Realme 11 Pro review

Design, build quality, handling

The Realme 11 Pro impresses right out of the box with its vegan leather design that imitates Lychee Grain Leather. It is one of the very few devices on the market that you'll recognize instantly. This signature look has been co-developed with the ex-Gucci designer Matteo Menotto, and it's also available on the Realme 11 Pro+ as well.

The Realme 11 Pro is a curved smartphone with both the front and the rear panels bent towards the frame. The front part is tempered glass, the frame is made of plastic, while the back is a piece of plastic covered with vegan leather surface with 3D stitches and a zipper-like runway-imitating middle part.

There is also the huge camera island. It is mostly black with a vinyl-like inner circle with a matching color to the back.

Realme has decided not to implement the leather design on the Astral Black model, which has a sandblasted back with no traces of leather or stitching. And that's a smart choice as some users might consider this new look a bit too flashy.

We have the Oasis Green model, but there is also a Sunrise Beige (both pictured above).

One thing worth mentioning is the absence of any sort of ingress protection, even the most basic IP53 one that's available across many Xiaomi phones.

And now, let's take a closer look at the Realme 11 Pro.

The front is all screen, of course. The new AMOLED panel has evenly thin bezels, appears sharp and bright, and offers 120Hz, 1 billion colors, and HDR10+ certification. It has a tiny perforation centered around the top - this is the 16MP selfie camera spot.

The earpiece is just above the screen, and it also serves the purpose of a speaker. Because it is weaker, it has another top-facing outlet for better balance and more immersive sound.

Realme 11 Pro has an under-display fingerprint sensor, which is fast and quite reliable. It also supports Quick Launch functionality - you can assign up to five actions/shortcuts and launch one of them after you swipe upon successful unlock. It's super neat and useful.

We've already discussed the impressive back panel design. As far as hardware is concerned, here you can see the 100MP primary camera in the middle of the black island, the LED flash above it, and the 2MP depth sensor next to it. The Realme 11 Pro has no ultrawide or macro cameras - these are exclusive to the Pro+ variant.

The plastic frame is polished across its long sides, while the top and bottom parts are flat and brushed.

The top has a speaker grille and a microphone.

The bottom of the Realme 11 Pro houses the dual-SIM tray, the primary microphone, the USB-C port, and the other, louder speaker.

There is nothing on the left side. The volume and power/lock keys are on the right.

The curved design and the thin glossy frame do nothing for the grip, but the leather back turned out to be enough for a hassle-free and secure grip no matter the occasion - browsing, gaming, or camera use. The Realme 11 Pro feels great in hand, premium if you will, and it is thin and lightweight for its size.

Overall, the Realme 11 Pro is a luxurious smartphone, and it really stands out in the sea of identical-looking slabs out there. It almost looks like a fashion accessory. Yet, its design is not over-the-top and is executed quite well. Our only concern is the omission of splash resistance.