realme 7 series announced: Two very different propositions

Update: October 7, 2020 (5:50 AM ET): realme has announced European pricing and availability details for the realme 7 series. While the realme 7 Pro is seemingly the same device that launched in India in September, the realme 7 does feature one significant change made to the camera department. A more detailed look of the realme 7 in Europe can be found here. Pricing and available details have also been added to this article.

Original article: September 3, 2020 (3:57 AM ET): realme has launched a variety of phones since its 2018 debut, but its mainline realme series continues to be its bread and butter. Starting with the realme 1 (its first phone), the latest realme 6 series proved to be another hit in the budget segment earlier this year.

Now, the firm is ready to refresh this line-up with the launch of the realme 7 and realme 7 Pro. So what does the budget brand bring to the table?

realme 7 series: Not a clear-cut choice

It’s clear that while the realme 7 Pro has a few advantages over the standard model on paper, the two devices essentially take different overall approaches. This means that simply opting for the Pro variant doesn’t guarantee the best experience for you.

For starters, the realme 7 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G95 processor, coming as a mild upgrade to the Helio G90T seen in the standard realme 6 (mainly via a GPU clock speed boost). Meanwhile, the realme 7 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 720G SoC, which is identical to the realme 6 Pro. The two phones also share 6GB to 8GB of RAM, so you can expect a similar level of performance from the two devices.

The Pro variant serves up 65W charging that’s undoubtedly faster than the realme 7, taking you to 100% capacity in 43 minutes. Meanwhile, the standard phone gives you 30W charging that takes you to 100% juice in 65 minutes. Then again, the realme 7 Pro offers a 4,500mAh battery while the realme 7 delivers a 5,000mAh battery. In other words, you need to decide whether faster charging is more important than a bigger battery.

This dilemma also extends to the screens, as the realme 7 Pro sports a 6.4-inch FHD+ OLED screen at 60Hz. Switching to the cheaper phone, you’ve got a 6.5-inch FHD+ LCD panel at 90Hz. So you’ve ultimately got to choose between OLED at a normal refresh rate or an LCD screen at a higher refresh rate.

realme even takes a different approach to fingerprint scanners, as you’ve got to choose between an in-display fingerprint sensor on the Pro variant and a side-mounted scanner on the realme 7. Again, this might come down to preference, if anything.

What else should you know?

The two phones share similar rear camera specs too, featuring a 64MP main shooter (IMX682), 8MP ultra-wide snapper, a 2MP monochrome portrait lens, and a 2MP macro camera. Unfortunately that means neither phone has a 2x telephoto camera as seen on the realme 6 Pro, but the firm claims that its “Ultra Clear 64MP mode” (available via OTA) will deliver better results than conventional 2x telephoto sensors.

Realme’s new phones feature several camera extras too, such as a Starry Mode for astrophotography, three night filters, a Pro Nightscape mode, and AI Color Portrait Video. But the latter two features are only available on the Pro variant. Selfies are handled by a 32MP camera in a punch-hole cutout on the realme 7 Pro, while a 16MP shooter handles duties on the standard variant.

Other notable features include splash proof designs, dual SIM support with a dedicated microSD slot, and realme UI atop Android 10.

The realme 7 starts at Rs 14,999 (~$205) for the 6GB+64GB variant, while the 8GB/128GB option will set you back Rs 16,999 (~$232). The realme 7 Pro costs Rs 19,999 (~$273) for the 6GB/128GB option, and the 8GB/128GB variant will be sold for Rs 21,999 (~$300). The standard model will be available from September 10, while the Pro variant will be available from September 14.

Pricing for the realme 7 series was recently announced in European markets, too. The realme 7 will launch in three RAM and storage variants: 4GB/64GB, 6GB/64GB, and 8GB/128GB. They’ll be priced at €179 (~$210), €199 (~$233), and €249 (~$292), respectively. The phone goes on sale from October 21 from realme’s online store and other participating retailers.

As for the realme 7 Pro, the phone will be available in a single variant in Europe with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It will be priced at €299 (~$351) and will be available from October 13 from realme and other participating stores.

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