The Realme 7 5G is one of the manufacturer’s three elegantly capable and reasonably priced phones. Similar to its predecessors, the Realme 7 and Realme 7 Pro, this phone is well-balanced, has a nice design, and performs respectably. It also has a 120Hz display.
Realme 7 5G Design
For the 7-series, Realme has subtly improved the design language of its low-cost phones, giving them a more stylish appearance than their predecessors.
The Realme 7 5G’s rear panel features a stylish metallic mirror finish, just like the Realme 7 and Realme 7 Pro before it. Two somewhat different sheens are produced by the split effect, which is offset in favor of the right and reflects vertically on the left.
With its nearly satiny texture and minimal give, the rear panel feels reassuringly high-end. The phone, on the other hand, falls squarely between the Realme 7 Pro and the Realme 7 at 195g and 9.1mm thick.
Similar to the Realme 7, it has a fingerprint sensor on the side that is hidden beneath the right-hand power button. Despite not being as sophisticated as an in-display sensor, this part has the advantages of being quick, dependable, and simple to find. That is far superior to a second-rate in-display option.
Similar to its siblings, the Realme 7 5G has a prominent chin, a punch-hole selfie camera, and a prominent 90.5% screen-to-body ratio.
Realme asserts that all of the phone’s ports are securely sealed with protective silicone, shielding the internal components from the occasional drop of water, but there doesn’t seem to be any kind of IP certification here.
Realme 7 5G Display
It would seem that the Realme 7 5G has the same 6.5-inch LCD screen as the Realme 7 and its predecessor, the Realme 6. This includes 405 pixels per inch and the same 1080 x 2400 “FHD+” resolution.
To be honest, we’re a little let down that the Realme 7 Pro’s AMOLED display isn’t available here. Although the LCD is excellent, it appears somewhat washed out in bright outside lighting and is notably more muted than even a basic AMOLED.
Aside from panel selection, this display’s 120Hz refresh rate is its most notable feature. That is somewhat quicker than the Realme 7 and quadruple the Realme 7 Pro. It places the Realme 7 5G display in a considerably more upscale and costly phone group.
Thanks to a 180Hz sampling rate, it does feel slightly more responsive than the OnePlus Nord N10 5G’s 90Hz display. However, we didn’t reach that conclusion until we held these inexpensive phones side by side and quickly switched between them.
In fact, one could argue that a 120Hz refresh rate is a bit unnecessary given the limited hardware of this phone. When accompanied and complemented by other strong elements, this feature makes much more sense.
As we’ll see later, the Realme 7 5G isn’t slow, but it definitely lacks the processing power needed to run 3D games at blazing speeds. Additionally, the impact of a fast refresh rate display is diminished because web content doesn’t always load and react as quickly as it does on more capable phones.
Nevertheless, we’re intrigued by how Realme managed to incorporate such a high-end feature into its most recent low-cost offering. Most likely, we would choose the 60Hz AMOLED of the Realme 7 Pro above that of the Realme 7 5G.
Realme 7 5G Camera
It appears that the Realme 7 5G and the Realme 7 have the same camera configuration. And generally speaking, that’s not a bad thing.
A 48MP f/1.8 Samsung S5KGM1ST sensor is paired with an 8MP f/2.3 119-degree ultra-wide sensor to create what is ostensibly a quad camera configuration. A macro sensor and a black-and-white portrait sensor that offers depth and contrast information are then added to these primary sensors. They are both 2MP.
We were generally satisfied with the Realme 7 5G camera’s output under well-lit conditions. Despite the odd overexposed background element and slightly punched-up colors, it tended to capture scenes that were well-balanced. The depth sensor appears to have earned its position, and close-ups and portraits are pleasantly crisp and full of bokeh.
The ultra-wide camera performs admirably as well, although the overall tone of its images appears much less sharp and natural than that of the primary sensor, and it becomes noticeably softer at the edges. Once more, this is typical of a less expensive phone.
