The Realme GT has been teased for months, ever since the Oppo offshoot confirmed that it had plans for a Snapdragon 888 phone codenamed ‘Race’ (Race…GT…geddit?). Speed is, unsurprisingly, a bit of a running theme for the phone: fast performance from the top-tier Qualcomm chipset; fast refresh rate with a 120Hz 6.43in AMOLED screen; and fast charging with 65W wired charging that’ll fill the 4500mAh battery in just 45 minutes. Those are pretty premium specs, matching – and on charging speed, even beating – the Samsung Galaxy S21 and Xiaomi Mi 11. All that’s despite a starting price for an 8GB/128GB SKU of CNY2,799 – which equates to a stunningly low £310/$430. There are two important caveats here. One is that we don’t know if, or when, Realme will release the GT 5G in Europe or the UK. The brand is moving firmly into western markets with a range of phones, and we already know that the budget-friendly Realme 8 series is on the way to Europe, but the company hasn’t committed to launching its flagship over here. The second thing to bear in mind is that even if it does launch in the UK, it won’t cost £310. Directly converted Chinese prices always run a little low for all sorts of reasons, so if the Realme GT reaches British shores expect it to run closer to £450-500 – though that would still be a steal for these specs.
You’ll also get a 64Mp, f/1.8 camera with EIS – though, with only an 8Mp ultrawide and a 2Mp macro to back it up, it’s clear that photography prowess isn’t the selling point here. There’s also a 16Mp punch-hole selfie camera. It’ll ship with Android 11 running on top of Realme UI 2, and comes in three colours: Galactic Silver, Deep Sea Blue, and Dawn Yellow – a particularly striking version in bright leather with a racing stripe. The Realme GT 5G goes on sale in China today, and hopefully, Realme will announce its international plans soon. Tech Advisor’s Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming - plus he’s a regular fixture on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.
