Realme 11 Pro+

Review

Realme 11 Pro+ is the top model of the new smartphone family of the Chinese brand. This model combines an interesting style with good equipment and a good price, which sounds like a hit material. Can Realme 11 Pro+ become it?

A set for five and a controversial style

Realme 11 Pro+ comes to us in a characteristic yellow box, hiding - apart from the phone and "waste paper" - also a silicone cover that provides protection at the start, and - which nowadays should be praised - 100 watt charger and USB cable. Little things, but they make me happy.

Styling Realme 11 Pro+ may evoke mixed feelings, but one thing should be said about it: it is original. Even in classic black or slightly bolder green, this smartphone looks quite original, but the biggest impression (is it positive?) is made by the version developed by the former stylist of the Gucci fashion brand, Matteo Menotto.

This is not the first time that Realme invites a recognized stylist to cooperate - but probably the first time that I have a problem with assessing the appearance of the device. Realme 11 Pro+ I like it and reject it at the same time. The combination of vegan leather and golden applications can be considered a bit "indulgence", but when I look closely at some details - such as the narrow, golden frame forming the sides of the housing - I see a note of elegance in this smartphone, not to say luxury. Anyway, mod variant Realme 11 Pro+ will not leave anyone indifferent, and I will only add that it is also practical. The plastic-coated back does not collect fingerprints or other dirt, and is scratch and break resistant!

The large, round frame of the camera is also quite impressive, which - fortunately - has been quite well managed. The quality of the phone is unquestionable, and the golden frame is made of plastic with great care to faithfully imitate metal. It is a pity that there is no waterproofing - but we have style in excess. The smartphone is relatively light, I also found no reason to complain about the ergonomics of the location of the socket, buttons or fingerprint reader. Speaking of the reader - it's really good for an under-screen reader. They work quickly and quite reliably, although sometimes, unfortunately, it requires a "second approach". Of course, there is also a face recognition function - but this is less secure than a fingerprint.

Love the display

Although Realme 11 Pro+ is not a very expensive model, there were enough funds to use a decent AMOLED display in it. It has a typical Full HD+ resolution, but also an image refresh rate up to 120 Hz, 10-bit color palette and quite decent brightness. I tested the new Realme just in very sunny weather and I can assure you that the brightness of this screen is sufficient in any situation. It is worth using the automatic brightness adjustment, because then - as I noticed - in strong sunlight it is boosted higher than the maximum level of the manual setting.

The automation system works accurately and quickly, I will add that we have PWM 2160 Hz technology here, which reduces flicker at lower screen brightness. And the minimal one - it's really great for reading at night. The smartphone allows you to adjust the color reproduction in four predefined settings, with a separate adjustment of the color temperature. Similarly, we also have three levels of refresh rate adjustment - from low, through high, to automatic. There are also options for boosting colors in selected applications, I would also point out that the screen has bent sides, which not everyone will like. I don't mind, just like the factory-applied protective film. It's not very durable, but it's enough to start with.

Supposedly stereo, but...

Realme 11 Pro+ has stereo speakers, which I should actually praise and move on. However, I must point out that this is not a fully even, balanced stereo. The lower speaker plays a little louder and transmits more bass than the upper one, i.e. the one that also serves as a headphone during calls. It just has additional holes, and when playing music or soundtrack, it sounds a bit stronger than during calls. However, this is associated with a certain inconvenience: when we talk, the voice of the interlocutor is quite well audible around the phone, which forces us to turn down the volume - which sometimes worsens the comfort of the conversation. It's a pity, because the sound quality of the handset itself is great. Similarly, I will not particularly criticize the quality of stereo sound in multimedia. The speakers sound quite clean, although - as I mentioned - uneven. I would describe the sound as pleasant to the ear, of course as much as you can describe the sounds made by such small speakers.

Regarding other aspects of communication, I can only say one thing: everything works as it should. I haven't noticed any symptoms worth mentioning, each module just does its job. There was no eSIM support - but again - at this price, I don't necessarily require and expect it.

Interface full of colors

In Realme 11 Pro+ we will find the Android 13 operating system with the Realme UI 4.0 interface and the promise of two "major" updates and 3 years of security support. The Realme interface strongly resembles the one we know from Oppo or OnePlus. Therefore, we have quite a wide range of personalization options for the appearance of the interface, as well as the ability to choose between flat and tray mode. The dark mode could not be missing (which can run according to a given schedule), there is also of course Always-on-display, and you can also turn on the backlight of the screen edge - something that will perfectly replace the notification diode.

A nice addition are enlarged folders that make it easier for us to see their contents, it is also worth mentioning the possibility of running applications in a floating window, and not only on a split screen. There are also, of course, all the popular gestures, as well as a side panel with shortcuts. It is also worth looking at Realme Lab, where experimental options will appear. For today, this is, for example, the function of measuring the pulse using a fingerprint reader. The manufacturer gives us a few extra applications to start with, which I don't necessarily like, despite the possibility of uninstalling them. I would prefer the opposite solution - the ability to choose which of the proposals I want to install during the first configuration of the smartphone ...

