Realme 13 Pro Plus Review: Delivers on All Fronts

At the end of July, Realme launched the Realme 13 Pro Plus – a successor to 12 Pro+, with a bunch of AI stuff packed in. The new phone has a few changes, like a 50MP telephoto camera, a bigger 5,200mAh battery with 80W charging, and an even better 6.7-inch OLED display. It has the same main camera sensor and Snapdragon 7-series chipset as the 12 Pro Plus, stereo speakers, an under-display fingerprint reader, and IP65-rated dust and water resistance. The 13 Pro Plus is all about incremental upgrades, especially regarding AI features. Should you consider Realme 13 Pro+? Let’s find answers in this review:

Realme 13 ProPlus Review – Design & Build

The Realme 13 Pro+ has had a significant design update, offering a glass back option alongside the previous vegan leather models. The back of the device features Armor Shield Glass with Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, offering a sleek but slippery finish. The Monet Gold color variant has a sparkly finish with sand wave-like patterns, and the Emerald Green version is lighter and thinner, holding a Swiss SGS Premium Performance 5 Stars Drop Resistance certification.

The camera island on the back is easy to notice. It has a large diameter and a luxurious watch dial look, complete with golden rims and 436 precisely cut metal lines, giving it an elegant touch.

The curved edges make the device slightly thicker than its competitors, but it feels compact. Remember that while the Realme 13 Pro+ is dust-tight and can handle water jets, it’s not meant for submersion in water, so be cautious around water.

The Realme 13 Pro+ is equipped with a USB Type-C port at the bottom edge for charging and data transfer. It also features Hi-Res stereo speakers for a great audio experience. In terms of security, the phone has an in-display fingerprint scanner that can unlock the device quickly.

Realme 13 Pro+ Review – Display

The Realme 13 Pro+, like the 12 Pro+, has a 6.7-inch OLED screen with a 1080x2412px resolution. It has a 10-bit panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and can reach a peak brightness of 2,000 nits for better outside visibility. There are three refresh rate modes, but the highest frame rate for gaming is 60fps.

Because it’s an AMOLED panel, you get all the good stuff—deep blacks, punchy colors, and infinite contrasts. Sadly, HDR isn’t supported, but the Widevine L1 lets you stream DRM-protected content in FullHD. While the phone doesn’t follow the Google Ultra HDR standard for photos, it does have a similar feature in its own Photos app for images shot with the 13 Pro+.

Now, let’s talk about the speakers. The Realme 13 Pro+ packs two speakers – one at the bottom and one at the top, which also works as an earpiece. When you hold the phone vertically, the top speaker gets the left audio channel, whereas, in landscape mode, the channels switch. Each speaker gets its channel’s track, and the bottom one packs more punch.

Realme 13 Pro Plus Review - Software and Performance

The phone comes with Realme UI 5.0, which is based on Android 14. It has the Android security patch for June 2024. It’s expected to receive 2 Android updates and 3 years of security updates just like other phones. Realme UI 5.0 has some cool features like improved performance tech, safety tools, privacy tools, and a new GO Green feature to promote climate change awareness.

A feature called File Dock lets you collect, analyze, and share global information by making gestures with the Dock or other apps. The Flash Capsule feature provides easy access to popular third-party services like Swiggy and Zomato.

Apart from the regular Realme and Google apps, phones have preloaded apps like Facebook, Amazon, and Snapchat. You can uninstall these apps, but they come back if you reset the phone. Additionally, there are Hot Apps and Hot Games.

When it comes to performance, the Realme 13 Pro+ keeps things familiar with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset at its core. Built on a 4nm process, this Qualcomm processor sits slightly above the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 in the pecking order but needs to reach the heights of the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 or even the OG 7 Gen 1. While it’s an upgrade over the Dimensity 7050 that powered the Realme 11 Pro+, the leap doesn’t feel as significant now as it did with the Realme 12 Pro+.

The Realme 13 Pro Plus isn’t here to win any performance races against the OnePlus Nord 4 or POCO F6, which are geared more toward power users. Instead, this device is aimed at the casual user who cares more about snapping great photos than maxing out benchmarks. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 should get the job done just fine.

