Realme GT NEO 2 test: the good deal of this end of the year?

The Realme brand is perhaps not the best known in the eyes of the general public, far behind Apple and other Samsung. But the young Chinese manufacturer intends to catch up. Launched in 2018, the latter is already the sixth largest smartphone seller in the world, and the brand is aiming for neither more nor less than the top 5 worldwide and the top 3 in Europe in the coming years. A clear ambition, which pushes the young company from the Middle Empire to produce more and more models, in order to attract new customers.

In this galaxy of models, the GT Neo 2 can be seen as yet another smartphone, which only differs in a few details from the others. But the latter has several features that have something to appeal to the greatest number. While it is very difficult today for a manufacturer to enter the mid-range phone market, Realme is giving itself the weapons to succeed with this phone which has already won over more than a million Chinese.

With its arrival in France on November 15, the brand is offering an affordable product, around 500 euros depending on the configuration, which has everything of a higher-end model, a real flagship killer on paper. With its Snapdragon 870 chip which also equips the Oppo Reno 6 Pro, this phone offers a powerful processor, which, although not revolutionary, allows the phone to be used without the slightest problem and pushes the specs a little more away with the "GT" mode.

Presented in three colors, two of which are quite sober in shades of blue and black, Realme has played the originality card with the third color and a surprising visual. Baptized “Neo Green” it pulls towards a pungent green, which cannot go unnoticed. We love it or we hate it, but it's a bet taken by the brand to get noticed in the fray.

Buy the Realme Gt Neo 2 for €459

Specifications

Before getting to the heart of the matter, here is the technical data sheet of the Realme GT Neo 2 to see in detail all the specificities of this phone.

An (almost) perfect screen

On the front of the phone, there is a Samsung AMOLED E4 panel of 6.62 inches. With thin borders that we forget very quickly, Realme does not reinvent the world, but offers something effective. Note the small punch for the front camera is located at the top left of the screen and not in the center as it is common to find it. This positioning allows for better immersion in the screen, but can be annoying when using the camera. It is easier to pass your finger in front of the camera by holding the phone with this positioning, especially during video calls.

For the rest, the screen of this Realme GT Neo 2 features advanced technologies, such as a refresh rate of 120 Hz, a feature that has just arrived on the iPhone 13, a premium model. it is. But in addition to this refresh rate, the Realme GT Neo 2 offers a touch sampling rate of 600 Hz. Less known, this feature makes the phone ultra responsive and the screen is very (too sometimes) sensitive to the slightest pressure. . A real treat for mobile gamers, but a plus that may not be visible enough on a daily basis. The changes are hardly noticeable in everyday use, and you really have to push the phone to its limits to feel a clear difference with the competition.

Tireless autonomy

Beneath this screen, Realme has boasted of having succeeded in integrating a brand new cooling system which is based on a stainless steel structure and a thermal paste including dust from diamond. This new process seems very conclusive. During our test, the phone (almost) never overheated, even when using “GT” mode which is supposed to draw all of the phone's full power.

Alongside this new cooling system, Realme places in its GT Neo 2 a 5000 mAh battery which can easily last the day with moderate use. If you pay attention to your consumption, you can even reach two days before going through the recharge box. Note, a small detail that is always nice, Realme offers a small animation on the screen during charging. A little nothing that is not decisive, but which shows the care given to detail by the Chinese firm.

Photo: no revolution, but no disappointment

Regarding the photo sensors of the Realme GT Neo 2, the company from Shenzhen did not want to do anything extraordinary and therefore content with a triple sensor with a wide angle of 64 MP which wants to be the main sensor. With a 26mm lens and an aperture of f/1.8, the latter is correct, without offering breathtaking image quality. As for the second sensor, the ultrawide angle, it offers 8 MP and an aperture of f / 2.3. Note that there is a clear difference in colorimetry between the two sensors. The ultra-wide angle will offer much “colder” images while the main sensor tends to boost the hues to make the photos more “flashy” to the detriment of realism, some would say.

