Realme GT Neo2 Review

Realme GT Neo2 review summary:

Editor’s rating: 3.9/5

Realme GT line-up so far had two phones – the Realme GT and Realme GT Master Edition and both of them managed to cast more or less a positive impression thanks to their excellent price to value proposition. Now, the Realme GT Neo2 has been placed in between both those phones offering impressive specs at least on paper, and competitive pricing. It has all the makings of a killer flagship phone. Speaking of which it appears to me that Realme is looking to capture the void create in Rs 25K to 35K segment which was once dominated by OnePlus before it jumped to the premium segment. Will the GT trio be able to establish Realme as a new champion of the flagship killer title? Well, only time will tell.

What we can tell you is how well Realme GT Neo 2 performs and where it sits against the competition. We have tested the Realme GT Neo 2 extensively and compared it with the likes of Xiaomi Mi 11X 5G, Samsung Galaxy 52 5G, and iQOO 7. Based on that experience here’s my Realme GT Neo 2 review.

Navigate this review:

| Unboxing | Specs | Design | Display | Performance | Camera | Battery | Verdict | Pros – Cons |

Realme GT Neo2 5G unboxing, pricing and availability

The Realme GT Neo2 ships in a biodegradable cardboard box with branding all over it. On opening up the box we were greeted by the phone followed by accessories.

In terms of accessories, it includes a 65W SuperDart charger and USB Type-A to Type-C cable, as well as a nice silicon TPU case.

Before we dive deep into the review let’s revisit its pricing and availability once. The Realme GT Neo 2 is being offered in two configurations —8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB—and three colorways— Neo Black, Neo Blue, and Neo Green.

For this review, we have Neo Green with us. Realme GT Neo2 base model price in India offered for Rs 31,999. The top-end model of the phone will set you back by Rs 35,999. Realme has announced several limited period offers where it is offering festive discounts of up to Rs 7,000 on the GT Neo2. These discounted prices are valid for Flipkart and Realme e-stores. Realme opens pre-booking from October 16 and it will go on sale from  October 17 at 12 am across Realme.com, Flipkart, and mainline channels.

Realme GT Neo2 5G specs

Display: 6.62″ AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1300 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 398ppi.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM8250-AC Snapdragon 870 5G (7 nm): Octa-core (1×3.2 GHz Kryo 585 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 585); Adreno 650.
RAM & ROM: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
Software: Android 11, Realme UI 2.0.
Rear camera: 64 MP main camera, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/1.73″, 0.8µm, PDAF; 8 MP Ultra wide, f/2.3, 16mm, 119˚, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, 26mm (wide), 1/3.09″, 1.0µm.
Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 65W, 100% in 36 min
Others: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC, no 3.5mm audio jack.

Realme has never shied away from experimenting with design and colors and that’s also true for the GT Neo2. They loaned me a flashy NEO Green variant which looks different from anything we used before. Don’t get me wrong here, it certainly catches your attention in a positive way. It flaunts a dual-tone glass panel at the back. The green segment has a soft matte finish while the black strips have a glossy finish.

Unlike the Realme GT, this one actually has two black strips with one having a Realme logo while another one has Dare to leap vertical markings all over it. The Glass back has tapered edges fit into a polycarbonate side frame ensuring excellent in-hand grip. The back has a triple-camera setup sitting on a slight pedestal which makes the phone wobble when sitting ideal on a flat surface.

Coming to buttons and ports, the Neo2 has a volume key sitting on the left side edge and a power button sitting on the right side edge of the phone. Both volume and power buttons were well within my index finger and thumb reach. A dual-SIM slot, a USB C port, loudspeaker, and microphone can be spotted at the bottom edge. Up top, there is a secondary microphone and earpiece for calls.

The overall build here is sturdy with no flex. It feels dense without weighing you done. Despite featuring a 5,000mAh battery it only weighs 199 grams, which is not bad considering it’s a 5G phone. All in all, this Realme phone reminds me a lot of earlier OnePlus phones, especially with its premium in-hand feel.

