Realme 7 Pro Review: Almost A Perfect Midrange Phone

November 3, 2020

Today, I will be talking about the new Realme 7 Pro. I have used this phone for quite a time now. Actually, I had it as my secondary phone while I was testing the Realme 7 for review, and switched to the 7 Pro as my primary phone after it was done. Regardless, how is the Realme 7 pro in real-life use? Should you pay more for this or just get the regular Realme 7 instead? Let’s discover in this review of the Realme 7 Pro.

Realme 7 Pro Specifications:

Body: 6.33 x 2.93 x 0.34-inches, 182gm
Display: 6.4-inches Super AMOLED panel, Corning Gorilla Glass 3+, 60Hz Refresh Rate, 90.8% screen-to-body ratio, 411 PPI, Always-on Display (AoD)
Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G (8nm mobile platform)
CPU: Octa-core (2×2.3 GHz Kryo 465 Gold & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 465 Silver)
GPU: Adreno 618
RAM: 6/8GB LPDDR4x RAM
Storage: 128GB UFS 2.1 internal storage (expandable)
Software & UI: Realme UI 1.0 on top of Android 10
Rear Camera: Quad-camera;
– 64MP, f/1.8 Sony IMX682 primary lens
– 8MP, f/2.3 ultra-wide lens; 119° FOV
– 2MP, f/2.4 depth (BnW) sensor
– 2MP, f/2.4 macro sensor
– LED flash
Front Camera: 32MP, f/2.1 lens (punch-hole)
Security: In-display Fingerprint Scanner (optical)
Audio: 3.5mm headphone jack, Speakers
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS / A-GPS / Glonass / BDS / NavIC, USB Type-C, 4G LTE
Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass, Magnetic Induction
Battery: 4500mAh with 65W SuperDart Charge
Colors: Mirror Blue, Mirror Silver
Price in Nepal: N/A (not launched yet)

Realme 7 Pro Review:

Design

Ergonomic build and attractive design
A dual-tone color scheme at the back

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First off, the design of the Realme 7 Pro looks incredibly attractive, especially the Silver color variant that I have with me. The company has given up on the gradient finish this time and this dual-tone finish looks different and overall, nice.

I also have to give credit to Realme for nailing the ergonomics as well. The phone is pretty light-weight with good grip and it’s not bulky like the last-gen Realme 6 Pro or its closest competition – the POCO X3. The build here is not glass, but rather plastic so it can get scratch easily in long run. I for one, do not mind the plastic build, but glass would certainly have been better.

And one more thing, Realme 7 Pro is a well-built phone too. If you have read our review of the Realme 7, you may know that I had huge concerns regarding its build quality, but that’s not the case here with the 7 Pro.

Display

6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED panel
Corning Gorilla Glass 3+ protection
60Hz refresh rate, minimal punch-hole cutout

I also like the display quality of this device. It has good touch sensitivity and the color reproduction is fantastic as well.

Here you get a slightly smaller 6.4-inch AMOLED compared to the 6.6-inch IPS LCD panel on the Realme 6 Pro. It still retains the regular 60Hz refresh rate, but you guys know I would always go for a 60Hz AMOLED display over a 90Hz IPS one. Because of this, I don’t mind the tradeoff Realme has made on the 7 Pro.

Similarly, the punch hole cutout on the top is not obtrusive at all and is a lot better than the bulkier pill-shaped cutout we saw on its predecessor. This display can also get fairly bright, so all is well on the display front. And since this one’s an AMOLED screen, you get the fingerprint sensor baked inside the display itself which works perfectly most of the time. Moreover, it also comes with Always-on Display, so I couldn’t be happier about Realme 7 Pro’s display.

Well, although this panel is receiving a thumbs up in almost every aspect, I do have one little concern. It’s the fact that the display is only protected by Gorilla Glass 3+ while I think Realme should be at least offering Gorilla Glass 6. Matter of fact, that’s a direct downgrade from Realme 6 Pro that came with a tougher Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

Performance

Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G SoC (8nm)
6/8GB of LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB UFS 2.1 storage (expandable)

Onto the performance, after having used this phone for about a month, I am not particularly disappointed with it, nor am I too excited about it.

What I mean is, Realme 7 Pro is supposed to be an upgrade over the 6 Pro but still you get the same level of performance as it houses the exact same Snapdragon 720G chipset. Maybe they could have gone with the Snapdragon 732G, which Is slightly better, I don’t know.. but, the newer snapdragon 750G would have been really great. Maybe we will see that on the Realme 8 Pro.

Snapdragon 720G hasn’t particularly disappointed in terms of performance because, well, it is still a well-performing SoC that can handle a fair share of a load while being power efficient as well. I have not faced a single problem in my everyday use with this device. Normal tasks run flawlessly, apps open fast, and multitasking is a breeze – even with heavy apps.

Gaming

It’s only while gaming that I kind of wished the phone could do better and those were the times I wanted Realme 7 Pro to have a better processor. Yes, you can get a pretty smooth 35-40 fps gameplay under smooth graphics and ultra-frame rates in PUBG Mobile. But still, when it comes to gaming, I am greedy for a little bit more.

Other than PUBG, I played Call of Duty that can go upto “very high” graphics and “very high” frame rates and gives smooth gameplay. Also, other games like Asphalt 9, Infinity OPS, etc run very well on the phone.

