Realme GT 2 Pro first impressions: first phone to feature Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC

The Realme GT 2 Pro launched back in January 2022 in China and was one of the first phones to feature Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. This phone has finally made its way to India, at a time when we have plenty of new flagships launching with the very same SoC.

Some of these include the well-received Motorola Edge 30 Pro (Review), Samsung Galaxy S22 (Review), OnePlus 10 Pro (Review) and iQoo 9 Pro (Review). Realme's secret weapon to make sure the GT 2 Pro stands out is its aggressive pricing.

The Realme GT 2 Pro starts at Rs. 49,999 in India, placing it in a segment that's currently filled with phones based on Qualcomm's previous-get flagship SoC, with the exception of the Motorola Edge 30 Pro. The GT 2 Pro misses out on a few flagship features such as wireless charging and an official IP rating, but the rest of the specs are pretty much on point. I've spent some time using it, and here are my initial impressions.

The Realme GT 2 Pro ships in a fancy box, similar to other phones in the series. Inside, you'll find all the basic accessories such as the cable and charger, along with a protective case. The phone has a very interesting back panel that mimics the look and texture of paper products. Realme claims this is the first phone to use this bio-based polymer material, and it was designed in collaboration with Naoto Fukasawa, who has helped create many limited edition Realme phones in the past.

The GT 2 Pro looks very good in the Paper White colour of the unit that I have, and it's also available in Paper Green and Steel Black trims. The back panel of my unit didn't picked up any major dirt marks in my limited time with it, but I wonder how well this finish will age in our climate.

One thing that is disappointing about is the design of the camera module, which makes this phone look very similar to the Realme C35 (Review), a much lower-budget, mainstream smartphone. While this is great for the C35's street cred, it doesn't bode well for the GT 2 Pro's image.

The Realme GT Pro is very well built and feels sturdy. The aluminium frame has all the necessary ports and buttons in easy-to-reach places. Realme has intentionally gone with a flat display on the GT 2 Pro, which is great for practical purposes, and there's no compromise on the specs.

The 6.7-inch 10-bit AMOLED panel has a QHD+ resolution and 120Hz maximum refresh rate. Brightness goes up to 1,400 nits and this panel uses LTPO 2.0 tech which means the refresh rate can scale down up to 1Hz in order to conserve power.