Buy the Realme Gt Neo 2 for €459

Finally, the last sensor present on the back of this phone is a very small macro lens of barely 2 MP, it allows you to take "macroscopic" photos, but it is not to be put in all the hands. Indeed, in the absence of an autofocus it will be necessary to take twice (or even more) to have a correct photo, whose focus targets the right area. It's a real shame that Realme didn't push the capabilities of this sensor a bit further. Especially when you know that the macro sensor is becoming a reference for mid-range models instead of a telephoto lens which remains the adage of the most premium.

The real problems finally come when you decide to use the front camera. If the portrait mode of the latter catches up with everything, the 16 MP sensor placed on the left corner of the screen is enough to disappoint selfie pros. The latter is quite sad and the renderings are often very "white". The colors are not there, a too dull side which is even more marked by the main rear sensor which on the contrary tends to boost the colors, sometimes more than necessary.

Overall, this photo block is not revolutionary, having already seen the light of day on other GT models of the brand. If the front lens did not convince us, the three located at the back offer beautiful things and they are quite manageable. Special mention for the few photo editing options integrated by Realme. Everything in sobriety the brand manages to offer useful features and does not get lost in the thousands of photography options. Ideal for retouching “in outline” your photos, all in a few seconds.

Facial recognition, OS, and GT mode: Realme's strengths do not disappoint

As for the rest of the phone, it is important to note that the GT Neo 2 offers a dual system biometric unlock. In addition to its fingerprint sensor under the screen, it is also possible to use Realme's facial recognition system. A duo that must make more than one Apple customer dream, who are waiting for the return of Touch ID in addition to Face ID.

The latter can console themselves by saying that their unlocking system is much more reliable than that put in place by Realme. Because if the Chinese firm manages to offer almost instantaneous facial recognition, it is because it does not go very far in the analysis of facial features. The development of a “real” facial recognition technology is far too expensive for the firm. As far as the fingerprint recognition system is concerned, it generally works well, even if you always have to remember to position your finger correctly in the axis of the sensor, a slight shift will not allow the phone to recognize the fingerprint. presented to him.

Once inside the phone, we find the basics of Android, which are intelligently supplemented by the house overlay: RealmeUI 2.0. The design of an operating system that holds up is no small task, and on this point, we must recognize that Realme has won its bet hands down. With this OS, which already equips a large part of the brand's range, the Chinese company offers a powerful system, without getting lost in exotic functions that we would not be used to seeing on Android. An OS that will be very familiar to Oppo phone users, the two overlays being very similar, if not identical.

Finally, the last important point on this GT Neo 2, the GT mode. Present even in the name of the phone, the latter is not strictly speaking a novelty since Realme had already offered it on other models in recent months. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see its evolution over time. On a phone like the GT Neo 2, the latter is not really necessary for everyday use, the Snapdragon 870 chip running the device perfectly.

Finally, it is especially in mobile games that the GT mode stands out. This high-performance mode manages to give the phones a little more power in order to make use as comfortable as possible. If it brings a real boost in performance, this GT mode can, after long minutes of use, heat up the phone. While it's still light enough, Realme's cooling system seems to show its limits when everything else on the phone is running at full throttle. But the main consequence of using this mode is very logically the battery. The latter will melt like snow in the Sun during intensive use sessions with GT mode. It is therefore necessary to think of deactivating the latter once the game sessions are over if you do not want to have a bad surprise with regard to the autonomy of the phone.

The realme GT Neo 2: the right mid-range pick?

The realme GT Neo 2 is presented as a flagship killer, a phone that offers very high-end features in a price two or three times lower. With an entry-level price of €439, the Realme Gt Neo 2 therefore acts as a very serious candidate in this respect. But if the phone is more than complete, it still lacks a few small details to get closer to the bigger ones. The lack of IP certification is a real downside for the phone. Additionally, the 600Hz sampling rate offers no real difference in day-to-day use. If in mobile games, the terminal shows great capabilities, it is still too limited in photos to claim to compete with really high-end models.

Buy the Realme Gt Neo 2 for €459