It’s the time of the year again where realme refreshes its popular number series smartphone. This time around, we have the realme 11 Pro 5G series, and we're particularly interested in reviewing the top-of-the-line smartphone in the lineup which is the realme 11 Pro+. For its Php 24,999 price tag, the smartphone boasts a very convincing feature set like the 6.7-inch Curved OLED display, 200MP main camera with OIS, 100W SuperVOOC charging, and the premium vegan leather design.
realme 11 Pro+ Review
In my time testing this smartphone, I have a fairly positive feedback with regards to its capabilities. The realme 11 Pro+ is a mid-range smartphone but it looks like it’s pushing some boundaries towards flagship territory. Let’s find out why this smartphone is something you’d consider for your next purchase. Join me in this review.
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Pros
- Exquisite Premium Leather Design
- Very capable 200MP camera with OIS
- Super fast 100-watt charging
- Stunning curved large display
- Big Storage
- Great value for money
Cons
- "SuperZoom" feature could be misleading without a telephoto lens
- No wireless charging
Design
The realme 11 Pro+ 5G's design is highly defined by its intuitive way of using a Premium Lychee Vegan Leather on its backing. Not only that, realme has enlisted former Gucci Prints and Textile designer Matteo Menotto to design the actual back panel. I have the Oasis Green variant (there's also a Sunrise Beige version available in the Philippines) for our review unit, and I simply adore how the leather gently curves towards the frame. In turn, I think the company successfully delivered when it comes to adding a premium look on this smartphone.
There's also a vertical seam that traverses the center of the backing, extending from the upper edge to the lowermost part of the panel. A pair of stitching patterns border the seam, together with the circular camera module, giving more attention to detail in its already classy aesthetics.
Speaking of the camera, we have a circular module which houses three camera sensors. The 200MP main shooter is on the dead center, while the other two sensors are beside it along the x-axis. Directly above the main camera is the LED flash, and in the opposite end is the "200MP OIS Camera" branding. There's also a band of laser-inscribed concentric circles which animatedly reflect light in different angles. In my testing, the circular camera module gives this smartphone good stability when placed on a table or any flat surface.
The frame comes in a different shade of green, but it still complements the fingerprint-negating back panel. The railings also house the ports and buttons - the volume rocker and power button on the right, the speaker and secondary microphone on top, and the SIM tray, USB-C port, microphone and speaker grille at the bottom side.
In my opinion, the design of the realme 11 Pro+ is definitely on the flagship territory. It's one of the few phones that you would want to use without a case due to its solid construction and amazing vegan leather texture.
Display
The smartphone frames a 6.7-inch display with 61-degree Precision Curved FHD+ OLED display. The screen supports up to 120Hz refresh rate and comes with 93.65% screen-to-body-ratio. It is also certified by TUV Rheinland for Low-Blue Light and Flicker Free display.
With my time testing the display, everything has been great when it comes to the screen. The panel offers better viewing experience with its minute bezels. On top of that, the OLED display registers with convincing contrast, color saturation, and accuracy. The brightness (around 900 nits) is also okay when the smartphone is used outdoors.
The bottom of the display houses the in-display fingerprint sensor, which seems to be very zippy in detecting biometrics. The front-facing camera is placed on the middle of the display, giving more screen real estate for notifications and other software-related prompts. This smartphone also support PWM dimming that activates when the brightness falls to 90 nits; in turn, this protects user from eye strain and eye fatigue.
It's always a worthwhile experience using the display when streaming my favorite shows, or even reading an article at night; the screen intelligently lowers the brightness depending on your environment.
Performance
The realme 11 Pro+ 5G harnesses its processing power from the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset. The package is using TSMC N6 6nm chip production process, giving the smartphone good battery efficiency and improved overall performance. The SoC has two Cortex A78 cores with 2.6GHz speed, and six low-power Cortex-A55 cores with clock speed of 2.0GHz.
