Realme XT review

Wrap-up

The Realme XT is yet another feature-rich premium-looking smartphone that comes at a hard to believe price. The maker successfully climbs up from the entry level to the mid-range while retaining its amazing value-for money proposition.

While named as a successor to the X, the Realme XT is a actually somewhat of a combination between that and the 5 Pro. It has the OLED and the UD fingeprint scanner of the X, while the battery and chipset come from the 5 Pro. And then it adds the 64MP camera and it becomes a truly potent combo.

Realme 5 Pro, Realme XT, Realme X

And despite releasing so many phones Realme is doing a good job with their support so far - in fact the XT is already promised to receive Android 10 down the road, along with 7 of its siblings.

The best bit is that Realme XT's impressive resume stands to the test of real-life usage. The phone excelled in battery life, performance, its camera produces amazing shots and it also handles impressively.

Realme 5 Pro, Realme XT, Realme X

But here's the thing. Realme operates in just a few markets, and while they do cover close to three billion people between them, the rest of the world has a hard time taking advantage of great offers such as the XT.

Alternatives

Because of the supper aggressive pricing, it's hard to find direct rivals for the Realme XT. After all in the mid-range the name of the game is value for money and right now there's nothing to quite match its feature set at this price point.

Still, if you like the overall ColorOS user experience, but feel like the XT isn't your exact match, you can consider some of its stablemates. For a notch-less AMOLED experience at the expense of a less-versatile camera - there is the Realme X for you. Or if you can't quite stretch your budget this far - look no further than the Realme 5 Pro and Realme 5. Or even the Realme 3 Pro, which is still as relevant.

Realme X • Realme 5 Pro • Huawei nova 5T • Realme 3 Pro

Xiaomi and Realme had a bit of a race for who'd launch the first smartphone with a 64MP camera. And Redmi beat Realme to the Chinese market, while Realme won the battle for India. When they finally meet, they'll give each other the first form of meaningful competition.

Those two are share the 64MP cameras and offer chipsets of similar power. The Note 8 does pack a larger 4,500 mAh battery, while the Realme XT shines with an OLED panel.

Or, you may want to take a look at the Redmi Note 8. It's even cheaper than the XT and Note 8 Pro as Xiaomi opted for a 48MP snapper on the back instead of a 64MP, trimmed the battery capacity down to 4,000 mAh (same as Realme XT), and the selfie snapper isn't that impressive. It still lacks an OLED screen, of course.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 • Realme XT

The verdict

The Realme XT gets one of the easiest recommendations we've given - if you don't mind the notch and it fits within your budget you just can't go wrong with it. You'd be getting your money's worth and then some.

Now if only it was available in more markets...

Pros

• Dual Gorilla Glass 5 design, great looks and handling
• Excellent and large Super AMOLED
• Snappy and dependable performance
• Superb battery life and fast charging
• The 64MP snaps high-quality 16MP images day and night
• The portrait shots are impressive
• Great video quality on all resolutions
• Excellent selfies and stabilized selfie videos
• A dedicated microSD slot, 3.5mm jack, FM radio

Cons

• Limited regional availability
• The macro and ultrawide cameras are uninspiring
• EIS is only available at 1080@30fps