[First Cut] Realme X7 Pro: Realme gets back into the budget flagship zone

The latter half of 2019 had seen Realme make significant inroads into the budget flagship segment with the very popular Realme X2 Pro. It followed this up with the Realme X50 Pro, which the brand claimed was India’s first 5G phone. However, the X3 and X3 Superzoom which followed were seen by many as a slight step backward, given the spec muscle of their predecessors, although they were good devices in their own right. With the Realme X7 Pro (no, do not ask us about the rationale of a 7 following a 3 – brands follow math that is all their own), Realme seems to be getting back into that zone.

For, make no mistake about it, the X7 Pro is a very well-specced phone. It sees Realme’s X series get back into the Super AMOLED zone with a large 6.55-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and an in-display fingerprint scanner. Interestingly, the brand has chosen to go with the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ processor to power this device. The chip is a powerful one and by all accounts matches some Qualcomm Snapdragon flagship chips but is still going to fuel debate in the “Qualcomm vs MediaTek” lobby. Aiding this are 8 GB LPDDR4 RAM and 128 GB UFS 2.1 storage, although non-expandable (no microSD card here). Sound is handled by dual speakers with Dolby Atmos support, and there is 5G connectivity on board as well.

On the camera front, Realme seems to have resisted getting into the triple-digit megapixel wars as of now. The X7 Pro comes with a Sony IMX 686 64 megapixel main sensor, which is definitely one of the best sensors in the Sony mobile armory, although the 8 megapixel ultrawide and 2-megapixel depth/black and white and 2-megapixel macro sensors cut much less impressive figures. Realme is promising exceptional image clarity and great videos, with the ability to take multiple 64-megapixel snaps at the same time, and although there is no mention of optical image stabilization (OIS), the brand claims to have something called ultra image stabilization, which it says will result in better videos. Selfies have been entrusted to a 32-megapixel snapper in front.

And well, powering all this is a 4500 mAh dual- battery with a 65W charger with DartCharge support that can charge the battery from nothing to a hundred percent in a mere 35 minutes.

All this hardware goodness, however, comes in a package that definitely seems a little on the modest side in the looks department. The Realme X7 Pro is impressively slim at 8.5 mm but its Mystic Black variant (there is a more colorful Fantasy variant too) has not really been designed to turn heads. It is very routine with a rectangular camera unit on the top left corner, similar to ones we have seen on other devices, and perhaps the strongest design element being a golden display/power button on the right-hand side. The back is glossy and very reflective and although it does reflect light in slightly different shades, honestly, it does not look too exceptional. This is a bit of a surprise given just how well designed some of Realme’s devices have been. Even the Fantasy edition looks a little predictable. This flagship may have the specs but is a little off-color in the design department.

At Rs 29,999, the Realme X7 Pro marks Realme’s return to the budget flagship zone. And it goes up against some very tough competitors, including the selfie-oriented Vivo V20 Pro and the slightly-old-but-still-formidable OnePlus Nord, which for many has been the phone to go for in the sub-Rs 30,000 segment. There will also be the Mi 10T, which is slightly more expensive but has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chip to boost its prospects. To find out how the Realme X7 Pro fares, stay tuned for our review.