Realme GT Neo 2 in the test: strong budget smartphone, mediocre camera

The year is slowly coming to an end, so it is no wonder that many device manufacturers are throwing a new smartphone model onto the market again towards Christmas. One of these manufacturers is realme, which, to me, offers new devices at short intervals. Therefore, today we are looking at the realme GT Neo 2, which should be available for order from today.

First of all: The test device was provided to us free of charge by realme, but this in no way influenced the opinion in this article.

Everything included, unfortunately also preinstalled apps

When we open the packaging for the first time, a few things fall into our hands: In addition to the actual smartphone, there is a USB Type-C cable and a charging adapter that supports fast charging with up to 65 watts. Another positive thing about realme is that a screen film is already installed and a silicone cover is included. However, this doesn’t feel particularly valuable with the GT Neo 2 and would only be a temporary solution for me.

The realme GT Neo 2 makes a good and, for the price, high-quality impression in the hand. The back also feels valuable, but the material used is a real feast for fingerprints. If you are not using a cover, a microfiber cloth that is ready to hand is recommended. The weight is okay at around 200 grams.

The setup of the Neo 2 hardly differs from other Android smartphones. Switch on the device, enter the WiFi password and connect your own Google account to the device. There was one thing that I encountered with mixed feelings. Realme would like to preinstall apps (such as the TikTok social network), but we can also decide against it and decline the installation.

This is initially positive, but once the GT Neo 2 is set up, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon apps and other applications can be found on the device. I understand that manufacturers can earn a little extra, as a user, paternalism like this quickly annoys me.

120 Hertz and HDR 10+

As with other devices from the manufacturer, the realme GT Neo 2 has a screen that takes up the entire front of the device. Only the front camera interrupts the display in the upper left corner, which consists of an AMOLED panel and can boast a refresh rate of 120 Hertz. Overall, you get a diagonal of 6.62 inches (approx. 17 cm), the resolution is 1080 × 2400 pixels, the pixel density is 397 dpi.

This is roughly comparable to the new Pixel 6 from Google, which displays content only marginally sharper. In everyday life, content is easy to read on the GT Neo 2, and the built-in brightness sensor adjusts the brightness optimally depending on the situation. The display achieves a very strong 1,300 nits, and thanks to the support of HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos, there is hardly anything in the way of a series on the balcony in daylight.

Like many other Android smartphones, the fingerprint sensor on the GT Neo 2 is below the screen, fingerprints can be captured quickly and easily, and recognition works without any problems.

Oversaturated and overexposed

If we look at the camera system of the realme GT Neo 2, a major weakness of the device becomes apparent. Although the rear camera system, consisting of two large and one small lens, should have a resolution of up to 64 megapixels, the quality of the photos in the test could hardly convince me.

But let’s start with a daylight test. When we are out and about when the weather is nice, two things immediately catch our eye. On the one hand, colors in photos are displayed much brighter and more saturated than they actually are, and motifs are generally overexposed and therefore appear washed out. In the following picture you can see a comparison between my iPhone 13 Pro and the realme GT Neo 2. It is clear that one is comparing apples with pears, but the images of the 13 Pro should show you how the objects look “in real life” .

On the left picture we have the snapshot of the GT Neo 2. The colors are displayed much brighter compared to the iPhone 13 Pro (and the real motif).

Another example shows how some subjects are severely overexposed. The realme GT Neo 2 on the left, the comparison image of the iPhone 13 Pro on the right.

On the other hand, it looks completely different in well-lit interiors. Here the GT Neo 2 takes good pictures that neither seem overexposed nor particularly oversaturated.

At night the impression is mixed. If you have a light source nearby, the results can be seen, if it is too dark, images quickly appear overexposed again and image noise is recognizable.

The situation is similar with the front camera. Here, too, the end device has problems finding the right brightness, selfies are overexposed quite quickly. In summary, I would give the camera of the realme GT Neo 2 a grade of 3.

Always connected thanks to 5G and Wi-Fi 6

A Snapdragon 870 from Qualcomm is used in the realme GT Neo 2. This supports 5G and is usually more in the upper class. Wi-Fi 6 is supported so that you can also be on the move quickly in the home network, which saves battery life and also enables the most efficient use of the data rate.

In everyday use there are no problems here, the device connects to the cellular network without hesitation and is ready for use even with poor reception (as good as possible). The battery life does not suffer from the 5th generation of mobile communications, you can easily get through two full days with the GT Neo 2.

No jerking, no problems

In everyday use, one thing quickly becomes apparent: There are no unnecessary jerks or other limitations in the performance of the GT Neo 2. The device reacts quickly to inputs, the refresh rate of 120 Hertz is particularly noticeable when scrolling. In addition to the above-mentioned 3.19 gigahertz fast Qualcomm processor, realme has 6, 8 or 12 gigabytes of RAM, so even demanding games or applications run smoothly.

Enough power for several days

If we take a look at the GT Neo 2’s battery, the device has a generous capacity of over 5,000 mAh. According to the manufacturer, this should be enough for around 88 hours of music or 24 hours of videos, although I wasn’t able to consume content for that long, but in everyday life I noticed the advantages of the battery. If you use the device normally, you can easily get through two days, even with frequent use the battery level drops relatively slowly.

Thanks to the support of Fast Charging, the realme GT Neo 2 should be full again after 36 minutes. Yes, you read that right: from 0 to 100 in just over 30 minutes. That is impressive and can save some of the evening.

A big weakness …

Would the realme GT Neo 2 be my device of choice? After this review, I have to answer this question with “No” this year. It is clear that a budget smartphone cannot do everything perfectly, but you can still save in the wrong places.

It is a shame that the camera reveals such weaknesses in daylight, especially because the realme 8 Pro, for example, does similar things for less than 300 euros and also takes nice snapshots at the same time. So if you want a device from realme, I would rather recommend the 8 Pro.

If you still opt for the realme GT Neo 2, the three colors NEO Green, NEO Blue and NEO Black are available. The device is delivered with Android 11 and is available with 128 or 256 gigabytes. The price starts at 369 euros.