Realme X7 Max review: A better deal than iQOO 7 or Xiaomi Mi 11X?

Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC.

RAM/ Storage: 8GB + 128GB, 12GB + 256GB.

Battery: 4500 mAh with 50W SuperDart charging.

Rear camera: 64MP + 8MP + 2MP

Front camera: 16MP

Operating System: Android 11-based Realme UI 2.0.

Other features: Dual 5G carrier aggregation, support for up to 5G bands, dual speakers, IPX4 rating for splash resistance, etc.

Now that the specs are out of the way, here’s our experience with the Realme X7 Max.

Design and Display

Realme, lately, has tried and “dared to leap” to stand out from other smartphones with a variety of design changes. The same is the case with the Realme X7 Max. It still has the “Dare to Leap” branding slapped on the back. However, unlike the Realme 8 series, the logo on the X7 Max isn’t as striking. What is striking though is that glossy vertical strip on one side of the device.

Realme said it wanted to offer both matte and glossy finishes on its latest offering. Some might like it, others like us will not. The glossy line above and below the camera module just takes away the premium-ness that the textured-matte finish offers. One thing though, the textured-matte finish offers a good grip, making it less slippery.

Design aside, the phone offers a good in-hand feel, courtesy of its 180 grams weight and 8.4mm thickness. The rear panel’s curved edges make it easier to hold the phone while scrolling through social media or streaming content on the 6.43-inch AMOLED display. It is plenty bright and offers good contrast and viewing angles. The phone also comes with a dual stereo speaker setup that is pretty decent. If that’s not enough, you get a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is now a rare feature to have in mid-range and premium smartphones. 

Realme X7 Max also has a 120Hz refresh rate display with a 360Hz touch sampling rate. It ensures that you have smooth gaming or scrolling experience for supported apps. We did not notice any jitters while swiping or scrolling through social media. 

Performance and software

Realme X7 Max’s USP is its performance unit. The phone comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC under the hood. In terms of benchmark tests, It gets close to the Snapdragon 870 SoC found on the iQOO 7 and the Xiaomi Mi 11X (Review). In terms of day-to-day usage, you are barely going to notice any difference. The processor is more than enough to handle multitasking. We also played Call of Duty and PUBG Mobile KR on this device. The games ran smoothly with HD graphics and High settings. It did get slightly warm to the touch after 30-odd minutes of gameplay. 

RAM management on our unit with 12GB of RAM was great as well. Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11 did not shut down the apps in the background even when we were playing games or shooting photos. Keep in mind that the apps are likely to freeze or shut down if the battery optimisation setting is enabled. The company’s ColorOS 11-inspired skin has plenty of features and customisation options like icon styles, dark mode, themes, etc. There is no official word on future software support. We did ask Realme about this and the company stated that it is working with Google to introduce Android 12 on the Realme X7 Max as soon as possible.

In terms of battery life, the 4,500 mAh battery is more than enough for a day’s worth of juice. We got an average screen time of six hours on this device. Our use case mainly included attending virtual meetings, scrolling through social media, playing games for an hour or two, etc. You are likely to get some more battery life if you do not play games on your smartphone. 

Realme has packed a 50W SuperDart fast charger in the box. It claims that the device charges from zero to 50 per cent in 16 minutes. During our Realme X7 Max review period, the device charged completely within 50 minutes to an hour. The difference because the phone trickle charges to ensure battery safety and longevity. That being said, it would have been nice had Realme packed a faster 65W fast charger that recharges the phone within 35 minutes. 

Camera

Realme X7 Max features a triple-camera setup on the back. It has a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide sensor, and a 2MP macro camera. The camera app is quite simple and user-friendly. You do not need to keep looking for the basic features or modes as most of the important ones are right above or below the viewfinder.

The 64MP camera offers good details. However, the software boosts the saturation to offer more vibrant colours. In some photos, there is visible chromatic aberration. This resulted in some noticeable purple and magenta coloured edges on subjects. Night mode helps reduce some noise while bumping up the exposure to offer slightly better results. 

The ultrawide camera offers a larger frame to shoot in times when you are cramped for space. The  119-degree field of view is nice to shoot landscape shots. However, there is a noticeable loss of details around the distorted edges, which is common across many ultrawide smartphone cameras. You also get a 2MP macro camera, which is quite average. Rather use the 64MP camera mode and crop the image to its max to get a slightly better result.

For selfies, the phone has a 16MP front camera. You get decent quality selfies provided there is ample light. The software does smoothen the skin a bit despite disabling the beauty mode. Click here or on the Flickr slideshow below to see some of the sample images shot during our Realme X7 Max review.

Verdict 

The sub-Rs 30,000 smartphone segment currently has some great value for money options. These include the iQOO 7 and the Xiaomi Mi 11X. Realme X7 Max joins the league of performance-focused smartphones at an affordable price. It features MediaTek’s flagship Dimensity 1200 SoC, which does get close to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870 SoC. 

However, simply focusing on the performance aspect is not enough in 2021, especially in a competitive market like India. Realme also does score points in the display, battery life, and front camera department with the X7 Max. But, the rear camera could perform better. Design preferences are subjective. We, therefore, leave this to you, the reader, to rate. If you ask us, the design seems a bit monotonous and repetitive. In fact, one of our colleagues went further and said that it looks quite similar to the OPPO F19 Pro that was launched earlier this year. 

Buy the Realme X7 Max if you want:

1) Flagship-grade performance unit: The Dimensity 1200 SoC makes it easy to recommend the Realme X7 Max for those who want max flagship performance at a not-so-flagship price. That being said, iQOO 7 and Mi 11X (Review) are priced a few thousand rupees higher and offer better performance with minimal throttling. If you can, spend a bit more and pick either of the two.

2) A compact, ergonomic smartphone: Realme X7 Max’s 6.43-inch display makes it among the most compact devices in the price range. It is also relatively lightweight at 179 grams. The competitors offer around 6.7-inch displays, which might be too large for some.

3) 3.5mm headphone jack: Realme X7 Max is among the very few smartphones in the mid-range and premium smartphone segment to offer a 3.5mm headphone jack. If you are someone who wants the audio jack, this one’s serves the purpose.

4) More 5G bands: At the time of writing this, India is a few months away from rolling out the 5G network. The Realme X7 Max comes with 7 5G bands in India, which is the most in its price range. Most smartphones offer two to three 5G bands and Realme definitely has an edge here.

5) Good front camera: The 16MP front camera on the Realme X7 Max clicks good quality selfies.

Don’t buy the Realme X7 Max for:

1) Excellent Camera performance: The Realme X7 Max’s triple-camera setup offers decent quality images. However, colours are not close to natural but more saturated. The contrast levels are also hit or miss at times and you might notice some loss in details in the shadows.

2) Assured software support: Realme has not officially announced the number of years it would provide software support for the X7 Max that runs Android 11-based Realme UI 2.0. When we asked, the company said it is working with Google to being future software upgrades. However, we’ve also believed that one should buy a phone on the factual information that is currently available.