It’s no secret that the budget phone market is saturated. Yet sometimes interesting devices come out, with a good price-quality ratio. The Realme 7 Pro may be such a device. In any case, it has some nice features, such as an OLED screen.
Realme 7 Pro
MSRP from € 299, –
Colors Blue
OS Android 10 (Realme UI)
Screen 6.4 inch OLED (2400 x 1080, 60 Hz)
Processor Snapdragon 720G
RAM 8 GB
Storage 128 GB
Battery 4500 mAh
Camera 64, 8, 2 and 2 megapixels (rear), 32 megapixels (front)
Connectivity 4G (LTE), Bluetooth 5.1, WiFi, GPS, NFC
Weight 182 grams
Other In-display fingerprint scanner, micro SD card slot
Website www.realme.com/eu/ 8 Score 80 
- Pros
- OLED screen
- Main camera
- Battery and charging
- Negatives
- Plastic shell
- Other cameras
- 60 Hertz
Of course, cheaper smartphones don’t have to look cheap. However, the Realme 7 Pro is sending mixed signals. The front may well have a nice large OLED screen, but there is also a fairly thick chin. In addition, the casing is made of plastic that attracts fingerprints very quickly. This is not surprising in this segment, but it is something you should be aware of. The back has been given a separate stripe, creating a cool dividing and futuristic effect when the light shines on it.
On the right we find the power button, while on the left are the volume buttons. This allows you to operate the device comfortably with one hand. At the bottom is a USB-C port, along with the beloved headphone jack and a single speaker. Especially that headphone jack is important. If we look at the target group (people who do not have to or cannot buy the most expensive of the most expensive), we can imagine that they also have traditional headphones. The rectangular camera module has its sensors in an L-shape, while the selfie camera is in the screen at the front. There is also a neatly concealed in-display fingerprint scanner.
Great performance
The first impression is mostly positive, but how does the Realme 7 Pro function? Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor, intended for midrange smartphones. That processor is also present in other smartphones within this segment and simply delivers excellent performance. Our review model has version 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. Despite the fact that we do not have to deal with new standards in the field of memory (this device contains UFS 2.1), we come to the conclusion that the Realme 7 Pro delivers excellent performance for daily use. Calling, emailing and WhatsApp are all no problem.
You can quickly switch between apps, open large files and scroll fine through all kinds of website pages, without the system hiccups. You can run into problems when you want to play games. Graphically heavier games, such as PUBG Mobile, do not run optimally, but are happily playable. Fortunately, less heavy titles are no problem. The battery, with a capacity of 4500 mAh, can be charged very quickly thanks to 65-watt fast charging. It takes about 40 minutes to fully charge the device. And with relatively heavy use (as in: constant emailing, checking socials and reading news), the battery lasts for a day and a half or sometimes two days. That is more than fine at this price point and gives the smartphone a lot of value.
Probably the Realme 7 Pro has one of the best displays of the moment, if we only look at competing models. The super OLED screen is 6.4 inches in size and has a maximum resolution of 2400 by 1080 pixels. The maximum brightness is 600 nits, so you can still see what you are doing in well-lit environments. We do not often see that smartphones at this price point are equipped with an OLED screen, so that is a big advantage. OLED screens have a much nicer color reproduction, while black is really black and white is really white. The only drawback is that there is only a screen refresh of 60 Hertz, while many competitors – and even its own predecessor – have 90 or even 120 Hertz.
Four camera sensors
There are four camera sensors in the rectangular camera module on the back. The main sensor has 64 megapixels, the ultra-wide sensor has eight megapixels and the depth sensor has two megapixels. The fourth sensor also has two megapixels and is intended for macro photography. You can shoot videos in a maximum of 4k at 30 frames per second (fps), 1080p at 120 fps or 720p at 960 fps. The selfie camera at the front shoots pictures in up to 32 megapixels and makes videos in 1080p at 30 fps. With that, the Realme 7 Pro is in any case on paper not inferior to other devices in this segment. What you could miss is a telephoto lens, which is again on its predecessor.
