Realme X2 Pro Camera Review: New Benchmark In Value Flagship Category?

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Realme is all set for a new innings in the Indian market. The company today unveiled its most expensive and first flagship smartphone- Realme X2 Pro at an aggressive starting price of Rs. 29,999 for the base variant that offers 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. Priced at Rs.33,999 for the 12GB variant, the smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset and sports a big 6.5-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate. The company has also announced the 'Master Edition' Realme X2 Pro at Rs. 34,999 that offers 12GB RAM and 256GB internal memory.

 

Rating:
4.0/5

Realme X2 Pro Camera Review: New Benchmark In Value Flagship Category?

Today we are going to discuss the Realme X2 Pro's camera performance in detail as the smartphone features a high-end camera hardware to take on the closest competitor- the OnePlus 7T and other sub 40K smartphones. Realme X2 Pro boasts a quad-lens camera setup featuring a 64MP primary lens, 5X hybrid optical zoom telephoto lens, a 115° ultra-wide-angle lens, and a portrait lens. For selfies, the company has offered a 16MP front-facing camera. Let's decode the camera samples and other important camera performance aspects of the handset in the following review.

Realme X2 Pro Key Camera Specifications

Realme X2 Pro Key Camera Specifications

The quad-lens camera setup features a 64MP main camera working on 1/1.72-inch Samsung GW1 64MP sensor. It uses an f/1.8 aperture, and 6P lens. The camera captures 16MP shots by default by deploying the familiar quad Bayer's 4-in-1 pixel binning mechanism that essentially combines four adjacent pixels into a single 1.6μm-large pixel. There's a dedicated 64MP mode that allows you to capture high-resolution 64MP images.

Next in line is the 8MP wide-angle lens. The company is advertising it as an ultra-wide angle lens but the field-of-view is only limited to 115°. Smartphones like LG G8s ThinQ captures a relatively higher (137°) FOV for better wide-angle perspective. The 8MP wide-angle lens uses an f/2.2 aperture and supports PDAF. The 8MP wide-angle lens also works as a macro lens and allows you to capture subjects as close as 2.5cm.

The third lens in the configuration is a 13MP 2X hybrid optical zoom lens with darker f/2.5 aperture. It can achieve 5X optical hybrid zoom and up to 20X hybrid zoom. The last lens in the four-lens camera array is the 2MP depth-sensor (f/2.4 aperture), which has just one job-- create bokeh effect. For selfies, the Realme X2 Pro sports a 16MP front-facing camera that works on Sony IMX 471 sensor.

Realme X2 Pro 64MP Camera Sample Shot
 

Realme X2 Pro 64MP Camera Sample Shot

The highlight of the quad-lens camera array on the Realme X2 Pro is the 64MP primary lens. The biggest sensor in the market with a senor size of 1/1.7" and 0.8µm pixels outputs detailed shots which usually measures around 20MB in size and have a resolution of 9280 x 6944 pixels. On a bright clear day, the Realme X2 Pro captures excellent dynamic range. The blue sky, green trees and the white clouds in the pictures shot on a clear day looks absolutely picturesque.

The 64MP shots can be zoomed in more as compared to the 16MP images to derive more details for a particular spot in the frame. The autofocus is fast and accurate.

Realme X2 Pro 16MP Camera Sample

Realme X2 Pro 16MP Camera Sample

The smartphone captures 16MP shots by default, which also offer good dynamic range and have fine details. The saturation and contrast seems slightly cranked up, especially if you have enabled the Chroma boost mode. Disable the chroma boost mode and also check the display color settings for a natural image output on the Realme X2 Pro. You can also fine tune the image output with the help of a built-in photo editor.

We also noticed some irregularities in the camera's noise control algorithms. The daylight shots, both 16MP and 64MP, look unnaturally sharp upon closer inspection. Realme can address these issues by simply fine tuning the cameras' software via an OTA update.

