"is more about perception than reality" does not refer to reality in the literal sense you have used it here; if it did, the phrase wouldn't mean anything. But

"is more about perception than reality" does not refer to reality in the literal sense you have used it here; if it did, the phrase wouldn't mean anything. But it does mean something. In the phrase, "perception" refers to superficial perceptions such as what a person looks like via their photo, and how they are imagined to be, the perceiver filling in a lot of gaps to fit their ideas; "reality" refers to perceptions from experiences with the person, such as you might get from actually hanging out together, talking, arguing, living together, getting to know each other.