Realme GT5 240W review

Introduction and specs

Realme's 2023 flagship, the Realme GT5, is once again a China-only smartphone following the footsteps of its predecessor, the GT3. It's rather disappointing to see Realme taking a step back from the premium and upper mid-range segment in Western markets. Its GT series is definitely competitive enough on European and Indian soil.

In any case, the GT5 is a feature-packed handset coming in two main versions - with 150W or 240W fast charging. The former has a bigger 5,240 mAh battery and caps at 512GB internal storage, while the 240W iteration goes a little overboard with memory. The only available configuration features 1TB of internal storage and 24GB of RAM. A bit of an overkill with the RAM, too. Battery, however, is 4,600 mAh, just like last year's GT3 with 240W.

Realme GT5 240W specs at a glance:

• Body: 163.1x75.4x8.9mm, 205g; Glass front, aluminum frame, glass back.
• Display: 6.74" AMOLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, HDR10+, 1400 nits (peak), 1240x2772px resolution, 20.12:9 aspect ratio, 451ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 1TB 24GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 13, Realme UI 4.0.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 112˚, 1/4.0", 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, 25mm (wide), 1/3.09", 1.0µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4600mAh; 240W wired, PD, 20% in 80 sec (advertised).
• Connectivity: 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.3, aptX HD; NFC; Infrared port.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

Speaking of, while 240W still sounds like science fiction, it's not the first time Realme is breaking the 200W barrier. We tested the GT3 last year so we know what to expect - sub-15 minutes full charging cycles. That's pretty fast.

Aside from the slightly altered design, which is now a subtle mixture between Google Pixel's design for the past two generations and last year's GT3, the rest is business as usual. There are no significant changes to the hardware, except the chipset, of course. The device is now equipped with this year's top-shelf chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Display, battery (as we mentioned) and cameras all stay the same. In fact, those haven't changed in a while, depending on which versions of the Realme GT series you compare.

That doesn't mean it's not a great phone, of course.

Unboxing the Realme GT5

The Realme GT5 240W comes in a standard retail box with all the usual user manuals inside along with the appropriate 240W charger and USB-C to USB-C cable. The charger itself isn't as big as expected, but it's quite heavy.

Realme includes a matte, soft-touch silicone case too.