iQOO Neo 10 vs Realme GT 7: One brings Heat, the other brings balance

Two new performance-focused smartphones are in the market- the Realme GT 7 and the iQOO Neo 10. What does that call for? Yes, a comparison! The iQOO Neo 10 is priced at Rs 31,999 and the Realme GT 7 is priced at Rs 39,999 and before you guys come at me and say that this comparison isn’t fair because the iQOO Neo 10 is priced around Rs 10,000 less than the Realme GT 7, let me tell you if you dig deeper, you’ll see why this battle is closer than you’d think. Rival chipsets power them both, and both smartphones bring flagship-grade specs at aggressive prices. So let’s find out which one gives you more for your money?

Design and durability

Let’s quickly talk about their designs first. Both the iQOO Neo 10 and the Realme GT 7 weigh the same at 206g. Both have a plastic build, but Realme edges ahead with Gorilla Glass 7i and an IP69 rating.

iQOO counters with a slimmer in-hand feel. It’s a tie on premium feel; Realme is just better protected.

Performance: Snapdragon vs Dimensity

The iQOO Neo 10 runs on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset, and the Realme GT 7, on the other hand, runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 9400e chipset. Both of these new chipsets are watered-down versions of their flagship siblings.

The same is true when it comes to their benchmark scores. On AnTuTu, both phones crossed the 1.5 million mark, but Realme pulled slightly ahead by nearly 1 lakh points. And even on the Geekbench test, Realme had the lead.

The real differentiator came in the stress test. When we ran the CPU throttling test on both phones, Realme remained stable, maintaining high performance throughout, while the iQOO Neo 10 showed noticeable thermal throttling after 15 minutes under load. However, iQOO has fixed these performance dips now with an update, but a week back, when we were testing this phone, Realme performed better.

Display: Bright numbers

When it comes to display specs, both of these phones pack a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Furthermore, iQOO claims 144Hz during gaming, but during our BGMI test, both maxed out at 102FPS.

We also tested them for colour accuracy with the Calman test, and in that space, Realme had a lead with a Delta E of just 0.7, which is near perfect. iQOO isn’t far behind but loses out on some details.

Brightness is where iQOO flexes hard, peaking at a jaw-dropping 3340 nits compared to Realme’s under-2000 nit output. However, Realme still appears brighter indoors, while iQOO clearly wins in outdoor visibility. Overall, Realme’s display feels more balanced.

Battery and charging: Close call

Both phones feature massive 7000mAh batteries and 120W fast charging. In real-world tests, iQOO went from 0 to 100% in 40 minutes and delivered over 22 hours in PCMark’s battery benchmark.

Realme took 42 minutes and came in just under 21 hours. So iQOO took the trophy in this round. In real-world usage, both of these smartphones will last you for about 2 days on moderate use.

iQOO Neo 10 vs Realme GT 7: Cameras

Realme GT 7 has a triple camera setup that includes a telephoto lens, and on the iQOO Neo 10, you only get a main camera and an ultrawide lens. 

Cameras turned out as I expected them to be. Realme takes the lead when it comes to photography. The main camera of the Realme clicks crisp and natural pictures, whereas iQOO’s pictures are slightly bright, and they look vibrant if you’re into that. 

The telephoto sensor also gives Realme an edge, as you can see how crisp Realme’s shot is in comparison to iQOO. 

But, iQOO reclaims itself when it comes to low-light photography with its AI upscaling. The final shots are better on the iQOO Neo 10, and even the light management is better with it. 

Portraits are a mixed bag, while Realme takes more natural-looking shots, iQOO takes brighter shots, but there is visible smoothening on the skin. The edge detection is just decent on both.

Final verdict: Is price the decider?

The iQOO Neo 10 gives you raw performance at a killer price. For over Rs 10,000 less, it keeps pace with Realme on most fronts. That alone makes it a tempting pick.

But the Realme GT 7 justifies its premium with better cameras, smoother sustained performance, superior display accuracy, and a more complete package overall.

So, if you want maximum value and gaming chops, pick iQOO. If you want balance, polish, and better photography, Realme is worth the extra.