realme 7 Review: A Lot to Like

Introduction

The launch of the realme 7 series was met with a lot of anticipation. The brand’s mid-range duo has always left a lasting impression, and the expectations for the latest generation can only go higher. Let’s just say they had quite the “homework.”

Interestingly, the distinction between the new devices is now more “pronounced.” realme 7, in particular, is being pegged as the go-to for gamers, as it packs a new SoC complemented with a high refresh rate display, quad-cameras, and a 5,000mAh battery with fast-charging, while the Pro is being pitted more for content creation.

Design and Build Quality

realme is a brand that knows when to change things up in the design department. For the realme 7, it’s a new semi-gloss finish for the back panel, a rectangular module for its four rear shooters, and a punch hole for the front camera. While made mostly of polycarbonate material, the phone still feels and looks premium.

They opted for a side-mounted fingerprint scanner that also functions as the power button. While I prefer a rear-mounted one, it doesn’t take a lot to get used to.

Apparently, realme still believes in the “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” idea. Thus, you get a nifty headphone jack, along with a speaker, microphone, and USB-C port at the bottom.

Unlike the Pro’s AMOLED display, realme 7 uses an LTPS screen, which they claim is better than a standard IPS panel. I’d say colors are punchy enough, along with ample brightness. It’s also backed with a 90Hz refresh rate, making even the simple things such as scrolling through a website or a social media app look and feel much smoother.

Performance

Powering the realme 7 is the new Helio G95 SoC by MediaTek, and while your typical day to day tasks like email, social media, video, and more, are handled with ease, gaming will still be more concrete proof of its performance. It’s got 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

So, apart from the usual – CoD Mobile and Mobile Legends, plus a game that has recently become the talk of town – Genshin Impact.

• Mobile Legends runs extremely well, averaging 60 FPS even with everything cranked up plus HD and HFR modes enabled.
• CoD Mobile runs at Very High Graphics plus High Frame Rate at most, averaging 39.9 FPS.
• Genshin Impact is very playable. At its default setting of Medium, it will run at 25.9 FPS on average. You can probably turn motion blur off or lower some of the parameters for better performance.

For thermals, CPU temperature ranged from 45 to 46 degrees celsius.

In summary, you should be able to run most games on this phone but don’t too much on performance in very demanding titles.

Camera

realme 7 uses the 2nd generation 64MP Sony IMX682 main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide unit, and a pair of 2MP shooters (Monochrome + Portrait and Macro).

Most of the stills I took showcased good amounts of detail, exposure, and sharpness. What I personally liked was the quality of photos up-close. The ultra-wide lens is a good-to-have, allowing more in the frame, though with slight loss of detail.

Depth of field effect looks refined with decent separation between subject and background, complemented by decent edge-detection.

Night shots could use a bit more detail, bolstered with new filters that work pretty well to apply a certain mood, depending on what you prefer.

Selfies, on the other hand, also came out pretty well with good detail and texture, plus that annoying glow seems to have been fixed. It’s not the most accurate bokeh effect out there, but that’s something they should be able to address with an update.

For videos, the phone boasts UIS and UIS Max stabilization, and while both do a good job in reducing shakes, it comes at a cost of reduced quality.

There’s also 4K 30fps video recording, but with no stabilization, you’re forced to basically settle for shots with less movement.

Software

Thanks to its 90Hz display, realme UI looks smoother and more fluid to navigate. We’re still waiting on that version 2.0, so a lot of what you’ll find in other realme devices are basically here.

That means you also get my personal favorite features – Dark Mode, Game Space, and the Smart Sidebar. You also get a complete the complete suite of security features including Face Unlock that works well and fast.

While the UI itself runs smooth, snappy, and fast, the amount of pre-loaded apps can be quite annoying, especially when some of them would throw in random notifications. You can disable these notifications manually, I just hope they’d make these apps optional.

Battery

Using PCMark’s Work 2.0 benchmark that simulates basic data manipulation as well as bits of video editing, realme 7 managed to score almost just shy of 14 hours of uptime.

While it doesn’t have the 65W DartCharge capabilities of the Pro, 30W fast-charging is not something to look down on. In fact, zero to full charge only took an hour and 11 minutes using the supplied charger and data cable.

Verdict

realme 7 manages to deliver a package of good performance, decent optics, well-refined software, and impressive battery life.

There are things that can be improved of course – its ultra-wide camera performance, as well as low-light performance, could be better. The amount of bloatware it comes with is annoying (plus the notifications) as well.

The idea of having UIS + UIS Max stabilization is okay, until you actually notice the cost, which is degraded quality. There’s also no stabilization for 4K videos, which limits your shooting options.

If you can get past these mostly minor or fixable flaws, it’s undeniably a great phone that offers good value.

realme 7 is priced at PhP14,990.

Lazada Links

• realme 7 – Mist Blue | Mist White

Emman Tortoza

Website

Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.