Realme has bombarded the mid-range market in recent months with a series of compelling handsets, and with the launch of the X7 series that looks set to continue.
The Realme X7 and X7 Pro have initially been released in the company’s native China, and it’s unclear when the phones will be launched globally.
Despite the naming, these serve as direct successors to the company’s X2-series, which made their debut around the same time last year.
Related: Realme X2 Pro review
When did the Realme X7 launch?
The Realme X7 and X7 Pro were officially launched on 1 September in China, before going on sale the same week.
Both phones will initially be China-exclusives, with no official line on when (or if) there will be a global release.
How much does the Realme X7 series cost?
As you might imagine, we only have confirmed costs for China. International pricing has therefore been estimated based on conversion rates:
- Realme X7 (6GB RAM, 128GB storage) – CNY 1,799 (approx. £196/US$264)
- Realme X7 (8GB, 128GB) – CNY 2,399 (approx. £261/US$352)
- Realme X7 Pro (6GB, 128GB) – CNY 2,199 (approx. £239/US$323)
- Realme X7 Pro (8GB, 128GB) – CNY 2,399 (approx. £261/US$352)
- Realme X7 Pro (8GB, 256GB) – CNY 3,199 (approx. £348/US$469)
There’s plenty of overlap with pricing between the two models, so it depends whether pure specs or RAM/storage is more important to you.
What features does the Realme X7 series offer?
Let’s start with the flagship Realme X7 Pro. The phone comes with a 6.55in Full HD+ AMOLED display, with a staggering 800 nits of brightness. It’s powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1000 Plus, a brand new processor which aims to provide a fast 5G experience on a budget. This is the flagship chipset in the series, and combines with 6/8GB of RAM and 128/256GB of storage here.
As you might expect from a Realme phone, the X7 Pro comes with a quadruple rear camera setup, headlined by the 64Mp, f.1/7 main sensor. You also get 8Mp ultra-wide, 2Mp macro and 2Mp retro portrait lenses.
On the front, the X7 Pro has a 32Mp selfie camera with support for face unlock. It’s housed in a punch-hole arrangement, giving the phone an impressive 91% screen-to-body ratio.
The 4,500mAh battery can charge rapidly via the included 65W adapter, although there’s no wireless charging. There’s also built-in vapour cooling, preventing the device from getting hot when gaming or performing other intensive tasks.
As you might expect, the device runs Realme’s custom UI over Android 10. It’s expected to get at least two years of software updates. There’s still enough room for stereo speakers, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, among a host of other features.
The main things you’re compromising on the regular Realme X7 is processing power and display. The device comes running the new MediaTek Dimensity 800U, and it’s unclear how much of a step down this is from the 1000 Plus on the X7 Pro without testing for ourselves.
Elsewhere, the 6.4in AMOLED display is still Full HD+, but steps down to 90Hz refresh rate. There’s also a very slightly smaller battery at 4,300mAh, although it’s also lighter at 175g compared to 185g on the X7 Pro.
As you can see, the Realme X7 and X7 Pro have plenty in common, despite the difference in price. This includes the phrase ‘Dare to Leap’ emblazoned in huge text on the back of the phones. It certainly means they stand out from the competition, but many will want to cover it up with a case.
Here’s all the rumours we heard before the official announcement, with many of them proving to be true.
As for what Realme is bringing to the table, the main post highlights the X7 Pro’s use of a 120Hz high refresh rate flexible AMOLED display – similar to that used by the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S20 – and a first for Realme. The post also alludes to a premium fit and finish, something echoed by Realme’s VP – Xu Qi Chase.
In a series of posts on Chase’s own Weibo profile, he goes into more detail about the X7 Pro’s display, reaffirming its 120Hz refresh rate (along with a 240Hz touch-sampling rate) and explaining that, through the use of flexible display technology and COP (chip on glass) manufacturing, this will be Realme’s thinnest phone yet.
In one post, he shares an image of the front of the X7 Pro (above), showcasing an offset hole-punch front-facing camera – similar to the layout on the Google Pixel 4a – as well as some additional figures on the display: up to 1200nits of brightness and offering 4,096 levels of brightness adjustment.
Chase also specifically mentions that the Pro will offer impressive fast charging speeds, initially thought to tie in with the company’s July announcement, stating that it would be releasing a phone with 125W UltraDart Flash Charging in the near future.
As highlighted by tipster Digital Chat Station, the X7 Pro has also appeared on the Chinese certification database, TENAA, which sheds yet more light on the hardware this phone will be using.
The X7 Pro is reported to sport a 6.55in 2400×1080p 120Hz flexible AMOLED display (supplied by Samsung), with a 32Mp front-facing camera and a 64Mp primary snapper on the back; accompanied by a secondary 8Mp sensor and two 2Mp sensors – assumed to be ultrawide, macro and depth sensors respectively.
The phone is also said to feature a dual-cell 4500mAh battery with 65W fast charging (not 125W as hoped, but still impressively fast, like the Realme X50 Pro) and use a 2.6GHz processor, speculated to be MediaTek’s 5G-capable Dimensity 1000+ SoC. The phone also weighs 184 grams and measures 8.5mm thick.
What does the Realme X7 look like?
While the TENAA listing presents us with our first glance at the X7 Pro, Realme has since released official marketing images that show the phone in all its glory and more than the refined design that the phone is leading with, it’s the huge logo on its back that grabbing all the attention.
The X7 Pro sports what look like holographic finishes, which produce rainbow light patterns at different angles – the real standout inclusion, though is the slogan, ‘Dare to leap’ which occupies almost a third of the phone’s back.
Realme supplemented the new press imagery by explaining the decision-making behind such eye-catching design work in a post on Weibo. The company’s industrial design director, Xianghai Sire, states that logo design itself is daring – a trait that the X7 series’ target audience is apparently clamouring for.
“The brand attitude of “DARE TO LEAP” is incorporated into the mobile phone design, which is the spirit of Realme and young people to be fearless, adventurous, and daring to breakthrough [sic – machine translated].”
Honor came under fire for slapping its logo across the back of the Honor 30 series and Realme may be placing itself in danger of coming the same ridicule here.
Related: Best Realme Phone 2020