Realme GT 2 in the test: Does not stand out from the crowd
The Realme GT 2 enters as a promising mid-range smartphone, but does not stand out from the broad masses in the end.
Realme is the brand for the low-price segment of the Chinese group BBK, which also includes OnePlus, Oppo and Vivo. Experience from other areas shows that this does not automatically have to be bad for the device quality.
Soft back and large touchscreen
The plastic back of the Realme GT 2 feels soft. This brings back memories of the LG G4 with a leather back. A subtle pattern ensures that the GT 2 has a good grip. Fingerprints do not stick - I would not be so sure about other smudges on my white test device in the long run.
On the front is a 6.62-inch AMOLED display. With its resolution of 2400×1080 pixels and a refresh rate of 120 hertz, it leaves nothing to be desired and looks good. The brightness reaches up to 1300 nits and is thus high enough for use in sunshine.
Top hardware - from last year
With the Snapdragon 888, the Realme GT 2 would have earned the designation top model a year ago. In the meantime, it is only considered an upper mid-range device. With the twelve gigabytes of working memory, my test device thus achieves 1131 and 3541 points in the single- and multi-core tests of Geekbench 5. For comparison: The Xiaomi 12 with the newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 achieves 1239 and 3729 points. With these minor differences, I consider the GT 2 to be a top second-tier smartphone.
Perhaps the GT 2 can even reduce this gap. The GT 2's quick settings contain the GT mode, which Realme describes as follows: "The performance of your phone improves considerably, but the power consumption also increases." However, the smartphone does not achieve better scores in Geekbench this way(1128 and 3458 points). However, the GT 2 is already fast enough without GT mode in everyday use - I do not notice any further improvement with it in practice. It remains disabled in favor of the battery.
My test device has 256 gigabytes of storage in addition to the twelve gigabytes of working memory. There is also a variant with eight and 128 gigabytes. You cannot expand the internal storage. However, the GT 2 can accommodate two SIM cards.
The battery of the Realme GT 2 is decent at 5000 mAh. Strictly speaking, the smartphone has two batteries with 2500 mAh each. The manufacturer also uses this trick in OnePlus smartphones to shorten the charging time. The GT 2 is fully charged in just under 30 minutes with the included 65-watt power adapter and SuperDart fast-charging technology. I subsequently get through the day well with one battery charge.
Android 12 with Realme UI
The Realme GT 2 runs Android 12 and is thus up to date. The manufacturer provides the operating system with its own interface "realme UI 3.0". I did not notice anything particularly positive or negative, but it does not really convince me. I prefer to install a launcher. Seven preinstalled third-party apps - so-called bloatware - spoil the picture, but they can be uninstalled with two clicks each.
Good main camera, average wide-angle camera
The Realme GT 2 has three cameras on the back. A 50-megapixel main camera with Sony's IMX766 sensor and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with a viewing angle of 119 degrees. There is also a macro camera, but it only has two megapixels. The main camera delivers decent photos, but the other cameras have a weak image quality.
The main camera convinces with natural colors and a high detail accuracy. Strong contrasts are no problem for it.
The wide-angle camera cannot quite keep up. At first glance, the picture looks decent on the smartphone screen. When I enlarge it, I notice that it lags behind the main camera in terms of quality.
The image quality of the 2x (digital) zoom results in a similar image quality as the wide-angle camera. The colors look bleached in a direct comparison. Theoretically, the Realme GT 2 offers up to 20x zoom. Beyond the 2x magnification, however, the image quality decreases significantly, which is already visible on the smartphone screen.
The portrait mode reliably distinguishes between me and the background.
When it gets dark, the main camera's automatic copes well with different dark areas and different light sources. The night mode still brightens the entire picture a bit. However, the automatic comes closer to reality.
The wide-angle camera, on the other hand, delivers much darker pictures and using the zoom leads to a significant deterioration of the picture quality.
The front-facing camera - Sony IMX471 with 16 megapixels and 78-degree viewing angle - delivers decent selfies. Even in backlight, my face is well illuminated. Many details are visible, only the colors could be a bit stronger. The portrait mode also works well for selfies.
Conclusion
The Realme GT 2 is a good smartphone. However, that is not enough to stand out from the mass of mid-range models. The competition is too big and many will prefer to buy a model from their usual manufacturer.
The design, the display and the hardware remain positive in my memory. But they are only the basis, so to speak. The camera is only average and the software disappoints me. The Realme GT 2 does not convince me in the free program. I currently rather look at the OnePlus Nord 2 or the Samsung Galaxy A53 in this price range.
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When I was but a young student, I'd sit in my friend's living room with all my classmates and play on his SuperNES. Since then I've had the opportunity to test out all the newest technology for you. I've done reviews at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, and have now arrived at Galaxus.de.
