Realme 7i Smartphone Review - Cell phone for little money with real triple cam
Possible competitors in comparison
Bewertung | Rating Version | Datum | Modell | Gewicht | Laufwerk | Groesse | Aufloesung | Preis ab |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77.2 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 02 / 2021 | Realme 7i Helio G85, Mali-G52 MP2 | 208 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.50" | 1600x720 | |
| 79.7 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 11 / 2020 | Realme 7 Helio G95, Mali-G76 MP4 | 196.5 g | 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.50" | 2400x1080 | |
| 75.2 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 02 / 2021 | Samsung Galaxy A12 Helio P35 MT6765, PowerVR GE8320 | 205 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.50" | 1600x720 | |
| 75.5 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 02 / 2021 | Motorola Moto E7 Plus SD 460, Adreno 610 | 200 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.50" | 1600x720 |
Case, features, and operation - NFC was spared
The realme 7i is 20 Euros cheaper than the realme 7, but it looks a bit simpler than the more expensive model: The plastic back is shiny and refracts the light with a V-shaped groove pattern, but it does not look quite as stylish. The casing's stability is quite decent: Pressure on the screen is transmitted to the liquid crystal, but the smartphone hardly twists at all. A screen protector is attached to the screen, which is noticeable at the edges, but the smartphone otherwise feels good in the hand.
The weight is a bit higher than in other smartphones in this price range due to the stronger battery, but this should hardly be noticed in everyday use. 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of flash storage for data are on board, which is typical for the class and a clear saving compared with the realme 7. realme has also saved on NFC, where Samsung's Galaxy A12 can score, for example.
Thanks to WiFi 5, the realme 7i is as fast as its more expensive brother in our WLAN test with the reference router Netgear Nighthawk AX12 and much faster than one would expect in this price range.
The fingerprint sensor on the back is perhaps a bit far up for people with short fingers, but it unlocks the smartphone very quickly and reliably. Face recognition is also possible. The operation is very responsive.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| Realme 7i | |
| Realme 7 | |
| Motorola Moto E7 Plus | |
| Samsung Galaxy A12 | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Realme 7 | |
| Realme 7i | |
| Motorola Moto E7 Plus | |
| Samsung Galaxy A12 | |
Cameras - True Triple Cam
The main camera of the realme 7i has the same resolution as the realme 7 and also offers pixel binning like its more expensive brother. The 48 megapixel resolution usually turns into 12 megapixels because four pixels are combined to increase the light yield. However, the full resolution can also be used in a special mode
The camera takes decent pictures, but bright areas are quickly overexposed. As with the realme 7, detail and sharpness are not that great, and colors look a bit pale. In low light and high contrasts, the autofocus has difficulties finding the right focus. We quite like the brightening when the illumination of the subject is very low.
The wide-angle camera could also use more sharpness, but it does its job quite well in terms of exposure
Videos can be recorded in 1080p at most. The front-facing camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels and takes reasonably sharp photos, where fine details do not suffer too much.
It is not possible to switch between the lenses via zoom. The Marko lens is only used in a special mode, even though the software claims otherwise when the main camera is zoomed in strongly.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Hauptobjektiv BlumeHauptobjektiv UmgebungHauptobjektiv Low LightUltraweitwinkel
Display - 60 Hz are normal, but...
The screen's 1600 x 720 pixels are standard in the price range, whereas the realme 7 offers Full HD. The screen's brightness is quite high, but the black level suffers from that, so the contrast value is only moderate and colors hardly shine.
The color reproduction is also quite inaccurate in the factory settings, as our tests with the software CalMAN and the spectrophotometer reveal. A slight blue cast is visible in grayscale.
Another difference to the realme 7: The screen only offers a frame rate of 60 Hz, so there are no advantages like a perceived smoother operation or smoother scrolling.
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Brightness Distribution: 91 %
Center on Battery: 597 cd/m²
Contrast: 807:1 (Black: 0.74 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.47 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.91
ΔE Greyscale 6.9 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
93.5% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.363
| Realme 7i IPS, 1600x720, 6.5" | Realme 7 IPS, 2400x1080, 6.5" | Samsung Galaxy A12 PLS-LCD, 1600x720, 6.5" | Motorola Moto E7 Plus IPS, 1600x720, 6.5" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | 23% | -52% | -29% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 40 ? | 38 ? 5% | 64 ? -60% | 59 ? -48% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 30 ? | 18 ? 40% | 40 ? -33% | 40 ? -33% |
| PWM Frequency | 926 ? | 337.8 ? -64% | 870 ? -6% | |
| Screen | 15% | 10% | 19% | |
| Brightness middle | 597 | 525 -12% | 458 -23% | 471 -21% |
| Brightness | 569 | 512 -10% | 427 -25% | 446 -22% |
| Brightness Distribution | 91 | 90 -1% | 85 -7% | 90 -1% |
| Black Level * | 0.74 | 0.55 26% | 0.53 28% | 0.38 49% |
| Contrast | 807 | 955 18% | 864 7% | 1239 54% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.47 | 4.4 20% | 4.04 26% | 3.97 27% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 12.11 | 6.75 44% | 6.84 44% | 7.47 38% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 6.9 | 4.3 38% | 4.8 30% | 5.2 25% |
| Gamma | 2.363 93% | 2.3 96% | 2.293 96% | 2.285 96% |
| CCT | 8091 80% | 7472 87% | 7535 86% | 7791 83% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 19% /
17% | -21% /
-7% | -5% /
6% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 30 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 13 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 17 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 78 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 40 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 19 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 21 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 57 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.8 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 926 Hz | ≤ 25 % brightness setting |  |
The display backlight flickers at 926 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 25 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 926 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8705 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance, emissions and battery life - Lots of power and long runtime
We praised the realme 7 for its high performance, and we can also attest good performance rates to the realme 7i, but it also has to make concessions compared with the more expensive model.
