The realme 11 4G is the last model that would complete the company's 2023 lineup. With the recent release of the more popular realme 11 Pro series, the handset has benefitted from the popularity of the said series. Now, the realme 11 is set to conquer the sub-Php 14K space with its remarkable specs sheet and practical pricing.
realme 11 4G Review
The smartphone is dubbed to be a battery technology powerhouse due to its 67W SuperVOOC capability. But other than that, there are a handful of features that would make users jump into the realme 11 bandwagon. Let's find out in this review if this phone is a good purchase.
Pros
- Classy and compact design
- Stunning Super AMOLED display
- Very Capable 108MP main camera
- Super fast charging
Cons
- Settles for Mono speakers
- No 5G connectivity
Unboxing
The realme 11 4G features a standard yellow box with black accents. Aside from the main unit, we have the usual inserts like documentations, SIM eject tool, jelly case, 67W SuperVOOC adapter, and USB-C cable. You can also check our unboxing video via our Youtube channel:
Design
The realme 11 is another candy bar smartphone that opted to have a plastic backing and glass front. Don't get me wrong, the back panel is still exquisite as it's made of high quality plastic material. The matte finish also gives you a secured grip; although it negates most of the fingerprints, you could still see some minor smudges when viewed on a certain angle.
Our review unit has a Dark Glory colorway which also reveals sprinkles of reflective nano-particles that spice up the vision of the laid back panel. If you want a more colorful option, there's a Glory Gold variant.
On the backing's upper left, we have a circular camera module with four provisioned slots for the lens and optics. This houses two camera lenses including the 108MP ProLight sensor and the 2MP depth sensor. In a weird fashion, there's a third provisioned slot for another lens, but the specs sheet does not say anything about this. The fourth slot is for the LED flash.
We also have a plastic frame with flat edges. The railing features the same texture as the back panel, and I appreciate the continuity of this design. Even though it has flat edges, the phone is still easy to handle due to its compact footprint and 7.9-mm thickness.
We have the same no-nonsense placements for the ports and buttons. The right side is a home to the power button, which doubles as the fingerprint sensor, and the volume rocker. The left side has the triple-slotted SIM tray; while the top has the secondary microphone. Lastly, the bottom side houses the 3.5-mm audio jack, primary microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille.
Display
The realme 11 is framed by a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED FHD+ display which definitely looks appealing on the eyes. In smartphone size, we would consider it as a compact device due to its slightly smaller footprint than most releases this year. The screen is also treated with 90Hz refresh rate for smoother screen interactions; and 360Hz touch sampling rate for higher display panel sensitivity.
The screen's maximum brightness peaks at 1000 nits, thus using it outdoors would not be very challenging. This is also a tough panel, thanks to the Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The display is vibrant and has a lot of contrast, leaving no room for nitpicking. It's punchy and exhibits good color accuracy, even surpassing the realme 10's display that we praised last year. If it's not too much to ask, I would love to see higher 120Hz refresh rate in the display.
Apart from the default display settings, you can also tweak the panel in your liking. For one, you can switch color options, display's color temperature, and even take advantage of the Dark Mode feature. I always set the Dark Mode to automatic so that it would automatically change based on your local time. The Eye Comfort feature is something I particularly appreciate, especially since I've been reading eBooks lately.
Performance
The realme 11 4G is powered by the 6nm-built MediaTek Helio G99 SoC with two ARM Cortex-A76 cores clocking up to 2.2GHz, and six ARM Cortex-A55 Cores running up to 2.0GHz. It's also the same processor that powers the realme Pad 2 and the model it's replacing - the realme 10. Although that might sound a bit off, there's still plenty of improvements made to optimize the chipset for this new release. Pairing the chipset with Android 13 makes the realme 11 a gaming contender in the sub Php 14K segment.
Gaming with Helio G99
Speaking of gaming, I tested a number of games with this phone. My favorite title, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, runs smoothly with this phone. Both the Frame Rate and Graphics settings default to High. The phone is also capable of Ultra settings; though this setup allows for better battle effects, animations, and details, I would still prefer to use the trickled-down High graphics settings for a smoother gameplay experience.
Our review unit comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It is also capable of pulling up to 8GB of extra RAM thru its Dynamic RAM Expansion feature. In my time using the realme 11, I could tell that the handset is capable of handling day to day tasks, which includes emails, casual games, occasional browsing of social media apps, streaming videos, and more.
Compact Multimedia Device
Speaking of streaming, I also find myself loving the streaming experience with the realme 11. Its compact size allows me to take it anywhere, effortlessly sliding it into my pockets. Whenever boredom strikes, I can simply flick it out and open my favorite streaming app.
