There’s a reason why Realme has become one of the top smartphone brands in the Philippines in just over two years. The brand has been consistent since the beginning in offering bang-for-the-buck devices to the Filipino consumer. And, one of its newest releases this 2020, the Realme 7 Pro, stays true to this tradition.
The Realme 7 Pro arrives with specs and features that can rival pricey flagship and midrange phones from other brands. It’s also a gorgeous phone that looks like it costs way more than its sub-P20,000 price tag. One of the 7 Pro’s highlight features is its 65W SuperDart fast charging capability. But that’s not all this phone has to offer.
Here we reviewed the Realme 7 Pro. We put to test this device to see its performance in terms of processing, display, battery, camera, and so much more. Let’s see if it meets our expectations–or even o beyond them.
Design & Construction
The Realme 7 Pro is a head-turner with its beautiful rear cover, sporting the mirror space design. The polycarbonate back produces a gorgeous light effect when moved or viewed from different angles. Our test unit came in the Mirror Silver colorway, which is unexpectedly nice to look at. The other variant is in Mirror Blue–a little more professional-looking, in our opinion. There are only a few elements at the rear: the camera module at the top part and the small realme branding at the bottom–both on the left side of the phone. The rear camera protrudes from the back, but only slightly. It’s best to get your hands on some cases so as not to scratch it easily. There’s a free jelly case that comes with the device out of the box if you’re not too fussy. Plus, a case can minimize the smudges on the phone.
Flip to the front and the large screen greets. It’s nice that this phone already uses a hole-punch cut-out for the front camera. Users can enjoy a large screen with minimal bezels and very tiny interruptions. Just at the top of the screen at the center is the call speaker (also functions as a secondary loudspeaker).
The right side houses the power button. The volume keys and the sim card tray are both on the left side. At the top of the device is the secondary noise-canceling microphone. Meanwhile, the bottom part shows the 3.5mm audio jack, USB C port, the primary mic, and the main loudspeaker.
In terms of feel, the 7 exudes the premium vibe that can be seen on phones with twice the price. This phone is also slim to hold despite the big screen size. Although one-hand use is still a bit difficult if you have small hands. It has the heft that makes it feel solid to hold. No need to worry too much that it might be a flimsy phone.
Display & Multimedia
The Realme 7 Pro uses a Super AMOLED panel–we’re guessing to replace the 90Hz feature that is available on the base model. While the 90Hz refresh rate is a good thing to have, especially for gamers, the Super AMOLED screen still wows on its own. Because of it, the display became one of our favorite things on this device.
The colors are vibrant and the blacks are deep, which perfect for those who love to watch movies and TV series all the time. Out of the box, the display setting is already great. However, if you want to improve, the phone allows you to make adjustments according to your needs. There’s also an AI-powered feature called the OSIE Vision Effect. It enhances accordingly the colors and quality of the display depending on the apps you use. One thing that users need to get used to is the punch-hole; sometimes it can be mistaken as dirt on the screen and can distract you from what you’re doing.
The audio on this phone is also great. While a wired audio connection is still the best way to enjoy music and other content, the loudspeakers are good too. Remember there are two loudspeakers on this device, one that the top and one at the bottom. Aside from giving clear sound, the configuration makes the listening more immersive especially when the phone is on landscape mode.
Camera
Another highlight feature of the Realme 7 Pro is its powerful cameras. At the back, the primary shooter is a quad-camera setup with a 64MP Sony IMX682 F18 main sensor. The other cameras in the system are an 8MP ultra-wide shooter with an F2.3 aperture; a 2MP monochrome with an F2.4 aperture, and a 2MP macro sensor with an F2.4 aperture. In front, a 32MP selfie shooter is available.
The images captured by the shooters have great detail and high quality. The colors are vibrant and the dynamic range is also good. The built-in camera app offers a lot of features to enhance your shots. There’s the Dazzle AI color for better colors on the pictures. Meanwhile, the Pro mode utilizes the 64MP lens fully. The night mode–both for the front and rear camera–also wows in performance. Even in low light, the images come out sharp and with considerably less noise. To really take advantage of the powerful shooters, download the Google Cam (via APK)–a special trick we like to do.
The front shooter s also impressive. There seems to be some skin smoothening applied even when the beauty mode is turned off. The output photos are all sharp and have natural colors. For videos, this phone can record up to 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps. A bonus feature is the Ultra Steady Mode, which is great if you like to shoot content or vlogs.
Here are sample shots from the phone:
Performance
The 7 Pro comes powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G chipset and an Adreno 618 GPU. It also has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which is still expandable via microSD (there’s a dedicated slot for this in the SIM card tray). With that internals, the Realme 7 Pro was able to handle even the most intensive games. Call of Duty, PUBG, and even Asphalt 8 all run smoothly with minimal to no lag at all–even in the highest graphics settings. Genshin Impact also loads swiftly and without any issues. Of course, running various apps and programs simultaneously is also not a problem.
Here are the scores we got after running a few benchmark apps on the Realme 7 Pro:
- AnTutu – 287,785
- Geekbench – 571 (single-core), 1783 (multi-core)
- PCMark – 10,250 (Work 2.0)
A big feature on this smartphone is its 4500mAh battery with 65W SuperDart fast charging capability. And it works! Charging from zero to 20% can be done in less than 10 minutes. Fully charging the phone from zero to 100% can be done in less than an hour. A great feature if you are always in a hurry and on the go.
Out of the box, the Realme 7 Pro runs Android 10 out of the box. It has the Realme UI skin, which is clean and easily customizable. Using it is intuitive as the functions and features are easy to navigate. A few cool features to try are the Smart Sidebar, riding Mode, Screen-Off Display, and of course the system-wide Dark Mode. There’s also Game Space to optimize the phone’s performance when playing intensive games. For security, the in-display fingerprint sensor is accurate and fast enough. The face recognition is good too.
Here are the complete specs of the Realme 7 Pro:
| Realme 7 Pro | |
| OS | Realme UI (Android 10) |
| Display | 6.4-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2400) Super AMOLED, 409ppi, Cornig Gorilla Glass |
| CPU | Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor |
| GPU | Adreno 618 |
| Memory | 8GB LPDDR4x RAM |
| Storage | 128GB UF 2.1, microSD |
| Rear camera | 64MP Sony IMX682 F1.8 main + 8MP F2.3 ultra-wide + 2MP F2.4 macro + 2MP F2.4 portrait |
| Front camera | 32MP in-display |
| Connectivity | Dual SIM, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, USB C |
| Sensors | GPS, A-GPS, BDS, GLONASS NavIC, in-displaynfingerprint scanner |
| Battery | 4500mAh battery, 65W SuperDart fast charging |
| Dimensions | 160.9 x 74.3 x 8.7mm |
| Weight | 182g |
| Colors | Mirror Blue, Mirror Silver |
Verdict
With an SRP of P17,990, the Realme 7 Pro offers impressive specs and features. The overall performance is great–from the cameras to the battery and the computing experience. This device also looks great and feels solid to hold. If you have the budget, the Realme 7 Pro is worth the buy–you won’t even need to spend on flagship devices twice or three time the price.