Performance just right

Realme 11 Pro+ is a middle-of-the-road smartphone, so its performance is adequate to the segment. This is a smartphone from a group slightly exceeding half a million points in the popular benchmark - that is, one that will satisfy most users. The smartphone is based on the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 processor, built with six Cortex-A55 2 GHz cores and two efficient Cortex-A78 2.6 GHz and Mali-G68 MC4 graphics. In addition, we have 12+512 GB of memory, and if the real LPDDR4X RAM does not impress anyone, it can add another 12 GB in virtual form.

And how is it supposed to work if not smoothly? In practice, Realme 11 Pro+ should satisfy practically everyone - maybe except for ultra-demanding mobile players. But they will also appreciate the almost complete lack of throttling, i.e. a decrease in performance associated with an increase in processor temperature. Here - the effect of higher temperature is hardly noticeable - but it's also hard to talk about "high" temperature. Even when driven to hard work, Realme 11 Pro+ keeps its form and stays only slightly warm. Even some flagships can envy its stability!

Battery type, but fast charging

Realme 11 Pro+ is equipped with a battery with an almost classic 5000 mAh capacity. A less classic element here is fast, 100-watt charging. It takes only 25 minutes to charge an empty battery, but in just five minutes we have over 20% charge. Let me remind you again - the charger is included! How often do we need to reach for it? In fact, the smartphone lasts a typical two days without charging, but it's worth remembering that such a fast charging prompts us to connect it to the power supply for a short while, which allows us to maintain a constant charge level in the range of 50-80%, which is enough for almost the whole day actions. There was no inductive charging, but looking at the price of the smartphone, I can forgive it.

200 megapixels still impressive?

Realme 11 Pro+ is another smartphone with a 200-megapixel camera that has been scrolling through my hands in recent months. Will 200 megapixels knock me off my feet this time? It is worth praising that in such a relatively inexpensive smartphone we have the Samsung ISOCELL HP3 camera with Optical Image Stabilization, but the other cameras bring us down to earth. The "fighting" looking frame is complemented by 8 and 2 Mpx matrices - for wide-angle and macro photos. The set is complemented by a 32-megapixel selfie camera - quite respectable.

How does it photograph everything? The main camera takes photos by default at a resolution of 12.5 Mpx, you can still force 50 megapixels - but why if we are not going to print billboards...? Even in the default resolution, photos taken during the day are of excellent quality. Great contrast, lots of details, good (though a bit oversaturated for some) colors, and no noise. Such photos would not be ashamed of much more expensive models...

Realme also offers a 2x zoom, called lossless, which is quite usable and only slightly inferior in quality to photos without zoom. This approximation is probably achieved thanks to a crop of a higher resolution photo, which cannot be said about the next degree of zoom, proposed on the main screen, i.e. 4x.

Here you can already see the "digital", although still not as much as in the further stages of approximation, which I advise you to avoid. During the day - it's just good, and interestingly, the same can be said about photos from the wide-angle lens.

Here, of course, we will see less details and stronger smoothing, but the photos can still be considered very good for the market segment belonging to our Realme. Portrait shots (with two degrees of zoom) also come out quite well, the software even copes with "inanimate" objects. The macro is worse. Here, 2 megapixels do not herald anything great - and we do not get anything great.

In the case of selfies - there is nothing to complain about. Colours, contrast, sharpness - everything is correct, and HDR turns on when it should and does a good job. The real test of any smartphone, however, is night photos. Here Realme 11 Pro+ really does not disappoint, offering quite good results. The photos are sharp, with pleasantly rendered colours.

The night mode can be turned on automatically - and it's worth relying on it, because the photos are then "turned up", but in a positive way. You can see little noise on them, but the dynamics is simply great. After zooming in, we can see the effects of processing in the form of smoothing the image - but we still consider the photo to be good. Turning off the night mode will give us more details in the photo, but also more noise, and in addition - a weaker reduction of spot overexposure in urban photography.

In night mode, you can confidently use a 2x zoom, but I would avoid the wide-angle camera as long as possible. Photos without night mode are simply poor, turning it on will improve the situation enough to call photos suitable for viewing. Just enough. The same goes for night selfies. It's a good idea to use screen flashing and don't worry too much about the background...

Video? It's almost very good here, and it would be even better if additional stabilization was also available in 4K resolution. If we want to film in dynamic motion, we have to switch to Full HD or accept slightly more visible (although still well suppressed) image vibrations. The quality and smoothness of the image in movies is good, as is the sound, although I noticed a high susceptibility to capturing gusts of wind. Shooting with background blur looks quite good, and I'm lucky enough to miss the option to switch to wide angle without interrupting the recording.

Is Realme 11 Pro+ worth buying?

Costing €520 (12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage), Realme 11 Pro+ is a very interesting proposal. It is a smartphone free from major shortcomings, although it lacks a few elements, such as water resistance or eSIM. Realme 11 Pro+ tempts with a decent display, really fast charging and decent performance.

I must praise it for the stability of work and good (or even excellent, for the price) quality of photos and videos (not counting macro, which are as usual, i.e. poor). The appearance of the smartphone can be controversial - but you can always opt for a sadder, black version that is downright discreet. The interface - in fact, I could praise it, if not for the excess of pre-installed applications - but here I will leave the assessment to you, after all, not everyone has to be a minimalist ...

In general, if you ask me about a cool, "fancy" and not overly expensive average driver, without hesitation I will mention Realme 11 Pro+. Redmi Note 12 Pro+ has a really dangerous competitor!

Source GSMchoice.com together with Realme