realme 13 Pro+ 5G Review | Geek Lifestyle

They’ve been on quite a roll this year, and it seems like realme has yet to lose steam with the release of the brand new realme 13 Pro+ 5G. This latest addition to their popular numbered series lineup aims to keep their consistency in delivering a premium experience while offering a not-so-premium price tag. As with its predecessor, we’ve got yet another looker on our hands. With its Monet-inspired design and impressive camera capabilities, realme is–if not intentionally, bringing us an intriguing fusion between classic art and modern technology. It’s poetic, if you think about it.

It’s clear that the goal is to go beyond the gaudy aesthetic, as any tech brand worth their salt would. The glamour fades rather quickly if it serves as a veneer that hides one’s shortcomings. Given their track record, we believe this won’t be the case. That being said, we’re glad we got a chance to see–and test it out for ourselves.

It’s been a couple of weeks, and we’ve had the pleasure of putting the realme 13 Pro+ 5G through the wringer. T’would be such a shame to subject something so beautiful to the stress of everyday life, but lest we forget, such tribulations are necessary in the pursuit–or rather, purchasing of wonderful technology. Apologies, we’ve rambled long enough.

So, is it more than just a pretty face of a smartphone? Let’s dive right into it.

Geeksthetic

The realme 13 Pro+ 5G is spectacular, to say the least. The Monet Gold colorway of our unit sports a matte finish that not only resists fingerprints but also feels–gorgeous. The subtle coarseness in our hands makes it feel all the more premium, like there’s actual gold crushed finely into the smartphone’s posterior. Let that image sink in. Apparently, this particular texture was made possible through a process involving ‘Miracle Shining Glass.’ Millions of shimmering particles were brushed onto the high-gloss AG Glass which make up the phone’s backside. As such, the overall design evokes the image of Monet’s Haystacks under sunlight.

Moving on to the he phone’s build, it’s hefty, but rather thin, coming in at 8.23mm and 190 grams. Even if you slap on its very nice proprietary TPU case, it won’t become any more chunky. It’s also worth noting that it’s a VERY nice case.  Up front, we have a 6.7-inch display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i. The device itself has a decent IP65 rating for dust and water resistance–which is nice, because we’d hate to see this gem get dirty. This won’t be an issue, though. As you’re getting some Real Quality levels of toughness, either way.

With a screen-to-body ratio of about 90.6%, we’re looking at some prime viewing real estate, and we’ll be talking about that right now.

Binge-Watching Factor

Now, about that 6.7-inch AMOLED display? It’s both a pleasure to gawk at, and silky smooth to navigate. The supported 1 billion colors and 120Hz refresh rate are a great combo. You won’t be getting any screen blur, regardless of how quickly you swipe in any given direction. Whether you’re scrolling through social media, navigating apps, or going through aespa’s discography like the cultured human you are, you won’t run into any hiccups.

The display also has HDR image support and rather impressive brightness levels, with a peak brightness of 2000 nits. In our real time testing, the auto-dimming feature was actually a bit too aggressive, and we had to set the brightness ourselves. This was indoors, after all. Out in the sun, there were no issues. This is great, because we wouldn’t want to waste the 1080 x 2412 resolution. Visuals were crisp, and every K-pop video popped with vibrant colors.

Of course, we couldn’t forget the audio. The device comes with hi-res dual stereo speakers, which won’t crack under the pressure of maximum volume. Yes, you may feel free to crank up the Chappell Roan. You can dance and sing to your heart’s delight. You can take this phone HOT TO GO.

Gaming Prowess

Ah, gaming. The make-or-break for most would-be buyers. Not a problem. As with the realme 12 series, number 13 can perform just as well with any mobile title around. Under the hood, we have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset. This 4nm processor, coupled with the Adreno 710 GPU, can definitely run your favorite HoYoverse titles. Now that we got that out of the way, we’re pretty sure some of you already stopped reading.

For those of you who decided to stay, we found that the device can handle Honkai: Star Rail at high settings at 30 fps. Pushing it any higher did cause some stutters once the action got too intense. As for Asphalt Legends Unite, Honor of Kings, and any less demanding game, you can go wild. The 120Hz refresh rate display contributes significantly to the gaming experience, making fast-paced games feel more responsive and immersive. 

Our variant’s 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage made multitasking rather easy to handle. We feel, that at this price point in the midrange, 12 GB of base RAM should be the standard. The same goes for the 512 GB for storing all the games you’ll be downloading and the photos you’ll very likely be taking.

Geek Photoshoot Capabilities

Did we say likely? We meant “most definitely.” Because this smartphone’s camera came as quite the surprise for all the right reasons.

The triple camera system on the realme 13 Pro+ 5G is the crown jewel in its already regal appearance. The dual 50MP Sony OIS Cameras are the one-two punch in this photography wombo combo. The primary wide-angle camera with its f/1.9 aperture and optical image stabilization captures some pretty banging portrait photos in a variety lighting conditions. The periscope telephoto lens picks up where the previous version left off, continuing with the tradition of offering sharp images with some pretty wild detail up to 30-35X zoom. The inclusion of OIS makes shooting at longer distances all the more easy.

