Remember the Redmi phone, which had a massive 210W charging capacity? Another Chinese rival has followed suit with a 240W boost. The Realme GT Neo5’s 4,600mAh dual-cell battery can supposedly be charged from 0% to 20% in 80 seconds, 50% in four minutes, and 100% in 9.5 minutes. Given the lower 4,300mAh battery, this actually breaks the Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition’s 9-minute record in terms of mAh-per-minute.
Realme’s 240W SuperVOOC quick charging is made possible by a surprisingly small dual-GaN power converter that works in tandem with a proprietary high-current USB-C connection to produce 20V/12A of electricity. This is then transformed to 10V/24A by three 100W power management chips before it reaches the battery – a similar implementation to the Redmi. The adapter is also USB-PD compatible at up to 65W, as well as Qualcomm QC and Oppo VOOC-based solutions – the latter’s previous record being 150W. Realme further stated that even after 1,600 cycles (about four years of use), the battery health will not fall below 80%.
Realme’s GT Neo5 includes a neat little gimmick on the back: an under-glass Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 design encircled by an RGB light ring that can be personalised with 25 different colours for settings like as charging, gaming, messaging, and more. All of this is centred around an NFC circuitry located to the right of the camera island. In addition, a 50-megapixel primary camera (with a Sony IMX890 sensor and optical stabilisation), an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera are included.
On the other hand, there’s a 6.74-inch 2,772 x 1,240 Tianma AMOLED screen that not only works at up to 144Hz, but also has a sensitive 1,500Hz touch sampling rate – a benefit for mobile gaming. An under-display fingerprint scanner and a 16-megapixel punch-hole selfie camera round out the package. Additional notable features include a top-mounted infrared remote blaster (common on Chinese phones), stereo speakers, and an 8-layer heat dissipation architecture for best gaming performance. All of this is housed in a 199g-heavy, 8.9mm-thick casing that comes in black, white, or purple and is largely covered with frosted glass on the back side.
The Realme GT Neo5 is already available in China with two varieties offered: the model with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage is asking for 3,199 yuan (about $470), while stepping it up to 1TB storage is simply 3,499 yuan (about $520). Curiously, a 5,000mAh edition of the GT Neo5 is also available, with prices ranging from 2,499 yuan ($370; 8GB RAM and 256GB storage) to 2,899 yuan ($430; 16GB RAM and 256GB storage).
According to Realme, the GT Neo5 will be available in international markets “soon.” Nevertheless, the 240W SuperVOOC function will be launched to the worldwide market later this month with the company’s future flagship phone, the Realme GT3. This smells like a MWC special.
