Realme 7 Pro Review: Solid Mid-Range Smartphones With Two Compromises

We have seen lots of changes in the mid-range segment in the last few years, as the boundaries with the higher segment are blurring. The competition between brands led to a shorter product launch cycle, and new upgrades were introduced one after another. We have seen mid-range phones with thin bezels, high-end cameras, and now, we see a super fast charging technology inside a mid-range smartphone, the Realme 7 Pro.

We all know, the battery technology on smartphones has yet to find a breakthrough and the only way to boost battery life is to increase the capacity of the battery, but that will certainly increase the size of the device. Fast charging becomes the most likely alternative. If you can not use your smartphone for longer, at least make it less painful to wait to fully charge the phone. And it seems Realme has created a new trend, when this is the first smartphone in the Rs. 20,000 segment equipped with 65W SuperDart fast charging technology, which can fully charge a 4,500 mAh battery in just 34 minutes.

The Realme 7 Pro price in India is Rs. 19,999 for the 6GB + 128GB model and Rs. 21,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model.

Realme 7 Pro review: Design

One interesting thing about Realme's smartphones is that the rear design between models never looks the same with each other. If Realme 6 Pro creates a strong visual effect with lightning-like stripes and gradient effects when changing the viewing angle, the Realme 7 Pro has a simpler back. It has a subtle, yet eye-catching color that shifts from blue to purple to black, depending on the angle you hold. 

Are you surprised about the fact that the back of the Realme 7 Pro is made of plastic? I didn’t realize that until I held the phone in my hand. Not only it looks premium, but it also feels good in hands as all of the corners and edges have been nicely polished.

The main camera cluster of Realme 7 Pro also sees a big change, when the company has finally switched to the new trend. The rectangular module houses 4 cameras, most notably the appearance of the Sony IMX682 64MP sensor, next to an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2MP depth-sensing camera, and a 2MP macro camera. Like many other smartphones with the same camera placement, the camera cluster of the Realme 7 Pro protrudes quite a bit, so users should consider using a case to avoid scratches.

Realme 7 Pro review: Display

Except for the lack of a high refresh rate, the Realme 7 Pro's display almost satisfies all the important factors in display quality. Its Super AMOLED panel has excellent color reproduction with deep blacks and punchy colours. 

However, the outdoor visibility of the Realme 7 Pro is not really impressive, the brightness just enough for outdoor use. However, you will struggle using the phone under direct sunlight.

Realme 7 Pro review: Performance

In terms of performance, the Realme 7 Pro version in the Indian market is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor, which is a popular name in the mid-range segment. The chipset is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory. Measured with AnTuTu Benchmark, Realme 7 Pro achieved a score of over 2,89,000 points. This hardware configuration is enough for most daily tasks, but obviously the performance of the Realme 7 Pro will be inferior to some of its rivals like the Poco X3 or Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite, which are either equipped with a Snapdragon 732G or 730G chip.

In popular games, like most mid-range smartphones, Realme 7 Pro users will have to sacrifice some graphics options for a smoother gaming experience. For example, in PUBG Mobile, we have to lower the graphics settings to get a smooth gaming session.

Realme 7 Pro review: Cameras

As mentioned, the brand has chosen a different camera placement on the Realme 7 Pro. In comparison to its predecessor Realme 6 Pro, the 7 Pro has a somewhat worse camera setup. It doesn’t have a telephoto lens like its predecessor, and the front ultra-wide camera is also no longer available.

Instead, Realme packs a 64MP main camera, along with a 2MP macro lens, a 2MP portrait camera, and an 8MP ultra-wide camera. Meanwhile, there is only one camera on the front for selfies with a 32MP resolution.

Photos taken by the main camera are great, with a sufficient amount of detail and accurate colors. Realme certainly did a much better job at balancing the colour science compared to the vanilla Realme 7. In addition, I did notice noise reduction, but not that much. You will see a significant drop in the image quality when switching to the 8MP ultra-wide camera. 

Without a telephoto lens, the Realme 7 Pro only supports digital zoom in comparison to 2x optical zoom of the Realme 6 Pro. The 64MP resolution is useful but there are still some downsides. Photos look decent but appear to be oversharpened. 

Low-light photos are decent, but you can easily see that they have much poorer details. It gets worse when you zoom in as you will notice aggressive sharpening and noise reduction.

Realme 7 Pro review: Battery

The biggest improvement on the Realme 7 Pro over the 6 Pro is battery, especially the fast charging technology. Its 4,500mAh battery is a decent step up from the 4,300mAh cell on the 6 Pro. I mostly used the phone for checking emails, phone calls, surfing the web, and social media. With all those tasks, the handset managed to last around a day and a half before I had to charge it.

Obviously, if your usage is a bit more intense, like gaming, the battery life will certainly drop. Even that, you can quickly recharge the phone with the massive 65W fast charging technology. It takes just around half an hour to get from 0 to 90 percent and less than 10 more minutes to reach 100 percent.

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