What did the realme CEO say when mid-range competitors secured Leica and Hasselblad's camera technology, while they have not?

Recently, realme introduced its latest flagship, the realme GT 7 Pro, to the international market. The company also hosted a Southeast Asia press event in Malaysia, where Clutch Wu, the Head of Product at realme, addressed several interesting questions about the company's vision and future plans in the smartphone industry.

Today, photography is one of the most important features on smartphones, and many manufacturers choose to collaborate with renowned camera brands. For example, Xiaomi has teamed up with Leica, OnePlus and OPPO with Hasselblad, while Vivo works with lens maker Zeiss to deliver better image quality to users.

At the event, we brought up this issue to the realme representative and asked about their future plans regarding such partnerships, as well as whether the company felt confident about the camera capabilities of its smartphones compared to its competitors.

In response, Wu stated: "As we can see, many Android phone manufacturers are trying to collaborate with various well-known camera brands. What I can say is that realme will surprise you in the near future."

This suggests that realme may soon announce a partnership with a famous camera brand. Since 2021, there have been rumors that realme has been eyeing a collaboration with Kodak, but nothing has materialized so far.

When asked to compare realme's camera quality with its competitors, he responded: "At this price range, realme is the only brand offering a telephoto camera." He further added: "When comparing with other realme products, like the newly launched GT 7 Pro, AI plays a crucial role. This time, we've integrated AI for underwater photography."

For the underwater photography mode, AI can automatically detect when you are shooting underwater and allows the use of the fingerprint sensor to take photos without worrying about touch sensitivity issues, in addition to using physical buttons like the volume control. The volume button can switch the camera and adjust the focal length.

"This is a whole new level of underwater photography," said Mr. Wu.

Moreover, the GT 7 Pro also features an IP69 water resistance rating, while most other flagships are only rated IP68, allowing users to use the device in harsher conditions and withstand higher pressure and water immersion.

Another feature mentioned by the realme representative that could set their product apart from competitors is AI deblur, which helps restore the sharpness of photos, especially useful for capturing stars at night, or when shooting in conditions where image stabilization struggles, such as during live performances, large music festivals, or sports photography.

"We will continuously integrate AI capabilities into the camera and photography features," he added.