Deals: the first Snapdragon 8 Elite phones are starting to arrive, Realme GT 7 Pro leads the way

The first Snapdragon 8 Elite powered smartphones are starting to arrive in Europe. The Realme GT 7 Pro is already here and it carries a 20% discount. The phone impressed in benchmarks, however, unlike GT models of old, this one is actually a good all-rounder.

It has a 6.78” LTPO OLED display, a 10-bit 120Hz panel with 1,264 x 2,780px resolution and Gorilla Glass 7i protection. The camera setup is composed of a 50MP main (1/1.56”, OIS), 73mm telephoto with 50MP sensor (3x, OIS) and an 8MP ultra wide (112°). The battery is a massive 6,500mAh unit with 120W fast charging. And the phone boasts top-level IP69 protection.

The Asus ROG Phone 9 is still on pre-order and will only launch in early January. This gaming phone is equipped with a 185Hz LTPO display, 6.78” in size with 1,080 x 2,400px resolution and Gorilla Glass 2. The phone itself is rated IP68. Despite costing more, the ROG camera (50+13+2MP) is less impressive as it lacks a telephoto module. Also, the 5,800mAh battery is smaller and only supports 65W wired charging – it does have 15W wireless charging too.

The Xiaomi 14T Pro is cheaper than the Realme GT phone and does have a tele camera – a 50MP 60mm (2.6x) module to go with the 50MP main (larger 1/1.31” sensor, OIS) and 12MP ultra wide. However, the Dimensity 9300+ is the previous gen flagship chip. It’s not small by any means and neither is the 6.67” 144Hz OLED display, even if it’s not an LTPO panel. The 5,000mAh battery supports 120W wired and 50W wireless charging.

The vanilla Xiaomi 14T is the more budget-friendly option. It has the same screen but switches to a mid-range Dimensity 8300 Ultra chipset. Also, the 50MP tele camera gets a slightly shorter 50mm lens (2x) and the 50MP main camera has a smaller sensor (at 1/1.56”, it’s the same size as the GT sensor). The battery still has 5,000mAh capacity, but it only does 67W wired charging. You can find a more detailed comparison between the two 14T models here.

Around the same price is the Poco F6 Pro. This one has a faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and a sharper 6.67” 120Hz OLED display (1440p+ vs. 1220p+). The 5,000mAh battery charges faster at 120W. However, the camera lacks a telephoto module.

The Realme 12 Pro and 12 Pro+ share their 6.7” 120Hz OLED display and a vegan leather-bound body with an IP65 rating. The Pro+ model has a more capable main camera (50MP 1/1.56 vs. 50MP 1/2.0”, both with OIS), longer-reaching telephoto module (64MP 71mm vs. 32MP 47mm) and better selfie (32MP vs. 16MP). The ultra wide cameras are the same (8MP 112°). The other major difference is the chipset – Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 for the Pro+ and Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 for the Pro. The battery is the same on both units, 5,000mAh capacity with 67W wired-only charging.

We will wrap up with the Google Pixel Watch 3. The Wi-Fi model costs around €350 for both sizes – a bit less for the 41mm version, a bit more for the 45mm one.

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