Realme 7i Review: Taste of the 90Hz Life, But Not Solid Performance

Realme 7i was launched in November 2020. It is the lite variant of the Realme 7 and the successor of the Realme 6i.

Realme 7i boasts a 90Hz display, a 64MP camera just like the Realme 7, and has a huge 5000 mAh battery. However, it boasts a Snapdragon 662 processor which is not exactly a performance-oriented chipset.

Realme 7i price in Nepal is Rs. 29,990 for the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage variant. I used this device for almost two weeks and in this review, I have explained if you should get this or skip it.

Realme 7i Review

Design

• 164.1 x 75.5 x 8.9 mm, 188 g
• Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)

Realme 7i has a new design language with a rectangular camera setup on the rear. Alongside the camera module lies a fingerprint sensor. However, it is still using the polycarbonate body and frame that we have already seen on the Realme 6i.

On the front, Realme 7i looks similar to its more powerful sibling; the Realme 7. It has a hole-punch on the left with minimal bezels and chins similar to that of the Realme 7.

The power buttons and volume buttons are on the right and the SIM tray is on the left. On the bottom, there’s a USB Type-C port, a single bottom-firing speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack, and mic.

Realme 7i has a similar size as that of the Realme 7 but it feels slightly heavier. However, it is pretty comfortable to hold in the hand.

The plastic build feels solid but it is not the most appealing mid-range smartphone out there.

Display

• 6.5 inches IPS LCD, 90Hz
• 720 x 1600 pixels

Realme 7i has an IPS LCD HD+ display with a screen resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. It is also a 90Hz display just like the Realme 7.

The color reproduction is quite good with a slightly saturated color profile. Viewing angles are also decent and it has good brightness. I was easily able to use the Realme 7i outdoors on a bright sunny day.

But, like most of the IPS LCD panel, the black level is not great and it’s noticeable while watching night/dark clips of a movie or any other video content.

It offers a 90Hz display and it is one of its appealing features as the device feels smooth when scrolling through web pages and apps.

And, just like the Realme 7, it automatically switches between 90Hz and 60Hz in reference to the app being used.

While the 90Hz smoothness is great, an HD+ panel for a price tag of almost 30k is disappointing. After using it for almost 2 weeks, I have got used to it but not being able to watch FHD content on YouTube or Netflix is definitely disappointing.

Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 (11 nm)
• Octa-core (4×2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver)
• Adreno 662
• 128GB 8GB RAM

Realme 7i is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 chipset. Snapdragon 662 has an Octa-core (4×2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver) CPU and Adreno 610 GPU.

Along with it, Realme 7i comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage, expandable up to 256GB via a dedicated microSD card slot.

The new Snapdragon 662 is similar to the Snapdragon 665 which was an average budget mid-range chipset. Realme 6i uses the Mediatek Helio G80 chipset which has better performance than the Snapdragon 662 especially in terms of gaming performance.

ALSO READ: Motorola Moto G9 Play Review: Good Budget Phone, Top-notch Android Experience

And this is quite evident while using the phone. The phone feels fluid while using apps, browsing the internet, and switching between apps. But there was an instance where the phone became unresponsive while I was video calling in Messenger. Except for this one time, Realme 7i handled general tasks quite easily.

Now gaming on the Realme 7i is not enjoyable, you can play PUBG Mobile at a High frame rate on smooth graphics and Medium frame rate on the Balanced option. The boot time for these heavy games is long and the frame rate is not consistent.

I did notice quite a few frame drops while playing PUBG Mobile. So, Realme 7i is definitely not worth the price when it comes to performance.

ALSO READ: Motorola Moto E7 Plus Review: One of the Best Budget Phones Right Now!

Camera

• Rear Camera: 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.73″, 0.8µm, PDAF
  • 8 MP, f/2.3, 119˚, 16mm (ultrawide), 1/4.0″, 1.12µm
  • 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
  • 2 MP B/W, f/2.4
  • Video: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS
• Front Camera: 16 MP, f/2.1, 26mm (wide), 1/3″, 1.0µm
  • Video: 1080p@30fps

On to the camera, it has a quad-camera setup on the rear with a 64MP main sensor, 119-degree FOV 8MP Ultra Wide-angle sensor, 2MP macro sensor, and a 2MP monochrome sensor. Realme hasn’t mentioned the sensor that is used on the Realme 7i.