We dislike dedicated macro lenses on smartphones, particularly those with a pathetically low megapixel count that appear to be included merely to increase the official lens count. Admittedly, this one allows for far closer-up photographs than the primary sensor can handle (around 4 cm), but the results are so pixelated as to be useless.
Although it has a night mode, we didn’t find it to be very reliable. It would repeatedly flatly refuse to start the 3–4 second exposure time that was required to brighten the scene in really dark settings. Even with dead-static scenes, it didn’t always adjust for our hand movements when it did engage.
Night mode was able to effectively brighten a number of late-night street scenes when it worked. However, flagship phones and the Google Pixel 4a are still the only devices with good night modes.
Additionally, there is a 16MP f/2.1 selfie camera, which ought to work well. Additionally, video recording will cover a respectable range of 1080P/120fps, 720p/240fps, and 4K/30fps modes.
Overall, the Realme 7 5G is a competitively priced camera. However, the Realme 7 Pro is a better option if you place a high value on photography.
Specs and performance
The MediaTek Dimensity 800U, a new mid-range 7nm chip from the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer, powers the Realme 7 5G.
The Dimensity 800U offers a significant power gain over the preceding Dimensity 700 series in addition to being 5G-ready. This includes 11% quicker performance in CPU benchmarks, 28% faster performance in GPU benchmarks, and 1.4x faster app launch times, according to Realme.
This improvement in performance was mirrored in our own benchmark tests. Geekbench 5’s average multi-core score of 1,780 undoubtedly outperforms the Helio G95-powered Realme 7’s 1,625 score. With its Snapdragon 732G on 1,699, it also outperforms the current budget favorite, the Poco X3 NFC, and performs on par with the Realme 7 Pro.
With 6GB of RAM supporting us, we undoubtedly didn’t encounter any significant problems with daily chores. Even with the 120Hz refresh rate enabled, everything goes by quite smoothly. No, it doesn’t provide the same seamless experience as a high-end 120Hz phone as the OnePlus 8T. However, it’s very amazing that the Realme 7 5G can operate at this pace at all.
Performance in games is also excellent. By default, PUBG uses high frame rate settings and HD graphics, and it mainly keeps the gameplay fluid, if not stutter-free. Even on maximum settings, intense 2D games like Juicy Realm and Dead Cells run very well.
Unfortunately, these games do not benefit from the Realme 7 Pro’s stereo speakers, so you will have to settle for a mono arrangement that is positioned on the bottom. At least you get a 3.5mm jack.
Although we should definitely issue a warning regarding the new(ish) Dimensity 800U CPU, an enormous 128GB of storage should take care of all your software and media needs. During our time with the phone, we were unable to get Netflix to run, which suggests that app support may not be as widespread or quick as with more widely used Qualcomm CPUs.
Similar to the Vivo Y70, Realme’s unique Realme UI isn’t a very unique version of Android 10. However, it does benefit from simplicity.
The Google Feed is located to the left of the clear, minimalist home screen, which also features recognizable menus and basic icons. With only a few in-house apps and included extras like Facebook and WPS, it’s also jam-packed with Google apps.
Realme 7 5G Battery life
Similar to the Realme 7, the Realme 7 5G boasts a massive 5,000mAh battery that will last for the entire day without worrying about running out of power. This time around, there are a few changes, the most significant of which is a faster 120Hz display refresh rate, which will undoubtedly have an impact.
This could be the reason why, after 60 minutes of video streaming with the screen brightness at its highest setting, the Realme 7 5G lost 11% of its charge. About ninety minutes of video viewing caused the Realme 7 to lose the same.
Naturally, monitoring battery depletion in this manner is never an exact skill because there are many variables at play. Generally speaking, the great majority of users won’t be concerned about stamina.
Not with Realme’s Dart Charge plug included, in particular. Similar to the Realme 7, the device comes with a 30W charger that, according to Realme, will charge you from 0% to 100% in just over an hour.
We achieved a fairly decent result in our practical experience, going from 33% to 91% in 30 minutes. With its 65W charger, it’s not as good as the Realme 7 Pro, but still decent.