Realme GT Neo 3 review

The Realme GT Neo 3 is an upper mid-range that comes with a stunning style, super-fast rapid charging and a camera with serious Va Va Voom making this a serious option for anyone looking for a new phone that is not an Apple or Samsung device. 

 

Mobile phone brand Realme recently released the GT Neo 3 and we have been lucky to have been able to test this phone out over the last few weeks. I have to say there are a lot of positives that come with this phone for example the star of the show is the 150W ultra dart charger that can give you a full battery in 15 minutes or 0% to 50% in 5 minutes. The phone also comes with Dimensity 8100 5G processor all for the price of £599 which shows Realme can pack a punch in terms of tech but without hitting the wallet.   

My first impression is the style looks sexy with that racing stripe design but what really stands out on this phone and am sure our camera guy James will agree is the camera set up this phone comes with a 50MP main camera and a Sony IMX766 sensor. This camera can perform regardless of the weather or lighting you are sure to get some fantastic images. We will take a deeper look into what the camera can do later in this review. 

 

The price point of this phone puts it in direct competition with phones like the Google Pixel 6 and Samsung S21 FE and yes it did not win the battle but it really does perform well compared to the Pixel 6 and will provide you with a fine option if you’re looking in that upper mid-range market. 

 

Design

The Realme GT neo 3 150W has been well thought about when it comes to the design the phone is a similar size compared to its predecessor the Neo2 and size-wise there is not much difference with the Neo 3 coming in at 163 x 75.6 x 8.2mm and the phone weighs in at 188g.

The phone comes in a range of colours for example: 

• Asphalt Black
• Nitro Blue
• Sprint White

In this review, we got to test the Sprint white model and am glad they sent that colour as the phone comes with a textured finish with the two black racing stripes that run down the side and the slogan “ Dare to Leap” emblazoned on the back bottom left corner of the rear panel. I am still split between preferring the white or the Nitro Blue options both look really good on a phone.

The camera on the front has now been centred with the hole punch notch moving from the left to the centre compared to the Neo 2. Also staying on the front of the screen you now have a 94.2% screen-to-body ratio which is very impressive. The phone uses a plastic frame which is a little surprising but this does not make the phone feel cheap at all. 

The GT Neo 3 also comes with stereo speakers which is a real benefit when listening to music, watching a film or mobile gaming. The speakers provide a clear and loud sound which will allow you to hear your favourite tv show with ease. 

Display

The screen of the GT Neo 3 uses Corning Gorilla Glass 5 which makes them scratch-resistant. The display comes with a large 6.7-inch AMOLED display that comes with a 1080×2412 FHD+ resolution. The phone also comes with an excellent 120Hz refresh rate which gamers will rejoice about. The phone is very responsive but the refresh rate is not flexible which might annoy a few. 

The upper brightness does fall a little short when out in the sun but when the conditions are put it this was more British weather like you won’t have any issues at all. The display also comes with an optical fingerprint sensor towards the bottom of the device that was also very responsive and can also be used to monitor heart rate if this is something that is of interest to you. 

 

Under the Bonnet / Performance

The Realme GT Neo 3 comes with a MediaTek 5nm Dimensity 8100 chipset which puts this phone quite high in the mid-range market. In addition to the chipset, it’s paired with 12GB RAM and comes with 256GB of internal storage. The GT Neo 3 performs very well with the 120Hz refresh rate nothing is slow this phone works as fast as the Samsung S22 or iPhone 13 Pro.

When we run the benchmark tests the Geekbench 5 tests came in a 966 for s single-core and 4061 for multi-core and this is excellent when you consider the rating of high-end models on the market. 

Software 

It will come as no surprise the GT Neo 3 uses Android 12 but in addition to Realme UI 3.0, this is something that seems to be commonplace within other Realme handsets. It offers a number of pre-loaded apps such as Amazon, Booking.com and social media apps like Facebook & Linkedin. We found the Realme UI 3.0 to be clean and runs well on the phone and did leave the Google feed and app tray where you expect. 

 

CAMERA REVIEW BY JAMES ROBERTSON-MILLIGAN @LIFESIZEPHOTOGRAPHY 

I have always been a fan of the Realme, I have had the fortune to review a few of their handsets now and I have always been impressed with their offerings on the camera side, so when the editor called me and asked me to test the latest offering from Realme naturally I said yes! 

Now as you all know I am a phonetographer but I will show everyday photo’s that most people are likely to take, yes other camera reviewers will go to different locations and take a fancy photo but I feel that I’d rather be natural and showcase the everyday photo’s that we are most likely to take on our phones. 

So back to the GT Neo-3, what has it got, it comes with a triple-lens camera mounted on the back with flash and a centred mounted front-facing camera. The rear-facing camera has impressive specs on paper, 50 MP, 8Mp ultra-wide-angle and 2MP Macro, the front-facing selfie camera weighs in at 16MP along with 4K video recording. 

When you hit the camera icon on the main screen it will launch with no lag and will automatically lock and focus on what you want to take a photo of so that is really impressive with a great response! You also have a quick launch button on the lock screen, that takes a few seconds but hey it’s quicker than doing face ID or fiddling around with a pin or pattern and then going into the camera, I found the colour ratio on this phone outstanding, it really shines through and it’s very noticeable, I will point this out to you later in the review!, so let’s take a look at some of the sample photo’s I have taken using the Realme GT Neo 3.

