Realme Launches $430 Flagship GT 5G with Snapdragon 888 Chipset

Chinese smartphone maker Realme on Thursday released its flagship Realme GT 5G, a premium phone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor and featuring special gaming optimization modes.

With a design based on high-performance GT sports cars, Realme’s GT 5G has a 3D glass back cover and boasts a 6.43-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. It is available in silver, blue and a racing yellow option made from vegan leather.

The device has three rear cameras: a 64-megapixel sensor in its main camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. It also comes with a 16-megapixel selfie camera in a punch-hole design.

The phone, which runs on Android 11, packs a 4,500mAh battery with 65W fast charging capabilities, enabling a complete charge in just 35 minutes. The company decided to keep a 3.5mm headphone jack, a rare feature in many new flagship smartphones.

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Despite boasting all the above flagship hardware, the Realme GT 5G sells at a much lower price point compared with similar products. The base model for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage option is priced at 2,799 yuan ($430) while the 12GB + 256GB option is priced at 3,299 yuan ($509).

The phone is available for pre-orders in China now, and Realme currently offers a 100 yuan ($15) introductory discount. Like Realme’s previous models, it is likely to stage an international release as well, according to Techradar.

Currently Qualcomm’s most powerful processor, the Snapdragon 888 is used in Samsung’s Galaxy S21-series phones and Xiaomi’s newly-launched Redmi K40 Pro. The base model of Redmi K40 Pro is also priced at 2,799 yuan ($430).

Founded in 2018, Shenzhen-based Realme has previously been named the fastest-growing smartphone brand by Counterpoint for four consecutive quarters (Q3 2019 to Q2 2020).

Unlike other Chinese brands like Vivo and Oppo that invest in channel marketing and offline distribution, Realme took advantage of the efficiency of e-commerce platforms and focused on online sales from the start.

Today, the company’s products are sold in 61 countries globally, and the company has grown to become one of the top five brands in its key markets, including India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Last year, Realme emerged as one of the most resilient brands during the coronavirus pandemic. In the first quarter of 2020, company sales grew 157% year on year, making it one of only two brands to record positive growth globally during the period.

In a previous interview with Pandaily, founder and CEO Sky Li attributed Realme’s success to three factors: brand positioning, the product itself, and an efficient sales model. His biggest mission now is to further develop the company into a healthy and even faster-growing corporation, while staying true to the firm’s original mission and aspirations. The company aims to sell 100 million smartphones per year worldwide.