In general, the photo quality is of a good level. We are mainly talking about photos taken with the main sensor. The device captures a lot of detail and can reproduce colors lifelike in many cases. You may sometimes notice some saturation in the colors, but fortunately it is not an exaggerated effect. Unfortunately, the other lenses do not offer the same quality. For example, the ultra-wide camera quickly reaches its limits, so that you soon encounter photos that are a bit grainy and less colorful. Many details are also omitted. Zooming in is not recommended, because this is done completely digitally (due to the lack of a telephoto lens, that is). Photos you take during the day are the best quality photos.
When you are busy in the evening or in a somewhat dark environment, it is striking how quickly the quality plummets. On the phone itself it still looks neat, but on a computer screen you notice that this is not the strongest quality of the Realme 7 Pro. The macro camera is another part that surprises. You can take beautiful close-up images of all kinds of objects, which are colorful and sharp. The latter also applies to the selfie camera. Photos you take are sharp and colorful, but turn off the ‘improvements’. Then you notice that the front camera can handle the one in front of the camera much better.
Software and other functions
Despite the fact that Android 11 has been available for months now, many devices are still released with Android 10 on board. We also see that with the Realme 7 Pro. That is not a big problem, but it is always a big advantage if you have the most recent software on your phone – that seems obvious to us. On top of Android, however, Realme delivers its own software shell, which is comparable to that of other Chinese manufacturers. In this case, you will be dealing with the Realme UI, version 1.0. This system is based on the ColorOS from Oppo (a sister company of Realme), where personalization is of paramount importance.
In many cases you can decide for yourself what the software of your smartphone looks like. For example, you can adjust the icons of apps, change the layout of the quick menu and, for example, add or remove an app drawer. If you get the device at home, be sure to take the time to set everything up according to your own wishes, because a lot is possible. Also nice to see is the dark mode, which makes all white system elements black. This is not only easier on the eyes (both during the day and in the evening), but also better for the battery. Furthermore, it is cool to see that Realme also offers experimental features. For example, you can activate smooth scrolling, making content move much more smoothly over the image. It simulates a screen with a higher refresh rate, but in this case this is controlled by software.
In the meantime, Realme is working on the Android 11 upgrade, so it is coming anyway. In terms of security updates, you shouldn’t expect much, since the most recent patch is September 5, 2020 at the time of writing. So there is still room for improvement there.
Another important part of the Realme 7 Pro is the audio. At the beginning of the review it says that there is a single speaker on the bottom and that is correct. But there is also a speaker in the earpiece at the top, so you can play stereo sound. In principle, this is fine if you do not expect too much from the sound reproduction. The device is also too thin for really good audio. You can also choose to connect headphones or play music via bluetooth. There is support for aac, aptX HD and ldac, so you can use all kinds of wireless speakers and headsets of different types and get the most out of them. The sound that is played through headphones – wireless or wired – fortunately sounds full, warm and detailed.
Realme 7 Pro – conclusion
As mentioned, it is quite busy in this part of the smartphone market. Within the segment of devices under 300 euros, the suggested retail price is 299.99 euros, there are more than enough options. The Realme 7 Pro can be a good option for you if you want a phone with an OLED screen, a long battery life (and a battery that charges quickly) and a good main camera that can handle all kinds of situations. In addition, the headphones are a very nice addition. It is also good to see that there is a micro-SD card slot and good to know that the in-display fingerprint scanner works nice and smooth.
It is a shame to see that the device does not have a telephoto lens and does not offer a high refresh rate. If you are looking for a similar device, you can also take a look at the regular version of the Realme 7, which does offer a higher refresh rate. And otherwise, for example, the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite can be a good choice, which is also able to offer a lot for a price of under 300 euros. That device also has its own disadvantages, of course, as you can read in the review, but there is a somewhat faster processor.
If you don’t think the regular version of the Realme 7 is good enough and you don’t want to make too many concessions with the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite, then you can still consider the OnePlus Nord. This device is a bit more expensive than the Realme 7 Pro, but also offers an OLED screen and excellent software. However, the cameras are not your thing and the battery is also somewhat smaller, but that device does have a nice OLED screen and a nice faster processor in the form of the Snapdragon 765G.
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