Realme recently launched Realme 7i and Realme 7 in Nepal. At a price tag of Nrs.29,990 and Nrs.35,990, respectively. I have been using Realme 7i as my primary device for more than a week now. So, this article will be the full review of Realme 7i from my side, including all the pros and cons I faced during my time with the device. I was quite excited about this device, as it offered a 90Hz display, 64MP quad-camera setup, and 8GB of RAM at less than 30K here in Nepal. But is it any good? Let’s find out in this full Realme 7i review.
Realme 7i Full Review
Build & Design
Realme 7i comes with a plastic design with a dual-tone glossy back. We also get a square camera hump for the quad-camera setup at the rear, which does wobble when placed on a flat surface. Near to the camera setup, we have the circular finger-print scanner. I would have loved it if the finger-print sensor was embedded on the power button because, at the back, it was not so easy to place my finger precisely at the sensor cause the sensor and back panel are at the same level.
While at the front, we get a 6.5inch IPS LCD display, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, with the cut out for the selfie camera on the top left corner’s selfie camera. The top of the device is clean, while at the bottom, we get a headphone jack, the primary mic, the bottom-firing speaker, and a TYPE-C port. We get volume rockers and a power button on the right side, which are quite tactile and clicky while pressing. On the left side of the frame, we get the SIM Card tray with support for dual sim and dedicated micro-SD slot.
Overall the design of the device is good. The device is sturdy and not so heavy to hold at just 188g, despite housing a 5000mAh battery. Though the large device is not so compatible for one-hand use.
Display & Speakers
As I already told you, Realme 7i comes with a 6.5 inch IPS LCD display. It is a 90Hz display with an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels and 270ppi. Despite having a high refresh rate panel, I could easily see frame drops while scrolling on a web page or on the youtube app. While navigating throughout the Ui and the launcher, you can feel the smoothness of a 90Hz panel. Talking about the content consumption in this display, the colors were quite vibrant and punchy.
Though it’s not AMOLED, blacks were deep in this device with good viewing angles. If you are switching from a device with an HD+ 60Hz IPS display, then you will enjoy the experience on the Realme 7i, but if you are habituated to use an FHD panel, then you will easily spot the lack of sharpness on the Realme 7i’s display. The touch sampling rate on this display is 120Hz, which should have been at least 180Hz to smoothly enjoy the display experience.
The speakers here were okay, with decent bass and clarity. I would suggest you use a headphone/earphones while gaming as the device supports 3.5mm audio jack.
Camera
Realme 7i comes with a quad-Camera setup at the back and a single shooter at the front. Talking about the specs, here we get a 64MP f/1.8 Primary shooter, 8MP f/2.3 Ultra-wide, and 2MP macro along with a 2MP depth sensor.
Pictures from the Primary sensor come out to be quite good. Turning on HDR and AI mode does boost the color and Saturation of the picture. Also, the dynamic range was decent, considering the price and the competition of Realme 7i. The 64 MP mode also works nicely to bring out those details.
Talking about the Night mode, it was decent. Night-Mode images had less noise and saturated colors than regular ones.
Talking about the 8MP ultra-wide camera, just like any other Midrange device, we see color shift while comparing with the pictures from the primary camera. Here, turning on AI mode bumps the color and contrast, making the picture pleasant to look at. Realme 7i did an excellent job when it comes to portrait photos. There was a nice separation between the front and the background. The last Macro sensor is there just to increase the camera count. You can get a better shot by clicking closeup shots with a 64MP camera and cropping them out.
The front 16MP f/2.1 selfie shooter is sufficient for social media and does an excellent job maintaining skin tones and dynamic range. The Realme 7i also did a compelling job when it comes to selfie portraits.
You can look at these samples and be your own judge. Also, tell us what you think about the camera’s on the Realme 7i, considering it a 30K device.
Performance and Gaming
Underhood, Realme 7i comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC. It is an Octa-core Chip with 4×2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver cores. While for the GPU, we have Adreno 610. All this is coupled with 8GB RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage. The Snapdragon 662 is not so powerful SoC. Talking about benchmarking scores, we got 313 Single-core and 1373 Multi-core scores on the GeekBench 5. Now, keeping these synthetic benchmarks aside, let’s talk about real-life performance.
Realme 7i handled the day-to-day tasks like surfing the web, scrolling through Social media, and messaging apps with ease. I witnessed some shutters and frame drops; this might be some compatibility issue of a 90Hz panel with not so powerful SoC. While the 8GB of RAM came a lot handy while multitasking and gaming.
Talking more about gaming, we did tests with games like PUBG Mobile, C.O.D. Mobile and also subway surfer. With PUBG, the device can push Balanced graphics with a Medium Frame rate, while with Smooth graphics, you get High frame rates. While with C.O.D. Mobile, the device was able to push High graphics with the High FPS option. Overall, the gameplay was excellent. I didn’t encounter any significant issues. If you are into hard-core gaming and want a device under 30K, there are better options in the market, but ley has a 60Hz display. Whereas Realme 7i is a good option for casual gaming with its Snapdragon 662 and Adreno 610 GPU.
Battery life and Charging
Realme 7i houses a 5000mAh battery. Considering it has a 90Hz display, the battery easily lasted for more than a day without any issue. This might be because Realme 7i has to power just an HD+ display, and also, snapdragon 662 is not so power-hungry SoC. If you want more out of that battery, you can switch to 60Hz mode to save some more juice.
Talking about the Charging, the device supports 18W fast charging, and the fast charger is provided in the box. The provided Adapter and TYPE-C cable took precisely 2 hours to fill up the battery from 10-100%, which is quite a long time for a 5000mAh battery at 18W.
Software and UI
Realme 7i comes with Android 10 out of the box with Realme UI 1.0 on top. The device had some bloatware, which was delectable, and some Realme apps. My experience with Realme Ui on Realme 7i was excellent. I didn’t encounter any Ads and bugs in the UI. Something I found fishy was the Photos and Video app on Relame 7i asking for call/phone permissions, and I don’t know why. It is quite strange for a multimedia app to ask for call details permission.
The Realme launcher was somewhat similar to the pixel launcher, and I liked that. Realme UI2.0 is one the line, and Realme 7i will be getting that real soon.
Conclusion
Overall, Realme 7i is a good package at 30K, but it won’t get the crown for the device with the best bang for the bucks. It would have been great if this device was priced 2-3K less than its current price. Still, if you want a device with a 64MP camera, 90Hz display, and 8GB RAM, all under 30K in Nepal, Realme 7i might be the device. Though the display has an issue like frame dropping, I hope Realme fixes it soon with an update.
Realme 7i Review- Pros and Cons
Pros
- Great Battery Life
- Lightweight even with a 5000mAh battery
- 8GB ram and 128GB under 30K
- 64MP primary Camera
- 90Hz display
- Realme UI
- Decent Gaming performance
Cons
- Not so Powerful SoC considering the Price
- HD+ Display
- Macro Camera
- Frame drop issue while scrolling
- Fingerprint sensor Placement
Also Read: OnePlus 8T Launched in Nepal