First up let’s take a look at the selfie camera, this has an impressive 16mp centre-mounted selfie camera, when I did my selfie I opted for the portrait look just to subtly blur the background, and on this phone, it really stands out and makes the main image bold and sharp! this is a great effort and will really make selfies stand out on your socials. 

Tilt: now this is a new option on Realme and to be honest not something I have ever seen on a camera, what this function does is it gives you the option to subtly tilt your image to give it a different feel, my trusty model once again decided that he wanted to be in the action, not a bad picture but I guess the mode is quite self-explanatory on this. 

Super Macro: macro is a function that allows you to get super up close and personal to a chosen subject, and this camera won’t let you down, well for a mobile phone the image comes out crisp clean and clear with a great definition of the chosen subject.

Portrait: This is always my favourite on a phone I love the subtle blur and the way the chosen image really stands out, on this phone, it stands out brilliant and I really cannot fault it! 

Auto Mode: so Auto is your Goto default, on this handset I have to say I was blown away with the camera, its responsiveness, the sharpness and the clarity of every image, even in low light conditions the pictures captured bold and true to form colours as you would see with the naked eye! Realme has absolutely captured this (no pun) and really made a bold impact in the camera market within mobiles. 

Pro Mode: Pro Mode is basically having a DSLR in your pocket just without the zoom! With the pro mode, it just allows you to fettle with some of the settings of the camera, to be honest, I am not 100% sure why they put this mode into phones because you can’t zoom and the picture comes out just as good as using Auto, in low light conditions this performed well but did stick to using auto and use a photo editing app to fettle around after.

I decided to see how the camera on this phone stacks up against the camera on my iPhone 13 Pro Max, now this is just my opinion, but the Realme put my phone to shame, as you will see, I took the same photo simultaneously on my iPhone along with the Realme, The outcome strongly favoured the Realme, the Realme picked up the true light conditions and the true colour of the scenery whereas the iPhone came out a little flat, the iPhone didn’t pick up the true colours and just came up short overall. 

Camera review conclusion

I have really enjoyed every aspect of this camera and every function, it just works and you can get some truly epic photos that would make everyone look like a professional photographer, what I really like is that they haven’t tried to overload it with various functions and settings, it’s nice, it’s easy, it’s crisp and it gives you perfect results every time with any condition!. 

One app I always talk about is Snapseed the free to download on IOS and Android for photo editing, if you used this on this camera your pictures would just stand out time and time again and would really make you beg for more!  

For me as long as I can take calls, send texts and get on the internet with a phone that’s all I need, the biggest thing for me is the camera I need a phone with a good camera and one that stands out, and this phone would defiantly give me that! would I personally buy this phone, Yeah, I would, and that’s because of the camera and the outcome of the photos it just shines every time!

Battery Life

Realme has provided this phone with a 4500mAh which is not too bad but hardly the best on the market. When testing we would run this phone for a full day with moderate usage we found the battery life would drop to about 40% which is a little under the normal 50% with a 5000mAh battery under similar charging conditions. 

What you do get is rapid 150W charging which yes it speeds up the battery life but at a cost, the battery longevity will be impacted long term. If you still decide to use the rapid charging option you will be able to fully charge the phone in just 15 minutes which you have to agree is very impressive.

The benefit of rapid charging does come with a negative aspect wireless charging is not available. This is hardly surprising as it’s the same in other models you don’t normally get both features.

Verdict

The Realme GT Neo 3 is a strong option to consider when you look at the Dimensity 8100 chipset and the 120Hz refresh rate makes this phone very responsive which works well for those who like to multitask and also for those who enjoy mobile gaming. You will also find the recharging option that the phone comes with a 150W charger allowing you to fully charge in 15 minutes is impressive considering other mobile phone chargers. The fast charger is a benefit but the fact the GT Neo 3 only comes with a 4500mAh battery you will find you will need to charge more often.

Apart from the charging function the star of the show is the camera it uses a Sony IMX766 sensor in the primary camera with a 50MP sensor. You get some fantastic shots that are vibrant regardless of the environment or if the shot is taken day or night.

The style of the phone is also really attractive for someone to consider buying I very much liked the racing strip design. The Realme UI 3.0 is paired with Andriod 12 and it’s not too bad when using the phone but the only slight negative is you have a bunch of pre-installed apps you might not want on the phone. 

Overall, the Realme GT Neo 3 is a powerful mid-range phone that provides the user with fantastic performance when using the phone for everyday tasks. The camera is excellent but still room for improvement.  At £599 it sits at that mid-range price point but the performance will make the user feel like they have a high-end device.  This device is well worth considering for anyone looking for a new phone and who wants a responsive device with an excellent camera. 

Product Rating: 

Design: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0     

Display : 4.0 out of 5.0 stars4.0

Perfomance: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

Software: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars4.0

Camera: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

Battery Life: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars4.0

Value For Money: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0

 

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars4.5 – 4.5 Stars 

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