Alongside other brands such as Xiaomi or Honor, Realme now also wants to make a name for itself on the German market for solid budget smartphones. Outside the EU, Realme has already been active since 2018 and has now launched five generations of smartphones. The Oppo subsidiary celebrated its debut in Germany in March 2020 with the Realme 6 series. In this review, I will take a look at the successor, the Realme 7 series.
Workmanship and Design
Realme 7 Pro in Mirror Silver color
The Realme 7 and 7 Pro both feature a plastic back and frame. The back comes in the so-called “Mirror Design”. Here, the surface is divided into two sections that refract light in different ways. This creates a boundary surface that acts like a mirror – hence the name “Mirror Design.”
Although the cases of both devices are made of plastic, they feel more valuable than the price would suggest. However, a Google Pixel 4a still feels a bit more high-end workmanship, even though this one is just as largely made of plastic.
The front is kept nice and simple. Apart from the flat display, there isn’t much bezel on either device here besides the selfie camera embedded in a punchhole. The camera modules on the backs also look very modern and are reminiscent of the module on the Samsung Galaxy S20, although the 7 Pro’s module has a more square shape than the Realme 7’s rather elongated module.
The Realme 7 is built on Mediatek’s Helio G95. In addition, there are 4, 6 or 8 GB of RAM depending on the selected model. Either 64 GB or 128 GB of UFS 2.1 memory is available for photos, videos, apps or other data, depending on the model. However, this is also still expandable via a microSDXC card.
Realme 7 Pro
In terms of the processor, Realme relies on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 720G for the Pro model. In addition, there is still the choice between 6 or 8 GB of RAM. All versions of the Realme 7 Pro have 128 GB of internal UFS 2.1 storage. This is also expandable by a microSDXC card, just like in the normal Realme 7.
Specsheet
realme 7
Network
Technology
GSM / HSPA / LTE
Release
Announced
07/10/2020
Published
21/10/2020
Case
Size
162.3 x 75.4 x 9.4 mm
Weight
196.5 g
Material
Glass front (Gorilla Glass 3), plastic back, artificial frame
SIM
Dual SIM (Nano SIM)
Display
Type
IPS LCD, 90Hz, 480 nits brightness
Size
6.5 inches, 102 cm2 (~83.4% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution
1080 x 2400 px, 20:9 ratio (~405 ppi pixel density)
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Platform
Operating system
Android 10, Realme UI
Chipset
Mediatek Helio G95 (12 nm architecture)
CPU
Eight-core (2 x 2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6 x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
Fast charging 65W, 50% in 12 min, 100% in 34 min (advertised)
Other
Colors
Mirror Blue, Mirror Silver
SAR values
0.73 W/kg (head), 0.52 W/kg (body)
Software
The Realme UI home screen
The Realme 7 series uses the in-house Realme UI, which is based on Android 10. The Realme UI skin is clearly inspired by Google’s material design philosophy. Thereby, it is a bit more playful than stock Android, but looks more simple than, for example, MIUI from Xiaomi.
The user interface is well structured and does not look cluttered. I also really like a lot of little things, like the design of the minimalist colored icons in the settings app. Otherwise, Realme UI is nothing out of the ordinary, but it’s definitely a user interface that works well with the Realme 7 series hardware.
The interface is also customizable and Realme offers directly customized icons for many well-known apps. Another positive point I noticed is the frequency of system updates. During my testing, both devices were updated to a new version of Realme UI about 4-5 times, whether it was for new features of the OS or to bring the latest Google security patch to the device.
Performance
The performance of the Realme 7 and 7 Pro are commensurate with the price. The Helio G95 chip of the Realme 7 is even very little inferior to the Snapdragon 720G of the Realme 7 Pro. This can also be seen in the benchmark results of both phones. Based on these values, the Realme 7 Pro is about 15% more powerful than the Realme 7.
Geekbench Score Realme 7
Geekbench Score Realme 7 Pro
Of course, the 720G or Helio G95 can’t keep up with a Snapdragon 865, like in the OnePlus 8 Pro. However, the Realme 7 series also plays in a completely different price range, for which it delivers stable performance, though. The Realme 7 felt smoother to me at times, despite the weaker chip. I personally suspect that this is due to the Realme 7’s 120 Hz display, however, which can make scrolling and general user interface navigation feel smoother.
