Realme 13 Pro+ review

Introduction

It's like the 12 Pro+, but with AI - lots of AI. The promo materials for the Realme 13 Pro+ are brimming with the initials that are supposed to be the new big thing - the current big thing. We'll be having a look at the new Realme midranger from our usual perspective, more grounded in numbers and hardware capabilities, though we'd be open to finding out how useful the AI bits are.

It's not without hardware changes, the 13 Pro+ - just not all that major. Perhaps the biggest difference is the telephoto camera's sensor - now 50MP vs 64MP. It's still roughly the same size, and if it's as good as on the 12 Pro+, we won't be complaining, that's for sure. Both that and the main camera's imager (otherwise same by the numbers) should be new Sony stuff.

Also somewhat of an improvement is the increase in battery capacity - 5,200mAh vs. 5,000mAh. There's 80W charging now to go with the larger cell (67W on the previous model), though watts rarely tell the whole story.

Other than that, things are largely unchanged - at least on the surface. The 6.7-inch OLED display seems identical, though we'll allow ourselves a bit of a spoiler - it is superior, this one.

The Snapdragon 7-series chipset is also the same as on the 12 Pro+, for better or worse. Stereo speakers, under-display fingerprint reader, IP65-rated dust and water resistance - these have been carried over too.

Realme 13 Pro+ specs at a glance:

• Body: 161.3x73.9x8.2mm, 190g; glass front, glass back, plastic frame; IP65 dust/water resistant.
• Display: 6.70" AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, 1200 nits (HBM), 2000 nits (peak), 1080x2412px resolution, 20.1:9 aspect ratio, 394ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM7435-AB Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (4x2.40 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x1.95 GHz Cortex-A55); Adreno 710.
• Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM.
• OS/Software: Android 14, Realme UI 5.0.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.7, 71mm, 1/1.95", 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 112˚, 1/4.0", 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.4, 22mm (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps.
• Battery: 5200mAh; 80W wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.2; NFC (not in India).
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

Realme 13 Pro+ unboxing

The 13 Pro+ ships in the usual yellow box with more or less the usual contents. The cheapish gray silicone case is better than most, even if its 'leather' texture isn't the most convincing. The 80W charger (which behaves like a 55W one in some places) is most welcome and there's a USB-A-to-C cable to complete the link.