Realme GT Master Edition
Realme GT Master Edition review 一 With the sub-Rs 30,000 phone segment getting interesting and competitive, Realme has added a new phone to the segment with the launch of the Realme GT Master Edition. It is one of the most unique looking devices we’ve seen as Realme has gone for out of the box design. The suitcase-inspired design of the GT Master Edition does stand out from the crowd, but that’s just one of the key features of the device.
Powered by the Snapdragon 778G, the Realme GT Master Edition is the second phone in India to do so, after the Moto Edge 20. The performance is smooth and we are also happy with the 120Hz AMOLED display on the device. The Realme GT Master Edition comes in three variants with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
Further, you get super-fast 65W fast charging which can charge the device in just 35 minutes. But, the device disappoints when it comes to battery life as it could last only up to 5 hours. You also get a 3.5mm headphone jack, but it lacks a dual stereo speaker setup. The camera is good too, but overall as a package, it falls short of being the best camera phone in the segment.
The Realme GT Master Edition is a design-first approach and we are impressed with it as of now. While the Realme X7 Max is available for Rs 24,999 now in India, the Realme GT Master Edition is for those who wanted a Realme mid-range phone under Rs 30,000 with a Snapdragon chipset. While the phone might not be our first choice in the sub 30,000 segment, the Realme GT Master Edition is worth considering for its design and the overall value it offers.
Realme GT Master Edition release date, price, and availability
Check out Realme GT Master Edition on Flipkart
6GB+128GB: Rs 25,999
8GB+128GB: Rs 27,999
8GB+256GB: Rs 29,999
Launched in India on August 18 alongside the Realme GT and Realme Book, the Realme GT Master Edition comes in three variants 一6GB+128GB for Rs 25,999, 8GB+128GB variant priced at Rs 27,999, 8GB+256GB variant priced at Rs 29,999. All three variants are now available on Flipkart.
Buyers on Flipkart can also avail Rs 2,000 flat discount with any debit card or credit card payment. This offer is valid till September 30.
The Realme GT Master Edition is available in Voyager Grey, Luna White and Cosmos Black. More on the colour options in a minute. With the sub Rs 30,000 price tag and the new Snapdragon 778G chipset in tow, the Realme GT Master Edition will take on the OnePlus Nord 2, Mi 11X, Moto Edge 20, Poco F3 GT, and more. The Realme X7 Max launched a few months ago is now available for Rs 24,999 leaving the Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 segment to the Realme GT Master Edition.
| Realme GT ME | Realme X7 Max | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Snapdragon 778G | Dimensity 1200 |
| Display | 6.43" FHD+, 120Hz | 6.43" FHD+, 120Hz |
| RAM | 6/8GB | 8/12GB |
| Storage | 128/256GB | 128/256GB |
| Rear camera | 64+8+2MP | 64+8+2MP |
| Front camera | 32MP | 16MP |
| Battery | 4300mAh, 65W | 4500mAh, 50W |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| Weight | 174/180g | 179g |
| Thickness | 8/8.7mm | 8.4mm |
| Price | Rs 25,999 | Rs 27,999 | Rs 29,999 | Rs 26,999 | Rs 29,999 |
Design
Most phones in the sub Rs 30,000 segment now offer excellent specs for the price. The segment is now more competitive than ever with plenty of great options. However, one area where most of the phone manufacturers have settled currently is in the design department. Realme has grabbed the opportunity here and made an excellent looking phone, especially with the Voyager Grey variant which we are using in the review.
The device is available in three colour options 一 Voyager Grey, Luna White and Cosmos Black. The Luna White comes with a Matte finish and the Cosmos Black comes with a dark copper tint. The Voyager Grey is a special variant and its back panel design is inspired by a travel suitcase, which is designed by Naoto Fukasawa.
In simple terms, the phone looks premium, feels premium, and is great to hold in the hand. The back is made up of 100% vegan leather and Realme has used the first concave vegan leather in the industry. The horizontal grid of the suitcase replicates an actual travel suitcase. The in-hand feel is something we have not felt before and it feels great and unique. The leather also curves neatly on the sides as well giving a comfortable look and feel.
Next to the camera module, this variant also comes with the signature of Naoto Fukasawa, the designer along with subtle Realme branding. We liked the design on the Realme GT Master Edition and this is certainly a good trend to see in the sub Rs 30,000 segment where a brand is trying to do something different in terms of design and materials.
The phone weighs 174 grams (180g for Grey) and is 8mm thin (8.7mm for Grey). The phone does not feel too heavy and is light enough to use single-handedly.
