Realme X7 Pro Review with Pros and Cons

Realme X7 Pro is an ambitious mid-range phone steered by a powerful Mediatek chipset. Realme puts together what has usually worked for it in the past and adds a few enhancements like a 120Hz AMOLED display to progress to the next level beyond the number series.

In India, this one will be up against the likes of Vivo V20 Pro, OnePlus Nord, and Google Pixel 4A. In our Realme X7 Pro review, we will detail our experience with the phone while comparing it against other challengers and hopefully, you will be able to decide if this is the phone best suited to your needs.

Mobile Phone box contents

Realme isn’t skipping any conventional box content with the X7 Pro. Here’s what consumers will get bundled with the phone:

• Handset with pre-applied screen protector

• Basic TPU case cover

• 65W SuperDart charging adaptor

• USB Cable (A to C)

• Type to 3.5mm audio jack connector

• SIM ejector tool and documentation

Design and Build

The display has a left-aligned punch hole notch and the rear camera module juts out just a bit. There is Gorilla Glass 5 shield on the front, a polycarbonate side frame and the glass back has a smooth finish.

We have the flashy Fantasy color variant with us which according to Realme has a ‘Double-Grain, Double-Plated and Anti-Glare’ rear glass. There is also a sober and relatively understated Mystic Black.

Unfortunately, the SD card and audio jack didn’t make the cut. The power button and volume rocker are easily accessible. And so is the in-display fingerprint sensor underneath the screen. The biometric reader is fast and snappy and can be combined with fast and snappy face unlock. Realme X7 Pro also has stereo speakers – front and bottom.

The Realme X7 Pro is an ergonomic phone that feels good to handle. It doesn’t exactly screen premium like, say, the Reno 5 Pro does, but it’s still among the better-designed phones when compared to other options in the same price segment.

Display

This time Realme has delivered both – AMOLED display and 120Hz refresh rate. Users can choose to run the display at 120Hz, at 60Hz or to choose the Auto mode that switches between 120Hz and 60Hz depending on the display content in order to conserve battery.

Touch responsiveness is at par with what we usually see on mid-range phones. The display gets sufficiently bright (1200 Nits according to Realme) and consequently outdoor usage wasn’t a problem.

There is no option to switch between color profiles, but there is a color temperature toggle that you may use for slightly warmer tones. The display doesn’t support wide color gamut, but perhaps that’s not something average consumers would notice or be bothered with.

The phone has DRM L1 certificate needed for HD streaming, but HD streaming didn’t work on Netflix and Amazon Prime. This is likely to be fixed with future updates.

Performance and software

We have indeed come a long way when it comes to performance on mid-range phones. This is the second MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ powered phone to launch in India, the first one being Oppo Reno 5 Pro. The chipset is paired with LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.1 storage, and the performance is remarkable.

We didn’t run into any performance inconsistency during the review period. Call of duty supports ‘Very heavy’ graphics with ‘Very high’ frame rates. Other high-end games we tried ran perfectly fine.

Realme X7 Pro (8GB + 128GB) Benchmark Scores

• Geekbench single-core: 766

• Geekbench Multicore: 2958

• 3D Mark Wildlife – 3798

• PCMark Work 2.0 – 12036

• Androbench Random Read – 148.74 MB/s

• Androbench Random Write – 195 MB/s

The phone supports Wi-Fi 6, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.0. Call quality is excellent and we didn’t face any connectivity issues during the course of this review.

The software on the phone is Android 10 based Realme UI v1. It must be mentioned that Android 11 based Realme UI 2.0 would have been a more apt choice at this point in time. Anyways, the UI is quite pleasant and retains quite a few stock Android elements including the dialer and Google Feed on the -1 home screen. System apps don’t injudiciously hog the notification shade and the few third-party apps on the phone can be uninstalled.

Camera performance

Starting with the camera specs, there is a 64MP primary Sony IMX686 sensor in the lead, and the usual trio of 8MP wide-angle sensor, 2MP macro camera, and 2MP portrait sensor completing the quartet. On the front, there is the 32MP selfie camera.

In daylight, the Realme X7 Pro can capture ample details and keeps the colors close to natural. For instance, It’s tough for mid-range phone cameras to get the texture and colors of the dianthus flowers (below) right, but the X7 Pro does a fine job.

In dark and lowlight, the camera performance deteriorates. The X7 Pro still performs better than most mid-range options. The Xiaomi Mi 10i has a bigger 108MP sensor and can gather more light and details in less than ideal lighting, but the X7 Pro is still better at metering scenes in auto mode.

The Night mode does a great job. It can properly expose light sources and other highlights.

Auto Mode

Night Mode

The X7 Pro can shoot 4K videos at 60fps. The video quality is about average and at par with what you usually get from mid-range phones.

All said and done, the Realme X7 Pro does a great job in proper outdoor settings and the software can understand and meter lowlight and dark scenes smartly. The lowlight performance still left us wanting for more. The Pixel 4A, which’s available in the same budget, still remains the most consistent when it comes to camera performance.

Battery and Audio

The 65W SuperDart charging that can top up the 4700mAh battery in just 35 to 40 minutes. With the display set to 120Hz, we are getting a screen on time of 6 to 7 hours which translates to comfortable more-than-a-day’s mileage for us.

The phone has stereo speakers that can get quite loud, which helps while watching videos. The handset has Dolby Atmos and High-res audio certification. Realme bundles a USB Type-C to 3.5mm audio jack connector in the box, so you can continue using your wired earphones.

As for wireless audio streaming, the Realme X7 Pro supports SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC codecs over Bluetooth 5.0.

Verdict, Pros & Cons

Realme X7 Pro looks elegant, is comfortable to wield, has an AMOLED display with a high refresh rate, is a capable performer, and offers fantastic 65W fast charging convenience. On the downside, there is no audio jack or SD card support.

Overall, the Realme X7 Pro is a great deal for the introductory offer price. But if you are willing to spend a little more you should look long and hard at options like Reno 5 Pro 5G with more premium design and Google Pixel 4a that offers better camera performance and then decide.

Pros

• AMOLED display with 120Hz support

• Comfortable to wield

• Daylight camera performance is quite good

• Impressive performance

• 65W charging is an amazing convenience

• Stereo speakers

Cons

• Android 11 based Realme UI 2.1 would have been better

• No audio jack or SD card slot

• No HD streaming on Netflix and Prime videos

Specifications and Price