Realme 13+ Review | Shines in performance and power
There seems to be a slight downgrade from the 12 series, which featured a faux leather rear. The Realme 13+ sports a glossy marble design on the back. Despite its shiny rear, the phone resists smudges. However, I would have preferred the design to cover the entire body, as it stops just short of the circular camera module.
The phone boasts an IP65 rating. Realme has retained the familiar setup of buttons and ports, with the volume rocker and power button on the right side. At the bottom, you’ll find the hybrid SIM tray (capable of holding either two SIM cards or one SIM card and an SD card), a USB-C port, and a speaker grille. The inclusion of a 3.5mm audio jack is a welcome feature. The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the display and responds swiftly.
The Realme 13+ features a 6.67-inch OLED display, delivering sharp visuals with a 1080 x 2400 FHD+ resolution. It supports a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, ensuring smooth scrolling and an immersive viewing experience. The display also offers a 180 Hz touch sampling rate, with an instantaneous peak of 1200 Hz, making it highly responsive to touch inputs. The brightness is impressive, with a typical level of 600 nits and a peak of 2000 nits, ensuring clear visibility in bright outdoor conditions. The display also supports Rainwater Smart Touch, allowing it to function well in wet conditions.
When compared to the Realme 13 Pro, both devices share several key features, including the 120 Hz refresh rate and the peak brightness of 2000 nits, providing smooth visuals and strong outdoor performance. However, the 13 Pro has a slight edge overall.
The Realme 13+ runs on Realme UI 5.0, built on Android 14. Unfortunately, the OS comes loaded with pre-installed apps, giving it a somewhat cluttered feel. The phone includes AI Boost 2.0, which intelligently optimises app performance based on usage habits, enhancing efficiency. Additional AI features, like AI Smart Loop and AI Clear Voice, further improve the experience. AI Smart Loop is especially useful for enhancing multitasking and overall usability.
The Realme 13+ excels in handling demanding tasks and resource-heavy games, thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset. The processor delivers strong performance, outpacing most rivals in its class, though it slightly trails behind the budget-friendly iQOO Z9 in benchmarks. With up to 12 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage, multitasking is seamless, and storage speeds are impressive. The phone also includes a stainless-steel vapour chamber cooling system, ensuring it remains cool during prolonged gaming or intensive use.
In benchmarks, the Realme 13+ delivers solid results, scoring 1052 points in GeekBench’s Single-Core test and an impressive 2938 in the Multi-Core test. Its GPU performance is equally commendable, with a score of 2596. These figures surpass those of the Realme 13 Pro and outperform competitors like the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion and the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite.
In everyday use, the phone feels smooth, with fluid animations and no stutter. It easily handles daily tasks and pushes up to 90 FPS in games like BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile. The inclusion of GT Mode further enhances gaming performance, offering features like Geek Power Tuning for clock speed management, Game Focus Mode, and Voice Changer for a more immersive gaming experience.
The Realme 13+ impresses with its camera setup, featuring a 50 MP Sony LYT-600 primary sensor paired with a 2 MP secondary lens. In daylight, the primary camera produces vibrant photos with a balanced dynamic range and accurate colours. Outdoor shots show sharp detail, although occasional HDR blooming occurs, but it doesn’t detract significantly from the overall quality.
Realme 13+ camera sample | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
Close-up shots exhibit a pleasing natural effect, and portrait shots offer lifelike skin tones, although edge detection could be slightly more precise. The 2x in-sensor zoom delivers respectable results, retaining good detail and dynamic range with minimal compromise. Night mode is competitive for its class, handling low-light scenes well with minimal noise, though finer details could be improved.
Realme 13+ camera sample | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
The 16 MP front-facing selfie camera, housed in a hole-punch cutout, delivers solid results. Selfies are sharp with good colour reproduction, and even in portrait mode, it handles background separation reasonably well, making it a reliable option for social media.
The Realme 13+ is equipped with a 5000 mAh battery that easily lasts through a full day, whether gaming, streaming, or multitasking. It supports 80 W Ultra Charge, significantly reducing charging time. The included charger takes the phone from 0 to 100% in 42-46 minutes, making it highly convenient for users on the go.
Starting at ₹22,999, Realme buyers may find it challenging to choose between models, as they are very close in terms of design and performance, potentially leading to internal competition within the series.
Published - September 14, 2024 02:49 pm IST
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