Display
Just like the Realme X7 Max, the Realme GT Master Edition also comes with a 6.43-inch Samsung-made Super AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution. You can select 60Hz, 120Hz or select auto, where the phone will decide the refresh rate based on the app you are interacting with. The 120Hz refresh rate on the AMOLED screen is smooth and enjoyable.
The phone also comes with a 360Hz touch sampling rate, 91.7% screen to body ratio, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, and up to 1000nits of peak brightness. You also get support for HDR10, HLG, and Widevine L1 content.
The display gets bright enough to read under the sunlight and it offers punchy colours and deep blacks. All in all, the phone’s display is a good one with great outdoor readability, smooth 120Hz refresh rate, punchy colours, and it’s great for content consumption as well. That being said, it lacks HDR playback on Netflix. Like we have said previously, we still think the Mi 11X has the best display in the segment with an E4 AMOLED panel.
Performance
One of the first phones with a Snapdragon 778 chipset, the Realme GT Master Edition packs in Kryo 670 Prime core clocked at 2.4GHz, three Cortex A78 cores at 2.2GHz and four Cortex A55 cores clocked at 1.9GHz. For graphics and gaming, there is an Adreno 642L GPU. The phone comes with up to 8GB of RAM and you get up to 256GB of storage. The phone also comes with up to 5GB of virtual memory (Dynamic RAM Expansion).
The performance of the Realme GT Master Edition is excellent and we did not face any lags and jitters in the middle. We did try gaming for a few minutes and the phone did perform well. There is also a dedicated ‘GT mode’ that can be switched on during gameplay to bring peak performance by utilizing max CPU and GPU performance, taking screen refresh rate to 120Hz, turning on Ultra-HD Visual Effects and 4D gaming vibration. On top of that, the phone also comes with a vapour chamber that has an area of up to 1729.8mm² and is rated to bring down the temperature by up to 15%.
In terms of gaming, the new chipset is part of the Snapdragon Elite gaming platform which means it is a capable device when it comes to handling gaming. In our testing, Realme GT Master Edition could go up to very high graphics and up to max frame rate. In BGMI, we could go up to smooth and extreme settings with 55-60fps frame rate and HDR and Ultra combo with 40fps gameplay.
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The phone could hold frame rate even during intensive gameplay. Tuning on GT mode means you will get more resources from the phone which should offer better gameplay 一 but, we couldn’t notice much difference as the default gameplay itself was excellent. The phone did not heat up much during gameplay either which is again a good sign.
Overall, we were quite impressed with the performance of the new Snapdragon 778 5G chipset on the Realme GT Master Edition. For anyone who wants a capable mid-range phone from Realme with a Qualcomm SoC, this is the one to go for.
Camera
This is also one area where the company is trying to separate itself from the crowd. The GT Master Edition comes with three cameras on the back. A 64MP f/1.8 main camera, an 8MP f/2.3 ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2MP macro shooter with f/2.4. For selfies, there is a 32MP Sony IMX615 snapper 一 same as the Nord 2.
The primary camera takes 16MP images by default and there is a dedicated option to switch to 64MP. The image taken from the primary camera in broad daylight comes out well with a good amount of details, close to natural colours, good dynamic range, and sharpness. In the 64MP mode, you can get a slightly more detailed image, but not by too much. The colours are similar to the 16MP images.
Coming to the low-light performance, the Realme GT Master Edition performs fairly well. We say fairly well because the OnePlus Nord 2 is still the best in the segment when it comes to low-light performance. The GT Master Edition bring out more details from the dark with Night mode turned on. Without the Night mode, the images come out soft, leave out shadows, and also often overexpose. The Night mode does make a difference and offers you more usable images
The secondary 8MP ultra-wide gives a wider view of the image, but you won’t get the exact colour that you see as it loses out on colour when compared to the main sensor. But, the images are still respectable and we also found it to have a better dynamic range than the Realme X7 Max. The wide-angle lens isn’t an ideal option for low-light as it brings out noisy images.
The 2MP macro camera is capable of capturing some good close up shots if you stay 4cm away from the subject. It also tests your patience to get the focus right. The images come out decent enough, but due to the low-resolution sensor, it lacks details. It is worth taking macro shots only in well-lit conditions. While this is not the Xiaomi Mi 11X level macro snapper, it does a daily good job with a macro sensor.
As for the selfies, the 32MP Sony IMX615 shooter does a pretty good job. You get a good amount of details in selfies with a good dynamic range and colours. Skin tones come out good too without too much smoothening. For portrait selfie shots, the edge detection was also on point.
