Realme since its launch on the 4th of May 2018, has gone on to release an impressive number of devices. These devices, targe the mid to budget range categories available in certain markets. The device this article will be focusing on, is the Realme 7i.
The Realme 7i which was released not long after the Realme Narzo 20, the Realme Narzo 20A, and the Realme Narzo 20 Pro, is a more affordable version of its vanilla Realme 7 hence the ‘I’ suffix in its name. The more affordable Realme 7i comes with the compromise of having slightly less specifications than its Asian Realme 7 and Global Realme 7 siblings.
With no further ado, let’s get down to it!
As already mentioned, the Realme 7i had to go through a number of hardware compromises. Its chipset for example, might be a little bit slower. While that is the case, the chipset is still able to support connectivity options like Dual-Band Wi-Fi ac. It is however, only able to capture videos at resolutions of up to FullHD.
With regards to screen resolution the Realme 7i’s screen resolution can only go up to HD+. It still comes with a diagonal display size of 6.5 inches with a refresh rate of 90Hz refresh rate. Charging speed wise, its charging speed is set at 18W while the charging speed of its siblings is at 30W.
As you will come to find out in this article, none of the compromises negatively affect the overall user experience of the Realme 7i.
The surface of the Realme 7i is quite slippery and very prone to fingerprint smears. The slick, slippery and fingerprint smear situations, are as a result of the glossy nature of the top or front of the device. Scratches might also be an issue.
The back of the Realme 7i has a two-tone design that stands out and although the finish of the surface and the material used are the same, how it transitions geometrically from glossy to mat is very impressive.
To combat concerns, the Realme 7i comes with a silicon phone case that is mostly transparent, offers a layer of protection for your device and also simultaneously fixes the issue of the device wobbling (as a result of its camera), when placed on its back.
The Realme 7i’s body of 164.1 x 75.5 x 8.9mm dimensions, is easy to hold and its 188grams weight puts it on the lighter side which is impressive considering the fact that it comes with a 5000mAh battery.
It has a fingerprint reader or sensor that is mounted on the back that is very dependable and works fast.
For volumes the Realme 7i has a single volume rocker as opposed to having separate volume up and volume down buttons. It has superb tactile feedback, and is placed at a very accessible and easy to use spot.
On the other side of the Realme 7i, you will find a triple slot tray which accommodates a microSD card slot and has space for two microSIM card.
At the bottom of the Realme 7i, you will find a 3.5mm port, a main microphone, a USB Type C port that uses USB speeds of up to 2.0, charging speeds of up to 18W, and a single speaker.
The Realme 7i’s 6.5 inches diagonal display, has an aspect ratio of 20:9, a punch hole, and surprisingly slim bezels. It has a screen resolution of 720 by 1600 pixels on an IPS LCD panel that gets up to 270ppi (Pixels Per Inch).
While the screen resolution might appear to be low on paper but it is actually quite sharp and works hand in hand with the device’s Snapdragon 662 and Adreno 610 GPU. The lower resolution also means that the device’s GPU, will handle a lot less pressure.
Brightness wise, its screen is still very visible outdoors even under direct sunlight.
The Realme 7i also has a refresh rate of 90Hz. When in Auto refresh rate mode, this device is able to stay at 90Hz when in use (this includes Google Play Store, app drawer, Chrome and even home screen), and 80Hz when it is not in use. For Youtube however, it stays at a refresh rate of 60Hz.
If you manually set the device’s rate to 90Hz, you will still get the same results with the exception of the fact that Youtube will now run on 90Hz.
With the Realme 7i’s 5000mAh battery users can stay up to an entire day, before thinking of charging it.
The device’s chipset; the Qualcomm SM6115 11nm Snapdragon 662, has a four by four CPU configuration that comprises of 4×2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold, 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver. The Snapdragon 622 utilizes a uses a Hexagon 683 DSP, alongside a slower memory controller. On the RAM side it packs 4GB of RAM.
With the Realme 7i’s Adreno 610 GPU, gaming is quite smooth. The android games, normally tone down on rendering and even resolution. As a result, they are typically able to accommodate lower end hardware as well.
The Realme 7i has what it calls Game Space. This basically has everything that ensures you have a smooth gaming experience with the device and zero distractions. With the Game Space, users can mute notifications, mute calls, fine tune the device’s performance and optimize the battery to ensure that you have a much longer playing time and the best possible from the Realme 7i.
It also has a X11 LTE modem.
For the main camera is a quad set up. A 119 degrees Ultra Wide angle lens, 64 Megapixel Primary Camera, 4cm Macro Lens, and B&W Lens. It has a 64 Megapixel 1/1.73″ Quad-Bayer sensor, with 0.8µm pixels and a fairly-bright f/1.8 lens, an 8 Megapixel ultrawide 1/4.0″ sensor, 1.12µm pixels, f/2.3 lens. It comes with a pair of 2 Megapixel cameras with an aperture of f/2.4 each. One 2 Megapixel camera focuses on macro shots and the other is used for depth information.
Its 64 Megapixel captures 16 Megapixel pictures, following the pixel binning process. It however allows users to make use of its 64 Megapixel resolution.
The selfie camera, is a 16 Megapixel shooter with an aperture of f/2.1, 1.0µm pixel size, and an 1/3″ sensor.
The Realme 7i can capture up to 1080p resolution videos at 30fps (Frames Per Second) and 60fps (Frames Per Second). Its camera app has a unique Movie Mode that is essentially a Pro video capture mode, an AI Dazzle Colour option and HDR.
Its main and selfie cameras also have EIS that is gyro based.
In terms of Operating System (OS) the Realme 7i runs on Google’s Android 10, with the Realme 1.0 User Interface (UI) which is obviously built on Android 10.
The Realme User Interface (UI) even though its AOSP (Android Open Source Project) inspiration (it even utilizes Google’s AOSP Messaging and Phone apps) is obvious and possesses a lot more options than most UIs available today, has a really clean look.
The default icons on the Realme UI are heavily AOSP inspired, alongside the recent apps interface, the quick toggles area, and the notification shade.
It comes with preinstalled applications like Realme Link and Realme PaySa, and has a traditional app drawer that is automatically activated. If you do not like the default app drawer, you can alternatively change to a navigation style that is entirely based on the home screen. For older Android users, there is an additional simple option that offers effective versatility via the utilization of bigger and user User Interface (UI) components.
Users can also customize customize the navigation to a large extent, and include an assistive ball and some gestures.
There is also the Realme Lab menu. With this, Realme gives users the opportunity to beta test features before their official release.
It has a accelerometer sensor, a proximity sensor, a gyro sensor, and a compass sensor. It however does not support NFC (Near Field Communication) and FM Radio.
The Realme 7i comes with a unique set of features that put it in an interesting position in today’s market. It hits the budget to midrange price point, without compromising so much on the specification side. Not many smartphones in today’s market, offer a refresh rate of 9oHz with a quad main camera set up, and still retain the price range of the Realme 7i.
It comes in Polar Blue, and Aurora Green.
As at the time this article was compiled on the 30th of November 2020, the price for the 128GB internal storage variant of the Realme 7i stood at 29,500 Kenyan Shillings (at 14 percent off an initial price of 30,000 Kenyan Shillings), and comes with a free OTG cable, Bluetooth earphones, and a watch. You can check out this device on Jumia via this link: https://www.jumia.co.ke/realme-7i-6.58128gb5000mah-dual-sim-green-free-otgwatch-bt-earphones-33601072.html
And that is all for the Realme 7i!
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