Realme can’t be accused of resting on their laurels with the launch this week of the Realme 7 Pro, just 6 months after the launch of the realme 6. The realme 6 was impressive, offering all day battery life, and an impressive 90Hz display on a phone clocking in at under-$500.
For the realme 7 Australian launch, we’re being treated to the Pro model this time around. The realme 7 Pro includes their flagship 65W SuperDart charging, as well as rear quad-camera array headlined by a 64MP main sensor and a large 6.4-inch AMOLED display, 8GB of RAM + 128GB of storage all priced at just $599.
Realme have kindly loaned EFTM a ‘Mirror Silver’ model of the realme 7 Pro for review – there’s also a gorgeous looking Mirror Blue option also available – and after a week, here’s how it went.
Hardware and Design
There’s a lot to like about the design of the realme 7 pro, the phone is a decent looker with a clean rear which comes in a matte, grey coloured finish with a gloss-looking strip running down one side of the phone. The polycarbonate rear does show some fingerprints, but isn’t a smudge magnet like glass backed phones. You can of course use the included TPU case in the box to protect it from knocks, bumps and any unwanted minor fingerprint marks.
The camera island on the rear of the realme 7 Pro is fairly significant, and off-centre, situated on the left. If you’re just using the phone by itself it will rock when you put it down on a desk, but if you use that handy TPU case included in the box it flattens the whole phone off nicely.
The phone itself has slightly curved sides making it comfortable to hold with a volume rocker on the left, and power button on the right.
realme 7 Pro volume buttons 
realme 7 Pro power buttons
The realme 7 Pro is being sold outright in Australia and so includes a triple-card SIM-tray which offers dual-SIM support, as well as a slot for a microSD card supporting up to 256GB more storage.
There’s a USB-C port on the base with a speaker on one side, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the other. The phone has stereo sound thanks to the phone speaker, but as with most phones audio in terms of quality and power it’s not fantastic.
The front of the phone is dominated by the 6.4-inch, FHD+ resolution Super AMOLED panel. There’s minimal bezel around the top and sides, however there’s still a small amount of chin at the bottom.
realme has used a panel with a 60Hz refresh rate on the 7 Pro, a disappointing come down from the lovely 90Hz display on the realme 6, though the update to AMOLED over IPS LCD is appreciated with better blacks and more vibrant colour reproduction.
The panel includes an in-display fingerprint sensor, as well as a punch-hole notch for the 32MP Selfie camera which is fairly unobtrusive. The fingerprint sensor is mostly accurate but as with most of these in-display readers, it can be slow or inaccurate if your finger isn’t positioned correctly.
The realme 7 Pro does lack water resistance. It’s not a huge deal, with IP68 ratings still a more premium feautre at this end of the market, but it’s something to think about when it comes to durability.
In terms of performance, the realme 7 Pro does pretty well with a Qualcomm SD720G processor paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage – with that option for microSD card expansion.
The use of SD720G processor means you don’t get 5G connectivity on the phone, though with the slow rollout in Australia, 5G isn’t quite the ‘must-have’ feature now, but if you’re planning on keeping the phone for 2-3 years, it’s something to think about.
Performance wise you won’t have issues with the realme 7 Pro. The phone runs your day-to-day business, casual gaming – I’ve fallen down an Among Us hole – and more without any issues. You will, if you’re looking for it find the phone takes a little longer on mult-tasking, or processing camera shots than phones sporting a higher-end processor, but it’s not the sort of thing that’s a deal-breaker. It’s a small beat and it’s done.
Power
The mid-range SD720G processor, lower refresh rate screen and a 4,500mAh battery have all worked to produce a phone capable of at least a full day, if not two full days of use with ample screen on time.
The big impressive power feature of the realme 7 Pro though is the 65W SuperDart charging. If you’re low on charge SuperDart can fill this thing to 100% in just under 40 minutes….that’s insane, and it works really, really well.
The 65W SuperDart charging is possibly my favourite feature of the realme 7 Pro. I rarely venture too far away from a desk during the week, but on a weekend it’s refreshing to top up your battery to full in under an hour before heading out.
Camera
The camera on the realme 7 Pro consists of a quad-camera array on the rear, and the 32MP selfie cam in the notch on the front of the phone.