While not as powerful, the 8MP ultrawide camera is no slouch either. There’s some decent color accuracy in line with the main two lenses, which is always great to see. While it may not match the detail of the main sensors, it’s definitely a setting you can use more regularly, not limiting yourself to group photos and landscape shots.

However, there are two things to take note of here. The 120X zoom is pretty much the same as before. We don’t advice it if you’re looking to snap photos of text that you’ll be reading. You won’t have a good time.

Also, for portrait shots, we noticed a bit of inconsistency with how the AI touches up your output, namely at 3X zoom. You won’t encounter any problems under direct sunlight, or in an evenly lit setting. But we tried a couple of desk shots under LED lights and–well, we got two kinds of photos. One was gorgeous, and the other seemed like Edward Elric was being taken back through The Gate for not learning his lesson on human transmutation. We’re expecting a couple more firmware updates, so we’ll put a pin on this for now. All-in-all, the cameras work great.

Now, the camera system is further enhanced by realme’s Next AI, which brings several intelligent features to the table. We tried out AI Ultra Clarity and AI Smart Removal, as these will likely be the features that one would use and abuse. The AI Ultra Clarity is still in its beta version, and given how clear our photos came out–there really wasn’t any need to touch them up any further. Diminishing returns, so to speak.

As for the AI Smart Removal–boy, oh boy, is it fun to play around with. 

As for selfies, the 32MP Sony IMX615 front-facing camera shoots and scores rather well in making us look decent, both at 0.8X and 1X zoom. Portrait mode adds some decent bokeh to the mix, and doesn’t transform your outline into a NSFW video–which is great.

Both front and rear cameras support up 4K video recording at 30fps. At 1080/60 fps, you can shoot with more stability, and make use of that 6X lossless zoom.

Everyday Reliability

The realme 13 Pro+ 5G will not let you down as daily driver. With all the features we mentioned prior, the icing on the cake would simple be the answer to the age-old question: “Will it survive longer than I can on a day-to-day basis?” Luckily–or unfortunately for your body’s resilience, yes it definitely can.

We know that seeing a 5200 mAh battery won’t be impressive, given how that’s pretty much the standard, but it’s optimized rather well to not drain as fast as you’d expect. Mobile data notwithstanding, we’d get a good work day of use with about 20% to spare. At heavy usage, it gets trimmed down to about 10-15%, but then again, who goes through three hours of HoK and Honkai: Star Rail? Good question. We’ll get back to you on that.

Of course, when it’s time to top up, the 80W SUPERVOOC charging can get us back in action to about 50% in just around 20 minutes and a full charge in around 45 minutes.

It also comes with some nice quality of life features, like a snappy in-display fingerprint sensor for everyone, and 360° NFC for those who need it. Running on Android 14 with realme UI 5.0, our overall experience was smooth all throughout. We did get a couple of firmware updates which made things even smoother, and we’re expecting a couple more in the following weeks.

Lastly, we need to mention the inclusion of 5G capabilities, which ensure that you’re future-proofed for the unforeseeable future. It’s definitely becoming the norm nowadays, so it’s nice to have it and not worry about it. As such, the smartphone’s capable antenna array matrix made sure we had no problems with connectivity.

So, again, no matter how long your day goes, the realme 13 Pro+ 5G can go even longer. So, try and keep up, will you?

Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict

The realme 13 Pro+ 5G  brings together resilience, performance, and a bit more artistry than usual into its aesthetics. The Monet-inspired design is definitely the pièce de résistance, and it goes hand-in-hand with some impressive cameras supplemented by burgeoning AI features. While it may not be the gamer’s first choice, but delivers a solid overall performance. The inclusion of features like 120x SuperZoom and AI-enhanced photography are merely icing on the cake, and we’re quite stoked to see how far they’ll go in following installments of the series.

So, if you’re looking for a stylish, capable, and feature-packed smartphone, the realme 13 Pro+ 5G should be on your radar. In terms of pricing, we can’t say that they’re charging too much. You might have to shell out just a bit more to get that 512 GB, but we believe it’s worth it–given the whole camera kit and caboodle you’ll be getting. 

The new realme 13 Pro Series 5G includes two models. The realme 13 Pro 5G, priced at P24,999, comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. On the other hand, the realme 13 Pro+ 5G is offered in two variants: a 12GB+256GB model priced at P28,999 and a 12GB+512GB model priced at P31,999, available in Monet Gold and Emerald Green colors.

Online shoppers can also find the realme 13 Pro 5G on the realme TikTok Shop at a discounted price of P21,499 until September 3.

realme 13 Pro+ 5G Full Specs:

• Qualcomm SM7435-AB Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 (4 nm)
• Adreno 710 GPU
• 6.7″ AMOLED Display, 1B colors, 120Hz, 2000 nits peak brightness, 1080 x 2412 pixels, Corning Gorilla Glass 7i
• 12 GB RAM
• 512 GB Storage
• Triple camera setup: 50 MP main (f/1.9, OIS), 50 MP periscope telephoto (3x optical zoom, OIS), 8 MP ultrawide
• 32 MP Selfie camera
• 5G, LTE, Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C
• 5200 mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC charging
• Android 14, Realme UI 5.0
• Monet Gold, Emerald Green
• IP65 dust and water resistance