Realme 2 Pro Review | Elegant in every aspect
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The Realme 2 Pro is a direct successor to the Realme 2 which was released a few months ago. While the original Realme one was a solid performer, the Realme 2 wasn’t due to the downgraded SoC. However, this time the Realme 2 Pro comes with the powerful Snapdragon 660 chip giving a real boost to the performance. Hence, let’s take a look if the Realme 2 Pro is worth the fuss or not?
What’s Good?
Great Performance- With the Snapdragon 660 inside and up to 8GB of RAM option, Realme 2 Pro flies through moderate workload without any hassle. Although when it comes to heavy gaming, it does well with graphics setting set to medium.
Great Design- Realme 2 Pro is no doubt the best-looking smartphone in its price segment. Although the back is made out of polycarbonate, it is smoother to touch and looks shiny and reflective just like any other premium glass back smartphone.
Bigger and Better Display- There is no other smartphone in this price range with such a big display. It houses a 6.3-inch display along with a tiny water-drop notch which makes it completely immersive and bezel-less.
Audio Jack- Since devices like the Mi A2 are already ditching the audio jack the like what Apple did, Realme 2 Pro still houses the audio jack at the bottom which is quite a relief for many users.
What’s not that Good?
Color OS- Although it runs on Android 8.1 Oreo which is the highest version as of now until Android 9 stable build starts to roll out for the budget phones. However, it is hidden behind the Color OS which is a funky looking skin with pre-installed bloatware.
Micro USB- Though it is not going to affect the performance of the device, the inclusion of the old-school Micro USB charging port is a letdown in the time when even the budget phones are moving towards the Type-C standard.
No IP Rating or Wireless Charging- Yeah, there is no IP rating on this device which means you have to be extra cautious around water. Also, there is no wireless charging on this device too however, both of these features are actually absent in all of the budget devices so not everyone can complain about it.
Design and Build
While the Realme 2 Pro doesn’t have any groundbreaking design, it looks aesthetically pleasing. It is a big device and single-handed usage will take some time to get used to. Holding the device in hand never feels like you are holding a budget device. The build quality is completely sturdy and the back looks just premium. Although the back of the device is made out of polycarbonate, it looks just like any other glass back device. However, the back of the device is scratch prone, so it will be better to use a case. It also attracts fingerprint smudges just like any other glass back smartphone.

Realme 2 Pro is a bit on the thick side with 8.5mm thickness but the curved polycarbonate back provides a comfortable grip which makes it easier to hold. The overall weight of the device is 174 gram which isn’t too heavy. There are three different color options- Black, Deep Blue, and the Light Blue.
Moving on the front, there is a huge display with water drop notch and no buttons. The front camera resides in the tiny notch on the top with an earpiece just above it and the sensor to its rights. There is no Notification LED on this device. The power button is placed on the right-hand side while the volume keys are on the opposite side. All the keys are placed in the right position to be easily accessible. The Micro USB charging port along with a down firing speaker and a headphone jack can be found at the bottom. On the back, there is a fingerprint scanner placed just above the center and a Dual camera unit with a minor hump. Overall, the Realme 2 Pro looks premium and has a solid build quality for the price.
Display
Realme 2 pro houses a 6.3 inch TFT LCD display having a resolution of 1080x2340 pixels. Yeah, there is a notch at the very top but it’s a tiny water drop notch which doesn’t interfere with the media consumption.

The display is completely bezel-less except for the small chin at the bottom of the device. For protection, the Realme 2 Pro uses the old Gorilla Glass 3 protection which is not as secure as the latest version of the Gorilla Glass, hence, a proper display protector is recommended.

Talking about the quality, the display exceeded our expectations. We thought the experience was going to be average, but it is a pretty good display. The colors are nice and saturated and it is sharp making up for a decent media consumption experience. Viewing angles are great, although, the visibility under direct sunlight is average. Realme 2 pro has above 90% screen to body ratio making it a perfect budget companion for immersive media consumption.
Performance and Software
Realme 2 Pro with the powerful Octa-core Snapdragon 660 inside is a powerful device which can withstand even some heavy workload. It is one of the few devices which comes with the Snap 660 processor in the budget range. Another thing which we really liked is the different RAM and Storage variants. It comes in three variant
·4GB RAM and 64GB Storage
·6GB RAM and 64GB Storage
·8GB RAM and 128GB Storage
Other than that, all the three models support expandable storage through Micro SD card up to 128 GB. Hence, multitasking and storage is not an issue with the Realme 2 Pro.