The 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display on the Realme GT NEO2 5G is one of its key highlights. It’s a Samsung E4 panel that is brighter and more power-efficient than a regular AMOLED screen. The display can easily manage a 120Hz refresh rate and 600Hz touch refresh rate which is something most gamers would appreciate.

The manages to score well in testing thanks to its rich colors, excellent viewing angles, and deep blacks. With peak brightness levels of 1300 nits, it found it well suited for consuming HDR content. Even under the Sun, we didn’t face any legibility concerns.

Overall, I won’t be wrong if I say the GT Neo2 display qualifies as the best display we have seen In a Realme device. In fact, it is one of the better ones in its price segment across brands.

The Realme GT series middle child justifies its racing-inspired name thoroughly. The Neo2 does really well on performance count thanks to Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 chipset under the hood. While SD870 is not equal to SD888 in the benchmark but doesn’t throttle that much. One of the key reasons behind its sustainable performance is the new Stainless Steel Vapour Chamber Cooling Plus tech, which includes a diamond thermal gel on the CPU.

Realme has paired SD870 SoC with up to 12GB of RAM, which is further expandable to 19GB using virtual RAM expansion tech. Does this additional virtual RAM make any difference? Well, the immediate boost wasn’t noticeable, but the SD870 SoC-led phone performance leaves no room for complaint.

As for gaming performance, we tested several games including Battleground Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, and Asphalt 9: Legends. I managed to play all of them in a max setting without any stutter.

I was able to play Call of Duty: Mobile at Very High graphics in Max frame rates without any noticeable frame drops. Realme has created a Game Space where users get options to trigger GT Mode for that insane 600Hz touch response rate. We tried the same and it was clearly felt more than usual.

All of them worked well without any stutter and lag. We ran several synthetic benchmark tests and here are the results:

• Geekbench 5: 23110 (multi-core); 1021 (single-core)
• Antutu 9: 721589
• 3DMark Wide Life Extreme: 1231
• AI Benchmark: 99.2
• AndroBench:
  • 1721.65mb/s (sequantial read)
  • 733.02mb/s (sequantial write)
  • 260.77mb/s (random read)
  • 249.77mb/s (random write)

Opening Apps and switching between them was flawless. The phone comes running on Realme UI 2.0 interface which is well optimized Android 11 based custom OS. While everything was smooth third-party bloatware on the phone hampers your experience with notifications.

Like previous Realme GT phones, the GT Neo 2 is also features a tired and tested 64MP primary rear camera which is aided by an 8MP ultra-wide shooter and a 2MP macro camera. On the front, there is a 16MP selfie camera that can do videos up to 4K@60fps.

In good lighting conditions, the Realme GT Neo2 can take sharp images with a good amount of detail. Even dynamic range is also good. Colors are also a little boosted favoring warm tones. Realme has introduced a street photography mode that is designed to deliver Instant focus and Quick zoom. The new camera mode also comes loaded with new filters which tend to make shots more dramatic.

In the low lighting conditions, the Realme phone manages to do a decent job. The subject details take a bit of a hit but you will notice that only when you zoom it. The ultra-wide camera is not in the same league as the primary camera but in terms of details and dynamic range. The selfie camera on the front manages to take good shots including in portrait mode.

The Realme GT NEO 2 packs a massive 5,000mAh battery which can easily last a full one day on a single charge. Some of the credit for its impressive battery life goes to Snapdragon 870 which isn’t a power hog. Even with my heavy usage, the 5000mAh battery managed to deliver more than 6 hours of screen-on time. Refilling the battery is even more impressive, With bundled 65W SuperDart charger I was able to refill the 5000mAh battery completely in 40 minutes flat.

Review Verdict: Should you buy Realme GT Neo2?

The Realme GT Neo2 is an excellent offering with top-tier specs at an affordable price point. There’s an excellent E4 AMOLED display on offer with a 120Hz refresh rate. With Snapdragon 870 at the helm of things, the Realme GT Neo2 does well in every performance of the benchmark. It delivers reliable, consistent, and sustainable performance. Along with excellent performance, the GT Neo2 also offers promising battery life with awesome 65W fast charging. In my opinion, the Realme GT Neo2 offers exceptional value at the price point and is a worthy buy.