Realme GT5 Pro review

Introduction

The Realme GT series phones tend to be limited to the China market and we may not be there, but we have connections - that's how this GT5 Pro ended up on our test bench. The latest in a lineup of sort-of high-end devices comes with the latest top-tier Snapdragon, an intriguing camera system, and a super-bright display - how disappointed are we going to be in the end that it's not going to be sold outside of its home country?

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is going to be the default top-tier chipset for 2024, and we've started getting more and more devices with it - hardly something special itself, but an integral part of most special packages for the coming months. With a base memory configuration of 12GB/256GB, the GT5 Pro is decently-specced already, but if you want more, it goes all the way up to 16GB/1TB (which happens to be our review unit's trim level).

The triple camera's ultrawide end is markedly unremarkable, but it gets better higher up the zoom range. The main camera is more or less the same as on the Find N3 (that we loved), while the telephoto appears to be lifted off the Find X6 Pro - that's flagship-grade hardware if we ever saw any.

The display is seemingly all new, and Realme boasts a 4,500-nit peak brightness - while we know we won't be seeing that on our meters, it's certainly going to be one bright panel. It's also 144Hz and Dolby Vision-capable, so it should be better than your average screen.

The rest of the specs aren't half-bad either. A 5,400mAh battery is a notch higher than your regular 5,000mAh power pack, while the 100W charger promises speedy top-ups. The IP64 rating sounds like Realme didn't want to get tangled in warranty disputes over drowned GT5 Pros, but it's still the most dustproof phone from the brand, with some decent waterproofing too. An infrared emitter and a heart rate monitor in the fingerprint reader are worth mentioning, too, in the small niceties category.

Realme GT5 Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: 161.7x75.1x9.2mm, 218g; Glass front, glass back or silicone polymer back (eco leather), aluminum frame; IP64 waterproof and dustproof.
• Display: 6.78" LTPO AMOLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 4500 nits (peak), 1264x2780px resolution, 19.8:9 aspect ratio, 450ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 & 5x3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 & 2x2.3 GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno 750.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 16GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 14, Realme UI 5.0.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.7, 23mm, 1/1.43", 1.12µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.6, 65mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS, 2.7x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 112˚, 1/4.0", 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.5, 22mm (wide), 1/2.74".
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, Dolby Vision; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 5400mAh; 100W wired, 1-50% in 12 min (advertised), 50W wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.4, aptX HD; NFC; Infrared port.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers (Dolby Atmos certified).

Realme GT5 Pro unboxing

The GT5 Pro arrived at our doorstep in a box that's not typical of the company's global releases. That said, it's very similar to the package of the also China-bound GT5 240W non-Pro that we got earlier this year - a shiny stripe on black cardboard appears to be the signature for this generation.

The retail bundle includes a somewhat nondescript gray protective case with a leather-like texture on the back that's not fooling anybody - it may not be all too fancy, but it's functional, we'll give it that. We're a bit more enthusiastic about the 100W charger, made complete by a USB-A-to-C cable.