Realme GT2 Pro is the latest flagship smartphone from the Chinese manufacturer that is part of the BBK group alongside other brands like OnePlus and Oppo. And quite the flagship it is! Realme has put all sorts of goodies in this smartphone: the world’s first 2K AMOLED flat display with LTPO 2.0 technology, the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, all powered by a 5000 mAh battery. But beyond the specs, can the Realme GT2 Pro hold its own against the likes of Samsung and Xiaomi? Read on to find out:

Realme GT2 Pro: Who is it good for?

The Realme GT2 Pro is an excellent choice if you:

• Want a powerful flagship smartphone with a large, high-quality screen
• Are constantly on the move and need a smartphone with good battery and fast charging
• Play a lot of competitive games on your smartphone
• Are a fan of microscope photography or fisheye pictures

Pros and cons

During my testing I liked that:

• The Realme GT2 Pro comes with many useful accessories
• There is a clear focus on design and sustainability, with unusual and eco-friendly materials
• The device has a powerful chipset, capable of handling even the most demanding games and applications with ease
• The bright screen has LTPO 2.0, thus being able to change its refresh rate depending on the content displayed
• The microscope camera gives it that extra “wow” factor
• The battery life is above average
• Charging the smartphone takes roughly a half an hour and you can get to 50% in just 12 minutes

There are a few things that can be improved:

• The camera system is not as complete (missing a telephoto camera) and as good as the ones offered by some of Realme GT2 Pro’s competition
• The device lacks wireless charging
• There is no certified protection against dust and water
• The software is not yet fully mature, with occasional software glitches and user interface issues

Verdict

If you want the latest tech and insist on having the most powerful smartphone on the market, you won’t be disappointed with the Realme GT2 Pro. It has the horsepower and the endurance, and while the camera system is not on-par with the rest of the experience, the photos and videos turn out just fine. I strongly recommend it to power users and people who are always on the move, as the battery life is great and charging times are extremely short. Performance doesn’t come cheap, but the Realme GT2 Pro is a tad less expensive than other flagship smartphones.

Unboxing the Realme GT2 Pro

The Realme GT2 Pro comes in a solid and relatively large box (when compared to Samsung Galaxy and iPhone packages). Its dimensions are 9.05 x 3.93 x 2.36 inches (230 x 100 x 60 mm). Interestingly, the paper texture of the box matches the feel when touching the back of the phone. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature, as Realme worked hard to make the GT2 Pro feel different than other smartphones. More on that in the next section.

The box of the Realme GT2 Pro

The box displays the usual branding, with the name of the product front and center, and a summary of features and tech specs on the bottom of the package.

The bottom of the box presents several key features

Inside, apart from the smartphone, you will find a rather rare assortment of accessories: a USB cable, a fast charger (65W), a SIM tray tool, and a protective case for the smartphone. My sample also came with a pre-applied screen protector, so bonus points for that. Naturally, there’s also a quick guide and a warranty leaflet. Since the smartphone doesn’t come with a headphone jack, no headphones are included.

Realme GT2 Pro: what's in the box

The unboxing of the Realme GT2 Pro provided the first few pleasant surprises: the presence of a fast charger and a protective case. The contents are well-packaged, and the box is sturdy and well-designed.

Design and build quality

The GT2 Pro is Realme’s best smartphone up to date. And as soon as you feel it in your hand, you begin to see that. The phone weighs 6.67 ounces (189 grams), and its dimensions are 6.43 x 2.94 x 0.32 inches (163.2 x 74.7 x 8.2 mm). The front has a tiny cutout for the selfie camera and a similarly discrete speaker slit situated just above the screen. The optical fingerprint reader is also present under the Corning Gorilla Victus-protected display.

The front of the Realme GT2 Pro

The back of the device has quite a few distinctive features. Realme boasts the GT2 Pro as the first bio-based polymer smartphone design, made in collaboration with Naoto Fukasawa, a renowned Japanese designer. Indeed, his signature is all over the phone, both in terms of sustainable design and as a literal signature on the back. The camera cluster is the other distinctive feature, with three cameras and a dual-LED dual-tone flash.

The design team focused on the way the Realme GT2 feels to touch

There are three colors available for the Realme GT2 Pro. The texture of the Paper White and Paper Green variants imitates the feel of rough paper, while the Steel Black variant has a glass back cover with a frosted look and feel. The Asian markets also get a Titanium Blue version, which has similar characteristics with the black one. Interestingly, the white and green variants are 10 grams lighter and more environmentally friendly. According to the manufacturer, every million GT 2 Pro smartphones produced should save the equivalent of 3.5 million plastic bottles in terms of non-degradable materials.

