“We Pursue the Power of Street Photography”: Chase Xu and Kazunobu Saiki on the Realme GT 8 Pro and the Ricoh Collaboration

Realme’s GT series has always been known for its raw performance and gaming prowess. But if there’s one area that’s consistently felt a step behind, it’s the cameras. The hardware has always been capable, sure, but that finesse and polish you expect from a true flagship have been missing.

Realme clearly knew this was its blind spot and instead of ignoring it, the brand decided to fix it the right way. For the Realme GT 8 Pro, Realme has partnered with Ricoh GR, the Japanese camera legend best known for its compact, pocketable street photography cameras. According to Realme, this collaboration has been quietly in the works for the last four years.

With more smartphone makers teaming up with legacy camera brands lately, the question is, how does Realme plan to stand out? To find out, Gizbot sat down with Chase Xu, Vice President and CMO, Realme, and Kazunobu Saiki, General Manager of the Camera Business Division at Ricoh, on the sidelines of their announcement in Beijing, China.

How the Realme and Ricoh Collaboration Came Together

When asked what separates this partnership from others, Chase Xu had this to say.

“There are two key points,” he said. “First, we focus on street photography. Never before has the industry done any collaboration specifically targeting snap photo photography or street photography, because we understand that young people have a higher demand for taking great snap photos instantly on their phones.

Second, this is a very deep collaboration — we spent four years preparing for it and worked closely with Ricoh GR throughout the entire product design process and workflow.”

Photo Credit: Realme's Chase Xu and Ricoh's Kazunobu Saiki

Saiki from Ricoh continued.

“To be frank, we got many other projects from other smartphone manufacturers,” he said, “but mainly they were targeting badges, which is not of our interest. Realme never wanted just a badge — we both pursue the power of street photography for the younger generation.”

He added,

“Fifteen years ago, people said smartphones would replace cameras. I never agreed. Smartphones like Realme can create real creativity, starting from the young generation. This expands street culture — and we can begin the next generation together.”

The Focus on Street Photography

The idea behind the Realme GT 8 Pro’s camera is pretty straightforward — to capture moments the way they actually happen. Ricoh’s GR cameras have built their reputation on that kind of immediacy. Realme wanted to bring that same fast, instinctive shooting experience to a phone.

Xu explained that this went deeper than software tweaks.

“Hardware development with Ricoh GR was co-engineered and co-developed, ensuring technology and hardware meet GR standards,” he said. “We even addressed glare and reflection issues early in testing through co-created technology.”

In Conversation with Chase Xu and Saiki For the Realme GT 8 Pro

For Saiki, it came down to precision.

“Capturing reality in moments requires quick response and accurate representation,” he noted. “The GT 8 Pro has been fine-tuned for fast shooting and optimized algorithms.”

I also got the chance to take the Realme GT 8 Pro out on the streets of Beijing, and it gave me a closer look at how the new camera setup actually feels in use. The camera interface is split into two modes — the familiar Realme camera UI, and another that mirrors the Ricoh GR layout almost perfectly. It’s so close to the real thing that, at first glance, you’d have a hard time telling them apart.

The Refreshed Design

Even visually, the GT 8 Pro looks more like a camera than a phone this time. The large circular module and the muted finish borrow cues from Ricoh’s practical, function-first design approach. And, more importantly, it's a significant departure from the previous GT series design.

“The new camera design draws cues from Ricoh GR’s minimal yet precise ideology,” said Xu. “We wanted it to reflect professional craftsmanship rather than non-functional design. The circular lens detailing and refined texture give the GT 8 Pro a more photographic identity while improving optical stability and heat management.”

Why Ricoh’s Influence Is Focused on the Main Camera

This was something I’d been curious about from the start. Most smartphones that team up with big camera brands usually extend that tuning across all their lenses. But with the Realme GT 8 Pro, things are different — Ricoh’s input is reserved entirely for the main camera. Here’s what Xu had to say about this.

“Ricoh GR has been a fixed-focal-length camera since its inception,” Xu explained. “The 28mm captures a complete street scene, while 40mm focuses on subtle details — both are core to Ricoh’s street photography DNA. So we recreated those exact focal lengths through the main camera, tuning every detail to match Ricoh’s standards.”

Alongside the hardware tuning, Realme and Ricoh built five GR-inspired color profiles into the GT 8 Pro, including Positive Film, Negative Film, and High-Contrast Black & White.

“These five tones are classic,” said Xu. “Positive and negative film styles are especially popular with young creators, while high-contrast black and white is a Ricoh GR signature. We wanted to bring that stylish, nostalgic experience to users who want to capture life differently.”

When asked whether this collaboration would remain exclusive to the GT flagship series or eventually trickle down to the number series, Chase Xu said they’ll evaluate based on market response and user feedback. It wasn’t an outright no — more of a “let’s see how people adapt to it” kind of answer.

We’ve already shot over a hundred photos with the Realme GT 8 Pro across different lighting conditions in Beijing — from the city’s neon-lit streets to quiet alleys and bright daylight scenes. There’s a lot to unpack in how the Ricoh tuning holds up across those scenarios, and we’ll be breaking it all down soon. Stay tuned to Gizbot for our in-depth camera analysis and full performance review of the GT 8 Pro — where we’ll see if Realme’s four years of collaboration have truly paid off behind the lens.