Realme 13+ first impressions

29 August 2024

Realme today expanded its Realme 13 lineup by launching two new smartphones - Realme 13 5G and Realme 13+. We have the Realme 13+ with us, so let's quickly unbox it and see what it's all about.

The Realme 13+ comes in a yellow-colored retail box. It includes a protective case, a charging cable, a SIM ejector tool, and an 80W power adapter.

The Realme 13+ packs a 6.67" FullHD+ E4 AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate. Realme is also advertising a 1,200Hz "turbocharged touch sampling rate" for the screen with support for Pro-XDR and Smart Touch tech. The latter helps users operate the phone even with wet hands or water on the screen.

The display has a 2,000 nits peak brightness and supports HDR, HDR10+, and HLG codecs. It also supports Widevine L1, allowing 1080p video streaming on supported apps. Additionally, Realme has advertised 90FPS support for Free Fire, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB), PUBG Mobile, and Call of Duty: Mobile, while Honor of Kings supports 120FPS gameplay.

The Realme 13+'s screen has a centered punch-hole for the 16MP selfie camera with f/2.4 aperture and 82.3° FOV. It uses a 1/3" sensor.

Moving below, we get an in-display fingerprint scanner. We found it to be fast and accurate in the short time we spent with the smartphone. However, it could've been placed higher for ease of reach.

The back of the Realme 13+ flaunts "Victory Speed Design," which is inspired by the victory interface of racing games and is a combination of "Speedy Curve Design" and "Speedy Lightning Texture."

The Speedy Curve Design can be seen below the camera deco. It's a shoulder line stretching from side to side, resembling a fast-paced racetrack and separating the upper portion of the panel from the Speedy Lightning Texture on the rest of the cover.

We received the Dark Purple model, which can be easily mistaken for black. Other options are Victory Gold and Speedy Green. The purple model has a non-glossy finish with a little bit of glitter, which is a departure from the Realme 12+'s vegan leather back panel, giving the Realme 13+ a less premium in-hand feel.

However, while the Realme 12+'s rear panel was entirely flat, the Realme 13+'s back cover has some curves around the edges, making the phone more comfortable to hold than its predecessor.

Like the Realme 12+, the Realme 13+ also sports a circular camera island on the rear, but the design is different. It does house three cameras - 50MP primary (Sony LYT-600, f/1.8, OIS), 2MP Mono, and a flicker sensor. The Realme 12+'s 50MP main unit was joined by 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro cameras.

The Realme 13+ also has flat frames like the 12+, but those aren't shiny, making the phone look less premium. On the upside, they don't get smudged either, meaning no constant wiping is required if you aren't using a protective case.

The Realme 13+'s left-side frame has the volume rocker and power button with decent feedback. At the bottom is the USB-C port, flanked by a SIM card slot, microphone, and a speaker grille. Up top is the 3.5mm headphone jack, joined by another speaker and mic.

Powering the Realme 13+ is the Dimensity 7300 Energy SoC, paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The smartphone runs Realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14 and comes with the promise of two Android version upgrades and three years of Android security updates. However, Realme has made no promises regarding the frequency of the rollout of the security updates.

It's also worth mentioning that the Realme 13+ comes pre-installed with over a dozen third-party apps (and games), which isn't ideal, but fortunately, all of them can be uninstalled.

Keeping the entire package up and running is a 5,000 mAh battery with 80W charging support. It's advertised to charge 50% in 19 minutes with the bundled 80W adapter.

Other highlights of the Realme 13+ include stereo speakers, GT Mode for gamers, a 6050mm² stainless steel vapor cooling system, and an IP65 rating.

The Realme 13+ is available in India through Realme's Indian website, Flipkart, and mainline channels. It comes in 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB, and 12GB/256GB configurations, priced at INR22,999 ($275/€250), INR24,999 ($300/€270), and INR26,999 ($320/€290), respectively.