It’s nearly a year since Realme unveiled its GT smartphone to the world, and the company has been busy teasing the launch of its successor series, confirmed to be on the way soon.
While there’s no news yet on the standard GT 2, the company has confirmed that its bigger brother – the GT 2 Pro – will be the first premium flagship device to bear the Realme badge and, what’s more, it’ll be powered by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Here’s all we know so far.
When will the Realme GT 2 Pro be released?
The existence of the Pro was first teased on 12 November by Realme CEO Sky Li on Twitter, while the name followed in another tweet on 29 November.
Tech site RealmiCentral reported that the new model will make its debut in the first quarter of 2022, which would match the March window previously used to launch the original Realme GT.
We had hoped for an earlier launch after the company teased multiple December events. But a first 9 December tease came and went with only an “urban camping experience” for Chinese Realme fans (as detailed on the company’s Weibo page), while 20 December’s ‘GT 2 Series Special Event’ only teased a few of the phone’s features, without launching it in full – the only word on the proper launch is that it’s “coming soon.”
The Realme GT 5G was introduced in China on 4 March 2021, but it didn’t make it to international markets (including the UK) until later that same year, on 21 June. This was followed by a few other models in the range, – including the Realme GT Neo – which arrived in China on 31 March but didn’t receive a release in other territories.
To confuse matters somewhat, Realme introduced a few special editions of the GT shortly after launch too. These were the GT Master Edition – which featured a redesigned chassis and a more modest chipset for a cheaper price tag – and the GT Explorer Master Edition, which had some tweaks to the camera modules and a slightly larger display. Both arrived in China in July 2021, with the Master Edition making it to global markets in August 2021. Read our guide to the Realme GT range for more details on those phones.
In the meantime, the Realme GT Neo 2 has already been released and is now available globally. So if you want to see how the second generation of the line’s more affordable handsets shapes up, you can read our full Realme GT Neo 2 review.
How much will the Realme GT 2 Pro cost?
As you can see from the statement by Realme CEO Sky Li, the GT 2 Pro will be the first device from the company to break the US$800 mark. By how much, we don’t know, but logic dictates that it can only be from $801 to $899 (otherwise it would break the $900 mark).
If, for a moment, we were to speculate that the price was $849, this would translate to around £650 or €750. Of course, there are local taxes, import duties and similar charges to consider; so if we apply VAT to the UK price, it gives us £780, which could easily move to £799. The same could be true of European markets, so be prepared to pay around £800/€800/$849 for the first ‘true’ Realme flagship.
What new features will we see in the Realme GT 2 Pro?
Realme itself has confirmed that the GT 2 Pro will come with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, which launched at the end of November 2021. That at least lives up to the company’s promise that this is truly a premium flagship.
It’s official! #realmeGT2Pro, our first and most premium flagship will pack #Snapdragon8Gen1.
Along with the best chip, what else do you think makes a true premium flagship smartphone? #realmeGT2series pic.twitter.com/oFcDGkeVfr— realme (@realmeglobal) December 1, 2021
At the GT 2 Series Special Event on 20 December, the company confirmed a few other key details about the phone, broken down into three parts.
First, the phone will once again feature an aesthetic from Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa, with a ‘Paper Tech Master Design’ that incorporates bio-polymer material for a more eco-friendly design inspired by paper. It’s not clear if this will be for every version of the phone though, or only a specific Master Edition, as with the previous Fukasawa collaborations.
The camera is also confirmed to be getting a first: a 150° ultra-wide camera. Realme says this is the widest ultra-wide camera in a smartphone yet, and supplied the below sample shot of it in action. This lens will also power a fisheye camera mode for the phone, for those who want to maximise the natural curvature of an ultra-wide lens.
Finally, networking will be enhanced too. The “HyperSmart antenna switching” tech will pick the best-performing of the phone’s 12 antennae at any given time for optimal signal, while a new symmetrical Wi-Fi antenna design apparently improves signal there too. 360° NFC seals the deal, with a 500% larger NFC sensing area and 20% improved distance, which should make it easier to make NFC payments from either side of the phone.
That’s everything that we know officially, but leaks hint at more about the phone.
One interesting report from 91Mobiles details AnTuTu benchmarks that have appeared online featuring the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in a Realme GT 2 Pro, with a score over 1 million points; comfortably beyond the last flagship generation. So, whenever the device arrives, it’s sure to be fast.
91Mobiles has managed to report more leaked specs, as well as some detailed renders of the new design. The image, which comes courtesy of OnLeaks, shows a bulbous strip on the back of the chassis, reminiscent of the old Nexus 6P from 2015, as well as a nod to the current Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
The report says that the strip will most likely be home to dual 50Mp modules (a wide and ultrawide) and an 8Mp GR (telephoto) lens. These will be joined by a 32Mp selfie camera, as on the GT Master and Explorer Editions.
The display is expected to be a 6.8in WQHD+ OLED panel, with a 120Hz refresh rate. While internally, Realme will opt for 12GB of RAM, 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage and possibly a battery that will support 125W fast-charging.
To see what it will be up against, take a look at our pick of the best phones and best Chinese smartphones.