Mehul Reuben DasJun 15, 2023 09:09:24 IST
Pros
– Vegan leather back
– Super impressive display
– Impressive 200MP camera
– Great speakers
– Great battery life and fast charging
Cons
– Tons of bloatware and ads
– Photos taken under scant artificial lighting can be a hit or a miss
– Ultrawide camera needs to be better optimised
Price: Rs 29,999 for the tested 12GB + 256GB variant (starts at Rs 27,999)
Rating: 4/5
Realme, for quite some time now, has been launching some of the best mid-level budget phones under their number series. Despite a few shortcomings, the Realme 10 Pro+ from last year was a pretty good phone. The year before that, Realme had a solid, bankable device with the 9 series. Back then, however, only the top-tier devices in these series were worth considering.
This year though, things are a bit different. Both the devices in the series, the Realme 11 Pro+ and the Realme 11 Pro are almost the same. Barring a few areas on the spec sheet, and of course, its pricing, it’s really difficult to tell the Pro+ version apart from the Pro.
Just like last year Realme is marketing this year’s offering from the number series, the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G as a smartphone that offers a high-end experience and design that is typically associated with devices that typically cost three to six times more.
The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G boasts a wide range of features, impressive specifications, and eye-catching aesthetics that are sure to grab attention. However, it also has a few chinks in its iron, especially its software. So, how does the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G perform overall, and is it a worthwhile purchase for those in search of a new smartphone? How does the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G stand today, at a time when the Indian budget smartphone market has become even more competitive and fierce?
Realme 11 Pro+ 5G review: The design
First things first, the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G is one of the best-looking devices that has been released this year and is bound to win some design award or the other. Realme has collaborated with Matteo Menotto, a fashion designer who has worked with brands like Gucci and Bulgari, for the 11 Pro series.
Both the devices in the series look exactly the same. You get a premium-feeling vegan leather back that has this 3D-woven mesh running down the middle. You also get this intricately done seam of stitches that make it feel hand-crafted. For colour options, you get to choose from three colours – Sunrise Beige, Oasis Green, and Astral Black. For the Realme 11 Pro+, we had the Oasis Green colour. Do note, that the black variant doesn’t have the metallic mesh running down the middle. Still, we feel that even the black variant is majestic to look at.
Thanks to the vegan leather used for the back panel, there’s no chance of this turning into a fingerprint magnet. What will be interesting to see is how long the leather back last before it starts to fray. Do keep in mind that the beige-coloured variants will start picking up stains, especially if you’re not careful with them.
Like the Pro+ variant from last year, the Realme 11 Pro+ as well as the Real Me 11 Pro has a curved display that looks and feels majestic. Yes, they are a little tricky to live with, considering how difficult it is to find tempered glass for these, but that shouldn’t be a major issue as Realme has services to help you get the screen replaced should you need it.
The display of the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G features a hole punch design to accommodate the front-facing camera. The bezels surrounding the screen are extremely thin, especially on the sides, creating a nearly bezel-less look.
The side bezels are remarkably slim, almost non-existent, while the bottom bezel measures an astonishingly thin 2.33mm. Realme has achieved this thin bezel design, combined with a curved display, at an affordable price point by utilizing a new packaging process called COP ultra. We also get an under-the-display fingerprint scanner.
On the right side of the device, you’ll find the power buttons and volume rockers. The left side has no buttons, and the top edge is equipped with a set of microphones.
Moving to the bottom, there is a speaker grille that houses one of the stereo speakers, along with the presence of a USB Type-C port. Additionally, the dual-SIM slot is also located at the bottom. However, it’s worth noting that the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G does not support a microSD card for expandable storage.
Going back to the rear, we see a huge camera island in the shape of a circle. This seems to have become a design choice that many brands are going for, considering just how big camera sensors have become. The central camera has the primary 200MP sensor, whereas the right camera houses the 8MP ultrawide. On the left, we get a 2MP macro sensor.
In the Realme 11 Pro, you don’t get an ultrawide or a micro setup. Instead, on the right you get a 2MP portrait camera.
Despite being lightweight and slim, the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G has a sturdy build and feels solid when held. Overall, in terms of aesthetics, the device is surely going to turn heads and be a great conversation starter.
