Realme GT 2 Pro review

Two-minute review

Realme usually wades in the cheaper, more budget-friendly phone market, but with the GT 2 Pro, the company is dipping its toes in the premium space; and this genuine flagship device is a good first effort. 

While it doesn't offer every single feature you could want in a phone, the essentials shine enough that the price tag of $750 / £700 / around AU$1,100 seems reasonable.

Undercutting rivals like those within the Samsung Galaxy S22 and iPhone 13 range, the Realme GT 2 Pro can stand its ground among the big hitters. 

Physically, the GT 2 Pro looks good, with a unique textured back that feels like paper even though it’s made of plastic. The pastel green shade is also fun, even though the designer’s (Naoto Fukasawa) signature detracts from its physical appeal a little. 

Snappy performance, courtesy of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, means you get a fast and fairly clean Android experience. Gaming, streaming, and browsing all look good on the flat 1440p panel, which has refresh rates from 1 to 120Hz.

The 6.7-inch 2K WQHD+ display is pretty bright too, with the ability to achieve an impressive 1,400 nits when needed. 

The camera has a number of different modes, with a 50MP main camera sensor that does its job well. But we're not sold on the Realme GT 2 Pro's zoom capabilities, which produce pictures that are fairly grainy. The microscope mode, on the other hand, will amuse you to no end.

There's no wireless charging here, alas, but the Realme GT 2 Pro's 5,000mAh battery is pretty good. Fast charging support means you'll be back to 100% in just 30 minutes or so. 

Other useful features include facial recognition and a fingerprint sensor built into the display, which work quickly and effectively nine times out of ten.

Competently designed in a multitude of ways, the Realme GT 2 Pro is a fantastic first effort for flagship performance from Realme. The Realme GT 2 Pro packs a lot into a relatively affordable package.

Realme GT 2 Pro price and availability

• Available now in the US, UK and Australia
• Retails at $750 / £700 / around AU$1,100
• Three color choices

The Realme GT 2 Pro is available for $750 / £700 / around AU$1,100, depending on your location. It's available direct from Realme as well as from many third-party retailers. 

The phone can be purchased in one of three color schemes: Steel Black, Paper Green, or Paper White. With Steel Black, you don’t get the paper-style texture of the other two. 

You can choose between 128GB or 256GB of storage.

Design

• Plastic body
• Textured-paper feeling
• No IP rating

The Realme GT 2 Pro has a sizable display, but is still compact enough for smaller hands to grip. With measurements of 163.2 x 74.7 x 8.2 mm, the phone is basically of standard size. Weighing 189g, the GT2 Pro is not really hefty either.

We had the Paper Green model for our review, and we suspect this version is probably the best of the bunch. The pastel green is very light and delicate, and the textured surface on the back of the phone feels a little like paper, making the grip comfortable. As mentioned before, the Steel Black option doesn’t have the textured back and it seems to us that the Paper White model would stain a little too easily.

On the back of the phone is a three-lens camera system, a rectangular set-up, off to the side. Next to that region is Fukasawa's signature, which we feel the phone could do without but depending on the person, might give the phone a premium touch.

On the front, the selfie camera lens unobtrusively sits on the top left corner of the display. The standard combo of volume rocker and power button surround the edges, while at the bottom is the SIM card slot and a USB-C port. Don't count on a headphone jack here.

The nicest part about the Realme GT 2 Pro's design is its fingerprint reader. It's built into the display so you can easily access it. 

The downsides? No IP rating so you won't want this phone anywhere near water - and you can't use the Realme GT 2 Pro with a Qi-charging pad.

Display

• 6.7-inch AMOLED display
• 1440 x 3216 resolution
• 120Hz refresh rate

The Realme GT 2 Pro's display is, as expected, high-end. Offering a high resolution, the 2K screen looks fantastic. It offers 1,400 nits peak brightness along with LTPO 2.0 technology, which means it can move between refresh rates. 

Able to go up to 120Hz refresh rate means you get silky smooth performance, even if you're dipping into a fast-paced session of Call of Duty Mobile. 

The Realme GT 2 Pro display looks pretty good no matter if you’re streaming or browsing under an overcast or cloudless, bright sky. The display is sharp, with vibrant colors, which is expected from an OLED display.

Camera

• 50MP + 50MP + 3MP rear camera
• 32MP selfie camera
• Varied software functionality

On the surface, the Realme GT 2 Pro cameras seem fairly standard. The phone has three lenses on the back, including its main 50MP camera, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 3MP 40x microscopic lens. On the front is a 32MP selfie camera.

How the GT 2 Pro uses those lenses is what makes the phone stand out. The ultra-wide-angle lens achieves 150 degrees of snapping, and the resulting images look great, capturing plenty of detail. You might be missing a telescopic lens, but you're going to end up taking a whole lot of wide-angle shots. 

Similarly, the 40x microscopic camera is the lens you never realized you needed. With a tiny bit of practice, you'll find yourself taking photos of all kinds of material and things, just to see how things look when you can really zoom into it.

In everyday use, you'll probably stick with the main 50MP camera, but it's nice to show off from time to time. 

An array of options are at your disposal, including a starry mode, street photography, 50MP mode, and a night mode that's reasonably competent. 

For the most part, colors are accurate, vibrant, and images are detailed. The only obvious failing here is that the digital zoom is pretty poor. Images with this mode come out looking pretty grainy.

Camera samples

Image 1 of 10

Specs and performance

• Powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
• 128GB or 256GB of storage
• Snappy performance

The Realme GT 2 Pro performed well in our tests. Using Geekbench 5, the Realme GT 2 Pro achieved a single-core score of 1,244. Comprehensively speaking, that score beats the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra's score of 924. 

Multi-core performance comes in at 3,724 - again beating the Galaxy S21 Ultra's 3,085. Compute scores are slightly lower, at 6,010, compared to the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus's 6,990. 

However, all you really need to know here is that the Realme GT 2 Pro is fast. Loading up Call of Duty Mobile was speedy and general use of the phone makes multitasking a breeze.

This is a fast phone, however you plan on using it. 

The Realme GT 2 Pro comes with Android 12 installed as standard along with the Realme UI overlay. A few apps are already installed like Tik Tok, LinkedIn and other social media apps, but as a whole, it's fairly clean and bloat-free. 

For a relatively pure Android experience, the Realme GT 2 Pro is it.

Battery life

• 5,000mAh battery
• No wireless charging support
• Fast charging

The Realme GT 2 Pro has a 5,000mAh battery and a plethora of features that mean it lasts a long time. That mileage will vary depending on what you're doing throughout the day but, ultimately, this is a phone that will last, even during a heavy duty day. 

On those occasions when you do need to recharge, Realme's 65W SuperDart Charge means you can get back up to 100% in only 30 minutes. Shame about the lack of wireless charging support, though.

Should you buy the Realme GT 2 Pro?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

First reviewed: March 2022