Realme GT Neo2 review

Competition

The Realme GT Neo2 comfortably roams in the upper-mid-range segment with some premium features and hardware, notably the Snapdragon 870 SoC, the 5,000 mAh battery with blazing-fast charging and the bright and fluent 120Hz OLED panel. From what we see, the GT Neo2 is not bringing a knife to a gun party, that much is clear.

The handset has already been launched in India at INR 32,000 for the 8GB/128GB version, whereas the European market is selling it at €450 starting price. Seeing how the Realme GT Master is currently selling for around €380 and the original GT 5G asks €500, the GT Neo2 perfectly slots in between the two.

One of the first alternatives that comes to mind is the Nord 2 5G from Realme's sister company, OnePlus. The handset is selling for about €400 in Europe and asks INR 30,000 in India. Noticeably lower price than the GT Neo2 in both regions and is able to match Realme's contender in terms of charging speed, battery life (although a tad lower) and is able to pull off generally better camera performance too. It may also convince some potential buyers with its stock-ish Android. However, for a few extra bucks, the GT Neo2 would give you a faster, brighter and bigger display and noticeably better performance (after all, the Dimensity 1200 struggles to keep up with the Snapdragon 870).

It's a close call, that's for sure, but perhaps the Neo2 takes the lead with slightly higher price/performance and price/feature ratios, even with its higher price tag.

The Poco F3 GT would be representing Xiaomi's camp with the excellent feature set. Sadly, it's only available in India but undercuts the GT Neo2 with INR 29,000 price tag (equated for memory configuration). It's running a less potent Dimensity 1200 chipset but impresses with a Gorilla Glass 5 build all-around, IP53 certification against water and dust and flaunts a flagship-grade 10-bit, 120Hz AMOLED panel.

Unfortunately, we haven't tested the device in our lab. Still, according to Xiaomi's official metrics, the display should be about as bright as the GT Neo2's, while battery life will be better. The Dimensity 1200 isn't famous for being a power-hungry SoC, and combined with the F3 GT's 5,065 mAh battery, we expect to beat the GT Neo2. The latter outpaces Xiaomi's solution in terms of charging, though, that's for sure.

OnePlus Nord 2 5G • Xiaomi Poco F3 GT • vivo iQOO 7 (India)

Another unexpected alternative on the Indian market is again from one of Realme's sister companies - vivo. The vivo iQOO 7 seems to be a tad cheaper, starting at around INR 29,000 and employs the same Snapdragon 870 SoC, has OIS on the primary camera, higher resolution ultrawide unit, identical 6.62-inch 120Hz AMOLED display and similar 66W fast charging solution. It seems like battery capacity is the only considerable advantage of Realme's GT Neo2, and one would think that the extra 500 mAh probably aren't worth the extra bucks.

Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G • Samsung Galaxy A72

Last, but not least, Samsung has two similarly-priced offers that are often mentioned n in our reviews. However, they may come as a bit pricey for someone looking at the INR 32,000 GT Neo2 in the first place. The Galaxy A52s 5G asks INR 36,000 whereas the Galaxy A72 asks INR 35,000, but strangely enough, the European retailers are willing to sell those for €380 and about €430, respectively. That's a little below what we expect as a price tag on the GT Neo2 once it arrives at European shores. And in case you are interested in the latter, these two phones are worth considering.

Surely, they both are no match to the Neo2's raw horsepower and won't charge as fast, but the more competent and capable camera setups (the ultrawide are higher resolution, the A72 has a dedicated 3x zoom with OIS, even) may win over some of you. Battery life is also longer than Realme's contender, although marginally. And you get microSD card slots, 3.5mm audio jacks and IP67 certification against water and dust as a bonus.

Verdict

The Realme GT Neo2 is probably the phone with one of the highest price/performance ratios in its class, outpaced only by considerably pricier handsets. The Snapdragon 870 SoC is capable of some serious number crunching and works well with the speedy 120Hz OLED panel. Pity that it doesn't go north of 60Hz in games, an issue we found with the previous generation.

The big battery, fast charging and rather long endurance build a very compelling case for the GT Neo2 - not to mention the loud stereo speakers. However, if you are looking for a phone that excels in photography, the GT Neo2 shouldn't be your first choice. There are quite a few more competent and versatile alternatives. Not that the Neo2's camera experience is lackluster, it's just that we've seen better. We did like the 4K video recording, nighttime performance and the granular control over the hardware provided by the camera software. But with the price premium that this phone comes with, the Neo2 now competes against better-equipped phones.

And if you are willing to forget about the missing microSD card slot and 3.5mm audio jack, the Realme GT Neo2 is still easy to recommend.

Pros

• Bright AMOLED screen, 120Hz, HDR10+ support.
• Great price/performance ratio.
• Long battery life, blazing-fast charging.
• Good stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos support.
• Snappy and customizable Realme UI.

Cons

• Games capped at 60fps.
• No microSD card slot, no IP rating, the jack is also gone.