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Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888

After years of hard work, the flagship products of several major domestic brands have gradually allowed consumers to recognize their slowly rising “value.” At this time, the task of cost performance was handed over to other product lines under its banner. In the past half month, there have been two very attractive products in the Snapdragon 888 flagship phone , namely Redmi K40 Pro and realme GT.

Redmi K40 Pro calls itself the flagship “door welder”, and has lowered the price of the previous Snapdragon 888 flagship by more than 1,000 yuan, and “holds” the door of the cost-effective flagship. However, the subsequent Realme GT played the role of a “goalbreaker”, trying to impact the Redmi K series’s status as a flagship value-for-money flagship.

Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888 in the battle of "the breaking of the door"

realme GT (8GB/128GB/full Netcom/5G version)E-commerce quotation$2899$2799Redmi K40 Pro and realme GT

So, Redmi K40 Pro and Realme GT, the two prices overlap, both focus on performance and cost-effective flagships. Who is more suitable for you? This article will give you the answer.


Redmi K40 Pro and Realme GT parameters at a glance

01 Appearance and workmanship: cost-effective and exquisite

At first hand, the most obvious common feature of the two phones is the back cover process, neither of which uses AG matte treatment, but uses a traditional smooth surface. However, Realme GT has a plain-skinned version, which gives you one more choice.
Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888 in the battle of "the breaking of the door" Left: Realme GT, right: Redmi K40 Pro

Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888 in the battle of "the breaking of the door"

realme GT

Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888 in the battle of "the breaking of the door"

Redmi K40 Pro

The middle frame is the first obvious difference between the two phones. Redmi K40 Pro has a fine matte surface, and Realme GT has a glossy finish. Whether you look at it or touch it, Redmi K40 Pro has a more obvious plastic feel, especially on the buttons. But it should be noted that the power button of Redmi K40 Pro has more functions, because it is also a capacitive fingerprint recognition sensor. Although the unlocking speed is very fast, for friends who are used to fingerprint unlocking under the screen, the unlocking method of side fingerprints needs to adapt to a period of time. After all, the way of holding the phone needs to be changed when unlocking.Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888 in the battle of "the breaking of the door"

Top: Realme GT, bottom: Redmi K40 Pro

Realme GT was launched as a “challenger”, trying to impact the “cost-effectiveness” of the “Mi” mobile phone housekeeping. From the middle frame craftsmanship, button texture and fingerprint recognition (realme GT uses the fingerprint under the optical screen, which is also very fast), we can see that the realme GT has indeed worked hard and has a better sense of refinement.Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888 in the battle of "the breaking of the door"

Left: Realme GT, right: Redmi K40 Pro

Of course, this “exquisiteness” is not entirely due to craftsmanship. The realme GT is a lap smaller than the Redmi K40 Pro, and the experience of holding it is very obvious. But it should be noted that the realme GT has not reached the size of the “small screen flagship”, and it is still a bit difficult to pull down the notification bar with one hand.

Although both are “flagships”, the two phones have not forgotten the small details that make cost-effective products special. Redmi K40 Pro is equipped with an infrared transmitter, which can be used as a remote control; Realme GT has a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is very important for the delay-free audio experience when playing games.Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888 in the battle of "the breaking of the door"

3.5mm headphone jack of realme GT

02 Games: performance and experience can not be less 

As the saying goes, “money is spent on the blade”. For Redmi K40 Pro and realme GT, the “blade” is performance. There is nothing more convincing to prove the performance of a mobile phone than the performance of a game. Therefore, we found the ” King of Glory “, “Peace Elite”, and “Original God” “Trio” that everyone is familiar with and possesses both popular and eating properties . They used an 80-minute marathon test to show two of them. The performance of the players in terms of fluency and heat dissipation.

In order to show the full performance of the two phones, we turned on the “high quality” GPU setting of GAME TURBO in Redmi K40 Pro, and turned on the “GT mode” and “e-sports mode” of Realme GT.

The first is the 30-minute “King of Glory”. We set the picture quality of both phones to the highest level, and both have unlocked the highest frame rate of 90 frames.Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888 in the battle of "the breaking of the door"

“King of Glory” quality settings

During the game, the frame rate performance of Realme GT is more stable. Redmi K40 Pro also maintains a very high frame rate level. There is no perceptual difference between the two. Both phones are enough to smoothly control the ultra-high frame rate. King of Glory.

Redmi K40 Pro “King of Glory” frame rate curve

Realme GT “King of Glory” frame rate curve

However, in “Honor of Kings”, the biggest difference between the two phones is not the number of frames, but the vibration feedback and external sound quality. When completing actions such as kills, realme GT will have vibration feedback, but Redmi K40 Pro does not. Although both are equipped with linear motors, it is clear that Realme GT makes better use of motors in games. Dual speakers are also common equipment for both mobile phones, but the realme GT is louder and fuller. 

Realme GT “King of Glory” screen

After the 30-minute “King of Glory”, without waiting for the phone to cool down, we immediately opened “Peace Elite”, under the premise of the highest number of frames, try to increase the picture quality as much as possible, play for 20 minutes, and record the number of frames after about 15 minutes. .

“Peace Elite” screen settings

Redmi K40 Pro “Peace Elite” frame rate curve

Realme GT “Peace Elite” frame rate curve

In “Peace Elite”, the difference in experience between the two phones is smaller than that of “Honor of Kings”, neither has vibration feedback, and there is no difference in fluency. At this time, the external sound effect becomes the biggest difference, and the sound of Realme GT is more immersive.

Redmi K40 Pro “Peace Elite” screen

After exiting “Peace Elite”, we immediately started the 30-minute “Original God” in the default quality, and recorded the number of frames in the last 20 minutes.