On the front, it has a 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor for selfies. IT supports videos up to 1080p/30fps with UIS video stabilization.

NORMAL PHOTOS

The main 64MP sensor can capture really good images in daylight. The image quality is similar to that of the Realme 7 if not the same. The daylight shots have good detail and color accuracy is also good. The HDR works quite well but it could have been better.

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Take a look at the following photo and you will see that it has managed to expose the bright part and dark part of the scene pretty good. The green plants and the blue sky look slightly saturated but the color reproduction is quite accurate.

ULTRAWIDE AND MACRO PHOTOS

Just like the Realme 7, ultrawide photos from Realme 7i do not have a good dynamic range and you can notice some noise even during daylight. The colors are consistent with the main sensor and the photos are acceptable but it’s not impressive.

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Likewise, the Macro photos do not have good detail and the photos are not appealing. But, you can use it occasionally for social media.

LOW LIGHT

Photos quality takes a dive during low light and night. In low light, the picture is filled with noise and the color accuracy also takes a hit.

Similarly, the night mode does improve the night photos as it removes the grains and noises. This brings more detail to the picture but it also brings some artifacts, especially in the sky.

PORTRAIT

Portraits from the Realme 7i are quite good. The edge detection does a good job of background separation and the blur effect also looks good. The HDR also works well to keep the details in the background but the images have a darker profile.

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FRONT CAMERA

The 16MP selfie camera of Realme 7i felt decent. The selfies have good detail and the images come out quite sharp.

But some selfies had a warmer tone to them. Also, portrait selfies are not as good. The edge detection is a mixed bag and the blur effect is not as appealing as that of the rear portraits.

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Video

Realme 7i can only capture videos up to 1080 which is a major downgrade from Realme 6i’s 4k capability. The video quality is not great at 1080p as the detail is low and you could notice noise during daylight as well. The EIS works fine unless there’s too much jitter.

Battery

• Non-removable Li-Po 5000 mAh battery
• Fast charging 18W, Reverse charging

Realme 7i has a 5000 mAh battery which is very impressive as it can easily last for more than a day under medium to heavy usage.

During my review period, I was almost able to get 2 days of battery with basic usage that included 2 hours of Spotify, 1 hour of YouTube, and an hour of Social Media.

The battery life is impressive but it takes over two hours to charge the Realme 7i from 0 to 100 with its 18W charging.

Security and Speaker

The rear-mounted fingerprint sensor on the Realme 7i works fast and is consistent. I did not have any problem with the fingerprint sensor.

The face unlocks of the Realme 7i is also fast. It works well in daylight but it is not consistent in low-light.

Realme 7i’s speaker can get pretty loud but listening to music won’t be enjoyable as it lacks depth and clarity.

ALSO READ: Realme 7 Review: Good Mid-ranger But A Bit Expensive

Software

Realme 7i runs on Realme UI which is similar to Color OS. My unit had lots of bloatware like Flyx, Lazada, Soloop, and others.

I like the fact that Realme UI has an app drawer by default and the icons are circular. But its status bar and the toggle menu doesn’t look appealing.

Also, the settings page can be way cleaner than it is. However, I didn’t find the problem where the clock was overlapped by the hole-punch which was present on the Realme 7.

Conclusion

Realme has provided some of the best mid-range devices in the past but this one doesn’t cut it. I would not recommend the Realme 7i for what it costs. It could have been a good option had it been slightly cheaper.

Realme 7i does not provide any significant upgrade over the Realme 6i. Its performance is not up to par for what it costs and on top of that, it has a 720p display. The camera quality is good but the Realme 6i also has similar camera capability and is cheaper than the 7i.

NEXT READ: Realme Mobiles Price in Nepal: Features and Specs

I was expecting more from Realme but the Realme 7 series has been quite a letdown and Realme 7i plays a major part in it. The price to performance ratio hasn’t been on point this year.

What do you think about the Realme 7i? Let us know in the comments!