Review Summary
Expert Rating
Realme smartphones are known for quickly adopting the latest trends. Following the introduction of AI in the GT series, the brand promptly added it into its popular numeric series lineup. The Realme 13 Pro series, as it’s called, features an array of AI capabilities that are more advanced and seamlessly integrated as compared to those in the GT series. Marketed as Hyperimage+, this AI technology (combined with the latest sensors) is centred on enhancing the camera performance of the 13 series. The AI also assists in editing, file sharing, and more.Realme smartphones are known for quickly adopting the latest trends.
I’m reviewing the Realme 13 Pro+ here, which features a slightly better camera setup, among other things, than the regular Pro variant. Can its AI-backed camera performance help it stand out in the highly competitive competition? Let’s find out in this Realme 13 Pro+ review.
Table of Contents
Verdict
The Realme 13 Pro+ is a compelling choice in the mid-range smartphone category, particularly for its camera capabilities. It boasts a versatile camera setup enhanced by AI features that elevate photography. Although its performance could have been better, the handset’s design, display, and battery life are commendable.
Design and display
The Realme 13 Pro+ has further refined the design of its predecessor, the Realme 12 Pro+, which was already considered one of the more attractive smartphones on the market. I received the Monet Gold colour variant for review, which features a glass back with a sandblast finish. This resists fingerprints and smudges and provides a premium in-hand feel. Beneath the glass is a subtle pattern inspired by the flowing light and shadow in Claude Monet’s artwork, which looks particularly striking under light.
| Realme 13 Pro+ | Motorola Edge 50 Pro | Honor 200 | |
| Thickness | 8.2mm | 8.19mm | 7.7mm |
| Weight | 190 grams | 186 grams | 187 |
| IP rating | IP65 | IP68 | IP65 |
The aesthetic is enhanced by a camera module resembling a luxury watch dial, featuring golden rims and precisely cut 436 metal lines, adding a touch of elegance to the device. The camera module also flaunts a dual-tone finish, with the bottom portion highlighting the ‘Hyperimage+’ text against the golden background. The handset includes a plastic frame with a golden accent, providing a contrasting appearance. However, the phone’s curved edges do not blend smoothly with the frame, causing them to rub awkwardly against your fingers. Additionally, the glossy frame, instead of a matte finish, makes the phone slightly slippery. Nevertheless, these issues can be easily addressed with a good-quality case, such as the one that ships with the device.
As for I/O, the Realme 13 Pro+ features a USB Type-C port at the bottom edge for charging and data transfer. The phone is equipped with Hi-Res stereo speakers for a decent audio experience. For security, there is an in-display fingerprint scanner, which unlocks the device in a jiffy.
The display hardware is the same as the Realme 12 Pro+, with improvements in brightness. The new numeric series smartphone sports a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 2,000 nits peak brightness, FHD+ resolution, and up to 120Hz refresh rate. The increased brightness ensures better visibility under direct sunlight as compared to the previous model.
| Realme 13 Pro+ | Honor 200 | Motorola Edge 50 Pro | |
| Display size | 6.7-inch AMOLED | 6.7-inch AMOLED | 6.7-inch pOLED |
| Peak brightness | 2,000 nits | 4,000 nits | 1,600 nits |
The viewing experience is typical for a smartphone in this segment. The colour profile of the panel, set to vivid by default, can be adjusted to your preference. Despite this, it boasts a punchy and vibrant screen with a high contrast ratio and excellent viewing angles. The handset is Widevine L1 certified, allowing streaming in FHD resolution from OTT platforms. However, I wish the phone’s screen also supported HDR, which is available in some other smartphones within this price range, for enhanced picture quality.
Cameras
The Realme 13 Pro+ is the world’s first smartphone with a 50MP Sony LYT-701 primary sensor in the triple rear camera setup. The setup also features a 50MP Sony LYT-600 periscope lens and an 8MP ultrawide lens. Both primary and periscope sensors are quipped with OIS for stability in shots. For selfies and video calling, the phone relies on a 32MP snapper in the punch-hole setup.
