The Good and Bad of a Flagship Killer

Affordable flagship phones are still a thing, with devices like the Galaxy S24 FE and OnePlus 12R offering a ton of horsepower and plenty of features for the price. However, it’s starting to look like the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor could seriously shake up the “flagship killer” landscape. Qualcomm already confirmed that this chip is more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, but that hasn’t stopped realme from launching a Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered affordable flagship phone in the form of the realme GT7 Pro.

Does this new phone make for a great flagship killer, or are fans paying a steep price for more performance? Let’s find out.

One of the realme GT7 Pro’s major selling points is the aforementioned Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which is poised to be the biggest upgrade for flagship Android phones in quite some time. Unfortunately, my initial hands-on with the realme GT7 Pro revealed that the phone was a bit of a mess, to put it mildly.

I was initially unable to complete GPU stress tests because the phone got so hot that it actually closed the benchmark app. However, I was able to complete these tests with a disguised version of the app, while a disguised version of GeekBench 6 yielded much lower CPU scores. This was strong evidence of benchmark manipulation, and realme later acknowledged that the CPU scores were due to “targeted optimizations.” It also claimed that the stress test issues and associated heating were due to software incompatibility issues.

Whatever the case may be, realme issued an update prior to launch in a bid to address the overheating issues in particular. I was then able to complete the GPU stress tests, which revealed some respectable stability (65% to 70%) and a wide gulf to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, the phone still ran really hot in these tests, with temperatures of about 47 to 48 degrees Celsius (~116 degrees Fahrenheit). This was reflected in the aluminum frame being uncomfortably hot. It’s not the hottest-running phone we’ve ever tested at Android Authority, but it’s certainly up there. This heating is also notable, given that we performed these tests in the balanced mode rather than the gaming-focused GT mode.

Check out the previous links for full benchmarks both before and after the update.

Fortunately, demanding games ran really well on the GT7 Pro. I was routinely able to put in 30 to 45 minutes of Genshin Impact (running at high and 30fps by default) and War Thunder Mobile (at high by default) with consistently smooth performance and warm but not hot temperatures. This experience generally extended to other apps like Dolphin (running F-Zero GX and Metroid Prime). You’ll want to wait a while before trying to emulate PC games on Winlator as it seems like the requisite Adreno Turnip GPU drivers aren’t available yet. I was able to boot up a few ancient PC games like Deus Ex, Hitman 2, and Dave Mirra’s Freestyle BMX, but these titles were mostly unplayable.

realme’s phone brings a massive 6,500mAh battery, dwarfing the likes of the Galaxy S24 Ultra (5,000mAh) and OnePlus 12 (5,400mAh). The phone definitely impressed me with its endurance in most situations. I was usually able to get two days of moderate usage, consisting of Reddit, WhatsApp, YouTube Music, podcasts, and lightweight games. I don’t think I ever got less than eight hours of screen-on time in terms of regular usage. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for me to get over 10 hours of screen-on time. What happens when you push the device, though?

A heavier day of usage on a Saturday saw me take four Uber trips, use the phone as a hotspot for a few hours, take some photos, use WhatsApp, and play Game Dev Story for a few hours. I ended up going to bed after 11:00 PM with just over ~20% juice remaining (check out the third screenshot below). I felt like I could’ve probably killed the battery in a day with a more demanding game or more frequent use of the camera. So you can definitely kill this huge battery in a day with extremely heavy usage, but you should expect one and a half to two days of endurance otherwise.

Thankfully, that 6,500mAh battery only takes about 37 minutes to charge via the included 120W adapter. That’s in the same ballpark as realme’s own estimates. And you thought the Pixel 9 series offered improved speeds?

The realme GT7 Pro also has a Samsung-made 6.78-inch OLED screen (120Hz, LTPO), and the company noted at launch that this had a peak brightness of 6,000 nits, a “global” brightness of 2,000 nits, and manual brightness of up to 1,000 nits. Peak brightness figures are a gimmick for the most part, but I’m glad to report I had absolutely no problem with outdoor viewing in direct sunlight. I’m really happy to see 2.5D or “micro-curved” screens making a return, too, offering a more pleasant tactile experience when using gesture navigation than a purely flat panel.

The screen also hosts a fast, accurate ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that doubles as a shutter button when the phone is used underwater. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner used like that before, so kudos to realme for that, even if the use case is extremely niche.

The GT7 Pro doesn’t scream “premium” like Samsung and Google handsets, but it’s certainly a step up from typical budget phones. There’s a sturdy aluminum frame, a thin design, and a glass back that, thankfully, isn’t a fingerprint magnet. My unit has a vibrant Mars Orange color scheme, which is a lovely departure from boring grays and blacks. I’m also happy to see full-fledged water resistance from a brand that has traditionally eschewed this level of durability. I don’t care about the IP69 rating, though, which is meant for high-pressure water jets and high-temperature water. But pressure-washing enthusiasts might like this IP rating.

