Full review: realme 13+

Just the other night, my girlfriend and I were having our anniversary dinner, and seated next to us was a couple playing Mobile Legends while waiting for their meal to be served. That in itself reflects how popular mobile gaming is here in the Philippines.

With that, smartphone brands are consciously riding this wave to supply consumers with devices tailor-fit for mobile gaming. The realme 13+ is a smartphone that can provide a smooth gaming experience while maintaining everyday reliability.

Design and build

There are two color options for the realme 13+: Dark Purple and Victory Gold. I am in love with the design. The area surrounding the camera has a simple matte finish, while the lower portion’s design is reminiscent of lightning strikes. Overall, the design is both unique and elegant.

Both the slim and lightweight nature of the smartphone make extended gaming sessions easier to bear. The realme 13+ is only 7.6mm thin and weighs just 185g.

While the textures all over the device and the lightweight form factor allow for a better grip while gaming, I’m not so keen on how the camera feels in this position. The camera takes up a lot of space on the back cover and can feel a bit odd – not to mention the amount of fingerprints you will run into after a gaming session.

The realme 13+ is quite durable as well. The IP65 Dust and Water Resistance, coupled with the ArmorShell Protection, ensure that the device is robust inside and out.  

Display and speakers

For maximum entertainment, the smartphone is equipped with a 6.67-inch 120Hz OLED Esports Display with an FHD+ resolution. I was quite pleased with the clarity of the visuals as well as the popping colors.

It also features a 92.767% screen-to-body ratio, up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness. All-in-all, whether it was for gaming or streaming, I thoroughly enjoyed the viewing experience on this display.

Several eye protection features are supported on the device, such as PWM Dimming, DC Dimming, AI Eye Comfort, Bedtime Mode and Paper Texture. Eye protection should never be overlooked, especially on a device you will be glued to.

An in-display fingerprint sensor can be found on the display as well.

In terms of the speakers, the smartphone is equipped with hi-res dual stereo speakers found on the top and bottom portions of the device. While the speakers are loud, they still lack a bit of clarity for me. I will always recommend using earphones, especially for gaming.

Camera

The main shooter of the realme 13+ is a 50MP Sony LYT600 OIS camera. It features Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) to aid in avoiding unwanted shakes that result in blurry shots.

Photos captured by the main shooter had good colors but were slightly too saturated for my liking. The level of details was okay, but nothing spectacular.

The same can be said about images captured in Portrait Mode. When you zoom in, you will notice the lack of details in the shots.

However, I was pleasantly surprised with Night Mode. While the details again were nothing to rave about, I was fairly content with what I was able to capture, particularly in some poorly lit settings.

For selfies, you can make use of the 16MP front camera. Photos taken on the selfie camera were satisfactory and for the most part, usable.

While editing the images you took on the device, you can use the Remover function to erase photo-bombers or anything unwanted that you captured.

The main shooter can capture videos up to 4K@30FPS. The OIS does come in handy here for better stabilization. The front camera on the other hand supports up to 1080p@30FPS.

Performance and UX

Under the hood, the realme 13+ is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Energy paired with an ARM Mali-G615 GPU. It is accompanied by 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. If you want to take it up a notch, you can increase that to 26GB through Dynamic RAM Expansion.

With an absurd amount of RAM, multitasking was seamless. Booting up apps was instantaneous, despite having a lot of others running in the background.

The realme 13+ is touted as an excellent daily driver for mobile gamers, and it did not disappoint. I ran Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile and Genshin Impact at the highest graphical settings.

I experienced no issues whatsoever with the first two titles. With Genshin Impact, I did experience slight framerate drops occasionally. But for the most part, the game ran smoothly.

GT Mode was extremely helpful in optimizing gaming performance. Although in this mode, you can expect temperatures to rise a bit when the load is heavy.

However, the temperature never really exceeded 40°C. This was thanks to the Vapor Chamber Cooling System which kept the temperature at a more than manageable level.

The realme 13+ runs on realme UI 5.0, which is based on Android 14. Real Essentials make an appearance once again. These features are meant to provide the user with a smoother experience when it comes to everyday tasks.

You can read more about Real Essentials in the full review of the realme C65.

Unfortunately, it’s important to note that the realme 13+ comes with a ton of bloatware. This in turn could potentially slow down your device. It also makes use of storage that you could’ve used elsewhere.

Battery and charging

A 5000mAh battery powers the realme 13+. This supposedly allows for up to 7 hours of uninterrupted gaming on a single charge. Expect the device to last an entire day with mixed usage.

The smartphone is accompanied by a Type-C charger that supports an 80W SUPERVOOC charge. You can achieve a full charge from a completely drained battery in about 50 to 55 minutes.

With a long battery life and fast charging, your gaming sessions will rarely ever be interrupted.

Verdict

The realme 13+ comes fully equipped to produce a truly enjoyable gaming experience. Its design evokes uniqueness and class, while possessing hardware that optimizes your gaming performance.

Granted, the camera system does leave a lot to be desired. But if you’re mainly looking for a mobile gaming device, you can’t go wrong with the realme 13+, which is priced at Php 19,999.

From October 25 to November 3, every purchase at realme physical stores nationwide will come with free realme Buds T110 worth Php 1,399. The realme 13+ will also be available on realme’s official Shopee and TikTok stores.

Photos by CJ Lavares