Realme X7 Max 5G / GT Neo review

Realme UI 2.0 on top of Android 11

Realme UI 2.0 is the latest and greatest the company has to offer and Realme hasn't skimped on anything at all. You get Android 11 under the hood and more customization options than ever, including things like extra Dark Mode styles, refined floating and mini windows.

On the surface, Realme UI 2.0 looks quite clean. The lock screen and desktop are straightforward. The task switcher is very AOSP as well. There is an optional Google Feed panel, and you can also choose whether you want an app drawer or not.

Lock screen • Home screen • Google Feed • Task switcher • Notification shade • Quick toggles

There is an astonishing amount of customization available in Realme UI 2.0. Most of it is neatly organized within the Personalisations menu. There is full-featured icon customization, not just limited to packs. You can also tweak system colors and fonts. There are also quite a few fingerprint unlock animations, and you can even adjust the look of the quick toggles.

Personalisations menu

The more "general" or behavioral-related settings have their own top-level settings menu. It includes the optional home screen settings, with options for an app drawer, no app drawer and a simple mode, with no app drawer and bigger icons.

More customization • Even more settings • Home screen mode • Home screen gestures

Some of the gesture settings are also housed within this menu. Not all of them, though. There are a few other settings menus that also pertain to various customization for Realme UI 2.0. That is actually one of our main complaints with it - the need for better organization. The groundwork is already there with menus like Personalisations. Now Realme just needs to simplify and reorganize things better.

Realme UI 2.0 settings menu

For instance, there is a separate Notifications and status bar menu that could easily be placed in a more logical spot, alongside other settings. Organizational concerns aside, the number of small tweaks on offer is impressive. You can basically dial both the behavior and look just the way you like them.

Notifications and status bar settings

Continuing on with the tour, there is also a whole other Convenience tools menu. It is also filled to the brim with options. Navigation is fully adjustable, as expected - traditional buttons in both popular arrangements and a full set of gesture navigation.

Convenience tools • Navigation options

And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gestures. Realme UI 2.0 has support for basically every swipe and motion-based shortcut you can think of. Both with the screen on and off. Plus, in-depth customizability for said gestures.

Gesture settings

Screenshots and Screen recording also have an extensive set of options to adjust.

Screenshots and screen recording

Realme UI 2.0 has quite advanced multi-tasking options too. There is the standard split-screen for supported apps. It can either be triggered from the task manager or via a gesture. Beyond that, Realme UI 2.0 also has two different floating window options. One bigger than the other, but otherwise pretty similar.

Split screen and floating windows

There is yet another convenience feature baked into Realme UI 2.0 - Smart Sidebar. It is pretty self-explanatory. You can put shortcuts to both system functions, as well as apps and trigger them quickly.

Smart Sidebar

Dark Mode is available, too, and it's been enhanced with Realme UI 2.0 with support for three different dark styles - black, dark gray or light gray. It can be manual or scheduled. You can also opt to force it on third-party apps, though this doesn't always end well.

Dark Mode

Speaking of OLED and Dark Mode, the Realme 8 also has an AOD feature to go with its OLED display. It is surprisingly light when it comes to customization, though.

Realme also went all-in when it comes to Battery and Performance management. Within the dedicated Battery settings menu we find a whole bunch of useful settings. Some, like Power saving and Super power saving modes are common and self-explanatory. But, beyond these, there is also a nifty automatic wizard that monitors for power-hungry apps in both the foreground and background and fires notifications. It also goes through your settings and makes suggestions that could end up saving you power.

Battery and Performance settings

There is an extra layer of settings beyond this one which also houses some interesting menus. There is a Performance Mode selector with a total of three possible settings. While High performance mode sounds like it could offer some extra "oomph", we made sure to run our benchmarks with and without it and that does not seem to be the case. Our best guess is that this simply disables some automatic power management behavior. We aren't quite sure why you would want to, but it's there.

You can also apply extra restrictions on apps, optimizing their background operation or outright freezing them, so that they stop working altogether until launched, including no notifications and background tasks of any kind.