Using the device for moderate tasks like web browsing, social media etc has no trouble whatsoever. The app opens quick and the device feels super responsive. Even with heavy games like PUBG Mobile or Asphalt 9, the gameplay was smooth with few frame drops. The Snapdragon 660 inside makes it a solid device in terms of performance. It can even handle multitasking well due to the plenty of RAM even in the base model.

With Realme 2 Pro comes the Color OS 5.2 which is running over the top of Android 8.1 Oreo. If you have used MiUi before, you will immediately notice some similarities like the absence of an app drawer, pre-installed bloatware etc. Although it is a heavy skin, the UI still feels smooth to navigate. There are plenty of useful options too like the Smart Sidebar which can be opened by sliding through the side of the display. The smart sidebar has some useful features like Screenshot or access to apps like Camera or File manager. Overall, it is a heavily themed but smooth skin with the latest September security patch.
Camera
On Realme 2 Pro, there is a Dual camera unit which houses a 16 Megapixel camera with f/1.7 aperture and a 2 Megapixel camera only for depth calculation. It captures some decent looking images in broad daylight with good colors and decent dynamic range. Images contain a nice amount of details and the wider aperture helps in a nice depth of field. However, images taken under low light situation turn out to be grainy and noisy. Also, the lack of Optical image stabilization makes it difficult to capture decent images in dark situations. Talking about the Portrait mode, it looks decent and the blurred background looks good, however, the edge detection is average. It can also record 4K videos at 30fps and the quality is average with a shaky picture.

The 16 Megapixel sensor on the front captures decent images too and it supports Portrait mode. However, the quality is just average throughout with similar edge detection issue on the front just like the rear camera. There is a Sticker mode too which applies AR stickers in real-time just like like Snapchat. The front camera can also record 1080p videos at 30fps.
Overall, the cameras are good but the not the best in the price range.
Battery Life
Well, the battery on the Realme 2 Pro is the only downgrade from the Realme 2. It comes with a 3500 mAh non-removable battery which is decently big but smaller than the one found on the predecessor. The battery life on the device is pretty good by overshadowed by devices with bigger batteries in the same segment. It case easily get you around 5-6 hours of screen-on-time.

In our battery test, we used the device quite frequently with some PUBG gaming sessions and the device managed to get through the day easily. Hence, the battery life is quite good for a general user. Also, it comes with support for fast charging too which can get the Realme 2 Pro charged up pretty quickly. Overall, it has a decent battery life which can easily get you through the day.
Other Features
Realme 2 Pro comes with Dual SIM support with Dual Standby. It supports Dual 4G with VoLTE. Also, there is a dedicated MicroSD card slot so you don’t have to trade a SIM card for expandable storage. The device comes with all the basic connectivity features like Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5, and A-GPS.
There are various sensors including Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, and compass. However, there is no NFC on this device which for the price is pretty common. Although, there is no IR emitter also which is not a deal breaker all the MI phones in this price range come with an IR blaster.

Nevertheless, the Realme 2 Pro comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner which is pretty quick in unlocking the device. Also, it works almost every time making it a reliable sensor. Apart from that, the device also has a face unlock feature which is also pretty quick, however, it is nowhere as safe as the fingerprint scanner.
The single speaker at the bottom is reasonably loud but the audio quality is pretty average and it can be blocked easily by just one finger. Although, Realme 2 Pro still houses an audio jack which is becoming extinct these days, hence, you can connect an external speaker or a headphone with it without needing an extra dongle or anything.
Should you buy?
Absolutely!! The Realme 2 pro is a solid performer device with really good build quality. It has a super immersive display, respectable camera, superb performance for the price, a decent battery life, and a funky but fast OS. There are some other special features like the Fast charging support, Gaming Zone, Face unlock etc. While it may not be the perfect device based on the spec sheet but it is surely a capable device which can withstand even the hard workloads. So, if the Water resistance, wireless charging, and NFC aren’t on your priority list, the Realme 2 Pro is a stunning option to go for.
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