Perhaps the biggest clue that compromises had to be made is the camera experience. This isn’t a 50MP+8MP+2MP camera setup like we’ve seen with countless wannabe flagships in the past. Instead, I’m happy to see a 50MP main camera, a 50MP 3x telephoto lens, and an 8MP ultrawide camera. That 8MP ultrawide camera is undoubtedly a step down from ultrawide lenses seen on full-blown flagship phones. But I’m okay with this compromise if it means I’m getting a good telephoto camera. Well, about that.

The realme GT7 Pro’s 3x camera is pretty hit-and-miss, to the point where I thought it lacked optical image stabilization (OIS) altogether. However, the company confirmed to us that OIS was indeed present on the telephoto camera. Anyway, I was able to get loads of great shots out of this camera, but it wasn’t uncommon to get soft or generally low-quality snaps, particularly in mixed lighting. In fact, you can even see major tiling artifacts in the red wall in the last picture. The telephoto camera can sometimes hang with the likes of the vivo X100 Ultra, but then you get comparisons like the one seen below where there’s no question about which shot was better. Don’t expect macro/close-up support either, as the phone switches to a 3x crop from the main camera instead.

The phone’s main camera is a solid performer, offering a healthy amount of detail. However, images can sometimes be way too saturated and over-sharpened for my liking, and I also noticed the occasional neon look in bright outdoor snaps. That 8MP ultrawide camera, on the other hand, is a complete disappointment owing to severe distortion, smeared corners, and general softness in anything other than bright light. But then again, we expected this.

One massive cutback is that realme’s flagship phone misses out on wireless charging. Given the choice, I’d go for fast wired charging over wireless charging. But it’s still a lamentable omission in light of cheaper phones offering wireless top-ups and the realme GT5 Pro offering this option. Even the included 120W adapter has the caveat of being a USB-A adapter, which means you aren’t getting USB-PPS support. Another downside worth noting is that the Indian model ships with a 5,800mAh battery instead of a 6,500mAh battery. That’s still a big size but a notable downgrade.

I’m glad to see that the GT7 Pro ships with Android 15 out of the box, as well as the realme UI 6 update (basically Color OS 15). OPPO’s skin continues to offer loads of features. Some standout additions include a Smart Stay-style feature to keep the screen lit, lifting your phone while taking a call via Bluetooth to switch to the receiver, and a Magic Portal-style feature for sharing content across apps. But there are a couple of gimmicky features, most notably some extremely finicky hand gestures for scrolling and answering a call. The phone also forces you to install a few more apps upon setup, but I’m glad it doesn’t serve a smorgasbord of bloatware out of the box. The company says you can expect four major OS upgrades, which is a respectable enough update policy for this price tier, but not on par with Google and Samsung devices you can get for around the same amount of cash.

The realme GT7 Pro nails the core smartphone experience for the most part. That’s thanks to fantastic real-world performance, impressive battery life with super-fast charging speeds, a bright screen that’s a pleasure to use, and water resistance for the first time in a realme phone.

Unfortunately, realme had to make some sacrifices to deliver this core experience and the Snapdragon 8 Elite in particular. The telephoto camera is inconsistent and inflexible, that 8MP ultrawide camera is better suited to $200 phones, and wireless charging is missing even though its predecessor had it. We also thought the phone ran very hot in extreme scenarios, which might not bode well for demanding games a few years from now or those in hot climes.

realme has listed the phone at a promotional price of €799.99 (~$844) at launch, which makes it cheaper than the Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 9 in Europe. I can live with these cutbacks for the promotional price when you’re getting so many other perks. Unfortunately, the device has a recommended price of €999.99 (~$1,055), putting it in the same ballpark as the Galaxy S24 Plus and Pixel 9 Pro. That’s a real shame and makes the omission of wireless charging and a flagship-grade ultrawide camera deeply disappointing for the price.

There aren’t a ton of globally available next-generation flagship phones on the market right now. But you should definitely wait for the OnePlus 13‘s global release if you want a well-rounded Snapdragon 8 Elite phone, featuring a high-quality screen, a flexible camera system, water resistance, and a huge battery with wireless charging.

The Galaxy S25 series is also a couple of months away, but the Galaxy S24 FE ($552.54 at Amazon) is absolutely worth consideration too. You lose out on a gigantic battery and fast charging but gain a long update commitment, a ton of software features, and Galaxy AI functionality. You should also think about the Google Pixel 9 ($799 at Amazon) if you want a flagship phone that isn’t hugely expensive. The Pixel misses out on fast wired charging, a telephoto camera, and a gigantic battery, while lacking horsepower compared to the realme phone. But it brings a superior update policy, more AI features, better basic camera quality, and wireless charging.