MediaTek's Helio G85 is used as the SoC, which offers much more power than, for example, the Galaxy A12 or Motorola's Moto E7 Plus. The graphics performance is also significantly higher. However, our review sample cannot keep up with the realme 7.
The heating under longer load is locally limited and on the usual level; it could only become problematic in very hot outdoor temperatures.
The speaker is not quite as loud as the realme 7, but it is sufficient for a medium-sized room. In terms of sound quality, it is very treble-emphasized, but sufficient for listening to individual songs. Headphones can be connected via 3.5 mm or Bluetooth, which works without problems.
With its 6,000 mAhbattery, the realme 7i is equipped above average and the 18-watt charging technology is also a great thing in this price range. Probably also due to the less energy-intensive screen, the smartphone lasts much longer than the realme 7 in our WLAN test: The device runs for almost 22 hours. It is then fully charged in just over 90 minutes.
| PCMark for Android - Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value) | |
| Realme 7i | |
| Realme 7 | |
| Samsung Galaxy A12 | |
| Motorola Moto E7 Plus | |
| Average Mediatek Helio G85 (8655 - 8698, n=3) | |
| GFXBench | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Realme 7i | |
| Realme 7 | |
| Samsung Galaxy A12 | |
| Motorola Moto E7 Plus | |
| Average Mediatek Helio G85 (7.5 - 22, n=16) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (3.6 - 247, n=208, last 2 years) | |
| 1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Realme 7i | |
| Realme 7 | |
| Samsung Galaxy A12 | |
| Motorola Moto E7 Plus | |
| Average Mediatek Helio G85 (8 - 9.7, n=16) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2.3 - 321, n=208, last 2 years) | |
| on screen Aztec Ruins High Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
| Realme 7i | |
| Realme 7 | |
| Samsung Galaxy A12 | |
| Motorola Moto E7 Plus | |
| Average Mediatek Helio G85 (5 - 13, n=16) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 144, n=208, last 2 years) | |
| 2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
| Realme 7i | |
| Realme 7 | |
| Samsung Galaxy A12 | |
| Motorola Moto E7 Plus | |
| Average Mediatek Helio G85 (3.1 - 3.5, n=16) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 115, n=208, last 2 years) | |
| Realme 7i | Realme 7 | Samsung Galaxy A12 | Motorola Moto E7 Plus | Average 64 GB eMMC Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 41% | -14% | 5% | -20% | 423% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 316.4 | 529 67% | 269.7 -15% | 313.8 -1% | 274 ? -13% | 1887 ? 496% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 187.2 | 200 7% | 211.6 13% | 192.7 3% | 176.6 ? -6% | 1474 ? 687% |
| Random Read 4KB | 77.4 | 153.3 98% | 65.4 -16% | 92.4 19% | 59.4 ? -23% | 279 ? 260% |
| Random Write 4KB | 89.5 | 151.3 69% | 39.1 -56% | 97.1 8% | 32.2 ? -64% | 312 ? 249% |
| Sequential Read 256KB SDCard | 83.9 ? | 84.6 ? 1% | 77.4 ? -8% | 81.5 ? -3% | 77.4 ? -8% | |
| Sequential Write 256KB SDCard | 63.5 ? | 66.3 ? 4% | 61.6 ? -3% | 64.4 ? 1% | 58.3 ? -8% |
Temperature
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 42.6 °C / 109 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 39.6 °C / 103 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(±) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 32.8 °C / 91 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Loudspeaker
Realme 7i audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (79.5 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 36.2% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (11.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 5.2% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.1% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (5.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (27% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 67% of all tested devices in this class were better, 6% similar, 28% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 81% of all tested devices were better, 4% similar, 15% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Realme 7 audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (81.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 66.1% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(-) | nearly no mids - on average 66.1% lower than median
(+) | mids are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(-) | nearly no highs - on average 66.1% lower than median
(+) | highs are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (118.4% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 86% of all tested devices in this class were better, 9% similar, 5% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 96% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 1% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Battery life
| Realme 7i 6000 mAh | Realme 7 5000 mAh | Samsung Galaxy A12 5000 mAh | Motorola Moto E7 Plus 5000 mAh | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | |||||
| WiFi Websurfing | 1307 | 1006 -23% | 1288 -1% | 946 -28% | 989 ? -24% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - Slimmed down, but still a good offer
The realme 7i primarily offers long runtimes and a good camera configuration for its price range. The bright screen and the fast charging technology also speak for the smartphone. The high performance for the class and the fast WLAN also make the realme 7i attractive.
The casing may not be anything special and the speaker will certainly not win any prizes, but the screen also offers little contrast and is quite inaccurate in color reproduction.
However, the biggest problem of the realme 7i is its more expensive brother, the realme 7. You have to sacrifice a lot for a savings of 20 Euros: You do not get FullHD and 90 Hz on the screen, no NFC, less working and slower mass storage, a less powerful processor and a lower-resolution front camera. You also have to live with a 12-month shorter warranty, since the realme 7i is not part of the promotion that includes a 3-year warranty for some models.
The realme 7i is not quite as well equipped as its more expensive brother, but it offers great runtimes and a lot of performance for its class.
Especially the limitations of the display weigh heavily and thus the realme7 is the better choice in our opinion if the 20 Euros are not important. If the price difference increases or if runtime is one of the most important criteria for you, then there are definitely good arguments for the realme 7i
Price and availability
The smartphone can be purchased directly from the manufacturer for 159 Euros. You can only get the blue variant on Amazon, but with a surcharge or hefty shipping costs from abroad.
Realme 7i
- 02/23/2021 v7 (old)
Florian Schmitt
Price comparison
