can adjust your tile shape. There are a lot of features baked in, including being able to choose the transitions for the launcher, locking the layout, icon auto-fill, double-tap to lock, raise to wake, and a whole lot more.
The UI is also quite clean in a way. It will remind you of Oppo's ColorOS, which is a good thing in my opinion. The icons are clear in the design as well. The animation is also quite smooth, right from how the brightness slider works to how the apps open. It is a smooth experience overall. I think this is certainly an underrated Android implementation and deserves recognition.
But what stops it from being a truly premium experience has to be the bloatware. I remember being asked to turn on the Glance for realme features while setting up the device, and even whilst setting up wallpapers. And this is slightly intrusive, and I would want realme to remove this altogether. And then, there is other certain bloatware as well, including apps like FinShell Pay, the realme Community app, a separate app market, and others like ORoaming and Snapchat. Pre-installed Snapchat can be uninstalled if you do not want it, but others, like the realme store, cannot be uninstalled. You can only disable them. But for the most part, this is a refined experience. I did not have any problems, as such, with the UI. There were no bugs. The experience was smooth, but one is just hoping realme gets rid of the Glance implementation.
I also particularly like the attention to detail in terms of how the haptics feel on this phone. So, right from when you reduce the brightness or increase it, unlock the phone, to adjusting the volume, there are subtle vibration hints. The haptics across the device are done quite well. The haptics themselves are quite strong. There is a very precise feel that will remind you of premium phones like the Pixel 9. This thanks to O-Haptics, which are quite precise, and they do feel premium.
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So, the realme GT 7, both the Dream Edition and the standard edition, come with a triple camera setup. There is a main 50 MP camera, an 8 MP ultrawide, and a 50 MP 2x telephoto lens. Images coming out of the main camera are certainly pleasing in most lighting conditions. On bright days, you will see that the highlight roll-off is quite decent. However, I noticed that at the corners, there is a minor colour shift and the detail slightly diminishes, but for the most part, the images are pleasing and certainly social media ready. The close-ups are also quite great. There is ample detail. In low light as well, the detail level is decent. The phone keeps the noise to a minimum. And the selfies, surprisingly, do not entirely smooth your skin out, so the selfies stay natural as well, which is a nice change.
The ultrawide lens, well, it could have been sharper, and the colour shift could have been controlled better.
realme GT7 gets a large LTPO 6.78-inch panel with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support, and has a huge six thousand nits of peak brightness, offering 450 pixels per inch. This is a beautiful display panel, Especially the way colours look; they are not overly saturated. They strike just the right balance. Media consumption is also a great experience on this phone. It is sharp, colour-accurate, and incredibly bright in sunlight. Not once did I feel that the legibility was bad. In fact, it was quite commendably bright, even in direct sunlight.
That said, I manually did set the display refresh rate to 120Hz instead of leaving it on Auto Select, as I noticed the phone would frequently drop to 60Hz, switching it manually fixed the issue instantly.
The realme GT 7 is a near-perfect device around the ₹35,000 mark. However, if you are in the market and want the best value, I would recommend you go with the standard variant if you do not care about the aesthetics of the Dream Edition. Apart from the fresh coat of paint and more RAM, it does not offer much value, unless, of course, you want the Aston Martin collectibles that come in the box. So, at ₹50,000, it does not make sense. So, I would recommend the standard variant for most people.
The phone does the basics right, including call quality, signal reception, and speaker output. Call quality was great, no issues on WhatsApp or cellular calls. I used the phone with both Vodafone and Jio 5G, and reception was solid with both. The stereo speakers, though loud enough, could use more depth and bass.
At large, you can't go wrong with the realme GT 7. 8.5/10 stars.
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