The phone is packed with a bunch of AI filters and camera features. It also comes with a new Street Photography mode which brings Kodak-inspired filters, instant focus with mm-level control, focus peaking, and more. Realme has added a bunch of features for the camera including the slow-mo, 64MP mode, dual-view, movie, starry mode, tilt-mode, time-lapse, and pano. The AI mode can detect different scenes and click photos accordingly.
The street mode is one of the new additions to the camera which gives options to shoot street pictures in 16mm, 24mm, 50mm, and 120mm. This is a fun mode to use when you are taking a walk or going on a Photowalk. The images taken in this mode bring more saturated output. The Pro mode offers more control such as ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and autofocus. The starry mode takes long exposure shots at night offering details from the dark sky 一 this mode works best with a tripod as it takes about 4 minutes to capture.
Lastly, in terms of video, the Realme GT Master Edition can shoot up to 4K at 30fps and up to 1080p slow-mo videos. The phone misses out on optical image stabilization, but it does offer EIS which does a pretty decent job when it comes to stabilization. The Ultra Steady Max mode eliminates the shakes while walking and offers clean and smooth recording.
In a nutshell, the Realme GT Master Edition does shoot good images with its primary camera and as well with its 8MP wide-angle lens in daylight. But, when it comes to low-light, only the primary lens is reliable and the macro lens doesn’t impress you either. Selfies come out good. While the overall package might not be the best, Realme GT Master Edition is still a capable phone that you can rely on for taking daylight photos and selfies.
If you want the best camera experience, the OnePlus Nord 2 is the one for you.
Battery
The Master Edition phone runs off a 4,300mAh battery unit backed by a 65W fast charger. The battery capacity has gone down compared to the Realme X7 Max, but you do get a faster 65W fast charger in the box.
While that is impressive, the battery life has been sub-standard. In our two weeks of usage, we have managed to get only four to five hours of screen time and nothing beyond five hours even once. Realme makes up for its average battery life with super fast charging. The phone goes from 0 to 100% in under 35 minutes 一 30 to 33 minutes to be precise.
While the battery life is not the best in class, if you can charge your phone mid-day for even 15 minutes, you will get about 50% to 60% battery to play with for the rest of the day.
Software
The phone runs on Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11 一 but we did notice that Realme has added a lot of pre-installed third-party apps. While most of them can be uninstalled, we’d have liked to see fewer pre-installed apps. You do get a couple of push notifications from apps like Theme app, etc 一 these can be blocked by long pressing. which can be blocked with one click.
You get a lot of customization options with Realme UI 2.0 such as 一 icon customization, accent colours, Always on Display customization, dark mode, enhanced privacy mode, floating windows and mini windows. Overall, the UI is snappy and smooth without any bugs or issues.
Everything else
The Realme GT Master Edition comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner that is snappy and the face unlocks also works flawlessly. In terms of audio, the phone comes with a mono bottom-firing speaker which gets loud but it's nowhere close to the dual speaker experience you get on phones like the OnePlus Nord 2, Mi 11X or the Poco F3 GT.
Should I buy the Realme GT Master Edition?
Buy it if…
You want a unique-looking design
The design of the Voyager Grey isn’t something we usually see in the sub Rs 30,000 segment. The suitcase inspired design by Naoto Fukasawa not only looks good, it feels good to hold in the hand and bring a premium touch.
You want fast charging
With a 65W SuperDart charger included in the box, the Realme GT Master Edition can go from 0 to 100% in just 35 minutes 一 which is one of the best in the segment.
You want a Snapdragon-powered Realme phone
Realme X7 Pro and Realme X7 Max both were powered by MediaTek chipsets. If you were waiting for a Snapdragon chipset powered Realme mid-range phone, the Realme GT Master Edition is the one to go for.
Don’t buy it if…
You want the best camera in the segment
While the primary camera and the selfie shooter are good on the GT Master Edition, overall as a package, the device falls short of being the best in the segment. The OnePlus Nord 2 is still our pick for the best mid-range camera phone.
You want a long-lasting battery
The 4,300mAh battery unit on the Realme GT Master Edition offers inferior battery life which often leads to charging the device in the middle of the day. A phone like the Nord 2, Poco F3 GT, Mi 11X, and even Realme X7 Max performs better.
You need a stereo speaker setup
If you enjoy watching content or playing games, you are likely to block out the audio from bottom-firing speakers. The phone offers only one speaker and if you want a better audio setup, other phones in the segment come with dual speakers setup. But, for what it's worth, you do get a headphone jack on the GT Master Edition which the computation lacks.
- Best phones under Rs 30,000 in India
- OnePlus Nord 2 review | Poco F3 GT review
- Xiaomi Mi 11X review |Realme X7 Max review
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