Realme GT5 240W review

A familiar trio of cameras with 50MP main one

Realme hasn't changed the camera hardware on its GT phones for quite some time now, so the GT5 inherits the cameras of its previous two predecessors - the G3 and GT2. The primary shooter uses Sony's IMX766 IMX890 50MP, 1/1.56" in size with 1.0µm pixels. There is OIS and supports multi-directional PDAF, and the lens provides a fairly wide f/1.9 aperture.

Behind the ultrawide, f/2.2 lens sits the popular and affordable 8MP, 1/4.0", 1.12µm sensor, which is a bit of a let-down because Realme's upper mid-range solutions are overdue for an ultrawide camera upgrade.

The only change lies within the third auxiliary camera - the 2MP microscopic shooter has been swapped out for a regular old 2MP macro snapper. We found the microscopic lens to be better as it provides more utility than the lackluster 2MP macro camera.

There's no change in the selfie camera from last year's GT3 either. The 16MP, 1/3.0", 1.0µm sensor is paired with an f/2.5 aperture.

Camera menus

The camera app is the familiar Oppo/Realme one. There are fewer menus - most of the modes are now on the main rolodex, which is good.

The viewfinder in the default Photo mode offers AI Scene Enhancement (also known as Chroma Boost or Dazzle Color) - it's like an advanced HDR mode, which may stack several images to offer even further improvements in the dynamic range. Auto HDR is available, too.

Camera app

There are also three zoom shortcuts - 0.6x, 1x, and 2x.

You can use both the main and the ultrawide camera in the Pro mode, you get to tweak exposure (ISO in the 100-6400 range and shutter speed in the 1/8000s-30s range), white balance (by light temperature, but no presets), manual focus (in arbitrary 0 to 1 units with 0 being close focus and 1 being infinity) and exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV in 1/6EV increments). RAW is available only on the main camera.

Camera modes and settings

And in line with Oppo and OnePlus' smartphones, Realme's default camera app has a similar behavior in low-light conditions. Even if you disable the automatic Nightscape (read Night mode) when shooting in the standard Photo mode, the images turn out to be the same. So you are forced to use the dedicated Night mode when the software deems it necessary.

Daylight photos

Main camera

As one would expect, the Realme GT5 offers similar to its predecessor quality and processing. The main camera produces sharp and detailed images during the day with a wide dynamic range and virtually no noise. Colors are close to natural, with just a slight boost in saturation. As usual, the exposure is a bit on the bright side and color temperature tends to go for a warmer hue at times, giving the scene a more cozy and pleasant vibe.

Daylight main camera samples

The GT5 remains consistent indoors by retaining much of the detail, keeps the noise to a minimum, and the objects are overall sharp.

Daylight main camera samples

The 50MP samples are unimpressive as they have a narrower dynamic range, more noise and aren't as sharp.

50MP daylight samples

2x zoom

The 2x zoom crop is okay. The device provides decent enough images for social media posting, but it's still far from what you'd normally expect from a proper 2x zoom camera. Rendition is somewhat the same, but there's a noticeable drop in sharpness, detail and visible noise in homogeneous areas and indoors.

Daylight 2x zoom samples

Ultrawide camera

The 8MP ultrawide camera is unsatisfactory, especially for a device of this caliber. Colors and contrast are nice, but images lack fine detail, sharpness isn't good and the dynamic range is narrow. There's also some noise to be spotted in various areas of the scene.

Daylight ultrawide camera samples

Low-light photos

Main camera

For a couple of generations now, the Camera app activates the Night mode whenever deems necessary and that's usually the case with all low-light scenes. So even if you shoot in the standard Photo mode, the software will use Night mode.

Low-light main camera samples

Either way, the nighttime samples look great with little to no noise, plenty of detail in the shadows and highlights, excellent dynamic range and well-rendered light sources. However, some may deem the artificial sharpening too much and the shadows a bit too bright, departing from the natural look. It depends on how you like your low-light photography.

2x zoom

Cropping from the main camera returns softer images with less detail, but noise is accounted for thanks to the Night mode. We are moderately happy with how the 2x zoom samples turned out at night. They are definitely usable.

Low-light 2x zoom samples

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide camera gets the color temperature and colors right, as opposed to the warmer hue of the main camera, but overall detail and sharpness are unsatisfactory.

Low-light ultrawide camera samples

Here's how the primary camera on the Realme GT5 stacks against the rest of the competition in the controlled environment of our Photo Compare Tool.

Realme GT5 against the OnePlus 11 and the Xiaomi 13T Pro in our Photo compare tool

Portraits

The portrait samples look great with plenty of detail, good color reproduction, consistent performance in more challenging conditions and adequate bokeh effect. The subject's skin may sometimes look a bit pale, which is probably due to the lighter exposure.

Portraits: Portrait mode • Normal

Selfies

The selfies are not up to the snuff. They look a bit soft to our taste and with noise in more challenging lighting environments. Dynamic range and color reproduction are both pretty good, though.

Selfies

Video recording

The video recording options are the usual - up to 2160p@60fps, the ultrawide camera supports only up to 1080p@30fps due to its resolution limitations and EIS is present in all modes. Surprisingly, there's no additional action camera-like stabilization.

The standard 4K footage from the main camera is pretty nice, with plenty of detail, good sharpness, wide dynamic range and lively color. However, just like in the stills, the exposure is a bit off and the whole footage appears brighter than it should.

The 2x zoom mode is, of course, a simple crop from the main sensor, but it's still in 2160p. As expected, sharpness drops significantly, fine detail is masked and the noise becomes a tad more apparent.

The ultrawide camera delivers unsatisfactory image quality, even for a 1080p video. The clip looks soft and without much fine detail.

You can also take a look at our video compare tool to see how Realme GT5 stacks against the other phones we've reviewed.

2160p: Realme GT5 against the OnePlus 11 and the Xiaomi 13T Pro in our Video compare tool