High-end gaming smartphones don’t come cheap – check out Asus’ ROG Phone 5, which has everything a gamer could want, but comes with a price tag. Asus ‘ROG Phone 5’ (First impressions) is available in three variants with prices from Rs. 49,999 for the base version and a whopping Rs. 79,999 for the flagship ROG Phone 5 Ultimate.
But most casual gamers don’t necessarily need that kind of hardware, so Poco came up with it F3 GT (Review), is now a solid contender in the mid-range gaming space with prices starting at Rs. 26,999. Now, we also have a smartphone from Realme that is priced similarly but doesn’t scream ‘gaming’ prices like the Poco F3 GT. It has no trigger and no RGB lighting and is available in bold and subtle colors. So, without the thrilling game, will it meet the needs of mobile gamers? And, does it go a step further towards being an all-rounder?
Realme GT Neo 2 price in India
The Realme GT Neo 2 comes in three colors: Neo Blue, Neo Blue and Black. As for the variant, there are only two to choose from. The 8GB RAM base version and 128GB storage variant are priced at Rs. 31,999 and the 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage variant is priced at Rs. 35,999 in India. Both options are priced competitively against the competition, including the Poco F3 GT and Xiaomi Mi 11X. What’s missing, however, is a 6GB RAM variant, which should make the GT Neo 2 more accessible.
Design Realme GT Neo 2″
The Neo Blue Realme GT Neo 2 unit that I received for review has a unique two-tone glass back. The green part has a soft, matte finish, while the two black stripes running down the entire panel have a glossy finish. Made of multiple glass panels, the back is fingerprint-free and makes the device quite easy to hold, which is fine for a smartphone primarily intended for gamers. The Neo Blue and Neo Black options do not have such stripes, and while the former has gradients, the latter is completely plain.
The back of the Realme GT Neo 2 Neo green is made of two-tone glass
The midframe is made of polycarbonate even though it looks like metal and has a matte finish. There’s also a matte gray silicone case in the box, but it makes the phone a bit slippery. The camera module protrudes about 3mm from the back and looks a bit like the one above OnePlus Nord 2 (Review) and Oppo Reno 6 Pro (Review). This phone will wobble quite a bit when placed on a flat surface.
While I like the unique colors (each looks different) that Realme has made for the GT Neo 2, the Neo Green bright green finish is quite large and should attract a lot of attention. It’s best to choose a smoky Neo Blue or a satin-like Neo Black if you don’t want to stand out too much.
Realme GT Neo 2’s AMOLED screen has thin bezels
The bezel around the screen is quite thin. The 6.62-inch screen is quite wide (good for gaming) compared to the above screen Realme GT Master Edition and GT, and you will need two hands to use this phone. In terms of weight, the Realme GT Neo 2 feels lighter than it looks, at about 200g. No IP rating but you get stereo speakers.
Realme GT Neo 2 software and specifications
The Realme GT Neo 2 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC. The phone is offered with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, but there’s no microSD slot for memory expansion. There are two Nano-SIM slots and this phone supports dual 5G standby as well as several SA and NSA 5G bands. Communication standards include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC and the usual satellite navigation systems. The Realme GT Neo 2 has a 5,000mAh battery that can be charged using the 65W charger that comes in the box.
The software is the typical Realme UI 2.0, based on Android 11. It looks very similar to Oppo’s ColorOS and has a number of customization options, including the ability to change and modify the shape of the icons, customization always-on display, and even change the weight of the Adaptive font. What I don’t like are the annoying notifications from the Theme store. Thankfully, these can be turned off in Settings. The phone also comes with a number of third-party apps pre-installed including Netflix, Facebook, Snapchat, and Josh. Save for FinShell Pay app, all these apps can be uninstalled.
Performance and battery life of Realme GT Neo 2
GT Neo 2 has an AMOLED display with full-HD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The display also offers up to 600Hz touch sampling, which is said to be very useful when gaming. The display shows colors a bit too bright so I used the Soft Screen Color mode most of the time during my review. What I missed is HDR support, which would be a great addition given the large size of this display and should make it much better for video streaming. The phone also has stereo speakers that are quite loud and provide an immersive experience while gaming.
