Review Summary
Expert Rating
Realme continues to elevate its signature series with each passing iteration, both in terms of capabilities and pricing. Yes, the company has most certainly abandoned its budget-oriented lineage but even with the increasing price tag, the lineup still packs a bang for the buck. Take for instance the Realme 10 Pro+ (review) from last year, a mid-range offering with looks that rival even the more premium flagships. This year is no different as the brand is taking things to the next level with the design and camera apparatus on board. The Realme 11 Pro+ houses Samsung’s 200MP ISOCELL GM3 sensor, a first for any smartphone, and also features a leather back panel, a first for Realme smartphones in India. Starting at Rs 27,999, the Realme 11 Pro+ is priced very competitively, placing it in a heavily crowded segment. In this review let’s figure out if the handset is worth your money and how it is positioned in the smartphone market.
Table of Contents
Verdict
The Realme 11 Pro+ is a visually stunning phone which can be easily mistaken for an ultra-premium handset. It boasts elegant design choices like a faux leather back panel and a curved AMOLED screen, both of which are immaculately done. Although the primary camera is excellent, the ultra-wide shooter could be improved and the handset’s processing capabilities are not the best in class. However, if you want a trendy mid-range phone with most features, the Realme 11 Pro+ gets my thumbs up.
Design and display
Realme brings its excellent design choices from last year to the Realme 11 Pro+, giving the device a premium look that surpasses its weight class. The thing I like the most is its leatherette-back finish which not only adds more elegance but also provides a layer of protection against accidental drops and smudges. The colour variant I have is called Sunrise Baige and it looks exactly like it sounds with the golden trims and off-white skin. At the top is a gigantic camera ring, not unlike last year’s Xiaomi 12S Ultra, that houses three sensors and a flash module. Just looking at this humungous unit of a camera module gives you the impression that a single omnipresent eye is staring back at you. It can be disconcerting, to say the least, but the look gels well with the smartphone’s standout design.
The phone feels quite light in the hand at 184g and its slimness is matched only by its predecessor. Apart from that you get the usual assortment, including a stereo speaker setup, a USB Type-C port, and a dual-SIM slot, while the volume rocker and power button are to the side. Realme has indeed done a fantastic job to woo its target audience, with the 11 Pro+ resembling more of an art piece than a smartphone.
As for the viewing experience, the brand has basically followed a policy of don’t fix it if it’s not broken. The Realme 10 Pro+ had one of the most exquisite displays to ever grace a sub-Rs 30,000 phone and the 11 Pro+ follows suit. You get a curved AMOLED panel, which earlier was privy only to premium flagships, and a small punch-hole up top for the selfie shooter. The screen can refresh at 120Hz and has FHD+ (1,080 x 2,412) resolution, both of which are pretty standard at this price.
The 11 Pro+’s visual acumen is helped by the O1 Ultra Vision Engine which enhances video colours on the fly and amps up brightness levels of HDR content. Speaking of which the phone also has HDR10+ support which works on OTT platforms like Netflix. Bezels are extremely trim around the display thanks to the curves on either side and I felt no instances of accidental touches. Finally, the display is more than adept in sunny outdoor conditions thanks to its nearly 950 nits of peak brightness on offer.
Camera
The optical setup is another one of Realme’s focus this time around. Samsung’s 200MP ISOCELL HP3 sensor makes a debut in India on the Realme 11 Pro+ and the supporting cast includes an 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro shooter. For context, even Samsung’s top-end flagship, the Galaxy S23 Ultra (review), is using an HP2 sensor, which makes the 11 Pro+’s camera apparatus all the more impressive. I have maintained that Realme’s signature series has always been at the forefront of camera prowess in its segment and this time is no different. Daylight snaps from the primary shooter are immaculately carved in detail and accurately showcase the colours. Dynamic range is on par with flagship offerings and the sensor’s large size allows for a lot more light to correctly illuminate any landscape.
By default, the phone does 12.5MP pixel-binned shots which combine 16 pixels into one for extreme detailing. However, the UHD 200MP mode takes full-resolution shots that can add a substantially more crop-in area at the cost of dynamic range. Additionally, the Realme 11 Pro+ allows for 2X and 4X zoom photos, which again utilises cropping from the primary shooter’s viewfinder. While this feature adds convenience, true photographic improvements would necessitate a dedicated telephoto sensor.
Talking about some of the camera features, the phone has a Street mode which allows you to take portrait-style images at various focal lengths. You can also toggle auto-zoom in the same mode to get closer to your subject without moving the camera. Apart from that focus can also be adjusted manually to your liking or you could let the camera’s auto focus decide for you. In any case, the final output was not always to my liking but I’m sure that further experimenting could yield more favourable results.