Software & UI

Realme UI 1.0 on top of Android 10

Getting to the software, you are greeted with the Realme UI 1.0 on top of Android 10, and next month, it is scheduled to receive the Realme UI 2.0 update based on Android 11.

Realme has considerably worked well with the security updates too. At the time of writing this review, my unit of the Realme 7 Pro is running on September’s security patch which is not bad for a mid-range phone. Yet, there is always room for doing better in this regard I guess.

Cameras

Quad-cameras at the back
(64MP primary, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, 2MP depth)
32MP front-facing camera inside the punch-hole cutout

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Now, let’s move to the cameras. Realme 7 Pro has 4 cameras at the back and a 32MP sensor for selfies. Sadly the telephoto lens that we saw on the Realme 6 Pro has been replaced by a not so useful 2MP depth sensor, which is a big letdown if you ask me.

Anyways the 3 remaining lenses here are an upgrade. You get a new 64MP Sony IMX682 wide-angle sensor which btw every other midrange phone is using these days. Then there’s an 8MP ultra-wide lens and finally, a 2MP macro sensor.

Normal Images

About the images from the primary lens, I am quite happy about them, to be honest. Under a well-lit condition, they are detailed and have a good dynamic range.

Normal

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The best part is the colors in the pictures as they look very pleasing to the eye. Although you will instantly figure out that there is some color processing being done to make the images more popping.

Wideangle Images

Likewise, the wide-angle images have similar colors too, which is not the case with many other midrange phones I have tested so far.

Wideangle

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They are not as detailed as the primary camera but look good nonetheless.

Macro Images

Macro

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On the other hand, the macro images, like on most mid-range phones are pretty much useless.

vs POCO X3

And since I am also using the Poco X3 alongside Realme 7 Pro whose review should be out in a week’s time, I tested these 2 cameras as they use the same Sony sensor.

Normal Images

What I found was that the details on both devices were pretty much the same. However, Realme’s images are slightly punchier than Poco’s which is more noticeable in landscape images.

POCO X3 vs Realme 7 Pro - Normal

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So, if you make me choose, I would definitely go for Realme’s camera setup because its images have a better dynamic range and pleasing color scheme.

Portrait Images

I’m fond of Realme 7 Pro’s portrait images too.

Portrait

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The phone manages to make the sky look really good in portraits which is why I prefer Realme 7 Pro’s portraits over Poco X3’s.

vs POCO X3

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Also, the subject’s skin looks a little better on the 7 Pro.

Selfie Images

Moving on to the selfies, both Realme 7 Pro and Poco X3 have this unusual red tint in them. As a result, I am not a big fan of both of them.

Selfie

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But, the 7 Pro is capable of maintaining better background colors better than X3. In portrait selfies, both phones cannot manage good dynamic range and exposure in the background.

Nighttime Images

Nighttime images from the Poco X3 look slightly better as they have better details and natural-looking images while Realme saturates the pictures a bit more and is also inferior in detail.

POCO X3 vs Realme 7 Pro - Normal Nighttime

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There is also a dedicated Night mode on both phones, whose performance is neck-to-neck in regards to detail preservation and maintaining exposure.

POCO X3 vs Realme 7 Pro - Night Mode

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But again, Realme saturates the images here too making them look a bit more processed and unnatural. So, this is one area where Realme can do better with a software update.

Videos

For videos, like any other mid-range phone, the Realme 7 Pro too can go up to 4k 30fps. At this resolution too, the footage is stable enough. However, the dynamic range isn’t as good as the 1080P footages. Also, if you want higher fps then you have the option to shoot in 1080p 60 fps as well. Although it lacks EIS, it is fairly stable with a good dynamic range and colors.

So, it’s not wrong to conclude that the cameras on this phone work well. Yes, technically, the macro lens isn’t that useful and I would have loved a telephoto zoom lens instead. Still, the primary camera does a good job, so overall, I am happy with Realme 7 Pro’s cameras.

Battery

4500mAh battery with 65W SuperDart fast charging

Extending my happiness is the phone’s battery life. It has a 4500mAh cell, which I know isn’t a sizable upgrade from the 6 Pro. But with a more energy-efficient Super AMOLED panel and a 60 Hz display, it delivered a slightly better endurance than that of the Realme 6 Pro.

Not to forget the fact that it is coupled with a whopping 65-watt SuperDart fast charging support that fills up the device in no time. With this, you have to be a little worried about the phone’s battery health over the years, as a faster charging mechanism degrades the battery a-bit quicker.

Audio

3.5mm headphone jack, stereo speakers

Additionally, the speakers on Realme 7 Pro give a stereo output which sounds very impressive – on paper. But in reality, they are not that good. I mean, it can get loud and the audio is fairly balanced, yet they kind of lack depth. It’s more than fine for casual listening and audio from the headphones sounds good enough too.

Conclusion

So, is the Realme 7 pro worth spending your money on? Well, yes, considering it almost ticks all the boxes of a good value for money smartphone. It is definitely better than the Realme 7 because of its superior build, AMOLED display, and better thermals.

However, call me a little greedy, but I think Realme could have made slightly better choices with the specifications. For instance, giving up on the 65-watt charging to put a better chipset would have been a wiser choice considering faster-charging tech can degrade the battery health in the long run and you know the last generation 30W charging is still very fast.

Or, instead of a better chipset, maybe the company could have given a 90Hz screen instead. I mean, imagine, if a 90Hz AMOLED screen came for Realme 7 Pro’s price, that would really make it stand out.