Realme earlier this year introduced a new smartphone series in India. As a part of its GT series, Realme launched the Realme GT 5G and the Realme GT Master Edition smartphones in India. While the premium Realme GT 5G starts at INR 37,999 in India, the Realme GT Master Edition -- the star of this review -- is a mid-budget smartphone that is aimed to give budget buyers top of the line features.
The Realme GT Master Edition starts at INR 25,999 for the 6GB+128GB version and goes all the way up to INR 29,999 for the 8GB+256GB version. It is available in three colour variants, which includes Voyager Grey, Luna White, and Cosmos Black. It boasts of an impressive feature set, which includes the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G chipset, a triple rear camera setup with a 64MP primary camera and 65W SuperDart charge fast charging technology.
Specs aside, what really sets the Realme GT Master Edition apart from the competition is its ingenious design. While the Realme GT Master Edition in Luna White and Cosmos Black colour variants resemble the Realme GT 5G smartphone somewhat, it is the Voyager Grey colour variant that is a real catch.
The Voyager Grey colour variant of the Realme GT Master Edition smartphone comes with a leather back and a suitcase design, which makes it, unlike any smartphone that we have seen before. Now the real question is, is the design the only good thing about this smartphone or is there more to the story than this? We will try and answer all of your questions in the review below. So, keep reading...
Realme GT Master Edition: Design
Let’s start by talking about the design. The Realme GT Master Edition Smartphone, as we mentioned before, comes in Voyager Grey, Luna White, and Cosmos Black colour variants. Out of these, only the Voyager Grey colour variant, which we got our hands-on, comes with a vegan leather back with a suitcase design that has been designed by Naoto Fukasawa.
Vegan leather suitcase design means that the Realme GT Master Edition doesn’t have a plastic or a glass back like other smartphones that you would see in the market right now. The vegan leather layer is directly plastered on the phone’s back and it looks like...well...a suitcase. Looks aside, one practical use of this back is that it makes the phone sit tightly in your hands with absolutely no chance of slipping away. Another factor that gives this phone a solid grip is its aspect ratio, which makes it extremely comfortable to use unlike its rival, Motorola Edge 20 Fusion, which is a big and bulky phone. This design also ensures that you don’t have to worry about the phone’s back getting smudges at all.
However, one downside to the vegan leather design is that unlike the smartphones with a glass or a plastic back, the Realme GT Master Edition is not immune even to an occasional drizzle of water.
Overall, the Realme GT Master Edition is definitely one of the good looking phones launched this year. What adds to the overall allure of this phone is its ingenious design that is equally comfortable to use.
Realme GT Master Edition: Display
Now, let’s talk about the display.
The Realme GT Master Edition smartphone comes with a 6.43-inch super AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution of 2400x1080 pixels, a screen refresh rate of 120Hz and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits. It comes with a full-screen display with a punch-hole design that is tucked away in the top right corner of the display. This placement of the selfie camera gives the illusion that the phone has a seamless display.
Aside from this, the Realme GT Master Edition has a beautiful display with a healthy ratio of contrast and sharpness. I have watched dozens of videos on YouTube and Amazon Prime and I like how deep the Black looks and how bright yet balanced the red seems. What adds to this mix is the screen is bright, not just amid the ambient lighting conditions but also in the bright sunlight. The overall impact is that you get one of the most comfortable screens, especially in the mid-budget smartphone range.
Realme GT Master Edition: Camera
Now, let’s talk about the camera.
The Realme GT Master Edition comes with a triple rear camera setup consisting of a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, the phone has a 32MP front camera. Now, the primary camera clicks 16MP images by default. But there is a dedicated option to switch to the 64MP setting as well.
Specifications aside, the Realme GT Master Edition smartphone offers a mixed bag of performance. The phone snaps crisp and clear images in broad daylight, especially with the primary camera. The images captured are close to natural colours with the right amount of depth, brightness, sharpness and contrast. This changes slightly for the images captured using the 8MP sensor. While the images are clear, the colours aren’t as close to the natural colours as in the case of the images captured using the primary camera.
Coming to the images captured in low-light conditions, the primary camera clicks clear images in the moderately lit night light conditions and using the Night Mode improves the clarity further. This is true for images captured using the 8MP camera as well. The 2MP depth sensor, on the other hand, is a little difficult to handle. It also takes a lot of patience to get the distance right.
Coming to the front camera, the Realme GT Master Edition captures decent selfies with its front camera. The images clicked in bright outdoor light and proper indoor lighting are bright and clear. Beauty filters certainly make the images better. However, images clicked in low-light conditions aren’t as picture-perfect and they lack clarity. But turning the night mode on definitely helps.
Overall, the Realme GT Master Edition clicks good images with its primary camera and secondary camera, especially in well-lit conditions. However, things can get a bit tricky in low-light conditions, which is particularly true for the selfie camera.
Realme GT Master Edition: Performance
Now, the most important aspect of this review: performance.
The Realme GT Master Edition is a decent performer. It handles everything that you throw at it with ease with throwing a single tantrum or showing any signs of stress at all. Whether you are multitasking between apps on a workday or between games on a weekend or you are binge-watching shows and movies on Netflix, which is what I do, it works smoothly under all circumstances. To add to that, the in-display fingerprint sensor is quick to unlock the phone. It unlocks the phone in less than a second and it never stutters to get things right.
Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 11-based Realme UI 2.0. While the overall experience is smooth, the phone comes with too many pre-installed third-party apps, which makes the overall interface look cluttered. While you can delete most of them, it’s a hassle that I would not like to deal with.
Coming to audio, the Realme GT Master Edition smartphone comes with a single firing speaker, which is placed at the bottom of the phone towards the left of charging. Despite having a single speaker, this phone is loud and clear even on high volume levels. But it lacks texture. Yet, it sounds much better than the Motorola Edge 20.
Lastly, the battery life. Battery life, rather the charging, is one of the best features of the Realme GT Master Edition smartphone. It charges around 50% in just 15 minutes and it charges completely in just 35 minutes. As far as usage is concerned, the phone easily lasts for a day on a single charge. My routine usually involves a bunch of calls, endlessly checking social media, answering tons of emails and messages and around two to three hours of Netflix/Hotstar time. During workdays, the Realme GT Master Edition easily lasted for a day. On weekends, it kept going for a bit longer as I tend to stay away from my phone for a weekly digital detox session (as much as I can).
Realme GT Master Edition: Conclusion
Now, the most important question of this review: Should you buy the Realme GT Master Edition smartphone or not? In a single word: Yes.
The Realme GT Master Edition phone features a beautifully lit display with an interesting design. It also is a decent performer when it comes to overall usage and battery life. And it does have a good camera setup, especially when it comes to snapping images in bright light. But it does have its misses too. For instance, camera performance in low-light performance could use some improvement and so can the audio. But if you can put these minor issues under the rug, the Realme GT Master Edition is a good phone to have.
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