Introduction and specs
Last year the original Realme GT 5G didn't get a Pro version, so the vanilla had to carry the burden of being the company's top-end smartphone. This year, however, the Pro is marketed as the brand's "most premium flagship ever" while the vanilla Realme GT2 is the flagship killer of sorts.
Most of the hardware and features from the GT2 Pro trickled down to the standard GT2 offering a similar user experience while asking €200 less. Sure, it misses the LTPO2 display and "settles" for a Snapdragon 888 SoC instead, but we would argue that Qualcomm's flagship chip for 2021 will be more than enough for the vast majority of users. The chip can handle pretty much everything you throw at it anyway.
Although the ultrawide and the macro camera are downgraded, the proper GT2 retains the excellent Sony IMX766 50MP sensor as a primary. We were more than satisfied with the picture quality of the GT2 Pro, so we already know what to expect. The selfie camera's resolution has also been reduced to 16MP but that doesn't necessarily mean quality is going to be worse.
Realme GT2 specs at a glance:
- Body: 162.9x75.8x8.6mm, 195g; Gorilla Glass 5 front, plastic frame, bio-bsed polymer or glass back.
- Display: 6.62" AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1300 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 398ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm): Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680; Adreno 660.
- Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
- OS/Software: Android 12, Realme UI 3.0.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 119˚; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, 26mm (wide), 1/3", 1.0µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 65W, 100% in 33 min (advertised).
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC.
Additionally, the Realme GT2 borrows the same design (the Paper color options included), storage and memory configurations, loudspeakers, battery and charging. We expect practically similar screen quality even if it's not LTPO2. The advertised 120Hz AMOLED panel with 1,300 nits of peak brightness is impressive on its own.
We refrain from forming a verdict from the very beginning, but the GT2 shapes up to be the more sensible solution of the two handsets given the similar user experience and the big price gap. That's probably true for some users, though, so keep on reading to find out what corners Realme had to cut to fit in the €550 price bracket. It may not be as much as it seems.
Unboxing the Realme GT2
The handset comes in a standard box with the usual user manuals and the appropriate 65W charger along with a USB-C to USB-A cable for data transfers and charging.
There's also a neat silicone case that feels a lot better than your ordinary transparent cases that usually OEMs ship with their devices. It's prone to smudges but feels nice and looks nice.
Design, build and ergonomics
Aside from the slightly differentiating dimensions and weight, the Realme GT2 and GT2 Pro share almost identical chassis. The GT2 Paper-like options are 5 grams heavier than their GT2 Pro counterparts, while the smaller display has resulted in a slightly shorter GT2 as well. Interestingly, it's 0.4mm thicker than the Pro and is also almost a millimeter wider, probably due to the bezels.
Speaking of, the GT2 carries visibly thicker bezels all around. It's particularly noticeable in the bottom and side parts of the frame. The punch-holes for the selfie cameras appear to be identical.
There are some small differences in the camera island as well. The vanilla GT2 has a narrower camera piece and the 50MP OIS inscription placed between the main and the ultrawide lenses. The two-tone LED flashes are replaced with a cool and a warm LEDs.
This time around, we got the Paper Green color, which isn't limited to just one or two memory configurations. It's available in all flavors as opposed to the previous Realme GT 5G, which had the vegan leather edition reserved for the higher tiers. The Paper White and Paper Green phones are made of bio-based polymer, leaving 35.5% less carbon footprint, but Realme doesn't specify compared to what. Perhaps the OEM refers to the standard materials used for smartphones, such as plastic and glass.
The company has worked with the Saudi Arabian firm Sabic to come up with a paper-like texture, hence the color names. Realme once again worked with Naoto Fukusawa, the designer who helped make the GT Master series last year. That's why you get the laser-engraved signature of the designer.
The surface itself indeed feels like paper, but we couldn't get over the notion of plastic. It's definitely lighter than glass and takes away that premium feel you usually get from a proper flagship phone. However, there are some upsides to this. In case you are not a fan of it, Realme also offers the Steel Black iteration with frosted AG glass with a smooth finish.