The chipset is coupled with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage; this memory configuration is exclusive to the Pro Plus model only. There's no expandable support here as seen on the SIM tray which only has two slots for the SIM cards. However, you can expand the RAM up to another set of 12GB via dynamic RAM feature, which it will utilize from its storage. This makes this phone perform higher in multi-core benchmarks compared to its closest competitors.
In my gaming test, the realme 11 Pro+ 5G has no problem taking on game titles like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Call of Duty Mobile, Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, and Asphalt 9: Legends. Most of the games run seamlessly without frame drops. Additionally, I have not experienced any considerable heat build up when playing extensively.
The realme 11 Pro+ is an exceptional device when it comes to consuming content. Its large display is the main reason why I love watching my favorite shows on mobile. Plus, its stereo speakers are loud enough with great sound quality, giving ample amount of bass and treble. There's no headphone jack here, so you'll have to settle with wireless earbuds if you don't have a 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter.
This phone supports Wi-Fi 6, so I had no issues connecting to the router whenever I'm in a different room; plus this also gives me secure, fast, and stable connectivity. The chipset also supports 5G for mobile connectivity and Bluetooth v5.2 for wireless accessories.
In our Geekbench 6 benchmark test, the smartphone scored 956 in single-core and 2347 in multi-core. In GPU benchmarks, it tallied scores of 2358 in GPU Vulcan and 2342 in GPU OpenCL.
Camera
Being one of its marquee features, realme has again treated this series' top-of-the-line model with upgraded camera specs. There's a whopping 200MP ISOCELL HP3 camera sensor on the phone's rear panel with f/1.69 aperture lens and a 1/1.4" camera sensor size. The main camera is also coupled with 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide sensor, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro sensor.
Photos coming from the main camera exhibits great amount of detail, color accuracy, and contrast, when shooting in an environment with good lighting. It supports the SuperZoom feature which offers four different levels of zoom - 0.6x, 1x, 2x, and 4x. While it can technically reach up to 20x zoom, but I don't suggest using it beyond 4x due to noise build up and color degradation. Based on my observation, the 4x zoom outputs have considerable amount of detail loss and noise. Furthermore, I also believe that the "SuperZoom" feature might be somewhat misleading, considering that this phone lacks a dedicated telephoto lens.
Sample Main Camera Photos: Daylight Shots
The main camera also excels at night producing photos with the right amount of brightness, colors, decent texture and saturation. I also observed that the camera recovers an ample amount of areas formerly obscured by shadows. Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) is also quite a welcome feature in this price range as it helps reduce camera shake and blur in photos by stabilizing the camera lens or sensor, in turn, results in sharper images in low-light conditions.
Moreover, both Night and Street modes improve low-light shots with more details and a boost of color saturation. Although, I must admit that AI does the heavy lifting in photos taken at night or low-light.
Sample Main Camera Photos: Low-light Shots
The 8MP ultrawide-angle camera is also something to be lauded about. Photos coming from this sensor maintain most of the quality from the main camera, especially the details and color tones. Contrast and dynamic range are also good. You can take advantage of this sensor to capture landscape shots and photos with a wider perspective.
Sample Ultrawide-angle Camera Photos
Vertical Wide-angle Photos |
The 2MP macro camera is a fixed-focused camera wherein you need to position the sensor in the right distance to get a macro shot. Photos shot from the Macro mode are just fine with a decent amount of details.
Sample Macro Camera Photos
Finally, the 32MP front-facing camera takes great selfies that you’ll be delighted to share on social media. I love realme’s flexible beautification function which allows you to play on Retouch levels; you can also apply some popular filters while using the app. On top of that, the selfie camera supports wide-angle 0.8x selfies and gives you the power to control the depth of field when you’re in portrait mode.
Sample Front Camera Photos
Other notable modes in the camera app are Hi-Res, Pro, Pano, Slo-Mo, Dual-View Video and Tilt Shift. There’s also the Long Exposure mode which I oftenly use, especially when I’m trying to capture the metropolis’ neon lights at night. In video, the camera can shoot up to 4K at 30 frames per second.