“Original God” screen settings

Continuing the trend of the previous two games, the frame rate curve of Realme GT is more stable and the sound effect is better. However, the actual fluency is lower than the frame rate curve. Although it will feel a little bit, it does not affect the normal game.

Redmi K40 Pro “Original God” frame number curve

Realme GT “Original God” frame number curve

After 80 minutes of continuous gaming, it’s time to take a temperature measurement. The highest back of Redmi K40 Pro is 49.6 degrees Celsius, the lowest is 32.5 degrees Celsius, and the average is 42.9 degrees Celsius; the realme GT’s back is the highest 43.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest is 29.3 degrees Celsius, and the average is 39.9 degrees Celsius. In terms of heat dissipation, Redmi K40 Pro still lost to Realme GT.


Back temperature measurement

In addition to the advantages of speakers, vibration feedback, heat dissipation, and frame rate stability in “Honor of Kings”, Realme GT showed its own “exquisiteness” for the second time. To enable the “High Quality” GPU setting for Redmi K40 Pro, you must first open the “Game Acceleration” APP, and then open the “Advanced Menu”, and a setting only takes effect for one game.

Steps for Redmi K40 Pro to turn on “high performance” (GPU settings)

Realme GT’s “GT mode” and “e-sports mode” can be directly set globally by pulling down the buttons in the notification bar and the floating window in the upper left corner of the game, making the operation more convenient.

Steps for realme GT to turn on “high performance” (GT mode)

Steps for realme GT to start “high performance” (e-sports mode)

03 Camera: similar specifications, different performance

Cost-effective flagship, “cost-effective” is important, and meeting the “flagship” standard is even more important. In addition to performance, the most valuable reference scale for flagship or not is camera performance. Both phones are equipped with a three-camera system that focuses on night scenes, and even the camera specifications are similar, but there are obvious differences in the actual film.

The first is the night view of the two mobile phones:

Redmi K40 Pro main camera night scene mode

Realme GT main camera night scene mode

Redmi K40 Pro main camera night scene mode

Realme GT main camera night scene mode

Redmi K40 Pro main camera night scene mode

Realme GT main camera night scene mode

The biggest difference between the two phones is the color. The color of Realme GT is more pleasing, especially in the flower bed, which is very obvious.

For ultra-wide-angle and 2x zoom night scenes, the resolution has also begun to have a more obvious difference.

Redmi K40 Pro ultra-wide-angle night scene mode

Realme GT ultra wide-angle night scene mode

Super wide-angle night scene mode zoom in and contrast

Redmi K40 Pro ultra-wide-angle night scene mode

Realme GT ultra wide-angle night scene mode

Redmi K40 Pro ultra-wide-angle night scene mode

Realme GT ultra wide-angle night scene mode

Super wide-angle night scene mode zoom in and contrast

Redmi K40 Pro night scene mode 2x zoom

Realme GT night scene mode 2x zoom


Night scene mode 2x zoom magnification contrast

The difference in color style also continued into the daytime, but the difference in resolution was very weak.

Redmi K40 Pro main camera automatic mode

Realme GT main camera automatic mode

Redmi K40 Pro main camera automatic mode


Realme GT main camera automatic mode

Redmi K40 Pro ultra-wide-angle automatic mode

realme GT super wide-angle automatic mode

In addition to imaging quality, functional gameplay is also part of the camera. Here, Realme GT has once again become the “more refined” one. In the night scene mode, Realme GT has a lot of filters, and also has a special night scene professional mode, as well as “AI video enhancement”. Although Redmi K40 Pro has “HDR” video recording, the final difference is not very obvious.

reamle real me GT off AI video enhancement

reamle real me GT opens AI video enhancement

reamle real me GT off AI video enhancement

reamle real me GT opens AI video enhancement

Redmi K40 Pro turns off video HDR

Redmi K40 Pro turns on video HDR

Redmi K40 Pro turns off video HDR

Redmi K40 Pro turns on video HDR

04 Charging: parameters determine the result

The importance of battery life and charging is self-evident. On paper, the realme GT has 65W charging power, and the Redmi K40 Pro has 33W charging power. Unlike the camera, this time the specifications completely represent the final result. Starting from the 0% battery automatic shutdown , the realme GT used 30 minutes to charge to 97%, and the Redmi K40 Pro was 64%. Fully full, it took 32 minutes for Realme GT and 56 minutes for Redmi K40 Pro.

Comparing and evaluating the cost-effective flagship of Snapdragon 888 in the battle of "the breaking of the door"

05 Who should choose the flagship of Snapdragon 888?

The smoothness of the game. For most people, the performance of the two phones is similar. Realme GT’s advantage in the frame rate curve can only be felt by some sensitive people; the temperature control and game menu design, Realme Realme GT obviously works harder; taking pictures, Realme GT has more attractive colors, stronger sub-camera resolution, and more gameplay; the shape and workmanship, Realme GT is slightly more refined. After reading these, I believe you already know which mobile phone is more suitable for you.

However, aside from the test content of this comparison, we have seen two different ideas for making the same product. Redmi K40 Pro feels like an “old fritters”. It has been a cost-effective flagship for a long time. It knows where to stick and where to compromise. The overall strength is just right. Realme GT is like a newcomer who wants to prove himself. After meeting the regular requirements of a cost-effective flagship, it also used a little more power in other places.

Realme GT is indeed a better phone. But we can’t deny Redmi K40 Pro on this, because this phone is not bad, it just encountered a “strong enemy”. In the final analysis, no choice is wrong when choosing among excellent products.