Realme X7 Pro hands-on review

Design

Let's start with the giant 'Dare to leap' motto on the back - there's no escaping this in pictures, and based on those, we'd be inclined to dismiss it as... distasteful. While it doesn't nearly disappear in real life, it's not as bad as we had expected. Still, it's a prominent and polarizing design accent, and it's okay if you don't like it. It's also okay if you do.

Now, we're talking of the hero colorway, Fantasy, that we got on our hands, which also goes by 'Iridescent' in some regions. It's one of those finishes that plays with light depending on the angle you look at it and spans the entire spectrum from cyan to magenta, and possibly outside of that into dark purple at particularly oblique angles.

The back panel is made of glass, and is treated to a frosted, anti-glare surface. It doesn't pick up fingerprints all that easily.

Two more color options are in existence, Mystic Black and Skyline White, that both skip on the 'Dare to leap' branding, so you might look to them for a less in-your-face design. Not all regions get all three colors, mind you - for example, the white one isn't making it to India.

Over on the front, you're getting that nice 6.55-inch Super AMOLED display with minimal bezels all around. Particularly notable is the slim chin that elevates the X7 Pro's looks to a more high-end stature.

The X7 Pro is equipped with an under-display fingerprint reader of the optical variety. Predictably, it's fast and accurate. We also appreciate its relatively high placement, which makes for a natural reach without unnecessary grip adjustments.

On the opposite end of the handset is the tiny punch-hole for the selfie camera. You'll note here that there's a slit for the earpiece that cuts equal parts into the display glass and the surrounding frame. That earpiece is also a speaker - the X7 Pro has a stereo setup, and that's a most welcome feature.

The main speaker is on the bottom and fires downwards, an orthodox arrangement. The card slot is on the bottom as well, and it takes two nano SIMs but no microSD - a bit of a bummer, considering some markets only get the 128GB storage version. Another less than ideal development you may spot around here is that there's no 3.5mm jack - there's an adaptor for that in the box, at least.

Slim bottom bezel • Selfie camera cutout

Overall, the Realme X7 Pro is comfortable to hold and use for prolonged periods of time. The buttons offer nice clicky feedback, the back is easy to keep clean, the fingerprint reader is quick and reliable. A minor niggle is that the handset wobbles when put on a table - if you're someone to be irked by that.