Realme GT5 Pro review

Design, build quality, handling

The Realme GT5 Pro is the first smartphone from the brand with an IP64 rating - we've seen a couple of IP54s in the last few weeks, and there have been splash-resistant Realmes, but this one is the closest we've seen to proper dust and water sealing. The GT5 Pro is one of just six handsets in our database with this combination of dust and water protection - and it's a peculiar selection of devices that share a parent company. Now, we're not saying the GT5 Pro will survive a dunk in a fishbowl, but we wouldn't be surprised if it does - otherwise, it's only rated for splashes, but it's also dust-tight.

Moving on from our musings on IP ratings towards the matters of color and finish, the GT5 Pro is available in three colorways - our review unit goes by Red Rock (according to Google Translate), and there are also Bright Moon and Starry Night.

Our orange unit and the (off-)white one have vegan leather back panels. It's one of the softer takes on the subject and makes for a nicely grippy feel, while also being immune to fingerprints. The black one is one of those sparkly glitter-like finishes that looks plain at first sight but quickly turns fancy once bright light hits it (ideally sun) - the proper high-end vivo X100 Pro was the latest we had with that type of glass back.

Colorways: Orange • White • Black

The black version does somewhat of an okay job of masking the huge camera bump, but that's not the case with our orange colorway (nor is it with the white one, of course). The large circular assembly groups four smaller circles together, and you'd be quick to note that four is one more than the number of cameras that the phone has - indeed, the lower right one is just for appearance's sake. A cheap move, we reckon.

Realme did manage to find room within the circle for the flash, which we've seen left out and placed in a nearby corner in other designs. Perhaps it could have gone in that non-camera spot, but maybe we're missing something.

There are a few more stylistic touches, including a radial pattern underneath the glass, and some knurling around the ring, and another metal-looking ring below that. Overall, we'd say it's a pretty appealing design, and it's only the fourth camera placeholder that's rubbing us the wrong way.

Over on the front, there's more to like. We'll get to how great the 6.78-inch OLED display is in a bit, but when it comes to the bezels, Realme boasts that at 1.36mm, the side borders are the thinnest in the industry. No such claims are made for the other two, but the 1.94mm chin sure looks thin to us as does the similar looking top bezel.

The display of the GT5 Pro is slightly curved towards the sides, and that further enhances the perception of bezel-less-ness, we'd say. We didn't encounter issues with misinterpreted touch input from the palms because of the curves, though as is the norm in such cases, your mileage will vary.

The fingerprint reader experience was slightly less trouble-free than what we're used to, and only part of that was due to the low placement of the optical under-display sensor - for some reason, we got a few more failed attempts than usual.

One thing we don't normally get is the heartrate monitor inside the sensor. Realme says you shouldn't count on it for medical purposes (obviously), but it seemed to produce plausible numbers in our experience.

The aluminum frame on the sides also helps make the GT5 Pro feel thinner than it actually is. That said, it's more than just an edge on the sides - it's flat enough that it provides some gripping area.

The right side of the phone has the two physical controls - both the power button and the volume rocker click nicely.

The top has a plastic insert in the metal frame, punctured in three spots for the top speaker, secondary mic, and infrared emitter. On the bottom, there's the USB-C port, the primary mic, the bottom speaker, and the SIM card tray (dual nano).

Top stuff • Bottom stuff • Yellow gasket on the tray

The GT5 Pro measures 161.7x75.1x9.2mm and weighs 218g in vegan leather trim, or a few grams more for the glass-backed black version. Either way, it's a full-sized handset with no aspirations for compactness. Even so, it manages to remain comfortable in the hand thanks to its curves, the minimal bezels and the grippy back (on the leatherette versions).