Last few years have seen a tectonic shift in the Smartphone industry – the technology has been widely democratized and affordable for the masses. Now brands like Realme are in the forefront to deliver more at smart pricing and Realme X2 Pro is their latest offering that promises a true flagship experience complete with 50W fast charging and 90Hz refresh rate display at a fair price. In this Realme X2 Pro review, let’s unravel everything it has to offer.
Design and Build Quality of Realme X2 Pro
I got here the Neptune blue colour variant, while it is also available in Lunar white colour option. Personally I liked the eye-candy white colour variant with pearl-like gradient finish but has to settle with the Blue variant I received for testing. After a couple of days of use, the blue looks cool too, the light plays subtle variations in colour shades.
An aluminium metal chassis adds to the strength while the front and back are all-glass affair backed up by Gorilla 5 glass. The phone is tad heavier at 199 grams and measures 8.7mm thickness. On the positive side, it feels sturdy while using and the weight balance is done well. While it is not extremely slippery, I would always recommend using a phone with a case, just in case to be on the safer side. The box comes with a soft back case.
The top and bottom are flat with a slight dent in the middle. The top houses a noise-cancelling mic and the bottom houses the speaker, type-C port, mic and audio jack. Yes, the 3.5mm port is not forgotten.
The right side has the power button and the SIM tray. It supports dual SIM but there is no memory card slot. So make a prudent choice when you buy the storage variants with 64GB, 128GB and 256GB on offer. The phone supports dual VoLTE. I was also told the X2 Pro will soon get support WiFi calling (VoWiFi) via a new update. The left side has the volume buttons. The phone features a 4×4 MIMO antenna to ensure proper data or Wi-Fi signal irrespective of how you are holding the phone while gaming.
To sum it up, the Realme X2 Pro is not outlandish but has a feel-good look and feel about it to please everyone.
Display of Realme X2 Pro
Here is where Realme has amped up its aggressive presence. With 90Hz refresh rate on the display, they have literally made it a standard for any future flagship phones. The 6.5-inches screen is a Super AMOLED panel with Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution. The display is certified for HDR10+ playback and supports a 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut range.
With a 1000 nits brightness rating, the legibility under direct sunlight is a non-issue. The display setting offers control over screen colour temperature with a slider to cooler to warmer., The setting also has night shield which is the eye comfort mode and low brightness flicker-free eye-care mode. There are two colour modes to choose from, Vivid and Gentle. The Vivid colour mode is based on DCI-P3 colour range while the Gentle mode represents sRGB colours. The screen refresh rate can be scaled down to 60Hz to conserve battery life if you want to.
The X2 Pro has Widevine L1 DRM certification which means you can enjoy the Netflix and Prime videos on high resolutions and are not restricted.
The 90Hz refresh rate offers butter smooth experience and the screen is very vivid and bright. Some may feel it slightly oversaturated but with my understanding of the Indian consumer preference, the larger section would enjoy the popping colours the display offers.
Realme X2 Pro OS – Color OS but Realme UI is coming
So far the Realme devices have been running on Android-based Color OS it shares with Oppo Smartphones but Realme is working on Realme UI to differentiate their phones and is currently on the beta testing on few of their devices. The new UI would be coming to X2 Pro too very sooner. At the time am drafting this review, it runs on Color OS 6.1 with Android 9 base.
You get dark mode, a bunch of customization options including navigation gestures, gesture and motions control for screen off gestures, smart call motion controls and extra add ons like an assistive ball, a smart sidebar for quick accesses.
The in-display fingerprint sensor is very quick and face recognition swift to respond too. Additionally, you also get app unlock via these sensors.
Hardware muscle – punching full weight
When it comes to performance, the Realme X2 Pro is a top gun armed with Snapdragon 855+ chipset that adorns every flagship worth the salt this season. The Snapdragon 855 Plus is a slightly overclocked version of the 855 chipsets, the GPU is a bit tweaked to offer 15% better performance. The phone is available in three choices – 6GB+64GB, 8GB+128GB and going full throttle with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.
The best in class internals means you get the best performance you can drive out of a Smartphone at this age. You can throw any game at it and it will handle at easy and also 90Hz refresh rate means you can have even more smoother gameplay on supporting games.
With HDR10+ playback and higher nits level, watching your favourite movies on the screen would be a pleasant experience. The stereo speakers, AMOLED panel all aid in the audio-visual experience.
On a short note, there is nothing to complain about the capability of the X2 Pro.
Realme X2 Pro Camera
- 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.7″, 0.8µm, PDAF
- 13 MP, f/2.5, 52mm (telephoto), 1/3.4″, 1.0µm, PDAF, 2x optical zoom
- 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm (ultrawide), 1/3.2″, 1.4µm, PDAF
- 2 MP, f/2.4, 1/5.0″, 1.75µm, depth sensor
Vertical quad-camera setup is centred at top of the rear side of X2 Pro. The main camera is a Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 64MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture. It uses quad-Bayer arrangement to capture 16MP photos. If you want to go full pixels, there is a dedicated 65MP mode to capture the photos in full glory of detailing but also makes it a heavy file. The primary camera is complemented by a 13MP telephoto lens, an 8MP ultra-white sensor and a 2MP depth sensor.
For regular photography, the phone does justice. The images are vivid and adequately detailed. There is a chroma boost on toggle for those who prefer more pronounced colours in their photos.
The X2 Pro is also equipped with 5x optical zoom and 20x hybrid zoom. It manages to do well in this front compared with its competitors in this segment barring the likes of Reno.
The pictures below shows 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x and 20x zoom pics.
The X2 Pro also comes handy with macro photography and can keep you adequately busy if you love taking macros. There is no dedicated macro setting but going up close on wide-angle mode gets you the job.
The wide-angle is a good addition too though not very sharp enough as in normal mode. The night mode is a bit forgettable affair with noise creeping in. It lacks OIS but EIS helps to an extent for videos. You can take videos up to 4K @ 60fps.
Battery Life – Unbelievably fast!
Another area where the X2 Pro takes the limelight is with its 50W SuperVOOC fast charging technology. The adapter comes bundled out of the box. It can fire up the 4000mAh battery from 0% to 100% in 35 minutes flat. As far as the battery life is concerned it can sail through a day at ease and even when down, it’s just 30 minutes away from a full charge.
Verdict
What works for Realme X2 Pro
- Smoother 90Hz Refresh rate display
- Ultra-fast 50W SuperVOOC charging technology
- Rich Dual Stereo Speaker
- Decent Camera
- Gaming powerhouse
- Value for money
What X2 Pro lacks
- No OIS
- No expandable storage
- Night mode could have been better
Overall, Realme X2 Pro punches above its weight. It’s a flagship phone at an affordable price. The 90Hz display and the crazily fast 50W SuperVOOC charging rewrites the budget flagship expectations and like I said in the beginning it truly democratizes the flagship experience.