First, scratches would be less noticeable on a non-shiny surface. Secondly, the material provides a superior grip compared to glass and smooth plastic. And thirdly, the fingerprints and smudges are no longer an issue here. So for some, the not-so-premium-feel could be a reasonable trade-off given the advantages of the polymer. The non-designer Steel Black and the Titanium Blue variants retain the smooth AG glass build if you prefer how it feels to touch.
Going around the sides, we see the plastic frame, and the back plate seamlessly transitions into the oval side frame with no protrusions or ridges. The glass panel's transition on the front isn't as smooth as on the Pro model, though.
You can easily see the antenna cutouts all around the frame, as the phone incorporates a 360-degree antenna design, which Realme is really proud of. But instead of calling it an Antenna Array Matrix System like on the GT2 Pro, Realme calls it HyperSmart Antenna Switching here. Which is essentially the same thing in our book - a smart software dynamically switches between the 11 antennas placed around the device.
Unfortunately, the WiFi and 360-degree NFC features aren't available on the GT2. We found the latter to be particularly useful.
Realme GT2
Realme went for two separate volume buttons instead as opposed to the volume rocker on the Pro for some reason. Aside from that, there's nothing else out of the ordinary around the frame. We have the power button on the right, which is a tad higher but still within thumb's reach. The bottom houses a dual SIM card slot, the USB-C connector and the bottom-firing speaker.
And while we are on the topic of positioning, we can't get over the fact that Realme messed up the fingerprint reader placement this time around. The GT2 Pro had it right, whereas the vanilla has it too close to the bottom edge requiring some awkward finger gymnastics. Especially if you have a bit longer fingers, or thumbs, for that matter. It could be due to the different display, or it could be some other limitation. Still rather strange to see the huge difference in placement on both handsets.
Thanks to its lightweight back, the Paper White and the Paper Green variants weigh in at just 194 grams (add 5g for the glass options), and thickness is just 8.2mm. All that camera hardware gives the handset that distinct top-heavy feel, yet the GT2 Pro doesn't feel hefty at all. It's not too shabby for a 6.62-inch device.
Overall, we liked the design, and we applaud Realme's effort of offering something different in the sea of glass sandwiches. Although the sub-premium feel of the texture may not be to everyone's taste, it does have its positive traits. And one could argue that it's more suitable for the €550 GT2 than the pricier €750 GT2 Pro.
120Hz OLED with an off-centered selfie camera
The regular Realme GT2 skips the LTPO2 panel and instead "settles" for a standard OLED display, which is nothing short of capable, though. It offers a standard 1080 x 2400px resolution similar to the GT2 Pro diagonal of 6.62". Of course, the screen can go up to 120Hz, but since it's no LTPO, it can only do either 60 or 120Hz. More on that later.
The company also claims HDR10+ support, and we found it to work in the native YouTube app, but since the device hasn't been whitelisted by Netflix at the time of writing this review, we can't confirm that it's supported there as well. Going by past releases and the DRM info app, the Widevine L1 digital certificate is present, so there's a big reason to believe that the GT2 will support Netflix's streaming features to the fullest.
Testing the screen's brightness returned great results. With manual control over brightness, the display can reach 516 nits while in automatic brightness control, the display peaks at 846 nits. That's really close to the Realme GT2 Pro, although it's far from the advertised 1,300 nits of peak brightness. Perhaps at a much lower APL (say, white letters on black background), the screen will be able to get close to that 1,300 nits mark.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 482 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 778 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 517 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 846 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 792 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 385 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 516 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 837 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 498 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 798 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 443 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 650 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 450 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 821 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 468 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 782 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 1214 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 506 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 1050 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 504 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 925 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 494 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 896 | ∞ | |
Anyway, mid-800 nits of brightness are more than enough for comfortable content viewing outdoors, even on a bright sunny day. It's also bright enough to challenge considerably pricier phones. So despite the GT2 not having an LTPO panel, the standard one here is of high quality with no corner-cutting.
