Realme GT5 Pro review

Android 14 and Realme UI 5.0 (or ColorOS 14 - same difference)

The GT5 Pro runs Android 14 with Realme UI 5.0 on top - in contrast to the GT5 240W still on the 13/4.0 combo. Realme UI is another name for Oppo's ColorOS, of course, and in the About menus one can see that the underlying ColorOS version is 14, marking the first Oppo/Realme phone in the office with Android 14 and ColorOS 14.

On the one hand, the new versions shouldn't change much in the look, feel, or feature set. On the other, this particular phone is on the Chinese branch of ColorOS, so it has a few China-specific apps and features that we won't be exploring in too much detail. That said, Google Play Services are available, and you could get a phone that's mostly functional from a westerner's perspective after sideloading a few APKs.

As we mentioned on the previous page, though, certain things like FullHD playback or HDR in Netflix will remain elusive.

Customizability is a common theme across all of ColorOS/Realme UI. There is an entire Wallpapers & style page in Settings, where in addition to the AoD settings, you can change wallpapers (live and static), switch to different icon packs, different quick toggles icon shapes, change fonts (there's an 'exclusive' Oppo sans), and choose completely different colors that will change the entire UI look. You can turn on/off Edge Lighting, which is independent of the Always-On Display. Dark Mode is available, and it offers three different shades of darkness.

Personalization options

The launcher comes with no-nonsense homescreens, a straightforward and clean notification/toggles area, and an easy-to-use task switcher. An optional App drawer is available, too, and it is as clutter-free as one could hope for. Quick Glance is the leftmost widget pane here instead of Google Discover. Support for Large Folders is also included, and any folder can be enlarged or shrunk.

ColorOS: Lockscreen • Homescreen • Notifications • Quick toggles • App switcher • Large folders

There are many powerful tools within the settings menu if you want full control over your experience. The features are wide-ranging but generally carried over from previous ColorOS versions. A host of screen-on and screen-off gestures are available; the Smart Sidebar is a handy pane of shortcuts you pull from the side, and split-screen and Flexible windows are available.

Assorted features

There are a few in-house apps, too, other than the ton of China-specific bloatware. Photos, a revamped File Manager, and an in-house web browser are part of the package. An IR Remote app is also available, so you can make use of the IR blaster right out of the box.

Photos • File Manager • Web Browser • IR remote

One thing that Realme made a moderately big deal of at the time of the GT5 Pro's announcement is the phone's all-new gesture-based operation capability that leverages the front-facing camera for gesture recognition, complete with a palm unlock option.

We tried it out briefly, and it feels like more of a solution in search of a problem than a truly useful concept, though we can see it being helpful in a very specific set of circumstances. Similar features have been pushed in the past by Samsung and even by Google themselves, but we're not seeing people waving hands at their phones left and right.

Palm recognition • Air gestures

Benchmarks and performance

The Realme GT5 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Qualcomm's top-tier chipset that most 2024 flagships will use. We've already witnessed it in action on the iQOO 12, and more devices with it will surely start pouring in in the coming weeks.

The phone is available in several memory configurations, starting from 12GB/256GB spec and going all the way up to our review unit's 16GB/1TB trim level.

A GT mode can be enabled in settings, which promises higher performance, but in our experience, it didn't bring a meaningful increase in benchmark scores, nor did it affect the phone's behavior under prolonged load.

In our usual set of benchmarks, the GT5 Pro posted scores slightly below the iQOO 12 in CPU and compound benchmarks. The Realme typically had the upper hand in raw performance in graphics benchmarks, though, but refresh rate caps limited its fps scores in on-screen testing.

Realme is boasting an advanced cooling solution for the GT5 Pro, based on a sizeable vapor chamber consisting of three layers and totaling 12,000sq.mm. They add up further layers of internals to arrive at a total of 36,132sq.mm of heat dissipation area, which does make for impressive promo materials indeed.

All of that didn't produce miracles in our testing routine and the GT5 Pro behaved in a more or less classic flagship way under prolonged load.

CPU Throttling test • 3DMark Wild Life stress test