I used the first Snapdragon 8 Elite phone, and it’s hot stuff

When the courier handed over the field containing the Realme GT 7 Professional, I used to be eager to open it up. Not as a result of it was a brand new cellphone (they arrive very often), however as a result of it was one of many very first telephones with the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor inside — and the primary cellphone I’d use with the chip.

Qualcomm has hyped the Snapdragon 8 Elite up as a substantial enchancment over its earlier chips, so I started working testing it out. I can verify, it’s scorching stuff in each sense of the phrase.

An important replace arrives

Following the publication of this function on October 31, 2024, Realme contacted Digital Tendencies to say it was engaged on a software program replace that will remedy the software program compatibility problem it claimed was inflicting the cellphone to overheat throughout some benchmarking checks. It arrived a number of days later, and we printed a separate function on November 4, 2024, explaining how it affected the phone.

The Realme GT 7 Professional now completes the 3D Mark Photo voltaic Bay Stress Take a look at, not like earlier than, however the cellphone nonetheless will get very popular. A Qualcomm spokesperson additionally advised Digital Tendencies the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor was not the reason for the overheating drawback. The Realme GT 7 Professional stays the one cellphone with the brand new processor we’ve used on the time of writing, so we can’t evaluate efficiency with a non-Realme cellphone but. The story beneath stays largely unchanged to take care of the timeline of occasions.

The primary benchmark checks

Every thing started fairly usually after I first examined the Realme GT 7 Professional, however little did I do know what was to return. I’ve been utilizing the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for the past few weeks, which has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 inside it, making it the right comparability gadget.

With each telephones in hand, I put in the Geekbench 6 and 3DMark benchmarking apps. Whereas benchmark scores aren’t at all times consultant of general efficiency and the way a cellphone feels — and telephones may also be tailored by producers to supply excessive scores — they’re a easy technique to illustrate efficiency variations. How did the two processors compare?

The Realme GT 7 Professional with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite obliterated the Galaxy S24 Ultra and its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, with a CPU multi-core rating of 9425 in comparison with 7104. Working the GPU take a look at, it was an analogous pummeling, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s 19065 rating a lot larger than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s rating of 15898. There’s no query about it — the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a powerhouse.

I moved on to the 3DMark checks, which focus on gaming and graphics efficiency, however also can give some perception into effectivity. As you most likely anticipate, the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s rating was far larger than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s rating in the usual Photo voltaic Bay take a look at, however after I went on to the prolonged 20-minute Photo voltaic Bay Stress Take a look at, issues took an surprising flip.

Hardcore gaming checks

I ran the primary collection of benchmarking checks back-to-back, and three quarters by the Photo voltaic Bay Stress Take a look at, the Realme GT 7 Professional shut the app down, stating the cellphone had develop into too scorching, and sure capabilities had been unavailable. Certain sufficient, it was roasting after I picked it up, back and front. The Galaxy S24 Extremely accomplished the Photo voltaic Bay Stress Take a look at with no drawback, regardless of working it instantly after the Geekbench 6 checks and the Photo voltaic Bay take a look at, as did the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

I can’t keep in mind the final time I examined a cellphone that overheated throughout a brief collection of benchmarking checks, so this was a shock. Realme claims the GT 7 Professional has an “Iceberg VC” vapor cooling system, which at 11,480mm squared is seemingly the biggest in its class, so it’s not prefer it hasn’t compensated for the elevated efficiency. I let the cellphone calm down and ran the take a look at once more.

As soon as once more, the cellphone overheated after about 14 minutes, the benchmark take a look at failed, and the cellphone restricted performance for a number of moments. I picked the cellphone up a number of occasions throughout the take a look at and located that even 10 minutes in, I might have thought-about the Realme GT 7 Professional too scorching to comfortably maintain. As a substitute of attempting the take a look at once more, I waited till the cellphone cooled down and performed Asphalt Legends Unite.