Color accuracy is also good as long as you use the Natural color preset. As always, the whites and grays are leaning towards that typical blue-ish hue. The Natural color preset brings the average dE2000 to just 1.3, with whites and grays being really close to natural.
HRR control
Without granular HRR control, Realme says the system can choose between 30, 60, 90 and 120Hz refresh rates, depending on the scenario. The software offers three modes - 60Hz, 120Hz and Auto Select. They are all pretty self-explanatory. Unfortunately, in Auto Select mode, we didn't see 30 or 90Hz at any point. The system will always prioritize 120Hz in almost all apps and in every system menu except when you are watching a full-screen video. In this case, the refresh rate is toned down to 60Hz to save power. We also noticed 60Hz when you bring out the keyboard and start typing. You don't really need more than 60Hz when watching videos on YouTube, Netflix or with the default video player in the Gallery app. If you are not interacting with the display, the software chooses 60Hz.
Sadly, like all Realme's we've tested so far, the GT2 can't go beyond 60Hz even in games we know 60fps+ is supported. So don't expect high refresh rate gaming.
Battery life
The two Realme GT2s share the same battery capacity of 5,000 mAh, but the difference in the OLED panel technology and chipsets should bear different battery results in our tests. Despite the slightly lower overall rating of the GT2 (115h vs. 117h), the screen-on tests, which are arguably the more important aspect of a phone's battery life, are considerably higher on the standard GT2. The video playback is slightly above 22 hours, whereas web browsing go us more than 18 hours. Those are impressive results for a phone running a flagship SoC.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. More details can be found here.
However, the subpar 3G talk times and the about average standby scores reduce the overall rating to 115 hours. Which, in turn, is still a solid result, especially compared to some of the competing solutions. It's also a significant leap over the previous Realme GT 5G generation.
Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test done at the display's highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage patterns check out our all-time battery test results chart where you can also find all phones we've tested.
Charging speed
The Realme GT2 and the GT2 Pro share the same spec - up to 65W and also use the same 5,000 mAh battery. The advertised charging times are equal - 33 minutes to full charge from a dead battery. Out tests partially confirmed that. It seems that both devices get to 100% in 33 minutes, but about 7 more minutes are needed to reach the "fully charged" status.
30min charging test (from 0%)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 11T Pro
100% - Realme GT2
97% - Realme GT2 Pro
91% - Realme GT 5G (65W)
87% - Xiaomi 11T
86% - Samsung Galaxy S22+ (45W)
64% - Samsung Galaxy S22+ (25W)
62% - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
51%
Time to full charge (from 0%)
Lower is better
- Xiaomi 11T Pro
0:21h - Realme GT 5G (65W)
0:39h - Realme GT2 Pro
0:40h - Realme GT2
0:40h - Xiaomi 11T
0:41h - Samsung Galaxy S22+ (45W)
1:01h - Samsung Galaxy S22+ (25W)
1:02h - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
1:15h
Interestingly enough, the GT2 and the GT2 Pro have slightly different charging curves. The former, for example, gets to 97% in 30 minutes while the Pro reaches 91% in 30 minutes. It could be due to statistical error, but the final charging times seem to be in line, so it could be something else. There might be temperatures or other hardware factors involved. Either way, those charging times are impressive, and Realme continues to front-run most of its rivals in terms of charging speed.
Speakers
Despite being the cheaper version of the two, the vanilla GT2 doesn't miss on a good pair of stereo loudspeakers. The setup is the usual one - a bottom-firing speaker and one that doubles as an earpiece at the top. As a result, the top speaker isn't as loud as the bottom one and that's to be expected. The overall loudness is almost the same as on the GT2 Pro, -26.8 LUFS, suggesting that Realme used the same speakers. We expected a bit louder speakers, to be honest.
Quality-wise, the setup isn't particularly impressive, although it's more than decent given the price bracket. Vocals are clear, highs are punchy enough, and there's a considerable amount of bass. To our surprise, there's little distortion at higher volumes, which is nice.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Realme UI 3.0 and Android 12
Realme UI 3.0 is a familiar OS running on top of Android 12. Most of the features we saw in the GT2 Pro are available here as well, except those that require some specific hardware. And since the GT2 and the GT2 Pro are pretty similar to each other, there's little to no difference in the software as well.
