Initial Verdict: The realme GT 5G is, without a doubt, the prettiest phone from the brand that we’ve seen so far in the Philippines. Its impressive internals, as well as its top-notch display, fast 65W wired charging speeds, and competitive price tag (in other countries), make us want to see realme launch the phone locally to fans. 

Pros

• The prettiest realme phone to date
• Top-notch, no-compromise internals

 

Cons

• No concrete details on local availability (for now)
• Camera performance feels more like an upper mid-range device

 

realme GT 5G Philippines Specs:

• Snapdragon 888 processor
• 8GB LPDDR5 RAM
• 128GB UFS 3.1 storage
• 6.43-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, 120hz refresh rate, 360hz touch sampling rate, support for HDR10+ and DCI-P3
• 64-megapixel f/1.8 IMX 682 main camera with PDAF, 2-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera, 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera
• 16-megapixel selfie camera
• 4G, 5G
• WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1, in-display fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers
• 4500mAh battery
• 65w fast charging
• Android 11, realme UI 2.0

When realme made the GT 5G available globally, the phone was a game-changer as it was the most affordable Snapdragon 888-powered device in the market. The phone’s global launch is also a significant one for realme, as it shows the world that the brand wants a bigger share of the pie in the premium flagship segment.

realme Philippines lent us the GT 5G for our honest first impressions, and here are our thoughts on the brand’s latest flagship phone:

Unboxing and Packaging Contents

Gone are the days when realme would settle for its usual yellow box for all of its phones–including its top-end ones. This time around, the realme GT 5G gets a long black box with vertical stripes and straightforward branding. The design of the box is a complete departure from what we usually see on their other phones, and this is proof that the GT 5G is a premium device through and through.

The contents are typical of what you expect with any realme phone. You have the phone itself, documentation, silicone case, USB-C cable, and the 65w charger.

Design

Unlike the rather generic look of the X50 Pro, the realme GT 5G has a more premium appeal with its dual-tone design and use of vegan leather. Our review unit is in Racing Yellow, and we like how this particular colorway makes the GT stand out design-wise.

Despite those premium looks, realme still keeps the headphone jack on the GT 5G, which should be a joy for those who prefer using wired headphones. The SIM tray only has space for two NanoSIMs, and yellow is used as an accent color on the power button instead of green.

Compared to the X50 Pro, the GT 5G is almost 20g lighter. Our review unit is rather thick at 9.1mm, though the less flashy, glass back versions are thinner at 8.4mm.

Display

Despite having roughly the same display size, the realme GT’s AMOLED panel gets a 120hz refresh rate upgrade and 360hz touch sampling. Unlike with the X50 Pro where you are limited to only 60hz or 90hz, the GT’s AMOLED panel has an adaptive refresh rate, meaning you can go as slow as 1hz for static scenarios or up to 120hz for scrolling and for games that support it. This maximizes the phone’s power efficiency.

Automatic brightness is a smidge better with the GT 5G as it comes with two ambient sensors to determine the right brightness level as accurately as possible. You still get an in-display fingerprint with the realme GT 5G, and it unlocks the phone seamlessly with our registered fingerprint.

Cameras

Unlike the X50 Pro 5G, the realme GT 5G settles for a triple rear camera setup, dropping the telephoto camera and swapping the GW1 sensor used on the X50 Pro 5G for an IMX 682. Selfies, on the other hand, are taken care of by a 16-megapixel snapper housed in a punch-hole. Check out some of the photos we took:

Just like the X50 Pro 5G, our initial camera samples show that the realme GT 5G performs like an upper mid-range phone at best. That is expected given the targeted price point of the realme GT 5G, and the photos are nonetheless clean and show good detail–don’t expect top-caliber premium flagship image quality.

We will be doing more camera samples in the coming days before we give our final verdict on the realme GT 5G’s camera performance.

Internals

As a proper flagship phone, the realme GT 5G rocks a Snapdragon 888 processor, with our review unit having 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. For cooling, realme wrapped the copper vapor cooling plate with stainless steel, which it claims delivers up to 50% better cooling. We will have to do our stress tests (especially with games) to see if realme’s cooling solution for the GT 5G delivers the goods.

A big upgrade of the GT 5G over the X50 Pro 5G is the bigger 4500mAh battery that still charges through a 65w SuperDART wired charging solution. This should translate to better battery life on paper, though we need to put the GT 5G to our usual set of tests to see if this holds true.

Aside from a fast wired charging solution, the realme GT 5G also supports 2.5w reverse charging for topping up aIoT products like TWS earbuds and smartwatches.

Wrap up and early verdict

The GT 5G is arguably the best-looking realme smartphone to date, especially in the Racing Yellow colorway. It is also poised to be a compelling flagship killer with its features and possible pricing, though the big question remains is IF realme will actually make the GT 5G official in the Philippines.

realme GT 5G Philippines Availability

As of now, there is no word from realme Philippines on the local availability of the realme GT 5G. While a listing from an unofficial seller priced the 8GB/128GB variant at Php 29,999, it is best to wait for the official announcement of realme Philippines.