Occasionally, though, you may still experience some slight user interface stuttering on both devices. It most often occurs when trying to navigate through the various menus very quickly or switching between many apps. Most users will most likely not notice this since it only occurs very rarely and under heavy load. I was positively surprised by the fast loading times of apps and multitasking with many apps open at the same time thanks to the generous amount of available working memory.
Camera
Both the Realme 7 and the Realme 7 Pro feature a quad camera on the back. This consists in each case of a main sensor, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2-MP macro camera and a 2-MP depth sensor. On the back, the two devices only differ in terms of the main sensor. The Realme 7 has a 48 MP sensor with a size of 1/2 inch, and the Realme 7 Pro has a 64 MP sensor with a size of 1/1.7 inch. Both sensors have the same pixel size of 0.8 µm. The Realme 7 has a 16 MP selfie camera in the punchhole on the front. On the Realme 7 Pro, on the other hand, there is a front camera with 32 MP.
Realme 7
The main sensors on both phones produce usable photos. However, on the Realme 7, I noticed that photos taken at the standard 12-megapixel resolution lacked some sharpness on larger screens. However, this is not noticeable on the smartphone’s display itself or on social media platforms like Instagram. You can also select the 48 MP mode in the Realme 7’s camera app, which makes the photos even sharper with good exposure. This is good if you plan to enlarge the captured pictures. For example, if you want to create a photo book of your vacation. The Realme 7 Pro, on the other hand, shoots with 16 megapixels by default. The resulting photos still looked sharp to me, even on a PC. Nevertheless, you can also take pictures in the full sensor resolution of 64 megapixels here with a dedicated mode.
Image gallery Realme 7
Realme 7: Weg
Realme 7: Herbstlicher Park
Realme 7: Laub im Park
Realme 7: Bild vom Realme 7 Pro
Image gallery Realme 7 Pro
Realme 7 Pro: Weg
Realme 7 Pro: Park
Realme 7 Pro: Foto vom OnePlus 8 Pro
Realme 7 Pro: Wiese
The selfie cameras, which are embedded in a punchhole on the front of both phones, bring out a lot of detail. Realme has opted for a 16 MP selfie camera on the 7 and 32 MP on the 7 Pro. Thus, the Realme 7 series is one of the larger caliber smartphones in terms of front cameras. Thanks to the same pixel size as the sensors on the back, or even larger (1 µm) in the Realme 7, they are able to capture a lot of light. Personally, I even have to say that the selfies of the Realme 7 Pro are more detailed than those of my OnePlus 8 Pro, which is almost three times as expensive.
Realme 7 Pro
In addition to the main sensor, there are three other cameras on the back, which are identical on the Realme 7 and 7 Pro. The ultra-wide-angle camera is good for capturing photos of large buildings or a wide landscape. With a resolution of 8 MP, the pictures are still sharp enough for social media. Otherwise, the ultra-wide-angle camera is nothing breathtaking, but a solid addition to the main camera. A depth sensor is also present on the back and enables portrait shots with a bokeh effect. The last camera of the array is a macro camera. This is unfortunately only a gimmick and not really usable. With a resolution of 2 MP, the pictures unfortunately look correspondingly bad. This camera was probably only integrated to be able to advertise with a quad camera. In my opinion, this should have simply been left out, since it cannot be used seriously anyway, and the money should rather be invested elsewhere.
In addition to the various ways to take photos, the Realme 7 series supports videos in up to 4K at 30 fps, as well as slow motion recording. All of this is supported by electronic image stabilization, which provides for smoother footage during motion.
Battery
The battery life of both devices is outstandingly good. The Realme 7 Pro has a 4500 mAh battery and its smaller brother, the Realme 7, even has a 5000 mAh battery installed. With these extremely large batteries and Realme UI’s strict battery optimization, the Realme 7 series is well prepared for long video streaming or gaming sessions and you don’t have to worry about the battery. With medium usage, I got just under 2 days with the Realme 7 without having to charge the device. It does not look much worse with the Realme 7 Pro. With this I also always came at least over a day, often also on circa 1.5 days runtime.
.
