You’ve probably never seen a smartphone like the Realme GT 2 Pro before. It’s so unique, it’s hard to believe it’s coming from Realme, an Oppo spin-off that’s become notorious for launching phones – and other devices – on the fly, almost every other week now. We’re not talking just looks but about the overall approach to how Realme has gone about designing its “most premium flagship ever”.
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This phone has the guts to take on the Samsung Galaxy S22+, Motorola Edge 30 Pro, iQOO 9 Pro, and OnePlus 10 Pro. Where it really differentiates itself from peers is how pocket-friendly it is, literally and figuratively. Realme GT 2 Pro price in India starts at 49,999 for a version with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. A version with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage will set you back by Rs 57,999. It’s safe to say, that’s a lot of phone for a lot less money. Having spent some time with it, we can go out on a limb and say, this phone has a lot of potential. In fact, it won’t be surprising if it turns out to be this year’s dark horse.
The design is a bit polarising; we have to admit. Premium flagships like this are almost always associated with glass, even ceramic. Therefore, our brains are –also—tuned into believing that glass equals premium and everything else, plastic in particular, is not. Two of the variants of the GT 2 Pro called Paper White and Paper Green, have a plastic back, something that could spark a reaction or two from those who’re finicky about these things. For what it’s worth, Realme isn’t using your typical run-of-the-mill plastic in the GT 2 Pro.
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The back panel, here, is made out of a bio-polymer material that’s said to leave up to 35.5% less carbon footprint than competing devices. The texture is almost paper-like, which keeps smudges and fingerprints at bay while enhancing grip. Not to mention, it makes the phone slim and light. The outer frame is made of anodised aluminium giving the phone firm structural integrity. The power button is ridged, which is a nice touch.
Inside that sleek and light chassis lies some very powerful hardware including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. Now, the 8 Gen 1 isn’t easy to cool and things become even more complicated inside compact phones. Realme phones, generally, tend to squeeze more out the available hardware and the GT 2 Pro being a “GT” phone also comes with a dedicated GT mode to push the chip inside to its maximum potential, at least in theory. The difference is pretty evident be it in benchmarks or day-to-day performance. The GT 2 Pro performs faster in the GT mode.
It’s bound to get hot, especially when stressed, but Realme has packed some interesting 9-layer cooling tech inside this phone including a large stainless steel vapour chamber and diamond thermal gel that works as advertised, mostly. So even though things can get hot, every now and then, it doesn’t get toasty or anything. This is also limited mostly to the metal frame. The rest of the phone remains cool. There’s no perceptible throttling, too. But more on this in our full review.
The next big feature of the GT 2 Pro is its display. It has a 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED display (1-120Hz) with a 1440p or 2k resolution and hole punch cut-out. The screen can peak 1,400nits. There is Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection, too. Biometrics are handled by an in-screen fingerprint reader.
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Its camera system, also, is pretty impressive at least on paper. There are three cameras on the back headlined by a 50MP main (Sony IMX 766 sensor behind an optically stabilised lens), 50MP ultrawide-angle (Samsung JN1 sensor behind a 150-degree FOV lens), and another 40x micro-lens camera with autofocus. On the front, you get a 32MP camera.
Rounding off the package are a 5,000mAh battery with 65W fast wired charging, dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, and an antenna array matrix system for faster Wi-Fi, 5G, and NFC connectivity. The phone runs Android 12-based Realme UI 3.0 and is eligible to get three years of major OS and four years of security updates, Realme has confirmed.
Realme GT 2 Pro first impressions
The GT 2 Pro is no doubt Realme’s most ambitious product yet with high-end specs and pricing to match. This is Realme’s most expensive phone to date, as well. Being a premium flagship and all, it would have been nice had Realme also included an IP-rating and wireless charging—this would have actually made the GT 2 Pro a “real” no-compromise phone. but this is also Realme’s first attempt at making a high-end flagship and it is still undercutting a lot of the premium competition. So, props to that. The GT 2 Pro has our attention and we’re sure, it’s got you thinking, too. Watch this space for our full review of the Realme GT 2 Pro.