Realme GT 7 Pro review

Design, build quality, handling

The GT 7 Pro may be a relatively regular-looking handset, but Realme's made sure to have something extraordinary going for it when it comes to design and build. The phone carries the sort-of standard IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, but also has the IPX9 label so it should be good against some steam pressure jets.

But better yet, it can be used underwater down to 2m - as in, not just 'it should be able to survive a dunk', but rather Realme is actively encouraging you to do so.

The phone uses a standard upmarket glass and aluminum construction. The global variant relies on Gorilla Glass 7i for the display and Panda Glass for the rear. The Chinese specs don't go into this much detail and we don't know for a fact what materials that version uses but we would guess they are the same.

The international GT 7 Pro comes in one of two colorways - Mars Orange and Galaxy Grey. There's also a white option that remains a China-exclusive, sadly. The China-only GT5 Pro had a faux leather variant, but the global Sixes didn't, and neither does the GT 7 Pro - it's glass on both (or, rather, on all three). The white one is glossy (by the looks of it on pictures), while the two other variants have a silky smooth anti-glare treatment.

China-only GT5 Pro with a faux leather back next to Mars Orange GT 7 Pro

Our review unit is the Mars Orange colorway and it has a subtle wavy decorative design on the back. Does that mean there's water on Mars? The gray one is more of a solid color.

The camera island is a block of black glass, housing the three camera modules, plus a flash and a mic, but also an IR emitter for remote control purposes. We didn't see that illuminator being used for focusing purposes.

Look closely and you might spot the IR emitter window to the left of the flash

On the display side of things, you'll be getting nicely slim bezels and a glass panel that curves ever so slightly in all four directions. It feels nicely premium, provided that you remove the pre-applied protector - while it does provide a layer of safety, its own edges can be felt when swiping in from the sides, ruining the premium experience.

As part of the GT 7 Pro's underwater equipment, you also get an ultrasonic fingerprint reader - had it been optical, you wouldn't be able to use it for shutter release while in the water. It's also largely the preferred type of sensor around the office thanks to its better usability with dirty/wet fingers out of the water and the fact that it doesn't shine a bright light at you at night. It's placed nicely high up too, so it's a pretty great solution overall.

The classic SIM tray shot comes next, showcasing the red gasket that keeps dust and water our better than most. The GT 7 Pro will take two nano SIM cards, but doesn't have an eSIM capability, so it's not the best option if you travel a lot to exotic places.