Deal: The first Snapdragon 8 Elite phones have started arriving, with the Realme GT 7 Pro leading the charge

The first Snapdragon 8 Elite powered smartphones have started arriving in Europe. The Realme GT 7 Pro is already here and is discounted by 20%. The phone impressed in the benchmarks, however, unlike the older GT models, it’s actually a good all-rounder.

It features a 6.78” LTPO OLED display, a 10-bit 120Hz panel with 1,264 x 2,780px resolution, and Gorilla Glass 7i protection. The camera setup is composed of a 50MP main (1/1.56”, OIS), a 50MP sensor (3x, OIS) with a 73mm telephoto and an 8MP ultra-wide (112°). The battery is a massive 6,500mAh unit with 120W fast charging. And the phone has top-level IP69 protection.

Asus ROG Phone 9 is still on pre-order and will launch in early January. This gaming phone is equipped with a 185Hz LTPO display, 6.78 inches in size with 1,080 x 2,400px resolution and Gorilla Glass 2. The phone has been given IP68 rating. Despite costing more, the ROG camera (50+13+2MP) is less impressive as it lacks a telephoto module. Also, the 5,800mAh battery is small and only supports 65W wired charging – there’s also 15W wireless charging.

The Xiaomi 14T Pro is cheaper than the Realme GT phone and has a tele camera – a 50MP main (large 1/1.31” sensor, OIS) and a 50MP 60mm (2.6x) module to go with a 12MP ultra-wide. However, the Dimensity 9300+ is the flagship chip of the previous generation. It is not small by any means and neither is the 6.67” 144Hz OLED display, even if it is not an LTPO panel. The 5,000mAh battery supports 120W wired and 50W wireless charging.

The vanilla Xiaomi 14T is the more budget-friendly option. It has the same screen but switches to the mid-range Dimensity 8300 Ultra chipset. Also, the 50MP tele camera gets a slightly smaller 50mm lens (2x) and the 50MP main camera has a smaller sensor (at 1/1.56”, it’s the same size as the GT sensor). The battery capacity is still 5,000mAh, but it only does 67W wired charging. You can find a more detailed comparison between the two 14T models here.

Poco F6 Pro also has approximately the same price. It has a faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and a brighter 6.67” 120Hz OLED display (1440p+ vs 1220p+). The 5,000mAh battery charges fast at 120W. However, the camera lacks a telephoto module.

The Realme 12 Pro and 12 Pro+ share a vegan leather body along with their 6.7” 120Hz OLED displays and IP65 rating. The Pro+ model has a more capable main camera (50MP 1/1.56 vs 50MP 1/2.0”, both with OIS), longer telephoto module (64MP 71mm vs 32MP 47mm) and better selfies (32MP vs 16MP). The ultra-wide cameras are similar (8MP 112°). The other major difference is the chipset – Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 for the Pro+ and Snapdragon 6s Gen 1 for the Pro. The battery is the same on both units, a 5,000mAh capacity with 67W wired-only charging.

We’ll conclude with the Google Pixel Watch 3. The Wi-Fi model costs around €350 for both sizes – a little less for the 41mm version, a little more for the 45mm one.