Realme GT Explorer Master review

Design

The GT Explorer Master is another entry in the growing lineup of phones that are a result of Realme's joint efforts with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa. The signature Suitcase design of the Master and Explorer Master is unlike anything we've seen before and is obviously inspired by that item you've probably not used much over the past year or two.

There are two distinct versions of the GT EM when it comes to design, build, and materials - the Voyager Gray and Apricot colorways get the vegan leather suitcase-like back, while the White and Aurora ones have more conventional matte rear panels. We happen to have one of each. Thanks, Realme!

The two have quite different in-hand feel too. The glass one is tangibly thinner - the 0.8mm difference in thickness may sound negligible, but it's there. We're not saying the vegan leather one is thick - at 8.8mm, it's hard to call it that, but the white glass one is just a bit thinner.

There's also the matter of grip and fingerprints. We think the vegan leather variant is better in both areas, offering a more secure purchase and practically no memory for smudges. The glass one is more slippery, and tends to pick up some prints, though it's not remotely the smudge fest that glossy backs are.

As we observed on the GT Master already, the vegan leather variants of the Explorer Master have the designer's signature underneath a Realme logo next to the camera. The glass-backed options have just the Realme logo, aligned vertically, in the bottom left corner of the phone.

The three cameras have a separate glass circle each, with a ring around it, and are grouped in an oversized camera island. Also in there is the dual-LED flash and two more small windows whose purpose and function we can't quite figure out.

The whole camera assembly sticks out a little but is hardly the worst in this respect and whatever wobble it causes is minimal.

Unlike the GT 5G and GT Master, the GT Master Explorer has an aluminum frame, and the anodized metal lends it a decidedly more premium touch than the other two phones. The top and bottom are flat, something we find useful for product shots around the office, but it has little practical benefit otherwise. It does look nice, though.

That flat bottom is home to the USB-C port, the primary loudspeaker and mic and the SIM slot. The tray will take two nano SIMs back to back, but there's no microSD card support.

The top is nearly devoid of features, there's just a pinhole for a secondary mic. No, there's no headphone jack on the GT Explorer Master.

Bottom is home to the card slot too • Just a mic up top

Realme insists on keeping the power button and the volume keys on opposite sides of the phone, and we don't mind it. The metal keys click nicely and are well placed.

Volume buttons on the left • Power button on the right

The display side has another upmarket touch you won't find on lesser Realme GTs - the Explorer Master's screen has curved edges. The 120Hz AMOLED isn't exactly run-of-the-mill all in itself, but the gently sloping sides take that sense of a premium product a step up still.

Less fancy is the factory-applied screen protector, whose edges catch your fingertips when swiping from the sides. That's hardly ideal and is counterproductive to the curved screen's high-end aspirations. We removed it eventually to experience the phone as intended, and it's a much more pleasant experience. Plus, with the Gorilla Glass 5 protection, having the plastic foil on is a bit redundant unless you're a particular klutz. You do you.

There's a punch-hole style cutout for the selfie camera in the top left corner of the screen. It's best described as reasonably sized - it's not the smallest, and it's not too big.

The earpiece is placed behind a notch where the glass meets the frame. It also moonlights as a second speaker for music and video playback. To its right, you may be able to spot the barely discernible ambient light and proximity sensor window in the relatively thin top bezel.

The GT Explorer Master features an optical fingerprint sensor underneath the display. It's fast and reliable that much is clear. However, it's placed a little too low for our liking - it's nothing you won't get used to, but a few millimeters higher would have made for a more natural action.

The GT Explorer Master weighs 185g or 1-2g less, depending on the type of back - an immaterial difference if there ever was any. Subjectively, it feels lighter than what the number suggests, but that could be different for you depending on where you're coming from.

With a footprint measuring 159.9x72.5, it's essentially the same size as a OnePlus Nord 2 5G or a Galaxy A52(s) 5G, with the Moto G100 nearly a centimeter taller.