The multimedia apps such as Gallery, Music, and Videos - are provided by Realme. There is also a redesigned File Manager and even a Phone Manager app. This completes the non-Google app list, as far as utilities go. There are a few pre-installed third-party apps beyond that, like Facebook and the Amazon app, but they can be uninstalled.

Gallery • Albums • Videos • Phone manager • File Manager

Realme also has a game optimizer and launcher, called Game Space. It lets you apply performance profiles, and resolution scaling on a per-app basis and also offers performance metrics, including an FPS readout. Neat idea, but it might need some extra work since its readings weren't consistent at times. Beyond that, there are also focus and do not disturb modes to toggle from Game Space, as well as quick shortcuts to other features and apps.

Game Space

Overall, we are very pleased with the current direction Realme UI 2.0 is heading in. The interface is snappy, clutter-free and easy to use. Yet, it retains plenty of powerful tools should you choose to dig deeper and use them.

Performance and benchmarks

The most interesting bit about the Realme X7 Max 5G/Realme GT Neo is arguably the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G chipset. It is the singular biggest difference between it and the vanilla Realme GT. Beyond that, the Dimensity 1200 is still not particularly popular and widespread. This is actually the first time it is passing through the office. This is just part of the reason we are particularly interested in examining its performance and features.

Let's start with some tech info first. The Dimensity 1200, or MT6893, as its official designation goes, is currently the top dog in MediaTek's Dimensity line. This family of chips has rightfully been gathering a lot of attention lately, particularly for its value 5G connectivity proposition. That is especially true for chips like the Dimensity 700 and 800. The 1200 tries to stretch the value proposition as far as it can, in hopes of brushing shoulders with upper-midrange and even flagship chips from the likes of Qualcomm. This do look quite promising on paper. Just like its Dimensity 1100 sibling, the 1200 model has a total of four big Cortex-A78 cores at its disposal, paired with four smaller Cortex-A55 ones. The latter can clock at up to 2.0 GHz, while three of the A78 ones go up to 2.6 GHz. One thing that sets the Dimensity 1200 apart is that it has its fourth Cortex-A78 core set up as a "prime" core, rated for up to 3.0 GHz speeds. This should, in theory, offer a nice boost to single-threaded tasks. Especially in short, bursty loads.

For graphics, the Dimensity 1200 has a total of nine Mali-G77 cores. A decent amount of power to throw around, even if not chart-topping alongside competing Adreno models. Also part of the chip package - a potent 5G NR Sub-6 GHz and LTE, built-in combo modem. 5G is sort of a defining feature of the entire Dimensity line and the Dimensity 1200 is no exception. It is noteworthy, however, that the Realme X7 Max 5G and its Dimensity 1200 are capable of Dual SIM 5G standby (SA/NSA supported), which is not always a given. There is also VoNR (Voice over 5G New Radio) support. Speaking of connectivity features, the chipset also has Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6, NFC and Bluetooth 5.1, with support for SBC, AAC, APTX, APTX HD, LDAC codecs. All of this and more is crammed into the chip package using a current and efficient, though again, not industry-leading 6nm manufacturing process.

Enough beating about the bush then - let's look at some benchmark numbers, starting with pure-CPU loads and GeekBench. We made sure to pick out a wide and interesting roster of competing chipsets. This, of course, includes the current Snapdragon 888 chipset, as well as the older 865 one. Both of which appear to handily beat the Dimensity 1200 in multi-threaded tests. Same goes for the Snapdragon 870. Things start to get a bit more interesting when we start looking at what Qualcomm would consider "budget-flagship" chips, like the Snapdragon 780G and especially the Snapdragon 860. The latter appears to be the closest conder to the Dimensity 1200, as far as pure-CPU multi-thread, longer-duration performance goes.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  3555
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  3448
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  3311
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  3091
• Realme X7 Pro
  2997
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  2909
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  2614
• Poco X3 Pro
  2574
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  1812
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  1787
• Realme 8 5G
  1784
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  1780
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  1599
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  1577