Realme X2 Pro Portrait Photography

Realme X2 Pro Portrait Photography

The 2MP depth-sensor performs a decent job of separating the background from the subject. The portraits come out good and show good details and natural skin tones. The edge detection is not always at point but the Realme X2 Pro still manages to deliver one of the best portraits around in this price-point.

Realme X2 Pro Telephoto Lens Performance

Realme X2 Pro Telephoto Lens Performance

The above image shows how Realme X2 captures images at different zoom levels. The smartphone supports 2X optical zoom and can achieve 5X optical hybrid zoom. You can take this all the way up to 20X hybrid zoom but the maximum 20x shots are barely usable.

5x Zoom Vs 20x Zoom Camera Samples

5x Zoom Vs 20x Zoom Camera Samples

Till 5x optical hybrid zoom, the shots are fairly usable and can be posted on social media. As the Realme X2 Pro lacks OIS, the phone should be kept steady while taking 2x and 5x shots.

Realme X2 Pro Wide-angle Camera Performance

Realme X2 Pro Wide-angle Camera Performance

The wide-angle lens is the weakest leg in the Realme X2 Pro's camera setup. The image output suffers from distortion, color balancing issues and noise. The pictures come out good only when you are taking shots in ample lighting.

Realme X2 Pro Macro Camera Performance

Realme X2 Pro Macro Camera Performance

Realme X2 Pro can be used to capture some decent macros. There's no dedicated macro lens as the handset uses the same 8MP wide-angle lens to capture macro shots. You can frame shots of subjects as close as 2.5cm. Surprisingly, the 8MP wide-angle lens which offers slightly underwhelming performance as a wide-angle camera does a good job as a macro lens. The macro shots show very good details and vibrant colors. Sadly, you cannot shoot videos with the macro mode which is slightly disappointing. The Vivo V17 Pro allows you to record some interesting macro videos within the macro mode.

Realme X2 Pro Low-light Camera Performance

Realme X2 Pro Low-light Camera Performance

Realme X2 Pro captures good low-light shots when there's some level of illumination in the scene you are framing. The colors look vivid and dynamic range is impressive even in low-light. The noise levels are also kept in check. When you enable the nightscape mode, the images look slightly sharper and well exposed. The 2x and 5x images also come out good in low-light with nightscape mode; however, the wide-angle camera performance still remains questionable.

Realme X2 Pro Extreme Low-Light Camera Performance

Realme X2 Pro Extreme Low-Light Camera Performance

In the absence of a light source, the camera fails to offer usable night shots, even when the nightscape mode is enabled. The sensor is able to resolve minor details in dark spots when nightscape mode is enabled; however, the overall image still remains very dark and unappealing. Overall, the Realme X2 Pro offers a good camera performance in low-light but fails to impress in extreme low-light situations.

Realme X2 Video Performance

Realme X2 Video Performance

Realme X2 Pro can capture 4K and 1080p videos at 30fps and 60fps. The smartphone can capture ultra-slow motion videos at 720p with 960 frames per second. Sadly you don't get OIS but the company has offered EIS and a super-steady mode to stabilize the video output. You can also create live bokeh while hooting videos. Like the steady shots, the 4K and 1080p videos also show plenty of details and good dynamic range. The colors pop out really well and the software-driven stabilization is very effective, even while shooting at 4K resolution.

Verdict

Verdict

Realme X2 Pro is an excellent overall smartphone at its price-point; however, the camera performance requires some level of fine tuning. The 4-lens camera hardware is powerful but the software side could use some improvements. The 64MP and even the pixel-binned 16MP shots in daylight look excellent. The color output can be customized as per your preference and you can also record crisp and steady videos. The 20x hybrid zoom is a nice addition but the 2x and 5x zoom remains our favourites.

Overall, the Realme X2 Pro is a good everyday camera smartphone that offers a lot to explore and to capture the world around you in high resolution. You can also consider the Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro which also offers a very capable camera hardware and good overall performance as a value flagship smartphone.

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