Realme 11 Pro+ review

Introduction

Realme's series 11 has been official for a month, but until now, those phones were available exclusively in China. Well, that's over now, as the Realme 11 Pro and Realme 11 Pro+ will be hitting the shelves in India and Europe soon. And we kick off the Realme series 11 exploration with the most beefed-up specimen - the Realme 11 Pro+.

We are glad to see Realme returning into the mid-range segment, as their last official global smartphones were from Realme Series 9. While Series 10 were technically global, the Pro models were never made available outside India.

Let's circle back to Realme 11 Pro+ and its most notable change - the design. The 11 Pro+ is a departure from the typical glossy phones we've seen for years. The maker has partnered with the former Gucci designer Matteo Menotto, and the Lychee Leather Design is the fruit of this collaboration.

The Realme 11 Pro+ is a thin and curved smartphone with a premium vegan leather back panel with stitches and a cool zipper-like split in the middle. The camera housing has been completely revamped, too, and now looks like something you'd expect to see on a Huawei phone. The new design screams luxury, but it doesn't look over the top, and we do like the changes, at least on paper.

The Realme 11 Pro+ green and gold models are available with this design, but Realme has kept the black one out of this fashion loop for those looking for something, well, less stylish.

The new model packs a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a ton of premium specs such as 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit color depth, 360Hz touch response, and 2160Hz PWM dimming. It runs on top of the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 5G chipset, and the base storage is now 256GB.

The highlight of the Realme 11 Pro+ is its 200MP primary camera that relies on Samsung's HP3 sensor. It is advertised as capable of 2x and 4x lossless zoom, continuous auto-zoom when tracking a moving subject, and has support for Super NightScape and Moon mode. The sensor has a bright f/1.69 23mm lens with advanced SuperOIS stabilization.

The other cameras on the Realme 11 Pro+ are an 8MP ultrawide, a 2MP macro, and a 32MP selfie shooter. 4K video capturing is supported only on the main camera, while the front and the UW ones max out at 1080p video resolution.

Other notable Realme 11 Pro+ include stereo speakers, a 5,000mAh battery, and blazing-fast 100W SuperVOOC charging.

Realme 11 Pro+ specs at a glance:

• Body: 161.6x73.9x8.2mm, 183g; Glass front, leather or plastic back, plastic frame.
• Display: 6.70" AMOLED, 1B colors, HDR10+, 120Hz, 950 nits (peak), 1080x2412px resolution, 20.1:9 aspect ratio, 394ppi.
• Chipset: Mediatek Dimensity 7050 (6 nm): Octa-core (2x2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G68.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM.
• OS/Software: Android 13, Realme UI 4.0.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 200 MP, f/1.7, 23mm, 1/1.4", 0.56µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 112˚; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.5, 22mm (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/480fps, 720p@960fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 100W wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.2, aptX HD; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

While the Dimensity 7050 5G chipset is relatively new, it is pretty much identical to the Dimensity 1080 inside the Realme 10 Pro+ and the Dimensity 920 in the Realme 9 Pro+. And considering the AMOLED screen is the same as on the Realme 10 Pro+, we'd understand if the new 11 Pro+ doesn't feel like a major update. Let's not forget that the 10 Pro+ was not exactly a global phone, though.

There is only one thing we consider as an omission on the Realme 11 Pro+ - splash resistance. Xiaomi has been offering IP53-rated smartphones for years now, and we do expect Realme to make the same effort. However basic this protection is, it gives some peace of mind when it's raining outside or when you have your phone in the same room when you take a shower.

Unboxing the Realme 11 Pro+

The Realme 11 Pro+ ships in a typical black/yellow paper box. The retail bundle contains a 100W GaN power brick and a 10W-rated USB-C-to-A cable.

There is also a paper compartment, which has a soft transparent case for some extra protection. And, like most mid-range smartphones, the Realme 11 Pro+ also arrives with a thin anti-scratch film on its display. This basic protector is a huge smudge magnet, though, so we've decided to peel it off on day 1.