Low-light images are suffused with detailing and exposure levels, even when you are not using the dedicated Night mode. Of course, using it adds a layer of quality noise reduction and just the slightest bit of oversharpening. The overall effect is pleasing enough and I particularly like the fast shutter and focus speeds even in the absence of sufficient lighting.
The ultra-wide shooter is where I felt some improvements are required. Of course, its image quality is nowhere close to the primary shooter but I expected it to at least match up with colour accuracy. Unfortunately, neither the dynamic range nor the colour temperature from the ultra-wide camera resembles the scene being captured. The macro sensor is passable with its close-up photography but falters when the light is even moderately low. Finally, you also have the 32MP selfie shooter that snaps images with decently good facial features but does fall prey to some of Realme’s oversharpening shenanigans. In conclusion, the Realme 11 Pro+ excels in image quality with its impressive 200MP main shooter, overshadowing any limitations of its secondary cameras.
Performance and software
The Realme 11 Pro+ marks the debut of MediaTek’s Dimensity 7050 SoC, an 6nm octa-core CPU with two performance Cortex-A78 cores and six efficiency Cortex-A55 cores. Performance levels on the 11 Pro+ are certainly a step up from last year’s Dimensity 1080 but cannot be classified as the best in the segment. Benchmark numbers are one way to judge a device’s processing capabilities and the Realme 11 Pro+ does a decent job with its scores. On Antutu the phone has a score of 543,205 which is about a five percent jump from the last iteration. Geekbench 6 got single-core and multi-core results of 934 and 2,358 and the CPU Throttle test showed the phone operating at 84 percent of its peak performance.
All this to say that the phone does relatively well with moderate to high-level tasks, but if you are someone with heavy processing needs, then the options like the iQOO Neo7 (review) or the Motorola Edge 40 would better suit you. The gaming performance on the Realme 11 Pro+ is good enough with CoD: Mobile operating at 60fps. Apart from that you get a maximum of 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage and 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, both of which are more than optimal.
In terms of the audio setup, I like how good the stereo speakers sound on the handset with very little interference even at high volumes. Authentication is provided by an in-display fingerprint sensor of the optical variety. Its registration process is snappy although I have noticed its recognition to be slightly unreliable at times. Finally, the phone has 5G functionality, which is mostly a given at this point, and the experience remains more than optimal on Noida’s Jio circle.
Here’s a speed test done using Airtel 5G Plus network in Saket, Delhi.
The device runs RealmeUI 4.0, which is based on Android 13, and it adds a few new features as compared to the previous iteration. For instance, while playing music from Spotify, the always-on display offers audio controls and recommendations. However, the interface could be considered cluttered due to the presence of numerous Realme apps on both the home screen and app drawer. Additionally, there is an intrusive window that appears every time an app is downloaded, suggesting similar or trending apps. Despite these drawbacks, RealmeUI 4.0 remains intuitive, customisable, and generally user-friendly.
Battery
It surprises me that Realme has managed to cram in a 5,000mAh cell inside a body that is so thin. The handset does last for a significant amount of time without the need to charge. Specifically in my case, when not on 5G, the Realme 11 Pro+ gets about six hours of screen-on time. This does not include any GPU-intensive activity and only constitutes my day-to-day tasks involving social media and YouTube. Even if the device runs out of juice, Realme has provided a 100W charging solution to top up the battery in a jiffy.
Final verdict
Words are hard to describe how good the Realme 11 Pro+ looks and feels for a phone priced at just under Rs 30,000. My friends genuinely confused the smartphone with an ultra-premium handset and it’s hard to blame them for it. The company has done an immaculate job with the leather back, the curved screen, and the overall aesthetic of the 11 Pro+. I feel that the phone’s optical capabilities are limited to just the primary sensor and some work can be done to improve the ultra-wide shooter. Apart from that if raw performance factors into your purchase decision, then there will be better fish in the sea. However, if what you are looking for is the super trendy, utility-driven handset in the mid-range market, then I wholeheartedly recommend the Realme 11 Pro+.
Editor’s rating: 4 / 5
Reasons to buy:
- With its plush leather back and lightweight design, the Realme 11 Pro+ is easily the best-looking phone in its segment
- The 200MP camera makes photography a breeze on the device
- A 5,000mAh cell makes the Realme 11 Pro+ a long-lasting phone
- The curved AMOLED panel is very vibrant and rich in colours
Reasons not to buy:
- The Ultra-wide camera is a bit of a letdown
- The phone is not the fastest performer in its segment
 | Rs. 27,599.00 | Go To Store |
 realme 11 Pro Plus | vs |  Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G |
| realme 11 Pro Plus | vs |  Motorola Edge 40 |