Looking further down the graph, we notice a clear cutoff point, with chips like the Snapdragon 750G and the Dimensity 800 and 700 models clearly occupying a different, lower tier in terms of CPU performance. Speaking of Dimensity, though, we can't help but note that the Dimensity 1000+, as found inside the Realme X7 Pro and the Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G do noticeably better in this particular benchmark. Well enough to take on and even beat the Snapdragon 780G. But, how could this be? The Dimensity 1200 has better Cortex-A78 cores, one of which can operate at up to 3.0 GHz. That is all true and actually explains the relatively lower sustained, multi-threaded synthetic performance through the simple fact of thermal-throttling. We will provide some particular throttling tests as well, but it appears that the Dimensity 1200, or at least the one inside the Realme X7 Max 5G, is tuned for higher burst performance, favoring single-threaded loads. A fact that is also clearly evident from the single-threaded GeekBench chart.

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  1139
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  1029
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  967
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  901
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  803
• Realme X7 Pro
  756
• Poco X3 Pro
  735
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  712
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  641
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  597
• Realme 8 5G
  569
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  569
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  534
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  525

The Dimensity 1200 pushes harder in these scenarios, scoring accordingly and accumulating heat quickly in the process, followed by a ramp down in clocks. Arguably, this is a much more-beneficial behavior for real-world tasks, which rarely involve pinning multiple CPU cores together for longer periods of time. A quicker burst on a single core generally means better responsiveness for most tasks. Long-tern gaming performance being the one exception. But, that's a while different scenario and one that has always been most heavily affected by how well a phone handles its thermal-throttling curve, seeing how throttling is inevitable in a passively cooled system like this.

CPU Throttling test

Since we are already on the topic, the Realme X7 Max 5G has what we would consider a fairly-gently performance curve and decent sustained performance behavior. Though, with tuning clearly aimed at a strong initial burst of power, at the expense of better sustained performance. While a gentler slope down would be more ideal for long gaming sessions, in particular, like we said, there are plenty of responsiveness benefits to be gained in most tasks from this kind of behavior. Plus, the graph shows no major sudden dips down in clock speeds, which is what you want to avoid. And seeing how the Realme X7 Max 5G is not strictly-speaking a "gaming" phone, we can't complain too much about its throttling behavior.

Surface temperature on our review unit was also decent under sustained stress. The phone got noticeably hotter all-around, but never uncomfortable to hold. Its plastic frame, while not the perfect heat conductor and dissipator, definitely helps in more uniformly spreading heat around. Again, perfectly reasonable and expected behavior for a non-"gaming" handset. Plus, on the inside, the X7 Mx 5G has Realme's new 3D multi-layer, stainless steel vapour cooling system that promises 100% coverage of core components and up to 50% increased cooling performance.

Circling back to benchmarks and AnTuTu, which is quite favorable towards the Realme X7 Max 5G. Again, it's not quite on the same level as its vanilla Realme GT sibling and its Snapdragon 888 chipset, but is now positioned much closer to Snapdragon 870 competitors like the Poco F3 and the Xiaomi Black Shark 4. Mind you, AnTuTu is a much more compound benchmark with a mix of CPU and GPU tests, which also takes into account things like memory speed and UI performance. A pretty solid showing from the Realme X7 Max 5G all around.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  703986
• Poco F3
  631850
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  617456
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  605819
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  563961
• Realme X7 Pro
  510317
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  465534
• Poco X3 Pro
  453223
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  435166
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  333952
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  318672
• Realme 8 5G
  302059
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  295442
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  261282
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  218788

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  810433
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  680671
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  605569
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  522490
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  391770
• Realme 8 5G
  361505

The Mali-G77 MC9 inside the Dimensity 1200 is no slouch either. In fact, looking at the GFXBench offscreen test, which conveniently take the device resolution out of the equation, we can, once again, see the MediaTek chip keep up nicely with the likes of the Snapdragon 870 and its Adreno 650 GPU.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  171
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  139
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  129
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  124
• Realme X7 Pro
  119
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  109
• Poco X3 Pro
  102
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  89
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  51
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  46
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  39
• Realme 8 5G
  38
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  24