Three colors are available for European and American markets

The sides are almost devoid of features. The button placement reminds me of iPhones, with the volume rocker on the left…

The left side of the Realme GT2 Pro

…and the power button on the right side. The only other features visible on the sides are the plastic inserts that allow for better signal reception.

The right side of the Realme GT2 Pro

Similar inserts are present on the top of the smartphone. You can also find a microphone here that is used to cancel out environmental noise during calls.

The top of the Realme GT2 Pro

The bottom of the smartphone is its “busiest” part. Close to the SIM tray, there’s a microphone hole, but thankfully, the one for inserting the SIM tool is on the other side of the tray. Next to the microphone, there’s the USB-C port, and next to that, a speaker.

The bottom of the Realme GT2 Pro

There is no IP resistance rating in the spec sheet, which is an unfortunate omission for a flagship device. As you noticed from the pictures, I received the Paper Green variant, and the color is a welcome variation from the traditional solid color scheme present on other flagship devices. The Realme GT2 Pro feels thin, thanks to its rounded edges, and while the plastic back doesn’t scream “opulence,” it is very grippy and has the potential to hide scratches well. Additionally, the included protective case doesn’t feel cheap and matches the smartphone's color.

The design of the Realme GT2 Pro is sufficiently different and unique for a flagship device. I like the fact that Realme didn’t settle on classic materials and textures, opting instead for an eco-friendly and, at the same time, visually appealing design.

Hardware specifications

Realme went all-in when choosing the chipset for the GT2 Pro: it’s powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SOC, built on a 4 nm technology. The Octa-core processor works together with an Adreno 730 GPU and 8 or 12 GB of RAM to deliver top performance in all usage scenarios. The 8 GB variant comes with 128 or 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage, while the 12 GB model has either 256 or 512 GB at its disposal. You can increase the available RAM by using a portion of your storage.

The hardware is Realme GT2 Pro's strong point

I tested the 12 GB / 256 GB variant, as you can see in the screenshots above. Apart from the memory and storage, the rest of the specs are identical. The 6.7 inch AMOLED display is sourced from Samsung and has an excellent resolution of 1440 x 3216 pixels (WQHD+). If you do the math, the resulting pixel density is more than 500 ppi, which is an excellent value. Equally excellent is the declared peak brightness of 1400 nits. The HDR10+ capable panel is made using LTPO 2.0 technology (low-temperature polycrystalline silicon), which means that its refresh rate can change, depending on the content displayed, from 1 Hz up to 120 Hz. Furthermore, it has a touch sampling rate of up to an amazing 1000Hz, which gives the Realme GT2 Pro an edge in fast-paced games where input lag is crucial for achieving the best experience. For media playback, the Realme has stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support.

The bright screen is one of the few with LTPO 2.0 technology

The camera department is where the Realme GT2 Pro misses a few opportunities. It has three cameras:

• A 50 MP wide angle main camera, with an f/1.8, 24mm lens, multi-directional PDAF and optical image stabilization (OIS)
• A 50 MP ultrawide with an f/2.2, 15mm lens, able to capture pictures with an amazing 150˚ field of view, but without autofocus
• An unusual 3 MP camera with an f/3.3 aperture, autofocus, and, wait for it… 40x magnification, used as a microscope!

On the front, the Realme GT2 Pro has a 32MP sensor behind an f/2.4, 26 mm lens. But wait, where’s the telephoto lens? Well, the GT2 Pro doesn’t have one. Is the microscope camera a viable alternative to the flexibility offered by a telephoto camera? I think not, but I’ll analyze this further in the following sections.

The camera cluster on the Realme GT2 Pro

Connectivity-wise, the Realme GT2 Pro offers the usual options: a Wi-Fi adapter with Wi-Fi 6 compatibility, Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX, a GPS module compatible with all the satellite systems available (GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC), and, of course, an NFC module that supposedly works in any position, not just on the back of the smartphone. To name but a few sensors, the Realme GT2 Pro also has an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass, and a color temperature sensor. Another interesting feature is that the optical fingerprint reader doubles as a heart rate detector. It should be interesting to see how accurate it is.

Finally, the battery has a capacity of 5000 mAh, and Realme claims it can be charged to 100% in 33 minutes with the included 65W adapter. Of course, I will put that to the test. Sadly, there is no wireless charging, an issue I would have more easily overlooked if the device wasn’t a flagship. For more technical specs, visit the product page here: realme GT 2 Pro.

The Realme GT2 Pro hardware specifications leave little room for any complaints: it has a powerful chipset, a very good screen and a large battery. The camera setup is a bit underwhelming, but there is no doubt that the Realme GT2 Pro is truly a flagship smartphone.

Now, let’s see how the Realme GT2 Pro actually performs. On the next page, you can read all about the camera performance, the battery life and what it’s like to live with it. Onwards!