Realme 11 Pro+ 5G review: The display
The Realme 11 Pro+ features a display similar to the one found in the Realme 10 Pro+ released last year, although with some minor adjustments. The screen is a curved 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel with a resolution of 1080X2412 pixels, an aspect ratio of 20:9, and a peak brightness of 950 nits. With a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a touch sampling response of 360Hz, users can enjoy a smooth and responsive experience. The display also covers the full P3 colour gamut, providing vibrant and accurate colours.
Additionally, the device incorporates a 2160Hz PWM dimming mode, which enhances colour accuracy even at low brightness levels. It boasts an HDR10+ certification and can reach a peak brightness of 950 nits, ensuring clear and vivid visuals even in direct sunlight. The display’s impressive contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1 and support for 10-bit colour depth further contribute to its crisp and vibrant appearance.
To prioritize user comfort, the display has hardware-level low blue light certification, reducing eye strain. Moreover, it holds the Rheinland Strobe Free Certificate, confirming its flicker-free performance.
The device also features an in-display fingerprint sensor known for its exceptional speed and accuracy, accompanied by stylish animations. When it comes to the curved glass design, the display boasts a 61-degree curvature. Realme has made significant improvements to minimize false touch issues commonly associated with curved displays by implementing the updated X-touch Anti-mistouch Algorithm. This algorithm significantly reduced accidental touches compared to other premium smartphones with curved displays.
The fact that Realme is using a display from their last year’s device isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They spent over $15 million in developing the display, and it is still a pretty solid panel. In fact, we will go as far as to say that it is one of the best displays in a smartphone at this price point.
Realme 11 Pro+ 5G review: The camera
The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G gets a triple camera setup at the rear. The primary camera has Samsung’s 200MP ISCOCELL HP3 sensor with a f/1.69 aperture. Then there is the 8MP ultrawide camera and a 2MP macro camera.
The 200MP sensor is actually quite bigger in size than anything that Realme has ever used before. And, compared to other budget smartphone cameras with 200MP sensors, which use an older ISOCELL HP1, the HP3 has larger individual pixels, which makes it better at capturing light.
The primary camera of the Realme 11 Pro+ captures daylight photos with remarkable precision and vivid colours. It offers a dynamic range comparable to high-end flagship devices, benefiting from its large sensor that allows ample light to illuminate landscapes accurately.
By default, the phone takes 12.5MP pixel-binned shots, which combine 16 pixels into one to achieve exceptional detail. However, the UHD 200MP mode captures full-resolution shots, providing a significantly larger area for cropping at the expense of dynamic range. Additionally, the Realme 11 Pro+ offers 2X and 4X zoom options, utilizing cropping from the primary camera’s viewfinder. While this feature is convenient, a dedicated telephoto sensor would be necessary for true photographic improvements.
Regarding camera features, the phone includes a Street mode that enables portrait-style images at various focal lengths. The same mode also offers an auto-zoom toggle to bring you closer to the subject without physically moving the camera. You can manually adjust the focus according to your preferences or rely on the camera’s autofocus. However, the final output may not always meet your expectations, but further experimentation could yield more favourable results.
Even without using the dedicated Night mode, low-light images captured by the Realme 11 Pro+ exhibit impressive detail and well-balanced exposure levels. Activating the Night mode adds noise reduction and a subtle touch of oversharpening, enhancing the overall quality. The camera’s fast shutter and focus speeds are commendable, even in challenging lighting conditions.
The performance of the ultrawide shooter could benefit from some improvements. While it doesn’t match the image quality of the primary camera, it’s reasonable to expect comparable colour accuracy. Unfortunately, the ultrawide camera falls short in terms of dynamic range and colour temperature, failing to accurately reproduce the scene being captured. The macro sensor performs adequately for close-up photography but struggles in moderately low light conditions.
Lastly, the 32MP front-facing camera captures selfies with decent facial details, but it can sometimes suffer from oversharpening, a common issue with Realme devices. All-in-all the Realme 11 Pro+ excels in image quality thanks to its impressive 200MP primary camera, overshadowing any limitations of its secondary cameras.
Click here for some unprocessed and uncompressed images from the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G.
Realme 11 Pro+ 5G review: The performance, software experience and UI
The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G is a highly capable smartphone powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 SoC, which is an improved and refined version of the MediaTek 1080 SoC. Our test unit was equipped with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. Additionally, there is the option to virtually add another 12GB of RAM.
While it may not achieve record-breaking benchmark scores, in our day-to-day usage involving intensive gaming and multitasking, it performed exceptionally well.
