The chill of late autumn seems not to have reached the mobile phone industry.

Over the past month, vivo, OPPO, Xiaomi, iQOO, Honor, and OnePlus have successively held press conferences to unveil their annual flagship phones. Among them, vivo excels in imaging technology, Xiaomi continues to delve deeper into performance, and Honor continues to focus on AI and image processing...

At the beginning of November, realme also joined the flagship competition. Yesterday, the realme GT7 Pro was officially released, priced at 3,599 yuan, paired with the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. It can be said that realme has given everything a flagship model can offer.

However, standing out among many excellent products in this competitive market is not an easy task.

Looking back at previous generations of realme flagship models, it is not difficult to find that they have performed well in terms of performance, design, photography, etc., but it is difficult to stand out in a market dominated by various brands. In fact, the quarterly mobile phone sales rankings are often classified as Others, explicitly indicating realme's current embarrassing situation.

"Acclaimed but not popular" is the most appropriate description of its current situation. It is like a student who scores 80 in all subjects, very comprehensive but lacking in distinguishing features. In the latest generation of realme GT7 Pro, we also see this problem.

01. Imaging Deficit, Tragedy of Flagship

"Price Increase" was the main theme throughout the mobile phone industry last month.

On October 24, Lei Jun, founder, chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi, tweeted on Weibo: The cost of components has increased significantly this year, and we have also invested heavily in research and development. The Xiaomi 15 does indeed need a price increase.

The price of the Xiaomi 15 series was announced at the press conference, with the 12GB+256GB version starting at 4,499 yuan, a 200 yuan increase from the previous generation. A day later, the Honor Magic7 series' 12GB+256GB version also started at 4,499 yuan, a 100 yuan increase from the previous generation. Earlier, the starting prices of the OPPO Find X8 and vivo X200 increased by 200 yuan and 300 yuan, respectively, compared to their predecessors.

realme is not an exception. The initial price of the 12GB+256GB version of the GT7 Pro is 3,599 yuan, a 300 yuan increase from the starting price of 3,298 yuan for the previous flagship model, the GT5 Pro. The entire series has increased in price by 300 to 600 yuan.

But objectively speaking, although the price increase of the realme GT7 Pro is not insignificant, its starting price of 3,599 yuan is definitely a "bargain" among flagship models.

In terms of performance, the realme GT7 Pro is equipped with the latest generation Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform, which uses TSMC's second-generation 3nm process. The CPU includes 2 ultra-large cores and 6 large cores, with frequencies of 4.32GHz and 3.53GHz, respectively. To match its powerful performance, the realme GT7 Pro is also equipped with a 11480mm² dual-layer heat dissipation VC to ensure performance stability in high-load scenarios such as long gaming sessions.

In terms of display, the realme GT7 Pro adopts Samsung's custom Eco² Sky Screen, which provides non-polarized natural light eye protection technology with a screen light source polarization of 0, close to natural light, reducing eye damage. Additionally, the screen supports hardware-level full-brightness DC-like dimming to reduce flicker and improve color uniformity. Screen technologies also include Eco² OLED Plus and 8T LTPO, which can reduce power consumption by up to 52%. The color gamut covers 120% DCI-P3, with a maximum global brightness of 2000 nits and support for Dolby Vision HDR video recording.

Consistent with the trend predicted in a previous article by Xinlichang, after mid-range phones began incorporating large batteries, this trend has gradually transitioned to flagship models. The realme GT7 Pro is equipped with a 6500mAh Titan battery, which, with the help of new-generation silicon-carbon anode technology, significantly improves battery capacity and energy density. Meanwhile, the phone supports 120W SuperDart Flash Charge, which can charge up to 50% in 14 minutes and employs a silicon-carbon anode longevity algorithm to extend battery life.

The pressure on costs from such high specifications is evident. After the press conference, Xu Qi was interviewed by the media, stating that the low-end version of the realme GT7 Pro is definitely not profitable, but realme does not make products with the premise of losing money. They will continue to optimize products generation after generation to make pricing more reasonable.

Of course, the realme GT7 Pro is not without flaws. For example, it uses realme UI instead of Color OS; it does not support wireless charging; it still uses USB 2.0, etc. The most obvious issue is the significant decline in imaging performance. The main camera has changed from the previous generation's LYT808 to IMX906, the telephoto lens has regressed from IMX890 to IMX882, and the front camera has been reduced from 32MP to 16MP. Such an imaging configuration is barely adequate for a flagship model and even ranks low.