Realme GT Neo 2’s AMOLED screen has a touch sampling rate of 600Hz
The Realme GT Neo 2 delivered some impressive numbers in our benchmark tests. It did better than its competition, with scores of 7,19,508 in AnTuTu, and 1,005 and 3,152 in Geekbench’s single and multi-core tests, respectively.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor is powerful enough to run the most demanding 3D games. Furthermore, the GT Neo 2 stays cool even during extended gaming sessions, which is mainly due to the large stainless steel cooling system and the new “diamond heat dissipation gel” used as the heatsink. , according to the company.
A gaming mode called ‘GT Mode’ is available on the Realme GT Neo 2. As we have seen on previous GT-series models, it increases the processor clock speed and the sensor sampling rate. response (the monitor is capable of up to 600Hz), but I didn’t notice any major difference in responsiveness, compared to when GT Mode was disabled. The regular Game Space app also has a sliding panel that lets me customize swipe and tap sensitivity, but these aren’t optimal features for each game, so they’ll need tweaking. between games.
The middle frame of the Realme GT Neo 2 is made of polycarbonate
The 5,000mAh battery of the Realme GT Neo 2 is the largest battery in a GT series smartphone to date. Battery life under normal use is quite impressive, and the phone easily lasted a day and a half, even while playing some games. The GT Neo 2 lasted an impressive 28 hours and 56 minutes on our standard HD video loop battery test. Charging is also quite quick for a 5,000mAh battery. The phone went from a dead battery state to a 100 percent charge in just 44 minutes.
Camera Realme GT Neo 2
The Realme GT Neo 2 has three rear cameras – a 64-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. Selfie tasks are taken care of by the 16-megapixel front-facing camera. The camera app interface is similar to what we’ve seen on other Realme smartphones with Realme UI 2.0. The most important controls are one-touch, and the neat sliding tray on the left side gives you access to more advanced functions like tilt shift mode, frame selection, and shutter timer .
Realme GT Neo 2 has three rear cameras
Photos taken in daylight conditions are generally quite saturated, but show good detail and dynamic range. There is a noticeable change in color and tone when switching between the main camera and the ultra-wide-angle camera. Colors generally vary quite a bit from scene to scene so there’s no consistency between photos, with some photos showing natural colors while others looking wildly saturated. Shooting pets and people indoors results in soft and texture-free images with super-saturated colors. The ultra-wide-angle camera reproduces even less detail, and shots also have noticeable purple fringing in brighter areas.
Realme GT Neo 2 daylight camera models. Top: Main camera, bottom: Super wide-angle camera (tap to see full size)
Selfies taken with the front-facing camera show good detail and decent dynamic range but tend to be overexposed. Edge detection when using the front-facing camera in Portrait mode is best. However, using Portrait mode with the rear camera resulted in good edge detection and dynamic range.
The fixed-focus macro cameras take good pictures, but with the 2-megapixel resolution, they don’t have enough detail. Close-ups taken with the main camera look better with more details.
Close-up of Realme GT Neo 2 camera sample. Top: Main camera, bottom: Macro camera (tap to see full size)
In low light, details on the bottom and some photos appear blurry. Night Mode boosts contrast, increases saturation and sharpness, making for some impressive landscape shots, but you have to wait 3-5 seconds to take each shot, so it’s definitely worth it. cannot be used to photograph people or pets in low light.
Realme GT Neo 2 low-light camera models. Top: Auto mode, bottom: Night mode (tap to see full size)
Video quality in daylight is at its best. You can shoot up to 4K at 60fps, but the camera doesn’t offer stabilization at these settings, so videos appear rather shaky. 4K footage at 30fps comes out well, with good detail and stabilization, but like 1080p video, tends to be overexposed. In low light, video shot at any resolution looks murky and dreamy.
Identify
After using the Realme GT Neo 2 for over a week, it’s clear that it’s not an all-around product. This is mainly due to its unreliable camera performance, which falls short of expectations, given its price point. Simply put, you can get better camera performance from Realme’s GT Master Edition (Review), priced a lot lower, starting at Rs. 25,999.
What you can’t get anywhere else is the heavy gaming performance that this phone’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC and cooling system allow. It lacks dedicated trigger buttons and RGB lighting, which you get with Poco F3 GT (Review), but instead, this phone gives you a high-quality AMOLED display and great battery life.
At this price point, it’s hard to recommend anything else for a mobile gamer. For those who don’t play games, yes Xiaomi Mi 11X (Review) also has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor and an IP53 rating, but drops the display specs, battery life, and charging speeds for a slimmer design. So the GT Neo 2 still offers good value at Rs. 31,999, as long as you’re happy with its average camera performance.
