realme 11 Pro+ 5G unboxing initial verdict Philippines: The realme 11 Pro+ 5G looks to be a strong contender in the premium mid-range space, offering a premium exterior with a promising 200-megapixel main shooter. With so much competition in the space, will realme’s new phone make a dent?

Pros

• Stylish design
• 200-megapixel shooters
• Large 512GB capacity
• Nice-looking screen
• 100W fast charging

Cons

• Could have had a better processor
• No IP certification

Lots of new smartphones are launching in the Philippines this month, and realme is adding to the pile with their new realme 11 Pro 5G and Pro+ 5G. The brand handed the Pro+ version over to us a few days ago and we’ve been using it as our daily driver since. Both the realme 11 Pro 5G and Pro+ 5G are very promising premium mid-rangers, thanks to their stylish design and 200-megapixel camera.

Unboxing and contents:

I’m lumping both the realme 11 Pro 5G and Pro+ 5G in this unboxing as there are only small differences in terms of hardware and camera between the two. Additionally, save for an almost imperceptible difference in thickness between the two phone’s camera modules, they both look identical, and the contents of the box reflect that.

Speaking of contents, both phones come in the standard realme packaging that has the model name written on the front and side. Inside the box sits the actual unit itself, documentation, a SIM ejector, a transparent case, a power brick, and USB cable.

The main difference between the two as far as accessories go is that the realme 11 Pro 5G gets a 66W SuperVOOC charging brick, while the realme 11 Pro+ 5G gets a 100W SuperVOOC charger.

Design and display

The first thing that you’ll notice with the realme 11 Pro+ 5G is its design. Both the Sunrise Beige and Oasis Green variants of the phone are swathed in premium lychee vegan leather at the back, with a seam running right smack dab in the middle leading up to the circular camera module.

realme teamed up with former Gucci Prints and Textile Designer Matteo Menoto for the rear design of the realme 11 Pro+ 5G and its non-plus sibling, and the results look stunning. realme has done a good job replicating the woven texture that you usually see on high-end bags. Aside from looking hella fire, the hard-wearing nature of the material also allows users the option of not using a case with the phone with everyday use.

In a refreshing change from all the twin-reflex design camera module layouts we’ve been seeing lately, realme went for a large, circular ring layout for the cameras on both the realme 11 Pro 5G and Pro+ 5G. The realme 11 Pro+ 5G has three cameras on that circular ring, though only two of them matter, as is sadly the tradition with mid-rangers nowadays.

The realme 11 Pro 5G and Pro+ 5G both have the same 6.7-inch OLED curved panel, with a refresh rate of 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 360Hz. Maximum screen brightness for the phones is 900 nits, which means you won’t have trouble seeing the phone under direct sunlight.

Aside from that, realme is also promising that the phones also have their X-Touch Anti-Mistouch Algorithm 2.0, is a fancy way of talking about their palm-rejection software to keep mistouches away from the curved screen.

As far as display quality goes, the panel used on both phones looks great. The colors are spot on, and it’s one of the more impressive screens we’ve seen on a mid-range today.

Camera, hardware, battery

The realme 11 Pro+ 5G has a 200-megapixel main camera, paired with an f/1.69 aperture lens for maximum performance during low light, as well as “super” OIS. realme uses an additional 3° EDR OIS algorithm to further reduce blurring due to shakes, along with 4-axis gyro-based stabilization. The sensor itself is Samsung’s ISOCELL HP3, which is a very capable sensor that’s currently used in other 200-megapixel mid-range smartphones.

Images look good, even photos shot in less than ideal lighting like the wooden murals and the dark hallway.

The rest of the camera array doesn’t look as good unfortunately – there’s an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera and your usual 2-megapixel filler.

The realme 11 Pro+ 5G gets a 32-megapixel Sony selfie camera, while the realme 11 Pro only gets a 16-megapixel snapper.

The realme 11 Pro 5G ditches the 200-megapixel shooter for a 100-megapixel one (still with OIS) and deletes the ultra-wide camera–but retains the depth sensor. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of sample photos from the realme 11 Pro 5G, though you can check out the limited low-light performance of the phone below:

As far as hardware goes, both phones are powered by the same processor: the MediaTek Dimensity 7050. The main differentiator between the two phones is the amount of RAM and storage: the realme 11 Pro 5G has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while the realme 11 Pro+ 5G has more RAM at 12GB, and double the storage at 512 GB.

And while we can’t show you benchmark results yet (that’ll have to come from the full review), take note that there’s a negligible difference in performance between the two performance-wise, which means more RAM doesn’t always equate to better performance.

Real-world use tells me that the Dimensity 7050 will be able to take care of most tasks, though looking at just the numbers on the spec sheet it may come up short when put against other processors like the SD 7 Gen 1. We’ll just have to see in our full review if it holds up.

Moving on to the battery, while both phones have the same capacity at 5000mAh, charging rates are a little different to account for the better specs on the higher model. The realme 11 Pro gets a 66W SUPERVOOC charging, while the realme 11 Pro+ gets an even higher charging rate at 100W.

Wrap-up

The realme 11 Pro+ 5G looks to be a promising, mid-range phone for the Philippines, as the combination of its unique design, high-resolution snapper, and ultra-fast charging is pretty unique in the mid-range space.

The realme 11 Pro 5G might be harder to sell, though if realme prices it properly it just might be the choice for discerning, budget-conscious fashionistas.

Anyway, the brand will be officially launching the phone on August 24, so stay tuned on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube for the official live stream.