In an era where imaging capabilities are constantly improving, if a flagship model must make trade-offs in configuration to balance costs, imaging capabilities should not be the first to go. It can be said that realme's move is truly perplexing.

It's like a marathon where the runner maintains a lead for most of the race but stumbles near the finish line. The realme GT7 Pro's powerful performance, innovative screen technology, excellent battery life, and affordable price ensure it has a place in the flagship phone market, but its poor imaging capabilities doom it to never become a popular product.

02. realme's dilemma of cost-effectiveness

Being excluded from the OPPO ecosystem has also significantly limited realme's development.

According to statistics from Weibo tech influencer "Xiaomaijiabuxiao", as of Week 40, realme accounted for only 1.29% of the cumulative activations for the entire year, ranking 13th nationwide; by Week 43, this figure was 0.9%.

This is the reality: even with a loud voice in the tech community, being separated from OPPO's sales channels is fatal for realme in China. Despite resorting to extreme cost-effectiveness, the results have not been good.

Of course, there is also the issue of stock shortages. After becoming independent, realme's pricing strategy became more aggressive. According to a report by Lei Feng Wang, realme did not release many units of the GT series and other "unprofitable" models in terms of cost, purely earning attention through pricing.

In fact, it is precisely this aggressive pricing strategy that has allowed realme to gain a foothold in the smartphone market, but this low-price strategy is actually contrary to its goal of becoming a high-end brand. Although a high price does not always equate to high-end, high-end brands will never be presented as low-cost, as evidenced by the market positioning of Huawei and Apple.

Similarly, Xiaomi's journey to becoming a high-end brand is a typical example. The reason why its path to high-end is difficult is partly due to its early low-cost, cost-effective image being deeply ingrained in consumers' minds, making it difficult to change. It took Xiaomi years to gradually change consumers' perceptions by increasing R&D investment and strengthening brand building and promotion.

It is precisely because Xiaomi suffered enough from the difficulties of its high-end transformation that Xiaomi Automobile chose a high starting price from the beginning, hoping to establish a high-end brand image in consumers' minds and avoid long-term price wars and brand positioning confusion.

Looking back, realme's low-price strategy may attract consumers in the short term, but in the long run, this strategy will undoubtedly limit the enhancement of its brand image. In the high-end market, consumers are not only concerned about price but also about the overall value and experience provided by the brand. If realme wants to gain a firm foothold in the high-end market, it needs to take another "half step" up in product strength, brand strength, and SKU.

However, the current low-price strategy may put realme in an awkward position: although the product configuration is high-end, the price does not match it, which undoubtedly weakens its high-end image in consumers' minds. For realme, how to enhance its brand image while maintaining cost-effectiveness is an urgent problem to be solved.

Of course, becoming high-end is not a short-term project that can be accomplished overnight; it is a long-term task at the strategic level of the company. Compared to this, realme also faces an urgent tactical issue, which is that its strengths are not strong enough, and its weaknesses are too prominent.

We live in an era where the "long board theory" prevails, and consumers are more willing to remember products that excel in a particular area. For example, Apple's iOS system is renowned for its smoothness and ecosystem integrity; Samsung's screen technology has always been an industry benchmark; vivo's imaging technology continues to set new records. These brands all have their unique selling points, like the Hero in a story, with unforgettable traits.

And what about realme? Most people's first impression is low price. Why was Xiaomi successful back then? Because low price was a "super long board" at that time. However, the current state of the mobile phone market is that in the mid-to-low-end market, low prices are ubiquitous, making it difficult to stand out; in the flagship segment, consumers value "value for money" more than "cheap but good quality".

Returning to realme itself, its chips, batteries, and screens are indeed excellent, but these advantages are not unique. The Snapdragon chip is not exclusive to realme, nor is the Samsung screen. Although they are of high quality, they are hardly unique. As for weaknesses, they have already been clearly stated above. Just the imaging and being separate from the OPPO ecosystem are almost fatal.

Therefore, it is like a student who scores 80 in all subjects, comprehensive and balanced, but none reaches 100, lacking a "story" that makes people remember. Good wine also needs no bush to hide it; realme needs not only quality assurance but also a highlight that touches people's hearts. Otherwise, hovering on the edge of the market, becoming one of those "not bad but not special" products, will likely continue to plague it for a long time.

*The lead image and images in the article are sourced from the internet.