Realme 7 5G review: Everything you need at an affordable price

We've already reviewed the Realme X50 5G and found it to be a contender for 2020's budget phone of the year thanks to its ability to do just about everything well and its affordable £299 price. As a relatively new brand that is fast becoming a household name in Europe, Realme isn't resting on its laurels, and we can expect to see a Snapdragon 888-powered flagship in early 2021.

The middle sibling between the Realme 7 and the 7 Pro, the Realme 7 5G sports 5G connectivity, MediaTek's Dimensity 800U chipset, a big 120Hz display, and a huge 5,000mAh battery with 30W Dart Charge, all for £279 (~$370).

The Realme 7 5G looks good on paper, but how does it fare in real-life usage? Long story short, it's surprisingly good so join us after the break for our review of the Realme 7 5G.

Design

The first thing you notice about the Realme 7 5G in its singular color of Baltic Blue is the stylish two-tone design on the plastic back panel; it's simple but effective and catches the light beautifully. The Realme logo is tastefully located, and thankfully the rear camera housing doesn't protrude overly, unlike those found on the latest Samsung devices. The edges of the phone are slightly curved which makes it fairly comfortable to hold, although that doesn't really make a difference either way if you are using a case.

The power button is easily found thanks to the embedded fingerprint sensor which results in a flat indentation on the right of the phone that is placed in an easily reached position, with the volume controls found on the left-hand side below the hybrid SIM tray.

The bottom edge houses the 3.5mm audio jack with the USB Type-C charging port and the speaker alongside.

Hardware

Performance

As you would expect from a display with a 120Hz refresh rate, scrolling on the Realme 7 5G is really smooth and responsive. While colors are somewhat muted in comparison to AMOLED panels, the LCD display is good enough and legible when outdoors.

Powered by MediaTek's 7nm Dimensity 800U, the Realme 7 5G has enough grunt to get things done without hesitancy. You wouldn't know it was a MediaTek chip unless you made a point of finding out, which is a big compliment to the chipmaker and its re-emergence as a major player in the mobile processor segment. Gaming performance is good with the phone defaulting to HD graphics, and Netflix loaded up with no issues.

The side-mounted fingerprint sensor works a treat and is much more accurate than the under-display sensors that are present on budget handsets.

We've run the Realme 7 5G through the usual benchmarking apps, the results of which you can check out below:

Battery

With a 5,000mAh battery, the Realme 7 5G manages a full day's usage before it needs charging, despite the hungry 120Hz display. If you forget to charge the phone overnight, have no worries because the 30W Dart Charge will take the Realme 7 5G from 0-100% in around an hour.

Software

Running on Realme UI 1.0 that is based on Android 10, the Realme 7 5G offers a virtually identical software experience as the Realme X50 5G.

Realme is part of BKK’s stable of smartphone brands that include Vivo, OnePlus, and of course, OPPO. Running Realme UI 1.0, the Realme 7 5G offers a software experience that is quite similar to ColorOS 7.2, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s user-friendly with a load of handy features, and if you are used to Samsung’s One UI, you won’t have any issues.

There are options to change the style of app icons, and there is an option to lock the phone by double-tapping an empty patch on the display, unfortunately, it isn’t possible to unlock the phone by tapping twice. Still, it’s a polished experience that won’t frustrate you, unless you are a purist that adores stock Android. Something I did miss was the Always-On-Display which isn’t present because the display is LCD instead of AMOLED.

Camera

The cameras on the Realme 7 5G are similar to those found on the Realme 7 which means they are perfectly capable of producing some great images in good lighting conditions.

You can check out the selection of pictures taken in low-light conditions below, where it's possible to see that the night mode isn't the most consistent around. With a bit of patience, you can shoot pics at night that are fine for social media

When it comes to better lighting conditions, the Realme 7 5G generally produces well-balanced photos in Auto mode or 48MP mode. Colors could be a little saturated for some, but most users would be happy with the results. The 2MP macro lens, as on just about every other handset with such an afterthought, is essentially pointless and wouldn't be missed. The Realme 7 5G holds up its end as an affordable handset but if night mode is important to you, then the Pixel 4a is probably the better option.

Conclusion

If the Realme 7 5G was being sold for the same £229 that it was available for during the Black Friday sales, I would be telling you here and now that it is the budget handset of 2020. No ifs, no buts, and certainly no maybes. However. Because it has an RRP of £279, it encroaches into the territory of the Realme 7 Pro (review coming soon) which is just £20 more but comes with an AMOLED display (60Hz), 64GB Main camera, and stereo sound.

Like I said, at £229 the Realme 7 5G is possibly the best budget phone of 2020 but at £279 the Realme 7 Pro casts a tempting shadow over its sibling, so it's well worth waiting for a seasonal deal.

Buy it Now: Amazon

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