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  113
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  107
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  101
• Poco X3 Pro
  93
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  78
• Realme X7 Pro
  64
• Realme GT 5G
  60
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  60
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  48
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  40
• Realme 8 5G
  35
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  35
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  21

The on-screen tests offer some interesting observations in their own right. We already mentioned this in regards to high refresh rate handling on the Realme X7 Max 5G in general, but to reiterate, it is one of the few Realme phones we have seen manage to actually go some real engine rendering on-screen at anything over 60fps. We can clearly see our review unit pushing 107 fps with the fairly low-effort Manhattan OpenGL ES 3.0 run.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  112
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  97
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  87
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  86
• Realme X7 Pro
  80
• Poco X3 Pro
  75
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  74
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  65
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  35
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  34
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  29
• Realme 8 5G
  25
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  17

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  85
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  79
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  77
• Poco X3 Pro
  67
• Realme X7 Pro
  60
• Realme GT 5G
  60
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  57
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  57
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  51
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  30
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  26
• Realme 8 5G
  22
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  15

Same goes for the OpenGL ES 3.1 version of the same test. Though, with lower numbers. Unfortunately, this did not translate to any actual games running at over 60fps on the Realme X7 Max 5G. It remains an issue we can't quite explain, that likely has to do with software locking the display's refresh rate to 60Hz. The peculiar bit here being mostly that unlike the Realme GT, the X7 Max 5G at least managed to run benchmarks in high refresh rate mode. Granted, this offers little practical use to users and we still urge Realme to get on top of the issue and fix it ASAP. However, it at least allows us to get a better idea of what kind of on-screen performance the phone could theoretically push in games without a 60Hz lock.

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  65
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  59
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  51
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  50
• Realme X7 Pro
  46
• Poco X3 Pro
  45
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  43
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  40
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  20
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  19
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  19
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  17
• Realme 8 5G
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  9.3

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  55
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  50
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  46
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  44
• Realme X7 Pro
  40
• Poco X3 Pro
  38
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  36
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  35
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  18
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  17
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  16
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  15
• Realme 8 5G
  13
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  7.9

Once again, the Dimensity 1200 and its Mali-G77 MC9 GPU have enough "oomph" to rub shoulders with the likes of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 860, as well as the last-gen Snapdragon 865 chips. Not too shabby at all.

The Vulkan API is also implemented well and works properly. No complaints there.

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  38
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  34
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  31
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  29
• Poco X3 Pro
  27
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  5.3

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  39
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  34
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  33
• Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro
  30
• Poco X3 Pro
  26
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  11
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  5.6

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  34
• Realme GT 5G
  29
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  20
• Poco X3 Pro
  18
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  7.6
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  7
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  3.5

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  28
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  24
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  22
• Poco X3 Pro
  17
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  7.5
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  7
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  3.7

Finally, 3DMark is quite favorable towards the Dimensity 1200 as well. Again, estimating its power comfortably around that of the Snapdragon 870. The Realme X7 Max 5G managed to max-out both Slight Shot Extreme tests, as well, and only gave a score in the Wild Life run. Another clear sign that we have proper flagship hardware on our hands.

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  5872
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  4216
• Xiaomi Black Shark 4
  4212
• Realme X7 Pro
  3938
• Poco X3 Pro
  3401
• Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
  3136
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  2713
• Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G
  1556
• Realme 8 5G
  1104
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  1040
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  482
• OnePlus Nord CE 5G
  113

All things considered, the Realme X7 Max 5G and its MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset do not disappoint one bit in the performance department. While still failing to fully keep up with the likes of the Snapdragon 888, the Dimensity 1200 is undoubtedly a worthy flagship part. It combines a top-notch, modern connectivity and feature set with plenty of power and good efficiency. The hype surrounding MediaTek's Dimensity line is well justified and the Dimensity 1200 is no exception.

As far as performance-related gripes we have with the Realme X7 Max 5G in particular - its inability to run actual games at anything beyond 60Hz is still up there. The current poor state of the high refresh rate handling on a software level is frankly one of the only things holding back the phone's otherwise excellent and potent hardware.