The quad-camera array on the rear consists of a Sony 64MP sensor which stacks images into a 16MP final image, there’s also an 8MP ultra-wide with a 119° field of view, a 2MP ‘Black & White’ sensor which is more a depth sensor for portrait mode, and a 2MP Macro camera for taking shots from as close as 4cm.
The main sensor does a decent job of ‘binning’ the images, stacking the shots over each other to enhance details where needed. The main sensor takes a good shot anywhere you have decent light, whether it’s inside or outside. The ultra-wide too offers a more versatile option if you want more in your image, and the resulting shots are pretty good.
The low-light capabilities of the realme 7 Pro are pretty decent, with shots generally looking pretty good, though if you zoom in you find there is a substantial amount of noise – but viewed straight up, the low-light shots are pretty good.
I’m still trying to work out the love affair with Macro sensors on phones at the moment. I rarely use it, and would prefer a telephoto sensor letting me zoom in instead. That said, it works.
Of course the 32MP Selfie Camera deserves attention. The shots are pretty decent, though can be a little washed out.
The camera app also presents you with options for ‘Beauty Mode’ which you can choose to leave at the default 30% level, turn the Beauty ‘feature’ off completely or just blast it up to full. You can also edit shots after the fact to add in some beautification.
The ‘More’ section of the camera app yields the usual suspects including Panorama mode, Google Lens, ‘Pro’ mode, Time-Lapse and Slow Mo video options, and something called ‘Text Scanner’. I tried out Text Scanner hoping for some OCR like magic, but even after granting the OCRService permission, the text remained sadly inaccessible in the photo. Still, I hit it with Google Lens and it OCR’d the text for me, so I’m unsure why ‘Text Scanner’ is there.
Software
The realme 7 Pro is running Android 10 with realme UI over the top. The phone comes with a realme UI update ready to go when you plug the phone in, and you’re left with Android 10 using the latest October 5th security patch.
The realme UI software is fairly unobtrusive when you use it. There’s obvious visual changes from stock Android in the notification shade, quick settings and even settings, as well as in the way you change wallpaper, layout etc. but it’s not bad, it’s just different to stock Android.
They’ve included options for all the best bits of Android 10 like Dark Mode, and gesture navigation is on by default.
Realme has included some nice touches like the Game Space assistant which can control notifications and performance, as well as convenience tools, like the Smart Sidebar to give you fast access to your apps and the ‘Assistive Ball’ which makes navigation ‘easier’ for some people.
Realme does include a bit too much bloatware on their phones, including things like calculator, music and video players. They’ve also included WPS Office, which has a paid option as well as a free trial, if you need an alternative to Google Docs.
You can uninstall WPS Office, but for smaller tools and apps like the Music and Video players, there’s no option to remove, nor even disable them.
Overall though, it’s a pretty decent experience. There is an overall feel that realme genuinely want to provide little touches to make your phone experience easier, and more pleasurable, and the updates you get tend to reflect this, so hopefully less bloatware in the future.
Should you buy this phone?
The realme 7 Pro is a good looking phone, and the all-day battery life with the option of SuperDart charging is hard to pass by.
At $599, the realme 7 Pro is in the same category as phones like the Pixel 4a, or even pushing up to the Oppo Find X2 Lite (which is down to about $649), there’s also the looming spectre of 5G connectivity which the realme 7 Pro lacks.
The Pixel 4a takes a much better photo than the realme 7 Pro, though it doesn’t have that fast SuperDart charging. And while the Oppo Find X2 Lite includes 5G, its fast charging is limited to 30W. There’s also the recently launched Moto G 5G which offers 5G connectivity for under $500, if 5G is important to you.
The realme 7 Pro is a good phone and the inclusion of 65W SuperDart charging in this end of the phone market sends clear signals that they’re serious about giving customers a great deal, while offering great value. If you find yourself constantly needing to charge your phone, this is a great option.
There’s a lot to like about the realme 7 Pro, and you can check it out from November 5th on the realme e-store, as well as from JB HI-FI, Officeworks, Bing Lee, Make it Mine, mobileciti, 5GWORLD, Essential Appliance Rentals, Amazon, Kogan, eBay and Catch.com.