There's a single firing speaker that produces just the right amount loudness. However, I didn't want to crank the volume on the highest level because the sound gets a little pitchy. realme also spotlights the 200% UltraBoom feature, though I must admit, I did not seem to appreciate this feature since the phone only employs a mono speaker. As the phone's name suggests, there's no 5G connectivity. Aside from 4G, the device supports Bluetooth v5.2 and Wi-Fi 802.11ac.
In our benchmarks, the realme 11 4G tallied the following scores in our tests:
- Antutu Benchmark: 427734
- Geekbench 6 CPU: 651 (Single-Core) and 1859 (Multi-Core)
- Geekbench 6 GPU OpenCL: 1418
- Geekbench 6 GPU Vulkan: 1412
Camera
The realme 11 4G is not that shabby when we talk about cameras. In fact, it's one of the most straightforward smartphones when it comes to camera capability. It focuses its efforts with only 2 rear sensors, one of which is the 108MP ProLight camera with f/1.8 aperture. This is a Samsung HM5 sensor which is capable of up to 3x In-Sensor Zoom. The main camera is coupled with a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor. The front camera is a 16MP f/2.5 wide sensor. Both the rear and selfie cameras can record videos of up to 1080p at 30 fps.
108MP ProLight Camera
The 108MP main camera shoots with a pixel-binned 12MP by default. Of course, the phone allows you to shoot in 108MP full resolution but photos will consume significant amount storage. I suggest to use this feature only when you need it. Otherwise, stick with the default settings. The camera app's rolodex includes the Photo, Video, Night, Street, Portrait, and 108M modes. There's also an additional "More" section for you to open up modes like Pro, Pano, Movie Slo-Mo, Timelapse, Dual-View Video, Text Scanner, and Tilt Shift.
In optimal lighting conditions, photos coming from the 108MP camera are crisp, full of detail, and color accurate. On top of that, the dynamic range is also one of the best in this price point. I'm initially hesitant to use the 3x zoom due to the probable loss of detail; however, I was pleasantly surprised to find the realme 11 4G's 3x zoom could hold a candle with some shots taken using telephoto lenses.
Check out some of these photos we took in Thailand:
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| Outdoor: Overcast Setting |
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| Outdoor: Optimal Lighting Condition |
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| Outdoor: 1x Zoom vs 3x Zoom |
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| Outdoor: 1x Zoom vs 3x Zoom |
The realme 11 4G's lowlight performance is also something to be lauded about. Shots in lowlight and Night Mode come with good contrast; and the phone does not overexpose the bright sections of the frame, while it adeptly recovers shadows in several areas. Additionally, the Street Mode is a fun feature to have especially if you enjoy filters in your shots. It allows you to capture shots with both 24mm and 72mm focal length presets.
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| Lowlight and Night Mode |
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| Night Mode |
The 16MP selfie camera performs well with accurate colors and ample sharpness. Its portrait mode also produces photos with acceptable subject and background separation. The front camera is wide enough for group shots (27mm), and it also supports beautification mode which you can adjust thru the in-app sliders.
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| Selfie and Portrait |
Software and Battery
The realme 11 4G runs with realme UI 4.0 out of the box. It is based on Android 13 so you can take advantage of popular features for better resource allocations, faster UI, and efficient multitasking. There's no significant departure from what we have become accustomed to with the previous realme UI. We still have the rounded icons and simpler layout by default.
One of the marquee features of the smartphone is its battery technology. For one, the realme 11 4G packs 5000 mAh battery, which according to realme could last up to 673 hours on standby. In our realtime usage, the battery could easily last for a day of fair to moderate use.
Battery Charging Test
The realme 11 4G supports a whopping 67W SuperVOOC fast charging which is quite exceptional in this segment. In our battery charging test, we have drained the realme 11 4G's battery and charge it up to 100%. We hit 60% of battery in just 20 minutes and 100% in just a little over 40 minutes. We tallied the actual battery percentage in every 10-minute interval, here are the results:
- 10 minutes - 34% battery
- 20 minutes - 60% battery
- 30 minutes - 83% battery
- 40 minutes - 99% battery
- 40 minutes & 35 seconds - 100% battery
Should You Buy the realme 11 4G?
The realme 11 4G offers great value for money for purported buyers in this segment. Nevertheless, if you already own a realme 10, the upgrade may only be incremental, but don't let this stop you from buying if you really want the best 4G smartphone from the brand.
With that being said, the realme 11 4G is still a good contender in the sub Php 14K segment with its refreshing compact design, stunning display, and fast charging capability. Of course, its most important feature is the 108MP ProLight camera which could keep pace with higher end smartphones in terms of image quality.
The realme 11 4G is priced at Php 13,999 for the 8GB + 256GB variant. It's now available in all official realme online platforms, brick and mortar stores, and partner dealer stores nationwide.