We experienced smooth gameplay with games like Asphalt 9 and Call of Duty Mobile, even when set to the highest graphics settings at a consistent 60fps, without encountering any issues.
The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G runs on RealmeUI 4.0, based on Android 13. The user interface offers a wide range of impressive features, easy customization options, and a user-friendly and intuitive experience.
The device demonstrates excellent RAM management, allowing apps to remain in the background without any need to enable the virtual RAM feature.
Regarding audio, the handset boasts impressive stereo speakers that deliver high-quality sound with minimal interference, even at high volumes thanks to Dolby Atmos.
When we come to the software, things start to get a little hairy. But first let’s look at the positives. The device runs RealmeUI 4.0, which is based on Android 13, and it adds a few new features as compared to the previous iteration. For instance, while playing music from Spotify, the always-on display offers audio controls and recommendations. Users can also track the delivery status of their food or the status of their cab when they place an order. You can also use the fingerprint scanner to get your heart rate, although, we are not too sure how accurate it is. Furthermore, Realme allows you to hide or pixelate private details from chat-based screenshots before sharing them.
There is a ton of bloatware and advertisements, and we mean a ton. Even before you’re done setting up the device completely, you are greeted with “suggestions” to get a few additional apps installed. Furthermore, each time you install an app, you are greeted by a window that suggests you try a different app as well. When you pull up the app drawer, there again, you will see a ton of ads.
Furthermore, you get inundated with ads in your notification panel for some app or other. Luckily, Realme gives you the option to opt out of Glance as you’re setting the device up. You still get those “Hot Apps”, “Hot Games” and “Hot Free Games” folders. Luckily, the app recommendations this time are far better and won’t embarrass you.
We get that when manufacturers are forced to price their devices this competitively, they are forced to look for some extra buck elsewhere. We understand the need to include a few preinstalled apps. However, Realme has been pushing it for some time now.
Having said that RealmeUI 4.0 is very intuitive, customisable, and overall easy and friendly to use.
Coming back to the performance of the device, the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G comes with WiFi 6, BlueTooth 5.2 and USB Type-C 2.0 port for connectivity. The device also comes with both SA and NSA bands.
In our 5G tests, we achieved impressive speeds of approximately 400-500 Mbps even when situated around 500 meters away from a tower, with various obstacles such as buildings and shrubbery obstructing the signal. This demonstrates the strong and reliable connectivity capabilities of the device, even in challenging environments.
Additionally, during our prolonged testing, which involved watching videos and playing a short gaming session of Call of Duty Mobile, we observed only a slight decrease in battery level. This indicates that the device has efficient power management.
Realme 11 Pro+ 5G review: The battery life
The Realme 11 Pro+ boasts a substantial 5000mAh battery, which, combined with the highly refined SoC and optimized operating system, delivers phenomenal battery life. During our testing, which involved an hour of heavy gaming, extensive video watching using the stereo speakers, and the display set to 75 per cent brightness, we experienced a battery drain of approximately 13-15 per cent.
In our regular usage where we set the brightness of the display at 70 per cent brightness, we easily got over 8 hours of screen-on time and more than 16 hours of overall usage time. During this time, we watched a couple of videos and shows, browsed the web and social media, gamed a little, sent a ton of email, and held a couple of video calls.
Another impressive feature of the Realme 11 Pro+ is its SuperVOOC wired charging capability, which supports 100W charging. In our tests, we found that the device charges from zero to 100 per cent in under 30 minutes, providing breakneck charging speeds.
Realme 11 Pro+ 5G review: The verdict
Considering its price range of Rs 25,000 – Rs 30,000 or potentially even lower, the Realme 11 Pro+ offers a compelling package that sets new standards for budget smartphones. Realme has done an exceptional job with this device, ticking many of the right boxes and even introducing some new ones for budget phone evaluation. It truly stands out.
It’s quite remarkable that a budget device like this exudes a cool and premium feel, both in terms of looks and build quality. The curved AMOLED display adds to its charm, creating the illusion of a high-end flagship smartphone.
Of course, there are some flaws. Bloatware remains a concern, and it would be beneficial if Realme addressed this issue. Performance, while not chart-topping, is still solid and should not pose any significant complaints unless you are an avid gamer or an extremely heavy user.
Overall, the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G is an excellent device that hits the sweet spot for many users. We confidently recommend it to those seeking a mid-range smartphone, as it offers a great balance of features, performance, and value for money.
