Realme GT 5 launched: This phone has a Burning Mode

Realme launched the GT 3 at MWC 2023 early this year, bringing 240W charging that effectively reached the limit of USB-C. The phone stuck with last year’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset though, but Realme has rectified that (and then some) with the newly announced Realme GT 5.

The new phone brings a pretty impressive spec sheet to the table, starting with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The company also reiterated that users could tweak the CPU frequency via a system menu.

Interestingly, Realme says the phone also has a Burning Mode, offering sustained full-frequency speeds when paired with a clip-on fan. It’s unclear if this Burning Mode requires a specific clip-on cooling fan accessory or if it works with any product. 

Otherwise, you can expect to find a 144Hz 1.5K OLED screen (6.74 inches, 1,400 nits peak brightness) here as well, along with up to 24GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage.

Much like the GT 3, Realme’s new phone brings a 4,600mAh battery with 240W wired charging speeds. The company didn’t dish out a zero to 100% charging time claim for this wattage, but asserted that the battery will hit 80% health after 1,600 charging cycles. The firm did, however, note that a 30-second charge can give you two hours of talk time.

Don’t care for 240W speeds? Then Realme is also offering a version with 150W wired charging and a 5,240mAh battery, hitting 100% capacity in a brisk 18 minutes. 

As for the design, the Realme GT 5 brings a glass back with a black visor. The visor hosts a triple camera system and a transparent window with a dummy chipset much like the previous phone. There are also four RGB lights around the dummy chip which can be customized with your choice of 26 colors.

The Realme GT 5 also brings a triple rear camera system, with the main camera being a 50MP IMX890 sensor. The other two rear sensors consist of an 8MP ultrawide shooter and a 2MP macro lens. A center-mounted punch-hole cutout is available up-front, containing a 16MP selfie camera.

Other notable specs include an IR blaster, NFC, tri-frequency GPS, an under-display fingerprint sensor, Wi-Fi 7, and Realme UI 4.0 atop Android 13.

Realme GT 5 pricing and availability

The new phone is available in China for now, starting at 2,999 yuan (~$411) for the base 12GB/256GB model. Fancy a ton of RAM and storage? Then the top-end Realme GT 5 will set you back 3,999 yuan (~$548), with an early bird price of 3,799 yuan (~$521). It’s also worth noting that 240W charging is only available with the 1TB model.

We’ve asked Realme about global availability and will update the article if/when we get a response. In saying so, Realme reportedly canceled the European release of the GT 3 earlier this year. So you might not want to hold your breath for the new phone if its predecessor is anything to go on.