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Interface and reliability
- Smooth, bug-free interface
- No app drawer
As might be expected coming from Realme, the X2 Pro hasn't just inherited charging tech from Oppo, but an interface too.
We have Oppo's particular flavor of the Android interface, called ColorOS and based on Android 9. It is of that classic design aesthetic 'inspired' by iOS, which is to say it is a blatant clone.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing however, as it means the manufacturer hasn't found the time to pack in the usual host of solutions searching for problems.
There is no app drawer, swipes from the left to right are the name of the game. Going to the left reveals a 'shelf' like area, in which various semi-useful widgets are stored. Going to the right reveals the home of apps once they are installed, falling into place and into infinity.
The user has the option to navigate solely by gestures, or by using the button interface - we found the latter to be a simpler proposition. The ability to choose here is a pleasant addition, however.
Generally, we found that swiping through the interface was silky smooth, with the feel of speed helped especially by the high refresh rate screen and souped-up silicon inside.
We didn't find any bugs or crashes either, ours was a very stable experience, though we cannot speak as to whether that might be the experience of every user.
Some parts of the interface may take a while to get used to (such as the packed Settings menu), however the Realme X2 Pro is generally a pleasure to use.
Movies, music and gaming
- Good stereo speakers
- Enough power for any game
- Great screen for movies and other content
With a large battery, surround sound speakers, a big luxurious screen and a headphone jack, the Realme X2 Pro is a champ when it comes to content consumption.
The powerful Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset means that there isn't a game on the market it can't play at the highest detail settings, while the high refresh rate of the screen means that supported titles will be a little smoother to play.
With HDR support and a high maximum brightness, watching movies on public transport is a relative blast, and the large power pack means it will likely survive a long haul flight.
Lastly, the stereo speakers pump out rich balanced audio with a lot of volume, while the headphone jack means an end to annoying Bluetooth connectivity issues and dead wireless earphone batteries.
Performance and benchmarks
- Snapdragon 855 Plus and up to 12GB of RAM offer top performance
- High benchmark scores
The Realme X2 Pro has the most powerful chipset available from Qualcomm at the time of writing, buried inside its shell.
The Snapdragon 855 Plus is a slightly overclocked version of the popular 855 chipset, with a tweaked GPU for better performance over the original.
Backed up with an absurd 12GB of RAM at the top end and a massive storage allocation (of up to 256GB), there isn't much in the Android ecosystem which can faze the Realme X2 Pro.
Running the Geekbench 4 test, it achieved a single core score of 3,264 and a multi-core score of 9,236. This is high, but it's not at the upper end of what it's possible to achieve today, with phones from Apple, Samsung, Sony, Huawei, OnePlus, Oppo and more all reaching five figures in the multi-core scores.
Beyond benchmarks, and as inferred, what this will mean for you is PUBG at maximum settings, played without issue.