Visually, the OS hasn't changed much. Realme UI has a colorful UI with customizable UI elements and its own iconography for the notification shade and the general Settings menu. The app drawer hasn't been tweaked either, but we did notice a bit of inconsistency with the swipe up and swipe down gestures on the Home screen when opening/closing the drawer. A small annoyance that shouldn't bother most users.
Home screen, recent apps, notification shade, Settings menu
Realme also kept the so-called Icon pull-down gesture. Swiping alongside the left or right edge of the screen crams icons at the bottom half of the screen so they can be easily reached with your thumb. The gesture is pretty reliable as well. By default, the swipe down gesture on the Home screen opens up the so-called global search, but you can always set the notification shade instead.
Icon pull-down gesture
When it comes to Android 12-specific features, most of them are under-the-hood changes. However, the privacy-focused efforts from Google are translated into Realme UI 3.0. The so-called Privacy dashboard is one example. It's a unified view for all your permissions and user data settings. It gives you information on which apps and how often they access your information or ask for certain permissions. It looks and feels like the Digital wellbeing dashboard introduced with Android 10.
Privacy dashboard settings
In addition to those privacy features, Android 12 lets you choose the accuracy of your location shared with certain apps. Let's say you want to share an approximate location with some apps instead of your exact location. And when a certain app is accessing your mic or camera, a green dot will appear in the upper-right corner of the screen so you'd know what's going on.
For a more in-depth look at Android 12, we suggest reading our full Android 12 review as we will try to focus on the Realme UI itself in the following paragraphs.
As before, Realme UI offers deep customization of the interface by letting you choose accent colors (or a combination of accent colors), wallpapers, icons, the shape of the quick toggles as well as the font and size. All of these settings are found in the Personalization sub-menu.
Personalization options
The Dark mode isn't a new feature, especially for Realme's UI, but with the second iteration of the OS, you get some additional options. Scheduling the Dark mode is possible, of course, and forcing it on third-party apps is also available. However, we were surprised by the color schemes, as the Dark mode now offers three variations - dark gray instead of black and a bit lighter gray. The gray color has been proven to be just as effective as the pitch-black color when it comes to energy consumption. So going for a lighter gray might be a sweet spot for users that are hesitant to use the conventional Dark mode.
The Always-on display customizations aren't left out. You can customize it to your liking or choose from the default presets. Scheduling is also an option.
Always-on display
Under the Special features sub-menu, Realme put the Smart sidebar and Flexible windows features, both of which boost multitasking. When turned on, the sidebar offers quick access to some of your favorite apps. The system allows you to adjust the position of the sidebar, which is crucial because it might interfere with the back gesture if you are using the standard Android gestures. Anyway, tap and hold on an app icon enters split-screen mode while a single tap opens up the app in a floating window or as Realme likes to call it, "Flexible window". The supported apps can be opened in small, draggable and size-adjustable windows.
Smart Sidebar and Floating window
A few good words about the vibration motor - it seems to be improved upon as the haptic feedback feels precise, punchy and strong. It feels great alongside the whole frame of the phone when typing or during certain actions when navigating through menus and apps.
The good old screen-off gestures that allow you to launch certain apps or the flashlight by drawing letters on a locked screen are here to stay.
Screen-off gestures
In the Realme labs, where the company likes to introduce experimental features, there's one that caught our eye. You can stream music to a Bluetooth headset and wired headphones simultaneously. Pretty neat if you are traveling with a friend and want to listen to the same tunes.
Advanced fingerprint reader features
Lastly, let's talk about the fingerprint reader. It's fast, it's accurate and reliable. This one seems to be at the right spot. Two new features are now available with the fingerprint reader, though. One of them is the built-in heart rate monitor, which seems to be rather okay in terms of accuracy in the user's resting state, but it's largely inconsistent also. A Quick launch option is now available and seems to be taken straight from OnePlus' OxygenOS. You just tap on the fingerprint scanner and hold until icons for your pre-defined apps appear. Dragging your finger on one of them launches the app in question.
