realme GT2 Master Explorer Edition：realme’s first phone powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1

At its launch event on July 12 in China, realme debuted the performance-focused realme GT2 Master Explorer Edition. Compared with the original realme GT Master Explorer, the phone is realme’s first phone powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 mobile platform and comes with a host of improvements, including Pixelwork's X7 graphic chip and an exceptional design.

Design and handling

The realme GT2 Master Explorer Edition is available in three outlooking options: Hardcase , Luna White, and Cosmos Black. The first one is covered with vegan leather material and the latter two are made of AG glass. The phone we received is the Black AG-glass made one.

The device measures 161.3 x 74.3 x 8.2mm and weighs around 199 grams, with almost symmetrical top and bottom bezels. That’s to say it’s relatively soft to hold.

As for the camera setup, the premium phone features a 50 MP IMX766 with OIS as its main camera, added by a 50 MP 150-degree ultra-wide-angle shooter, and a 2 MP microscope lens. Although there is no telephoto, it offers a 2x main camera for substitution.

Theoretical Test

001 Sharpness
Since the wide-angle lens of the realme GT2 MS can’t support shooting RAW images, we shot JPG images for the test.

Looking at the image above, we can find that the main, ultra-wide lenses are relatively sharp at centers, without significant soft image quality. When it comes to the edge, the two lenses are much more different, with a slight decay in the image quality of the main lens; the image quality of the ultra-wide lens becomes worse.

Thanks to the advanced algorithm, its 2x zoom shooting function is practical indeed. And it should be noted that the weather counts a lot in its usage. A sunny day will contribute to more and better images.

002 Latitude
Vivo X80 Pro supports JPG, RAW and RAW+ files, we tested the latitude with the main shooter on the three fronts accordingly.

We dialed the exposure from negative 2 to positive 2 stops with the shutter speed and ISO set by default.

As can be seen above, JPG、RAW and RAW+ files perform almost similar at the exposure of under 2 stops, maintaining a lot of details. When we dial the exposure to positive 2 stops, RAW image clearly stands out, not excellent though, followed by RAW and JPG images.

Therefore, the principle that choosing the lower exposure rather than the higher one is at the helm of good results.

003 Sensitivity
You can adjust the exposure manually when the Pro mode is on. Adjusting within a sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 6400, we shoot the image and analyzed details and dark parts to see how the image quality changes as the sensitivity gradually increases.

As you can see, the realme GT2 MS presents a relatively pure picture in terms of details and dark parts under ISO400. At ISO800, the dark parts appear partially smeared; at ISO1600, a lot of details are missed and dark parts are further smeared. It makes no sense to increase the sensitivity further.

004 Lens distortion
By shooting the equally spaced grid with four lenses respectively, we observe the distortion of the image. As tested, the main lens and the wide-angle lens are almost free from distortion.

（main lens)

(ultra-wide lens)

Real-world Experience

001 Pro Nightscape Mode
realme's powerful algorithm allows you to customize the shutter time. With the ultra-long exposure time, coupled with the multi-frame reconstruction engine, you can easily shoot professional nightscape photos.

Thanks to realme’s upgraded nightscape algorithm 2.0, more details can be maintained by the new phone. According to realme, the resolution ability in extremely dark environment is improved by 9%, greatly optimizing its highlight suppression ability; the speed of night photography in the same environment is improved by 118%.

The picture below was taken alongside the Yangtze River. The color transition of the sky at night is smooth and natural. Here happens to have a contrast between cold and warm light, and you can see that the GT2 ME has a relatively stronger suppression of warm light.

With the nightscope mode, you can have better saturation and contrast performance while maintaining the purity of the image. For example, the picture above is originally very easy to overexpose due to strong top light, but the highlights are nicely suppressed in the end.

All but, the phone is prone to flare in strong backlight conditions due to its large main camera, which is common with most of mainstream phones.

The Pro Nightscope and Pro mode compared, you will find that the exposure time of the former mode is well over 32 seconds (actually about 100 seconds), while that of the latter mode is 32 seconds. And in the Pro mode, after manually adjusting the ISO value and shutter speed, there will be dark in the frame because of the lack of light at night. Therefore, it’s recommended to set the normal mode for framing, and then adjust parameters in the Pro mode.

In addition, as you can see from the picture below, the darker parts of the image shot in the Pro nightscope mode will be brighter, and the Pro mode leaves a larger space for post-production.

(the Pro nightscope mode)

002 2x zoom
You can take eight pictures at a time quickly and then combines 8 pixels into 1 to improve the sharpness.

Although the telephoto lens is not available, the 2x zoom function compensate that shortcoming well, with a performance that is not inferior to that of a telephoto lens.

The following two pictures are taken with the main lens at the 2x zoom mode. You can see that distant buildings are still clear and sharp after the zoom, and there is no blurring or smearing that is common with other digital zoom.

Most of the time, we can use the 2x zoom mode as a telephone lens, allowing various of picture composition. However, as shown below, in the case of conditions without adequate light, the 2x zoom will have a certain sense of smearing.

003 Shooting with special effects
The GT2 ME has newly added four long-exposure modes and four kinds of filters, providing a very efficient and useful solution for shooters.

Here we take one as an example, and show you how to obtain this kind of picture.

First, find a support point. Then, hold the phone, and fix your gesture to shoot for 5 seconds, Finally, you can get such a picture!

If you use a camera to shoot, there are two troubles: you need a filter, otherwise the long-time exposure will make other parts of the picture increasingly brighter; you need a tripod, otherwise the image will shake, resulting in blurred pictures.

In a subway station where pedestrians are constantly passing to and fro, we set one long-exposure mode to shoot. Finally, we can get a picture without pedestrian interference.

004 Fisheye shooting

There are two kinds of fisheye shooting effects. Compared with the ultra-wide lens, the perspective of fisheye is only slightly larger, and that of round fisheye is even smaller.

(ultra-wide lens)

(fisheye lens)

(round fisheye lens)

Verdict
What we really like are the advanced Pro Nightscope mode and the 2x zoom function. The Realme GT2 Master Explorer Edition has three variants available: 8/128 GB, 8/256 GB, and 12/256 GB, costing CNY 3499 (US$520), CNY 3799 (US$565), and CNY 3999 (US$595) respectively.

Sample Gallery