In a week of relatively tepid product announcements at this year’s show MWC (Mobile World Congress) trade show, the global unveiling of the Realme GT 2 Pro ranked among the most exciting.
The fledgling Chinese manufacturer’s first true flagship device, the GT 2 Pro is set to compete with high-end rivals like the Galaxy S22offering users impressive visuals and premium features for a price more accessible to Realme’s typically average customer base.
But while the phone does its best to match, rather than surpass, its more expensive counterparts in overall performance, check out our practical exam for more details – the GT 2 Pro has an ace up its sleeve that testifies to the giant leaps forward in mobile photography technology in recent years.
Similar to the macro camera lenses found last year Xiaomi Mi 11 and Oppo Find X3 Pro, Realme’s latest handset features a 40x microscopic sensor that allows users to take extreme close-up shots of inanimate objects. Sure, it looks like a superfluous addition on paper, but after testing the feature ourselves, we found the results pretty incredible.
Below, we’ve put together a list of side-by-side images (swipe to see) that not only illustrate the power of Realme’s new camera technology, but the remarkable ways photography can enhance even the most visible objects. more commonplace in everyday life.
We’ll start with an article that’s likely to occupy the closet of anyone living in a temperate-climate country (including you Australian readers). A humble pair of jeans looks decidedly mundane at first glance, but tie-dye cotton fibers – otherwise known as denim – look much more interesting at 40x magnification.
We can’t decide if a super-zoomed slice of bread makes the world’s greatest invention more or less appetizing. It’s wholemeal bread, but we’re still shocked at how much of the chemical-induced stickiness hides beyond the naked eye (imagine the results on store-bought white bread…). It’s good, notice.
If you haven’t collected it already, all of the items in this list come from the same UK household. As for your standard English breakfast teabag, the Realme GT 2 Pro now expects us to find a cobweb-wrapped Frodo Baggins inside each (yep, kidding from Lord of the Rings).
Surely it’s not possible to make a sidewalk (sorry, a sidewalk if you’re in the US) interesting? Well, take a closer look… It’s not the prettiest example of microscopic photography on our list, but it’s still fascinating to watch a seemingly smooth surface become unrecognizable when magnified multiple times.
This is a result we did not expect. To the naked eye, the surface of this shiny magazine (which we couldn’t name in writing) appears, well, shiny – but as you can see from cover star Mo Salah’s eye pattern, it actually includes thousands of tiny ink blots.
Rounding out the aforementioned tea bag, the humble Chocolate Digestive Cookie reminds us, at 40x magnification, why we probably shouldn’t eat too many cookies of this ilk. At first glance, the visible lumps on its surface look like harmless crumbs meant for carpeting, but the GT 2 Pro’s microscope reveals their true sweet nature.
Speaking of rugs (or rugs, more specifically), this genuine Mexican poncho passes the test of authenticity when placed under the Realme microscope. It looks a lot more welcoming (read: cozier) from afar, mind.
For more on all the latest tech coming out of MWC 2022, stay tuned to TechRadar over the coming weeks. We’ve covered all the major announcements so far and continue to post our more in-depth thoughts on the trends, surprises and disappointments from this year’s mobile showcase.
