Realme has been known to release smartphones with flagship-level specs at midrange prices. Helping to up your smartphone photography game, realme introduced the realme XT. Camera phones have come a long, long way. I still remember the time I got one of the first phones by Nokia with a camera. It takes VGA photos, that’s around 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels high. The realme XT can take 64 megapixel photos, that’s a whopping 9216 pixels wide and 6912 high. I don’t know about you but that’s some big maths compared to what a camera phone was capable of 17 years ago. We took the realme XT for a spin and here’s what we’ve got to say.
Design
The realme XT has a very eye-catching design with its 3D curved glass. It comes in two colors, Pearl Blue and Pearl White. The gradient finish changes color depending on how the light shines on it. We got the Pearl Blue phone for the review, but the Pearl White is definitely a gorgeous looking smartphone, especially for a midranged one. The front of the phone has a 6.4” Super AMOLED display with a 91.9% screen-to-body ratio with a teardrop-shaped notch at the top.
At the back you’ll see the quad camera array. It’s protruding quite a bit so it’s hard to not get worried when setting it on top of a table without having thoughts of scratching the lens. So good job to realme for including a free silicone case. The realme XT is made up mostly of plastic, but the phone has some heft to it. It weighs at around 183g and is slim and easy to grip with a width of 75.2mm and about 8.6mm thin.
You can find the SIM card slot on the left and you’ll be pleased to see that it can accommodate 2 nano SIMs and an SD card. You’ll also find the volume rockers on the left side and on the right is the power button. Down under, you’ll see the classic 3.5mm jack, a USB Type-C port and the speakers. I find the speakers to be of subpar quality when watching videos or playing music, so make sure you have your earphones/headphones/Bluetooth speaker ready.
Display
The realme XT’s screen is bright and the colors are vivid. It uses a 6.4” Super AMOLED display with a 2340 x 1080 resolution, giving it around 402ppi pixel density. It’s reinforced by a Gorilla Glass 5 so you don’t have to worry about easily breaking or scratching the screen. The Super AMOLED display produces vivid and accurate colors, which is very important for a smartphone targeting the photography market. It’s also great for consuming media too as videos are very immersive, thanks to its 91.9% screen-to-body ratio. You can also find the fingerprint scanner under the display.
The fingerprint scanner is very responsive and unlocks very fast. Do be careful when using a tempered glass or protective screen because it lessens the effectivity of the scanner, as a matter of fact, don’t use one at all since the display is already using Gorilla Glass 5 and can take your day-to-day beating.
Battery
During our tests, I found the 4,000mAh to be more than enough with everyday usage. You don’t have anything to worry though because realme’s VOOC Flash Charge 3.0 can get you up and running in no time with the included 20W charger. It’ll take about 1 to 1.5 hours to go from 0 to 100 with it. You’ll find it squeezing the battery longer as it uses Super AMOLED which is power efficient because when a pixel is black, it just turns off that part of the screen.
Performance
The realme XT is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 AIE octa-core CPU that goes up to 2.3GHz paired with an Adreno 616 GPU. This combination is seen in a couple of flagship phones, and the realme XT offers it at a price point that’s very wallet friendly. It easily runs the latest Android games in high settings from Call of Duty Mobile to Black Desert Mobile. This is easily one of the phones to consider if you want that price-to-performance ratio drilled down.
I still find ColorOS 6 to be too…. colorful. But it’s a non-issue since you can download a third-party launcher anytime and go with the theme that suits you well. But the OS kept the gamers in the crowd in mind. Hyperboost 2.0 gives the phone a “performance” mode where you can enable Frame Boost for higher FPS and Touch Boost which reduces input lag. The UFS 2.1 flash also provides faster loading times to file-heavy games. Game Space also gives the user a Do Not Disturb mode to avoid any interruptions mid game.
The overall experience with ColorOS 6 is it’s smooth and responsive. My only gripe is the haptic feedback this phone gives. It feels weak and delayed, dampening the typing experience I get. But maybe there’s an app for that. You can always customize it to your heart’s content and make it a device that reflects the real you. Get it?
Camera
This is where the realme XT truly shines. It has flagship-level specs fitted into its camera at the price of a midrange smartphone. The ultra high-resolution sensor boasts a whopping 64 megapixels, the highest resolution sensor on any smartphone as of this writing. But anyone who’s into photography knows, megapixel count is not synonymous to quality. With the realme XT being able to take 9216 x 6912 photos, it retains details even when zoomed-in.
That many pixels crammed into a small sensor though is counterproductive as it will introduce noise to the image, sacrificing sharpness and quality. But realme actually fitted the XT with a larger sensor, albeit still smaller than a point-and-shoot cam’s, its 1/1.72” GW1 sensor is 34% bigger than a 48MP smartphone sensor. It also features a 4-in-1 intelligent pixel binning which takes advantage of the AI capabilities of the phone, producing better images than a regular smartphone camera. Another welcome feature is the inclusion of ultra-wide angle and a macro lens. The UWA gives the user a 119 field-of-view, perfect for capturing that setting sun with a beautiful foreground. It also gives aspiring photographers a unique perspective without shelling out for an UWA lens if they’re using an interchangeable lens camera system. Likewise, the macro lens also gives users the power to explore the wonderful world of macro photography without breaking the bank for a dedicated macro lens.
Don’t be surprised if you find the realme producing professional quality shots as they employed the expertise of Aaron Huey, world-famous National Geographic photographer, to lead the realme’s camera team.
The quad-cam array is just half the story of this camera phone. The front camera boasts the Sony IMX471 16MP sensor, giving you high-quality selfies and groupfies. You can check some of the sample shots in the gallery below.
Gallery
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Verdict
If you want the experience of a flagship phone without breaking your bank, the realme XT should definitely be on the top of your list. The feature-packed phone is seriously a steal in its price range. A Snapdragon processor, Super AMOLED screen, 64MP AI-enhanced camera, 4,000mAh battery all for 16,990 php? You wouldn’t think twice what phone to buy with that holiday cash you were able to save.