All in all, though, the Realme UI 3.0 looks snappy, offers some new features and looks and feels the same as the previous iteration of the software, for better or worse. It's also highly customizable, and that's something a lot of Android users are looking for. Bonus points for that.
Synthetic and sustained performance
Being the cheaper option of the two, the vanilla GT2 uses last year's top-tier SoC from Qualcomm, which arguably is a better solution from price/performance standpoint. Sure, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is one powerful chip with substantial performance gain over its predecessor, but it's hardly justified for the vast majority of users. The Snapdragon 888 chipset is capable of serious number crunching and can run pretty much everything you throw at it.
The SD 888 is built on the 5nm manufacturing process by Samsung and uses an octa-core CPU. The latter consists of 1x 2.84 GHz Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) core + 3x 2.42 GHz Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) cores + 4x 1.80 GHz Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55) cores. The Adreno 660 GPU clocked at 840 MHz takes care of the graphically-intensive tasks.
The Realme GT2 comes in three storage configurations as opposed to the GT2 Pro, that offers four flavors, one of which is is 512GB. The standard GT2's base configuration is 8GB/128GB, whereas the other two are 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB. Of course, all options use UFS 3.1 storage chips.
We ran the usual synthetic benchmarks to assess the implementation of the Snapdragon 888 and how it fares against other similarly-priced alternatives.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 12
3652 - OnePlus 9
3629 - Realme GT 5G
3555 - Samsung Galaxy S22+ (Max processing)
3542 - Samsung Galaxy S22+
3528 - Realme GT2 Pro
3501 - Realme GT2
3487 - Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
3476 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
3049 - Xiaomi 11T
2834
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Realme GT2 Pro
1238 - Xiaomi 12
1187 - Samsung Galaxy S22+
1165 - Realme GT 5G
1139 - Realme GT2
1131 - OnePlus 9
1129 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
1096 - Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
1091 - Samsung Galaxy S22+ (Max processing)
1037 - Xiaomi 11T
742
AnTuTu 9
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 12
985115 - Realme GT2 Pro
966251 - Samsung Galaxy S22+
886916 - Realme GT2
810512 - Realme GT 5G
810433 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
719696 - Xiaomi 11T
590837
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 12
9535 - Realme GT2 Pro
9487 - Samsung Galaxy S22+
7405 - Realme GT2
5879 - Realme GT 5G
5872 - Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
5757 - OnePlus 9
5667 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
5432 - Xiaomi 11T
4172
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 12
75 - Samsung Galaxy S22+
68 - OnePlus 9
58 - Realme GT2
56 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
56 - Realme GT 5G
55 - Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
54 - Realme GT2 Pro
48 - Xiaomi 11T
40
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Realme GT2 Pro
95 - Xiaomi 12
84 - Samsung Galaxy S22+
76 - OnePlus 9
70 - Realme GT2
68 - Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
66 - Realme GT 5G
65 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
57 - Xiaomi 11T
47
GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Realme GT2 Pro
46 - Xiaomi 12
45 - Samsung Galaxy S22+
34 - Realme GT2
30 - OnePlus 9
30 - Realme GT 5G
29 - Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
26 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
25 - Xiaomi 11T
20
GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 12
59 - Samsung Galaxy S22+
51 - OnePlus 9
43 - Realme GT2 Pro
39 - Realme GT2
38 - Realme GT 5G
38 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
38 - Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
37 - Xiaomi 11T
29
The Snapdragon 888 inside the Realme GT2 performs as expected with no serious deviations from other SD 888-powered phones. It's also right up there with the best-performing SoCs in the industry trailing only the Exynos 2200 chip from Samsung and this year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. In some instances, like the CPU-bound workloads, last year's Exynos 2100 is doing better, too.
Note that in the onscreen GPU tests or combined workloads like AnTuTu 9, the GT2 may post considerably higher results than other SD 888 handsets and current SD8 Gen 1 smartphones because of the lower 1080p resolution, while premium flagships with 1440p displays struggle to reach the same frames per second.