Software
The realme 11 Pro+ runs with the latest version of the realme UI - version 4.0. This is based on Android 13. It takes advantage of Android's clean interface and realme’s customization features, like the one-handed mode, Flexible Windows, Contextual Info in Always-On Display, and Zen Space.
As always we love the minimalist feel of realme UI’s interface. Icons come in circular flat design, and system toggles (integrated in the control center) are also minimalist in nature. There's a support for gesture navigation, as well as button navigation. Google Assistant is also easily accessible by swiping diagonally from the lower corners of the display.
The bigger display comes in handy when multitasking; this is where the suite of realme features get into action. The Split View feature allows you to display two apps at once by doing a 3-finger swipe up gesture. You can also quickly launch your pre-selected app from the lockscreen. Of course, the Smart Sidebar is still as useful as ever. Overall, the realme UI 4.0 is quite a breeze to use due to its simplicity and straightforward multitasking support.
Battery
The smartphone packs a 5000 mAh Li-Po battery, which could last for about a day of moderate use. On top of that, the realme 11 Pro+ 5G supports 100-watt wired fast charging which could fill up your battery’s juice in an instant. However, it does not support wireless charging.
Fast Charging Test
I conducted a charging test using the USB-C cable and wall adapter that come inside the box, and I was amazed that this smartphone was completely recharged in just 27 minutes. For the detailed results, check out these bullets:
- 10-minute charge - 45% battery
- 20-minute charge - 78% battery
- 27-minute charge - 100% battery
PCMark Battery Life Test
Additionally, in our PC Mark Work 3.0 Battery Life test, the realme 11 Pro Plus tallied 13 hours.
The realme UI also supports Power Saving Mode, Battery Booster, and Wise Charging feature. Plus, it gives you a detailed percentage of your device's Battery Health Capacity.
Verdict: Should you buy the realme 11 Pro Plus?
The realme 11 Pro+ 5G is very easy to recommend to those looking for an all-rounder midrange smartphone that has a distinct premium look and great cameras. It’s safe to say that if you're a content creator who needs a very capable smartphone, or if you’re a smartphone photography enthusiast who wants to take advantage of top-notch mobile photography technology, then this phone could make a great proposition.
Personally, I love the premium design that complements the stunning curved display. It also has the right amount of power for me to enjoy mobile games and content consumption. The battery is quite large, and when it’s time for me to charge the phone, I could fill the juice in just less than 30 minutes.
In conclusion, the realme 11 Pro+ 5G stands out as one of our top choices, as of this writing, in the midrange segment, offering a premium design, powerful performance, impressive camera capabilities, big storage capacity, and fast charging, making it a well-rounded smartphone for various user needs.
Related Product: realme 11 Pro+ vs HONOR 90 5G
Let's compare the realme 11 Pro+ with its closest competition today in the midrange segment – the HONOR 90 5G. This smartphone comparison sheds light on their key features and specifications. Let's explore how these two smartphones stack up against each other in this head-to-head showdown.
realme 11 Pro Plus Price, Availability
The realme 11 Pro+ 5G is priced at SRP Php 24,999 in the Philippines. First online selling period of this smartphone is from August 24 to 25 on realme’s official TikTok Shop and the realme E-Store with a Php 3,000 early bird discount. The same offer applies to Shopee from August 27 to 28, during realme’s Super Brand Day Sale.
realme 11 Pro+ Specs
- 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, 1B colors, HDR10+, 120Hz, 950 nits (peak)
- Mediatek Dimensity 7050 (6 nm)
- 2.6GHz Octa-core processor
- Mali-G68 MC4 GPU
- 12GB RAM + 512GB ROM
- 200MP triple camera, with OIS
- 32MP front camera
- Loudspeaker with stereo speakers
- 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.2, GPS, NFC
- USB Type-C 2.0
- Fingerprint (under display, optical)
- Realme UI 4.0, based on Android 13
- Li-Po 5000 mAh w/ 100W wired charging
- Sunrise Beige, Oasis Green
- Video Unboxing: realme 11 Pro+ video unboxing