The Realme 7 Pro can fast charge at 65 watts
In addition to the sheer size of their batteries, the two devices in the Realme 7 series also offer fast-charging. The Realme 7 can be charged at 30 watts and the Realme 7 Pro at a full 65 watts, allowing it to be fully charged in just over 30 minutes. With this speed, the Realme 7 Pro plays in the very highest class, where even the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra “only” supports a maximum speed of 45 watts. In general, everything related to the battery and charging is one of the more interesting features of the Realme 7 series.
Value for money
With a price of 200 euros (current:
€ 119.99
) for the Realme 7 and 300 euros (current:
€ 210.45
) for the Realme 7 Pro, the Realme 7 series is at the lower end of the price spectrum. This is particularly interesting since a lot has happened here in the last few years in terms of price-performance. Thus, these inexpensive smartphones basically offer everything that the average user expects nowadays. A decent camera that continues to deliver usable snapshots even in dark scenarios, enough power to ensure a decent experience without any great limitations, good battery life and fast charging, as well as an appealing looking overall package with a nice display and enough memory for your own photos, music and videos.
Realme 7 (bottom) and Realme 7 Pro (top)
The Realme 7 and Realme 7 Pro fall exactly into this category. Where I would generally call the Realme 7 the cheaper choice of the two devices. So some decisions were made at Realme regarding the differences between the two devices that I can’t quite understand. The Realme 7 has a 120 Hz LCD screen and thus twice the refresh rate compared to the 60 Hz AMOLED display of the Realme 7 Pro. Of course, AMOLED is superior to LCD, but I find that the two screens are relatively on par with the LCD variant due to the higher refresh rate. The situation is similar for the battery. The Realme 7 has a 5000 mAh battery, while the bigger brother only has a 500 mAh smaller 4500 mAh battery. The faster charging of the Realme 7 Pro makes up for this difference in the end, but the Pro model is first subject to the standard variant here as well. In the same vein, I find that the difference in performance of the two chosen chips of about 15% does not justify the significantly higher price of the Realme 7 Pro.
It seems to me that the case here is that Realme gave the 7 Pro a few promotional features, like the 65 watt fast charge, to generate even more media attention for the Realme 7 series. Instead, I think they could have rather improved the overall package a bit, for example by adding a slightly stronger chip to increase the future viability of the device. Apparently, however, Realme has already thought of that, as they have now also released the Realme 7 5G, which is equipped with the Mediatek Dimensity 800U and is priced between the Realme 7 and 7 Pro.
Despite these comments, the Realme 7 Pro’s value for money is not bad at all either, if you keep the price of 300 euros in mind. The camera of the Realme 7 Pro is impressive and is able to keep up in many situations even with, for example, a still significantly more expensive Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro.
Summary
Price performance was definitely a priority that Realme hit with the 7 series. With these phones, Realme also fits into one of the currently most sought-after price segments of the smartphone industry in Europe and Germany. With their experience in this segment already gained in other markets over the past few years, they are well on their way to similar success here in Germany. The Realme 7 series is a well-rounded lineup of phones at an appealing price. Anyone looking for a device that delivers all the basics you’d expect from a smartphone and can do without some high-tech gimmicks, like wireless charging, will be happy with a phone from the Realme 7 series. The Realme 7 in particular, with an MSRP of under €200, offers exceptional value for money in this regard.
Realme 7 Serie
Workmanship and design
Hardware
Software
Performance
Camera
Battery
Value for money
88/100
A well-done lineup of budget smartphones that offer a stable user experience and also have a few exciting features. There is still some room for improvement, but otherwise, I can recommend the Realme 7 series to anyone who is looking for a smartphone in the lower price segment.
I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.
Alongside other brands such as Xiaomi or Honor, Realme now also wants to make a name for itself on the German market for solid budget smartphones. Outside the EU, Realme has already been active since 2018 and has now launched five generations of smartphones. The Oppo subsidiary celebrated its debut in Germany in March 2020 with the Realme 6 series. In this review, I will take a look at the successor, the Realme 7 series.
Workmanship and Design Realme 7 Pro in Mirror Silver color
The Realme 7 and 7 Pro both feature a plastic back and frame. The back comes in the so-called „Mirror Design“. Here, the surface is divided into two sections that refract light in different ways. This creates a boundary surface that acts like a mirror – hence the name „Mirror Design.“
Although the cases of both devices are made of plastic, they feel more valuable than the price would...
No replies yet
Neue Antworten laden...
Mitglied
Beteilige dich an der Diskussion in der Basic Tutorials Community →