The cameras are quite impressive, capturing images with crisp details, respectable dynamic range, and vibrant colours. The company credits its Hyperimage+ technology for this success, which works with high-resolution sensors to enhance photo quality. Hyperimage+ integrates AI with Realme’s HyperRAW algorithm, boosting clarity and dynamic range, and delivering true-to-life colours, though a slight increase in saturation is noticeable. This technology also makes the Realme smartphone the first of its kind to receive TUV Rheinland high-resolution camera certification. However, while the AI HyperRAW algorithm performs well, it is slightly slow, taking roughly 3-4 seconds to process an image and produce the final result.
The Realme 13 Pro+ also boasts of its 50MP periscope lens, which uses AI to deliver ‘Pure’ bokeh, natural skin tone, and clarity to capture beautiful portraits. The lens supports 3x optical zoom and does a decent job separating the subject from the background. Additionally, facial details are well-defined, and skin tones are nearly accurate. The cameras also support an AI Group Photo Enhance feature, which optimises the clarity of the subjects’ faces. For selfies and video calling, the handset relies on a 32MP snapper in the punch-hole setup that also delivers good results, if not the most likeable.
Keep reading to discover how the Realme 13 Pro+ cameras perform against some of its arch rivals, including the OnePlus Nord 4, Motorola Edge 50 Pro, and Honor 200.
Daylight
The Realme 13 Pro+’s daylight shots are comparable to those of the OnePlus Nord 4, which doesn’t boost colours as much as the Motorola Edge 50 Pro and doesn’t lack detail like the Honor 200. Both Realme and OnePlus smartphones excel at capturing details with good dynamic range. However, Realme boosts reds and greens ever so slightly to make its images more vibrant and appealing than its counterparts.
Ultrawide
The Realme 13 Pro+ and the OnePlus Nord 4 both come with an 8MP ultrawide lens. However, the OnePlus smartphone excels at capturing landscape images. It offers superior exposure to details and shadows, whereas images taken with the Realme 13 Pro+ ultrawide lens tend to look muted.
3x telephoto portraits
The Realme 13 Pro+ telephoto camera is comparable to that of the Motorola Edge 50 Pro, as both offer 3x optical zoom. However, the Motorola’s smaller 10MP sensor, compared to the Realme’s 50MP sensor, results in relatively lower detail. Additionally, the Motorola tends to boost colours and adds a reddish tint to skin tones. In contrast, the Realme captures natural-looking colours. Its facial details are impressive, and its edge detection is more accurate than the Edge 50 Pro’s.
Selfie
The Realme Pro+ and Motorola Edge 50 Pro deliver equally good images from their respective front cameras, in terms of detailing. Having said that, the Motorola smartphone boosts the colours to make them more aesthetically pleasing. However, if accuracy is what you are after, then the Realme 13 Pro+ would be a better choice.
Night mode
Almost every smartphone now features a night mode that captures long-exposure images, allowing more light in and enhancing details. This capability improves detail capture in dimly lit environments. The Realme 13 Pro+’s low-light performance is on par with the OnePlus Nord 4. However, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro’s night mode performs slightly better, highlighting details and preventing light bleed on signboards.
Performance and software
The Realme 13 Pro+ hasn’t made changes in the performance and software departments from its predecessor. The handset is powered by Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SoC. This leaves the smartphone far behind the OnePlus Nord 4 and POCO F6, which appeal to power users. The Realme smartphone, on the other hand, caters to casual users, with particular interest in cameras, and for them, the performance should suffice. The handset is available in three RAM and non-expandable storage variants: 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 256GB, and 12GB + 512GB. Our review unit came with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage configuration.
In synthetic benchmark tests, the handset achieved a score of 617,481 on AnTuTu and 916 and 2,815 in the single-core and multi-core tests on Geekbench, respectively. Despite these average scores, the handset performed commendably, throttling to just 78.6 percent of its peak performance in the Burnout test. This indicates that the phone is more than capable of handling intense loads.