Sustained performance
The Realme GT2 Pro proved to be an excellent performer during long and heavy workloads thanks to its 9-layer cooling design. The GT2, on the other hand, uses an 8-layer cooling design, and the company doesn't specify which layer has been left out. Either way, the standard cooling solution for the devices includes a stainless steel vapor chamber with 36,761 mm2 cooling surface area and is 26% larger than the one used in the previous Realme GT series. There's also a diamond thermal gel with 50-60% better thermal conductivity than standard thermal pastes. The stainless steel chamber has been complemented with an additional copper alloy layer. Once again, one of those components or an unnamed one is missing from the vanilla GT2.
However, the results from our stress test are more than promising. The hour-long CPU throttle test showed a relatively flat curve and the system maintained about 90% of the maximum CPU performance for most of the time. In fact, there was a brief drop to 81% before returning back to the 90% zone. That's an outstanding result for a powerful flagship, and it's close to what we got on the GT2 Pro with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
CPU throttle test: 30 mins • 60 mins
We also didn't find the phone's back all that hot. The side frame was sensibly warmer, but the back remained adequately warm without causing discomfort.
3DMark Wild Life stress test
The 20-minute, GPU-heavy Wild Life Unlimited Stress test returned a good score as well - 68.7% stability with a relatively gradual decline in performance from loop to loop.
The usual triple-camera setup on the back
The Realme GT2 uses a familiar triple-camera configuration - an ultrawide and macro camera winging the main one. The latter is borrowed from the GT2 Pro and uses Sony's IMX766 50MP, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, f/1.8 shooter and offers OIS and multi-directional PDAF.
Behind the ultrawide, f/2.2 lens sits the popular and affordable 8MP, 1/4.0", 1.12µm sensor, which is a bit of a let-down because Realme's upper mid-range solutions are overdue for an ultrawide camera upgrade. For the macro shots, we have the same fixed-autofocus 2MP, f/2.4 camera from before.
There's no change in the selfie camera from last year's GT 5G. The 16MP, 1/3.0", 1.0µm sensor is paired with an f/2.5 aperture.
Camera menus
Realme's overhauled software didn't reach the default camera app as it looks exactly the same as before. Swiping left or right switches between the usual camera modes while the "More" section accommodates the secondary modes, including the Expert. The latter gives you granular control over ISO, exposure, focus, white balance and shutter speed.
In the standard Photo mode, you will find an AI toggle for a boost in colors, HDR control, three toggles for the ultrawide, main and 2x zoom.
Camera menus
The so-called expert mode gives you full control over focus, ISO, shutter speed, white balance and exposure. Strangely, the ultrawide toggle is located in the top black bar over the viewfinder, and since it doesn't support autofocus, there's no way to use the manual focus function as well.
Daylight samples
Main camera
Given that the GT2 and the GT2 Pro share the same 50MP sensor as a primary camera, it's no surprise that the overall rendition is similar but nearly identical. There may be some slight deviations due to the difference in ISPs, but we weren't able to find any. This, in turn, means that the GT2 produces excellent photos with a wide dynamic range, good sharpness and plenty of fine detail, even in the shadows.
12.5MP daylight samples
Going inside with the camera reduces sharpness by a little and increases noise, but that's perfectly normal. It's good to see the fine detail being preserved indoors, though. Color rendition is also comparable, so you will be getting conservative and close to natural colors, and in case you are a fan of punchier colors, turn on the AI toggle at the top of the viewfinder.
12.5MP daylight samples
Of course, Realme gives you the option to shoot in the full 50MP resolution, but that won't give you many benefits aside from more detail. The full-resolution samples are noisier and considerably softer.
50MP daylight samples
2x zoom
Understandably, the 2x zoom photos are also nearly identical to the ones taken with the GT2 Pro. We suspect that the software crops the center of the binned 12.5MP photos and upscales them back to 12.5MP resulting in reduced sharpness and increased noise. While the absence of a proper telephoto camera on the GT2 Pro was a big deal, we can't really say it should be considered as a con on the standard GT2 due to its price bracket.
