Mid-budget gadgets are interesting because, on the one hand, they have everything for comfortable work, and on the other hand, their price remains reasonable. Today we are going to talk about the realme 11 Pro. This is a phone that has fast charging, 5G and a powerful chipset, as well as a stunning design (just like the flagships!) – but first things first.
Recently, realme introduced new smartphones of the realme 11 Pro series – realme 11 Pro+ 5G and realme 11 Pro 5G. We already have a review of a very interesting older smartphone:
Well, now it’s time for its little brother, the realme 11 Pro.
The realme 11 Pro is the successor to the realme 10 Pro, which was released not so long ago – in October 2022. But this is a lot for smartphones, so we already have a new product. You can compare the smartphones at this link. In short, the new device has a fresh design, AMOLED screen, more powerful processor, more memory, and faster charging.
The realme 11 Pro differs from the Plus version in that it has a 100 megapixel camera, storage capacity and download speed. The comparison is available here.
The official price of the smartphone in Ukraine is not yet known, but on Aliexpress the device can be purchased for around $409. The price depends on the modification.
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It would seem that there is nothing out of the ordinary: the device itself, a USB cable, an instruction manual, and a case. But there are a few nuances that I would like to draw attention to. First, the device came in a sturdy box from realme. It is clear that the manufacturers have thought through even this aspect of the design, because the first impression is the most important. All components are conveniently laid out and have their places. Minimalism and laconicism prevail, which makes me extremely happy, there is no unnecessary plastic.
Secondly, the kit includes a huge charger. Do you wonder if the large size of the charger automatically means quality and speed? We’ll find out a little later.
We also have a SIM card eject tool and documentation. It’s worth adding that the screen is already covered with a protective film.
The case has a somewhat strange form factor due to the features of the smartphone. It is silicone and protects the screen and camera unit. Interestingly, on the white version of the smartphone, the case is transparent, and on the black version, it has a grey tint. And this is good, because it will not turn yellow.
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Let’s move on to the appearance of the smartphone. It’s worth noting that both models – realme 11 Pro and Pro+ – have the same design. Each smartphone can be purchased in the usual black colour, as well as in a customised white and gold eco-leather design.
We received both new products for review at once: the flagship of the series in beige, and the younger model in black.
This played in favour of the 11 Pro+ because it looked more interesting, more expensive, more premium. At first, I even thought it wouldn’t be available in eco-leather.
It seems to me that the black realme 11 Pro is a versatile and elegant option that will suit every user. And beige is for those who like to stand out. Because it looks quite strange.
I should add that the black version has a matte back made of rough plastic that shimmers beautifully in the sun.
And you can read about the beige version in our 11 Pro+ review, it’s cool and unusual, and created by an Italian designer!
All I can say is that it’s nice to see such an unusual design in a mid-range smartphone. Previously, we have seen something like this only on flagships!
The front of the device is minimalistic, with only a protective film on the screen and a built-in round camera. The screen itself is rounded on the sides. Let us repeat: we have previously seen such solutions only on flagship smartphones. It looks beautiful and really “premium”, helps to make the phone thinner, and the screen bezels are unobtrusive.
The body frame is plastic. The design of the smartphone is good, the materials are of high quality. It’s a pity that there is no water protection, but it’s not a flagship.
If you turn the phone sideways, you will see only 2 buttons on the right side – power and a double volume button. The left side is empty. Below is a Type-C connector, one of the speakers, a SIM card slot, and a microphone. On top is an additional microphone and a second speaker.
To be honest, the design of the new product caused me an avalanche of emotions. At first, I didn’t understand how it was possible to have such a huge camera module, because it takes up a third of the back. Gradually, I got used to this “giant” and started to like this design, because my phone was always in the spotlight, it was the king and centre of the universe. And that’s in the black version, but the white and gold one attracts even more attention!
Of course, not everyone will like this solution, but to be honest, I’m sure this design will find many fans.
The phone is thin and comfortable. And although the screen is large, you can get used to it and control it even with one hand. The rounded glass of the screen only contributes to this.
Interestingly, during testing, I found the black model to be much lighter than the beige one. I even thought that the 11 Pro weighed less in general. But this is not the case. According to the specifications, both smartphones have identical dimensions. But there is a nuance – the thickness of the black one is 8.2 mm, the leather one is 8.8 mm. The weight is almost the same – the leather one weighs 3 g more. But it seems that it is the greater thickness that makes it so.
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I liked the screen as much as possible. And no wonder, because it has a diagonal of 6.7 inches and AMOLED. This automatically means that the displayed elements are bright and detailed. Every video or picture was juicy and natural. Even on a sunny day, it’s comfortable to work with almost no glare.
It’s worth noting that the display looks good thanks to its edges and sides. The photos show that we are dealing with a three-dimensional and “infinite” screen. I like this solution because the content on the screen seems to disappear into nowhere, and it makes a real wow effect.
The peak brightness is 950 nits. The display also features 20,000 thousand levels of AI-assisted automatic brightness adjustment, which also helps protect the user’s eyesight.
By default, the automatic mode is activated, in which the frequency changes according to the tasks to save battery power, but there is also an option for 120 Hz only and 60 Hz only. In general, there are many options for customising the screen to suit your needs.
I would like to add that I did not notice that the screen of the younger model of the realme 11 Pro series is inferior to the older one. The colour reproduction is slightly different, but otherwise everything is just as good.
