Realme’s new phone can fully charge in under 10 minutes

What you need to know

• The Realme GT3 was launched at MWC 2023.
• The phone is a rebranded Realme GT Neo 5, which launched in China in February.
• The phone is capable of a full charge in under 10 minutes, thanks to 240W charging.

MWC is always a great place to launch impressive new phones, and Realme is making a splash with its latest flagship. The new Realme GT3 is making its global debut (opens in new tab) at the show with impressive specs and even more impressive charging speeds.

The phone (previously launched in China as the Realme GT Neo 5) supports incredibly fast 240W SuperVOOC charging, which the company claims can fully charge the device’s 4,600mAh battery in under 10 minutes. For reference, the very new Galaxy S23 Ultra reaches a full charge in roughly an hour with 45W charging.

There are obvious benefits to faster charging speeds, as phone batteries can only take you so far. Being able to plug in your phone for a few minutes before heading out can help relieve users of low battery anxiety. According to Realme, a 30-second charge can provide you with enough juice for a 2-hour call or 3 hours of music playback.

To achieve these speeds, the company uses three 100W charging chips and a high-powered dual-GaN charger. And if you’re concerned about safety, Realme says the charging system has received TÜV Rheinland Safe Fast-Charge System Certification. The battery should also retain 80% of its capacity after 1,600 charge cycles.

Realme wasn’t the only company to show off impressive charging chops. Redmi revealed a 300W charging system on a modified smartphone, capable of topping up the 4,100mAh battery in under five minutes. However, as impressive as the demo was, there’s no saying when the tech will make it into a commercial device.

Aside from charging, the Realme GT3 offers some of the specs that are expected on the best Android phones. It’s not powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is still plenty powerful and less than a year old. You also get up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM, so it should be able to handle just about anything you throw at it.

The camera system isn’t the most impressive on paper, offering a 50MP primary camera, 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP microscope. Next to the camera housing is a neat RGB “Pulse Interface” that lights up to alert you of notifications, calls, battery status, and more.

On the front is a 6.74-inch (1240 x 2772) AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate and 1400 nits of peak brightness. A 16MP selfie camera sits at the top of the display.

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The phone will retail for just $649 when it arrives across Europe and Asia, making it a very attractive package at for that price.

Derrek is a long-time Nokia and LG fanboy who loves astronomy, videography, and sci-fi movies. When he’s not working, he’s most likely working out or smoldering at the camera.