Realme X2 Pro review

Realme X2 Pro is a giant leap for Realme Mobiles making its entrance in the premium mid-range segment. It’s well designed and priced to be the company’s first flagship smartphone, taking on the likes of the OnePlus 7T and Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro.

It has a Full HD+ Super AMOLED 90Hz refresh rate screen, 64MP quad-camera setup, stereo surround sound speakers, a metal-glass sandwich design, a massive 4,000mAh battery, and more, and all for a starting price of Rs 29,999. What’s not to love?

However, a phone is more than a mere list of specifications as it also has to be usable, trustworthy, and dependable in our daily lives. Not to forget the equally capable competition that’s ready to pounce on this newcomer. But does it have what it takes to succeed? We find out.

Price and availability

• Starts at Rs 29,999 in India
• Realme X2 Pro Master Edition (12GB RAM / 256GB storage) at Rs 34,999

The Realme X2 Pro is available in Lunar White and Neptune Blue colours with the choice of 6GB of RAM / 64GB of storage, 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB options.

The base model starts at Rs 29,999 followed by Rs 32,999 for the 8GB/128GB option and Rs 33,999 for the maxed-out variant. Realme X2 Pro Master Edition with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage is priced at Rs 34,999.

Realme X2 Pro is available on Flipkart, Realme India store and soon with offline retailers.

Design

We received the Lunar White color variant of the Realme X2 Pro for review which looks a little like the Realme X but a whole lot different and is quite an eye-catcher.

It has this pearl-like gradient effect which changes color just slightly in the light. It isn’t excessive like some of the other gradient finishes marketed by other manufacturers and has certain decency about it that’s not in-your-face. This is a model that will be just as happy in a boardroom as sitting comfortably in your pocket.

The aluminum chassis and the glass on the front and back certainly feel solid enough, with little to no flex when pressure is applied. It weighs 199 grams and the balance is quite good too if slightly weighted towards the top. The slipperiness nature of the phone means that one-handed usage without a case isn’t a good idea.

Something slightly odd is the space where the glass meets the metal, where the edges are a little sharp, showing that there isn’t quite as much attention to detail as there may appear to be on the surface.

The top of the screen houses a small teardrop notch that is easy to disregard, and a USB-C port is welcome and present on the bottom.

Those looking to expand the storage will be out of luck, as the X2 Pro lacks a microSD card slot. At the higher storage configurations, this will likely not matter, but for those with the 64GB version, it is certainly an important consideration.

In sum, though there isn’t much to distinguish the X2 Pro from the competition, neither is there any cause for concern. Certainly, the included case should be slapped on immediately, however, this is a necessity for any modern glass sandwich. For a first stab at ‘premium’, in the mid-range, this is a solid effort, and Realme should be commended for its work.

Display

The screen measures 6.5 inches diagonally, and as this might suggest, in addition to the slipperiness, one-handed usage is best attempted by those who have large hands. The display uses a Super AMOLED panel with Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. The display is certified for HDR10+ playback and supports a 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut range.

The screen gets bright enough as it is rated for 1000 nits maximum brightness and has decent legibility in sharp sunlight. There are two colour modes for users to choose from, Vivid and Gentle. The Vivid colour mode is based on DCI-P3 colour range while the Gentle mode represents sRGB colours.

The colour reproduction isn’t bad, but the panel seems to have an unrealistic representation of elements and scenes in the Vivid mode. The screen protector is unpleasantly plastic and can make the feel of the device a little cheaper than the price tag might suggest.

Overall, the screen on the Realme X2 Pro may not match up with the best in the market but is more than enough to compete with the competition at this price point.

Camera

Another major highlight of the Realme X2 Pro is its quad-camera system which provides a great deal of versatility to a casual photographer.

The primary camera uses a Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 64MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture in a quad-bayer arrangement. This means that ‘normal’ photos are produced at 16MP, in daylight and low light.

The sensor is capable of reproducing images at 64MP with the dedicated ‘64MP’ mode and the results are astonishingly detailed when taken in a good light.

As for the general performance, there is no cause for complaint. Images are colorful and have a decent representation of detail, however, we found a decent amount of grains in some pictures especially around the edges in the ultra-wide mode.

The HDR mode does a decent job of recovering detail from shadows, however, we found that ‘Chroma’ mode cooked colors a little too far for our liking. It does make for a boost in colour temperature, but in certain situations, images have only a passing resemblance to reality.

The 13MP, f/2.5 aperture telephoto lens performed adequately while the 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens left more than a little to be desired. As mentioned, some of the pictures came out to be smudgy with bland colours, so we wouldn’t recommend expecting too much from this particular aspect of the X2 Pro.

The quad-camera setup can take excellent images in well-lit conditions and the overall experience remains very positive. Having said that, the company needs to work on its image optimization algorithms and make it more efficient for night-time photography. Due to the lack of Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), when Night Mode is required, noise becomes king and details are all but lost.

It isn't a deal-breaker by any measure, however, it shows the weakness of the device when compared to the likes of the Google Pixel 3a, which is a better camera phone at almost the same price. But you lose out on the blazing fast performance that is delivered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus.

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