DSLR in your pocket?
realme launched two new almost identical devices last August 28, which is also, coincidentally, their anniversary. It was on that date, that the brand prepared a special fan meet for the dedicated community in Gateway. Before that, the brand had a sneak peek of the new devices with a meet-and-greet photography workshop with John Manalo, a renowned videographer in the Philippines. That is how we got an early access to the realme 13 Pro and Pro Plus.
To tell the phones apart, you look at their colours first. The 13 Pro exclusively has Monet Purple, while the 13 Pro Plus exclusively has Monet Gold. Both phones have the special Emerald Green with a leather texture for the back panel. Like the realme 12 Pro series, which, tell you, are barely a year old, the 13 Pro series skips the telephoto sensor for the Pro, but includes it in the top-of-the line 13 Pro Plus. For the Pro, you get the mundane 50MP + 8MP + 2MP setup.
What they have in common is that both utilize the popular Sony Lytia LYT-600, which is said to be equally as good as the IMX890. The 13 Pro uses it as its main camera while the 13 Pro Plus uses it as a telephoto sensor. For the main camera, the 13 Pro+ uses the 50MP LYT-701 instead. As always, AI is flaunted as a feature which is said by the brand to bring DSLR-like quality to your pockets… which we doubt because phones like the Xiaomi 14 series with Leica, the Honor 200 series with Harcourt, vivo has ZEISS by their side, and even Oppo and OnePlus have Hasselblad. Not to mention, the 13 Pro series aren’t flagships.
Since both phones use the same body, the display is identical. It is a 6.7″ FullHD+ (2412x1080px) OLED with 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Both of these displays are curved to their edges. The brightness peaks at 2000 nits, which is typical for today’s midrangers. To think that 1000 nits was already very bright a year ago.
Speaking of AI, the brand flaunted two AI features. The first is AI Ultra Clarity which artificially improves the “quality” of the image you’ve taken. The second is Magic Erase. This feature allows you to cleanly remove any obstruction in your image. The phone will determine the obstruction then you can make some edits before you remove it outright. Perfect for people who want to unperson their exes.
Both phones use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, a chipset that is closer to the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 in terms of performance than the SD7G2. It is essentially an overclocked version of the former chipset. This is the same chipset used on the realme 12 Pro Plus by the way. The design is also highly similar. At least the realme 11 Pro series has a noteworthy difference. Both the realme 13 Pro and Pro Plus come with 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM. No, it’s not expandable.
As for the batteries, both phones have a 5200mAh battery but the charging rates are different. The realme 13 Pro has 45W but the Pro Plus has 80W. The phones still have their chargers inside the box, thankfully. The phones have stereo speakers and an optical fingerprint scanner.
The realme 13 Pro series is available both in authorized third-party retailers, through realme’s concept stores, and online platforms nationwide. The 13 Pro is priced at PHP 24,999 while the 13 Pro Plus is priced at PHP 28,999. That’s pricey we must say, considering there are other phones with better camera systems, such as the Nothing Phone 1, the Honor 200, and the Xiaomi 13T.
SPECS:
- 6.7″ FullHD+ (2412x1080px) OLED, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, 2000nits peak brightness
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 (4nm)
- CAMERAS:
- 50MP (Primary), f/1.9, 1/1.56″, 24mm, 84.4° FOV, OIS, Sony Lytia LYT-701
- 50MP (Telephoto | realme 13 Pro Plus only), f/2.7, 1/1.95″, 73mm, OIS. Sony Lytia LYT-600
- 8MP (Ultrawide), f/2.2, 16mm, 112° FOV
- 2MP (Macro | realme 13 Pro only), f/2.4
- FRONT: 32MP, f/2.5, Sony IMX615
- realmeUI 5 based on Android 14
- 5200mAh, 45W fast charging (realme 13 Pro) or 80W fast charging (realme 13 Pro Plus)
- USB-C, In-display fingerprint scanner, Stereo Speakers with Hi-Res Audio
- 5G services, 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC
- Monet Purple (realme 13 Pro), Monet Gold (realme 13 Pro Plus), Emerald Green Vegan Leather
- PRICE:
- 12/256 (realme 13 Pro): PHP 24,999
- 12/256 (realme 13 Pro Plus): PHP 28,999
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