After enjoying for half-hour, there was solely a touch of elevated warmth, and I’d had the display screen at full brightness with the cellphone in its high-performance gaming mode. The sport ran faultlessly and was extremely easy and thrilling to play, though it didn’t actually really feel that completely different from every other flagship cellphone I’ve used this yr. It’s not essentially the most demanding recreation, although, and the 3DMark stress checks extra carefully replicate lengthy periods on power-intensive video games like Genshin Impression.

Excessive-speed connection

How a couple of completely different unscientific velocity and efficiency take a look at of the Snapdragon 8 Elite? The Realme GT 7 Professional makes use of the Qualcomm FastConnect 7900 Wi-Fi modem, in comparison with the FastConnect 7800 paired with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and located contained in the Galaxy S24 Extremely. The on-paper specs appear to be equivalent, however they don’t inform the entire story.

I downloaded Asphalt Legends Unite from the Play Retailer on each the S24 Extremely and the GT 7 Professional, each over the identical Wi-Fi community, and timed the method. It’s an enormous 3.27GB file, and it took three minutes and 40 seconds on the Realme GT 7 Professional. It was put in and able to play only a few seconds later.

What’s attention-grabbing is the Galaxy S24 Extremely was barely 60% into the obtain course of by this level, and it went on to take six minutes and 30 seconds in whole. To ensure it wasn’t a one-off fluke, I attempted a number of extra app downloads and bought the identical outcomes. For instance, the 102MB Crossy Highway recreation took simply 6 seconds to obtain and set up on the GT 7 Professional and 20 seconds on the S24 Extremely.

Each telephones assist Wi-Fi 7, however my router doesn’t, so that they used a 5GHz connection. I ran an Ookla Pace Take a look at to raised perceive the variations and, certain sufficient, the Realme GT 7 Professional achieved far larger obtain and add speeds. In my easy take a look at, the Snapdragon 8 Elite and FastConnect 7900 Wi-Fi modem within the Realme GT 7 Professional obtain apps a lot quicker than the final model of the chip and modem. Extra importantly, regardless of downloading a number of apps in a row and working a number of velocity checks, there was no apparent improve in gadget warmth.

What concerning the Realme GT 7 Professional itself?

I can’t inform you a lot concerning the Realme GT 7 Professional as a cellphone simply but, however I can touch upon the design and the best way it feels in my hand. It’s a considerable gadget, weighing almost 223 grams and measuring 8.55mm thick. The flat metallic sides make it really feel fairly chunky in your hand. The outsized digital camera module on the again, with its angles and sharp edges, solely provides to the chunky feel and look.

The Realme GT 7 Professional in our photographs is in its Mars Orange coloration, which has an uncommon sand dune-like impact that’s seen in sure lighting circumstances. It’s very fairly and actually eye-catching, reminding me of Huawei’s lovely Amber Sunrise color on the P30 Pro. If it’s too shiny for you, there’s additionally a Galaxy Inexperienced model that’s extra muted.

Too scorching to deal with?

I’ve been utilizing the Realme GT 7 Professional forward of its last launch, and I’m solely in a position to assess and inform you concerning the efficiency of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite at the moment. It’s additionally the primary cellphone with the chip I’ve used, so I’ve nothing to check it to in addition to older variations, that means I can’t say whether or not the overheating points I skilled are the fault of the processor, the cellphone, the software program, the benchmarking app, or inefficiencies within the new cooling system.

Realme says a software program compatibility drawback brought about the overheating, and Qualcomm states the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor didn’t trigger it. A software update has now enabled the cellphone to finish the 3D Mark app’s stress checks, however it nonetheless will get very popular within the course of. Though I haven’t used the cellphone as my main gadget but, it has not overheated at every other time or proven something however stellar efficiency.

Reaching a conclusion at this stage is inconceivable, however I’m wanting ahead to attempting one other cellphone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor to see if it truly is a fiery little beast — or if the Realme GT 7 Professional simply wasn’t fairly prepared for the spiciest cell chip we’ve ever seen after I tried it.