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The sound from the stereo speakers is good and loud, although to some extent I lacked bass in some moments (songs). During a conversation, the microphone and speaker do an excellent job. Everything is audible, the volume is good, without distortion. The only thing that can upset you is the absence of a 3.5 mm input, since this nuance is important for some users.
Є підтримка Dolby Atmos і різні звукові профілі.
Like the older model in the series, the 11 Pro is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 7050 5G chipset with a Mali-G68 graphics card.
The smartphone is very fast, it runs all applications and any games. In the popular AnTuTu benchmark, this model scored 545,467 points. The 11 Pro+ received 528,313 points, so there is almost no difference.
realme 11 Pro has all the necessary features. It has 5G, tri-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, A-GPS, GLONAS. And, of course, the up-to-date NFC function for contactless payments.
Read also: Realme C33 review: what to expect from a $140 smartphone?
The smartphone is based on Android 13 with realme UI 4.0, and I must admit that I played with the settings a lot. There are many options that you can customise to suit your own needs.
Almost every setting can be changed to your liking. realme takes great care of user privacy and data protection, so we have the ability to secure our data, save and download backups, and perform security diagnostics on the entire device. Special features include realme cloning and parental control. It’s cool that several gestures are available to control the phone, as well as a functional sidebar with quick shortcuts.
You can also easily change the screen to add a different wallpaper and icon style, font size and dark mode. There are even experimental features in the settings (dual Bluetooth audio mode, heart rate measurement with a fingerprint sensor, and a mode for easy sleep)!
I liked changing styles and wallpapers on my smartphone. Fingerprint animation is a cool feature, although it is almost invisible. There is also a backlighting of the edges when you receive notifications. The Always on Display mode can also be configured in the menu.
The interface is organised and sorted into categories and functions, so it will be easy to use even for an older person or a child.
Overall, the phone is fast and responsive. I didn’t notice any freezes during testing. And the background applications instantly switched on and started working as if nothing had happened.
Read also: Realme 10 Smartphone Review: A New Mid-Range Hit?
At the presentation, realme representatives said that they always try to equip their devices with good cameras. We really liked the 11 Pro+ model because of the cameras. The cheaper model doesn’t have a wide-angle module, and the main one has a resolution of 100 megapixels instead of 200. And it’s not the big-name Samsung, but a cheaper OmniVision 1/1.8″ with OIS. Well, we still have a budget model.
The photographic capabilities of the realme 11 Pro are represented by such modules as:
ALL PHOTOS FROM REALME 11 PRO IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION
The less light, the worse – the phone takes even longer to “think”, and digital noise appears in the pictures.
The night photos are of relatively good quality, the smartphone captures a lot of light and processes them well using a special night mode. For its price range, the quality is just super!
I’d like to add that there is a special ultra night mode, when the photo will take a little longer, but with more light. Whether to use it is up to you. I’ll just show you an example, the night mode on the right:
ALL PHOTOS FROM REALME 11 PRO IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION
There’s a digital zoom, but to be honest, it’s a big drag on the quality when compared to a shot without zoom. Here are some examples:
The default resolution is 12 megapixels. There’s a separate 100 megapixel mode, but I don’t see any point in it, as photos take too long to form, even in perfect lighting. You can find some comparison photos in this folder. As you can see, the dynamic range is slightly different, I like the 12 megapixel photos better.
The 16-megapixel front camera takes good, even great selfies. I like the colours, there is no strong lag.
Here’s an example of a selfie in normal and portrait mode (right).
The realme 11 Pro+ records video in 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/480fps, 720p@960fps with decent optical stabilisation. The quality is quite good (both image and sound), examples are available here.
It’s worth adding that the phone has good settings – you’ll find a lot of functions in the camera app. In the settings, you can choose which gestures to use to take photos, correct distortions in portrait mode, turn off automatic night mode if necessary, etc.
In particular, there is the well-known Street Photography 4.0 mode, when the phone captures moving objects better. You can also add colour filters. Here is an example of photos taken in this mode:
ALL PHOTOS FROM REALME 11 PRO IN ORIGINAL RESOLUTION
In the settings, you can also enable filters from realme’s partner brand Lonely Planet and even add a company signature.
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From the specifications, we know that the smartphone has a 5000 mAh battery and a bundled 67W charger, which is comparable to other mid-range smartphones. In my case, the realme 11 Pro lasted 1.5 days with an average load – a good result, considering that not everyone is on the phone 24/7.
But there are, of course, people who cannot imagine their lives without the Internet. I also tested how realme behaves in continuous operation and during intensive multitasking. Unfortunately, then I had to charge the model in the evening.
The charging process itself took a little time. For example, when I was writing this review, I connected my phone with 20%, and after 40 minutes I got a result of 95%. realme promises a full charge in 47 minutes, and 50% in just 18 minutes. These figures are quite realistic.
Of course, realme 11 Pro has its pros and cons, just like any smartphone. However, there are more advantages, because for an adequate price, we get a powerful processor, a good screen, good cameras, well-thought-out software, an extraordinary design, a 67W charger, and a long battery life.
In my opinion, it’s the true king of the mid-range, as it’s a good phone with the right functionality for any user. It’s only worth paying extra for the 11 Pro+ version if you want higher-end cameras and more storage.
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