Realme continues to enhance its signature series with each new iteration, delivering improved features and pricing. Despite departing from its budget-oriented roots, the lineup still offers great value for money. For example, the Realme 10 Pro+ impressed us with its mid-range specs and premium aesthetics. This year, Realme takes it up a notch with the introduction of the Realme 11 Pro+. Notably, this smartphone stands out with its Samsung 200MP ISOCELL GM3 sensor, a first in the industry, and a leather back panel, a first for Realme in India. Priced competitively at Rs 27,999, the Realme 11 Pro+ faces fierce competition within its segment. In this review, we’ll assess its worth and positioning in the smartphone market.
Design and display
The Realme 11 Pro+ stands out with its stunning design and display, resembling an ultra-premium handset. The faux leather back panel and curved AMOLED screen add elegance to its appearance. While the primary camera performs well, the ultra-wide shooter could use some improvement, and the processing capabilities are not top-notch. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a stylish mid-range phone with most features, the Realme 11 Pro+ is a solid choice. The device carries forward the excellent design choices from its predecessor, featuring a premium leatherette-back finish that not only enhances the aesthetics but also provides protection against drops and smudges. The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G comes in three finishes, Astral Black, Oasis Green, and Sunrise Beige. The Sunrise Baige color variant with golden trims and off-white skin exudes a sophisticated look. The massive camera ring housing three sensors and a flash module gives the phone a distinctive appearance, resembling an all-seeing eye. Although it may be intimidating, it blends seamlessly with the standout design of the smartphone.
Realme 11 Pro+ 5G specifications and software
The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G comes equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 7050 SoC, a modified version of the Dimensity 1080 SoC seen in the 10 Pro+ 5G. It features a 5,000mAh battery with 100W fast charging capabilities and a dual-speaker setup. Additionally, the phone supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and GPS.
Running on the Android 13-based Realme UI 4.0, the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G offers extensive software customization options. Users can personalize the device by adjusting icon shapes and sizes, changing fonts, wallpapers, and themes. The system icons can be synced with the wallpaper colors, and an Always-on Display feature allows for additional personalization, including the addition of a Bitmoji. However, it’s worth noting that Realme UI 4.0 has a significant amount of bloatware and app recommendations, making it one of the more cluttered custom skins available. Pre-installed third-party apps like Josh, Dailyhunt, Moj, PhonePe, Spotify, and LinkedIn, along with Game Centre, App Market, and Theme Store, contribute to a notification overload and frequent recommendations. Moreover, upon downloading and installing an app, users are directed to a screen promoting other apps available in the App Market.
Fortunately, Realme has committed to providing two major Android updates and three years of security support for the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G, offering some assurance to users.
Realme 11 Pro+ 5G performance and battery life
The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G performs well in everyday tasks and casual gaming, showing no signs of lag or stuttering. However, some minor jitter in animations while playing videos in picture-in-picture mode was observed, particularly on YouTube.
In terms of gaming performance, the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G offers smooth gameplay in popular titles like BGMI. It can run BGMI at ‘Ultra’ framerate with ‘HDR’ graphics and even supports higher framerates with ‘Smooth’ graphics settings. Gaming on the device was enjoyable, with no lag or stuttering. The phone may warm up slightly around the camera module during extended gaming sessions, which is normal. It’s worth noting that the rear camera module can be slightly obstructive when holding the phone horizontally, but one can adapt to it.
Regarding benchmark scores, the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G achieved a score of 5,37,230 points in AnTuTu (v10), which is lower compared to the Motorola Edge 40 and Poco F5. In Geekbench 6 tests, it scored 921 points in single-core and 2138 points in multi-core performance. The device offers an impressive all-day battery life, averaging around eight hours and 35 minutes of screen-on time during the review period. Additionally, it lasted approximately 23 hours and 16 minutes in the HD video battery loop test. Charging the phone to full capacity took around 40 minutes using the proprietary charger, slightly longer than the claimed charging time.
Realme 11 Pro+ 5G cameras
The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G is equipped with a triple-camera setup on the back. It features an impressive 200-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL HP3 sensor with an f/1.69 aperture, promising up to 4X lossless zoom. Additionally, there’s an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 2-megapixel macro camera.
In daylight, the primary camera captures good details, although the colors can appear slightly saturated. The dynamic range performance is commendable, effectively exposing the overall image and retaining details in highlights and shadows. However, it tends to render the night sky with a blue hue rather than the expected gray or black. While the claim of 4X lossless zoom holds true in well-lit environments, the camera may struggle to preserve details when zooming in challenging conditions.
The primary camera’s performance with human skin tones is inconsistent in Photo and Portrait modes, occasionally resulting in reddish skin tones. The 2X portrait mode generally offers more consistent background blur compared to the 1X mode, which occasionally blurs parts of the subject’s face. The camera app also introduces a new Moon mode that activates with AI Scene recognition enabled. This feature captures AI-assisted photos of the moon when zoomed in at 20X. However, if objects like leaves or branches obstruct the moon, the covered portion appears blurred while the rest remains sharp. It can be seen as a fun gimmick rather than a practical feature.
Images taken with the ultra-wide camera exhibit a different color temperature compared to the main camera, but the dynamic range performance remains satisfactory. The front camera performs well in terms of skin tone accuracy and dynamic range, although it may occasionally blur out parts of the ear or hair in portrait mode shots. In terms of video recording, the Realme 11 Pro+ can shoot up to 4K 30fps videos using the rear camera, while the front camera is limited to 1080p 30fps. Both cameras excel at properly exposing the subject, with the rear camera offering better dynamic range and color reproduction.
Verdict
The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G takes a step forward from its predecessor, the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G, with notable improvements in camera quality and design, as well as incremental enhancements in performance, battery life, and charging capabilities. It stands out as one of the most well-designed phones in its segment, offering an immersive multimedia experience and impressive battery longevity. While the device delivers decent performance for its price, competitors such as the Motorola Edge 40, iQoo Neo 7, and Poco F5 5G slightly outperform it in this aspect.
Where the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G faces challenges is in the camera department. While its primary camera performs well in daylight conditions, it struggles in low-light situations, and there are inconsistencies in post-processing. The software experience also leaves something to be desired, as the Realme UI, although feature-rich, suffers from intrusive bloatware and ads scattered throughout the interface, detracting from the overall user experience.
The Realme 11 Pro+ 5G embodies the concept of Yin and Yang. It boasts excellent hardware and features (the Yang), but is hindered by the bloated and ad-heavy software, as well as inconsistent rear cameras (the Yin).
Motorola’s Edge 40, a close competitor to the Realme 11 Pro+ 5G, offers a sleek design, a curved-edge display, and slightly more powerful performance. It even includes an IP68 rating and wireless charging. Although its cameras could also be improved, the software experience is much cleaner. On the other hand, if top-of-the-line performance is your priority and aesthetics are less important, the Poco F5 5G is worth considering.