When it comes to gaming, the Realme 13 Pro+ is not as consistent as some of the other performance-focused smartphones within the segment. Nevertheless, it can still manage graphically demanding titles such as BGMI, Call of Duty, and Real Racing 3 without any hiccups and getting uncomfortably warm. During our lab test, the handset heated up roughly 15 degrees on an aggregate playing the games for a total of one and a half hours. Unfortunately, for BGMI, the handset supported 40 FPS (frame per second) instead of 60 in Ultra HDR graphics settings.
Regarding the software, the Realme 13 Pro+ runs Android 14-based Realme UI 5.0 out of the box. The experience is not noticeably different from other Realme smartphones launched in the last few months. The phone offers a wide range of customisation options and comes with 55 pre-installed apps, including seven third-party ones. This may make the app drawer somewhat bloated, but you have the option to uninstall at least the third-party apps.
| Pre-installed apps | OS updates | |
| Realme 13 Pro+ | 55 | 2 years major, 3 years security |
| Motorola Edge 50 Pro | 41 | 3 years major, 4 years security |
| Honor 200 | 46 | 3 years major, 4 years security |
In addition to the camera AI features mentioned above, the phone also includes an AI Smart Loop, which recognises content and makes recommendations for the next step. For instance, you can long-press an image and drag it to the edges of the screen for quick sharing with compatible apps. This feature must be enabled through the settings menu first.
The phone also features a couple of AI image editing tools, including AI Ultra Clarity. This tool aims to enhance the quality of images in your gallery. Currently, in the testing phase, it may not always work perfectly and requires you to open the image through Realme’s Photos app. When it does work, AI Ultra Clarity can reduce blurriness and improve image clarity by smoothing out details. While it may not be flawless, it can produce pleasing results for low-resolution images of you or your loved ones.
Furthermore, the phone supports AI smart removal, which is similar to Google’s Magic Eraser tool to remove unwanted objects from an image. It works as advertised via the proprietary Photos app, but there is still room for improvement.
Battery and charging
The Realme 13 Pro+ houses a 5,200mAh battery, which is the beefiest in Realme’s numeric series smartphone series to date. It is supported by 80W fast charging speed, which is again a jump from 67W on its predecessor Realme 12 Pro+. The charger is provided in the box and is capable of charging the device from 20 to 100 percent within 40 minutes. The first 40 percent charge can be achieved in about 18 minutes.
The handset appears capable of lasting an entire day on a single charge with moderate to heavy usage. It achieved a PCMark score of 11 hours and 34 minutes, dropping from 100 percent to 20 percent battery life. In our YouTube video streaming test, the phone consumed 5 percent of its battery after 30 minutes at 50 percent brightness and volume. During gaming, the Realme 13 Pro+ used approximately 22 percent of its battery after playing BGMI, Call of Duty, and Realme Racing 3 for 30 minutes each.
| Phone | Charge time (20-100 percent) |
| Realme 13 Pro+ (80W) | 38 minutes |
| Motorola Edge 50 Pro (125W) | 16 minutes |
| Honor 200 (100W) | 39 minutes |
Final verdict
The Realme 13 Pro+ continues the legacy of its predecessor, the Realme 12 Pro+, especially in the camera department. While it falls short in performance and software compared to competitors like the OnePlus Nord 4 and Motorola Edge 50 Pro, it shines as a top choice for camera enthusiasts. The AI-enhanced camera setup, featuring advanced sensors and innovative Hyperimage+ technology, produces impressive photos and videos. The handset’s design, with its premium finish and thoughtful aesthetics, combined with a vibrant display and reliable battery life with fast charging capabilities, further enhances its appeal.
The Realme 13 Pro+ can be yours starting at Rs 32,999. With offers, the handset can be fetched for as low as Rs 29,999.
Editor’s rating: 7.5 / 10
Reasons to buy
- Premium design
- Vibrant display
- Versatile cameras with AI
Reasons not to buy
- Performance could have been better
- Low software update cycle
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