This phone has three RAM and storage options: 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 256GB, and 12GB + 512GB. We tested the top-end model with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, and here’s how it performed.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Realme 13 Pro Plus scored 677,898 on AnTuTu and clocked 865 and 2,720 in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests. While these numbers might not blow you away, the phone held its ground admirably, throttling down to just 76 percent of its peak performance in the throttle test. Translation? It can handle those heavy-duty tasks without breaking much of a sweat, even if it’s not the fastest in its class.

So, if you’re looking for raw power, you might want to look elsewhere. But if you want a well-rounded performer that won’t choke under pressure, the Realme 13 Pro+ has got you covered.

Realme 13 Pro Plus Pro Review – Cameras

The Realme 13 Pro Plus has made changes in the camera department compared to the 12 Pro+. The main differences include a new sensor in the zoom camera, and a 50MP sensor replacing the 64MP sensor in the telephoto setup. Additionally, the ultrawide and selfie cameras seem unchanged. The camera department heavily emphasizes AI features, with options like AI Ultra Clarity, AI Smart Removal, and AI Group Photo Enhance for improved photo quality and AI Audio Zoom for better sound in video recording.

In broad daylight, the main camera captures stunning photos with fantastic contrast. While the shadows could use a bit of lifting in post-processing in some scenarios, the overall result is impressive. The white balance is spot on outdoors, and the camera performs well indoors, with just a slight deviation due to the wooden wall paneling.

The color saturation strikes a perfect balance, creating vibrant and expressive images with great contrast and natural texture rendering. There’s just the right amount of sharpening, keeping noise to a minimum. When testing the Photo mode and Portrait mode, I was pleased to see realistic skin tones and excellent facial detail. Although there was some excessive saturation in one photo, the overall performance was dependable.

While the 50MP mode didn’t offer high pixel-level detail, the 3x telephoto camera produced superb photos with impressive detail. The new 50MP(12.5MP) sensor seems to outshine its predecessor, delivering sharper pictures with better definition. The colors maintain pleasing saturation and fidelity, resulting in captivating shots. The 13 Pro+’s telephoto camera excels in capturing stunning portraits without the need for Portrait mode, although this option is available for enhanced background separation.

Although the 50MP mode may seem more ceremonial than practical, the 6x button in the viewfinder provides excellent results, making it a valuable tool. Overall, the Realme 13 Pro+ camera has left me impressed with its exceptional performance and versatility.

Realme 13 Pro Plus Review – Battery Life and Charging

The Realme 13 Pro+ has a massive 5,200mAh battery, the largest in Realme’s numeric series smartphones. It supports super-fast 80W charging, way faster than the 67W on the Realme 12 Pro+. The charger is in the box and can fully charge the phone from 20 to 100 percent in just 40 minutes. It can also get to 40 percent in about 18 minutes.

The phone can easily last a whole day with regular to heavy use. In a test, it lasted for 11 hours and 34 minutes from 100 percent to 20 percent battery life. When streaming YouTube videos at 50 percent brightness and volume, it only used 5 percent of the battery after 30 minutes. While playing games like BGMI, Call of Duty, and Realme Racing 3 for 30 minutes each, it used around 22 percent of the battery.

Review Verdict: Should You Buy the Realme 13 Pro Plus?

Smartprix Rating: 7.8/10

Design and Build: 8/10

Display and Speakers: 8/10

Software and Haptics: 7.5/10

Performance: 7.5/10

Camera: 8/10

Battery Life and Charging: 8/10

The Realme 13 Pro+ is a solid upgrade from the Realme 12 Pro+. Sure, it’s not as fast or polished as the OnePlus Nord 4 or Motorola Edge 50 Pro, but if you’re a photo buff, it’s hard to beat. The AI-powered camera system, equipped with top-notch sensors and cool Hyperimage+ tech, churns out some seriously impressive shots and videos. Plus, it looks sleek, has a killer display, and has a reliable battery life with fast charging. You can snag the Realme 13 Pro+ starting at Rs 32,999, but with some deals, you might grab it for as low as Rs 29,999.

First reviewed in July 2024.

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