2x zoom daylight samples
Even though the overall quality isn't on par with real 2x telephoto units, it's good enough for social media posting. The overall rendition is quite similar to the main camera's standard shots.
Ultrawide camera
We weren't expecting the same level of sharpness and detail as we got out of the 50MP sensor on the GT2 Pro, but the 8MP shooter here just doesn't cut it. Even in this price range, the quality is unacceptable. The sensor is notorious for its low level of detail, lack of sharpness and narrow dynamic range. Colors are downright anemic, and noise starts to creep with the slightest drop in ambient light. It's evident from some of the photos with buildings and other subjects that the software adds artificial sharpness, but it's not enough.
Ultrawide daylight samples
Macro camera
The infamous 2MP macro sensor is once again taking care of the close-up shots. Due to its fixed focus distance of 4cm and lack of autofocus, shooting moving objects is nearly impossible. Colors are washed out, contrast is low and fine detail isn't great due to the low resolution. Sharpness is good, though, as long as you get the focusing distance right.
Macro samples
Low-light
Main camera
Just like during the day, the GT2 at night provides the same exact rendition as the Pro. That means you will be getting solid nighttime performance even without resorting to Night mode. Images appear to be sharp with plenty of detail in the highlights and shadows. That speaks of great dynamic range, and shadows are well-developed. You can tell by the highlights that the HDR kicks in. We also noticed that it doesn't take much time to stack the frames and takes shots quite fast.
Low-light main camera
Noise is hard to find across the whole frame, while color reproduction and contrast are spot on. Well, some may find them not punchy enough, but they are pretty close to natural, we assure you. You can always flick the AI toggle for more saturation.
With the Night mode turned on, you will be getting a tad brighter shadows without going over the top and a tad more detail. Sharpness and colors don't change much. Good thing the Night mode isn't all that aggressive and retains the natural feel of the photos.
Night mode main camera
2x zoom
Don't waste your time trying Night mode with 2x zoom, it makes photos a lot worse. The good news is that the standard Photo mode produces usable images. Naturally, it has a similar rendition to the non-zoomed pictures, but sharpness drops and noise increases by a bit. Still rather good results here.
Low-light 2x zoom: Normal • Night mode
Ultrawide camera
Expectedly, the ultrawide camera struggles to deliver decent enough nighttime samples. All of the photos appear as if they are out of focus with low contrast, no detail, narrow dynamic range and absolutely no sharpness. The Night mode improves the dynamic range but can't do anything about the soft nature of the ultrawide shots.
Low-light ultrawide: Normal • Night mode
Once you are done with the real-life examples, take a look at our Photo compare tool for some pixel-peeping and see how the Realme GT2 Pro fares against the competition.
Realme GT2 vs. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE and the Xiaomi 11T Pro in our Photo compare tool
Portraits
The dedicated Portrait mode doesn't produce the sharpest photos around, but it gets the job done. The faux bokeh effect is pretty good; it may struggle with some foreground objects, but color reproduction is natural and there is enough fine detail in optimal lighting conditions.
Portrait samples
Selfies
The selfie quality is unsatisfactory. The lighting conditions have to be perfect, so the selfies would look good aside from Colors and dynamic range as probably the only things going for the selfie cam. We had trouble selecting proper selfie samples as most of them were smudged. Noise can be seen even in good lighting conditions, and sharpness isn't great. The Portrait mode seems to be doing a good edge detection, though.
Selfies: Normal • Portrait
Video recording
Strangely, the GT2 misses on the 8K action, although the Snapdragon 888 and the 50MP primary sensor support the 4320p resolution. On the other hand, that's not a big miss because 8K recording quality isn't there yet, you need a proper TV to enjoy it and is still limited to 24fps. What we do miss is the action camera-like stabilization modern flagship, and upper mid-range phones offer.
The good news is that 4K footage is stabilized with EIS, and it looks pretty nice. Colors are close to natural, dynamic range is great, contrast is good, and there's plenty of detail across the whole frame.
As with stills, the ultrawide struggles with videos as well. The resolution is limited to 1080p, and the videos are soft, have limited dynamic range, and colors are somewhat bleak.
Once you are done with the real-life scenarios, take a look at our video compare tool to see how the Realme GT2 Pro stacks against the other phones we've reviewed.
2160p: Realme GT2 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE and the Xiaomi 11T Pro in our Video compare tool
Competition
As the Realme GT2 Pro takes the true flagship status, the GT2 needs to take on the "mainstream flagship" or the "flagship killer" role. And being priced at €550, it is indeed a capable handset with a good price/performance ratio. The Snapdragon 888 may be last year's story, but it's a powerful SoC, nonetheless. It's also paired with a proper 120Hz OLED panel, an excellent 50MP main camera with OIS and a big battery with fast charging.
Having an older chipset allows us to compare it with last year's top-tier models from other brands as well as devices from Realme's own portfolio. The Realme GT 5G, for example, is the direct predecessor of the GT2. That's why we see the former as an unorthodox alternative since we rarely consider the older generation to be a viable option.
Side by side, the two handsets are quite similar, hence why we think the overall user experience would be comparable. They both have the same chipset, similar displays (the GT2 has a bigger one), run the same OS, have the same memory options, comparable camera capabilities, the same fast charging solution and familiar-sounding loudspeakers.
Well, the GT2 does have a sensibly longer battery life and a tad better main camera but are those upgrades alone worth the extra €150? The GT 5G can currently be found for a little over €400, and that's actually a bargain.
Realme GT 5G • Realme GT2 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G • Xiaomi 11T Pro
While we are browsing the Realme portfolio, it's only logical to consider the Pro version. It's currently selling for €750, and despite not having a proper zoom solution, it's better than the GT2 in almost every aspect. It has we're talking SoC, camera performance, display. So it's really up to you to decide whether the upgrades in those departments are worthwhile.
With the homegrown competition out of the way, let's see what other brands have to offer. Samsung's own version of a flagship killer, the Galaxy S21 FE, seems like a pretty good deal. It's about €50 cheaper while having a clear advantage in the camera department with a much more capable ultrawide camera and a real 3x telephoto shooter. Additionally, it runs on the same Snapdragon 888 chipset (or similar Exynos 2100 SoC, depending on the market). There's no clear winner in the display department aside from the fact that the GT2 has a larger screen. The Galaxy S21 FE has better-sounding loudspeakers, wireless charging, reverse wireless charging and ingress protection - nice bonuses to have in the €500-600 price bracket.
Another last year's handset worthy of consideration is the Xiaomi 11T Pro, on of the OEM's flagship killers. This one is also roughly €50 cheaper with comparable hardware, and it's hard to define the clear winner in this comparison. The Xiaomi 11T Pro charges faster and carries a tad more capable camera hardware, some ingress protection and a more premium build with Gorilla Glass Victus. The GT2, on the other hand, has battery life and solid sustained performance on its side.
Verdict
The Realme GT2 is a well-balanced device. And we can get behind the idea of last year's Snapdragon 888. The GT2 has a nice screen, dependable battery life, blazing-fast charging, innovative design and solid main camera performance to complement the powerful SoC. While a better ultrawide camera and some nicer selfie quality would have been much appreciated, there's nothing inherently wrong with the Realme GT2.
The thing is, the GT2 doesn't excel in many aspects. The great Paper design isn't enough for it to stand out. And there are quite a few affordable flagships to choose from nowadays, most of which are even cheaper than the GT2. It's hard to argue with prices.
Pros
- Bright, 120Hz OLED panel.
- The Paper-like designs are a breath of fresh air.
- Solid main camera performance.
- Excellent battery life.
- Blazing-fast charging.
- Impressive sustained performance and low outer temperatures.
- Realme UI 3.0 is nice and runs on Android 12.
Cons
- No ingress protection of any kind.
- More premium materials could have been used for the build.
- No telephoto cam, and lackluster ultrawide and selfie performance.
- Most of the competitors are a tad cheaper.
- Marginal upgrade over its predecessor.
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