They launched the series in China without much fanfare, a week ahead of Global.
realme China has surprisingly been quiet about the 14 series. This is their mainstream series and the series that drove them to popularity, so seeing them being passive about the series is a somewhat concerning thing. However, it is here now and even global realme has got a hold of it. Although, realme Philippines is yet to send us a word of these new phones.
The main highlight is the Pro series. It is also the first one to release in China, before the vanilla and lite versions of the series were out. So, that would be the topic of discussion in this article.
As always, there are two phones within the 14 Pro series. The other is the realme 14 Pro Plus. Unlike the realme 12 and 13, which are just glorified and even slightly downgraded realme 11 Pros, the realme 14 feels like a refresh of a series, with a new design and new colour schemes. Also, we don’t see any sign of vegan leather anywhere. It probably did not click with users as so many brands, realme included, tried to make it popular. Many brands just went back to brushed aluminum or textured backs.
Also, if you observe carefully, each camera now has their own flashlight, and when combined, makes for a single powerful flash. We heard of dual-tone flash but not three flash lights.
realme 14 Pro:
Last year, “AI” is the nonstop trend companies keep pushing. Whether that would be erasing unwanted objects, a translator, or a writing helper, it’s practically everywhere. Well, it’s still everywhere and it’s still heavily highlighted, but the current push now is extreme water and dust resistance. Even your silly little budget phone has an IP rating higher than IP54, some even IP69.
The realme 14 Pro and Pro Plus share an identical design, a trend which we’ve observed since the introduction of the realme 11 Pro series. We also notice how megapixel counts are less highlighted when cameras are mentioned, but rather mention the specific type of sensor used, since many users learned that high megapixel numbers do not define quality alone, there are also other factors. When it comes to phones, it’s the software’s processing that counts since the phone does everything for you, from making images brighter and sharper, to removing blur, all within its algorithms. To say the least, it isn’t your picture, but rather realme’s. Since it is their flavor that is applied to every image.
Going back to specs, the realme 14 Pro sports a 6.8″ curved OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and 1.5K (2800x1220px) resolution which is unchanged from the realme 13 Pro. Why fix something that isn’t broken. The fingerprint sensor is inside this display.
The phone is equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset with 8GB RAM and either 128 or 256GB ROM. Particular for the realme 14 Pro, the chipset is designed to be power efficient and create a performance output similar to the Qualcomm Snapdragon7s Gen 3.
There are three real cameras at the back of the 14 Pro. Two of them are 50MP. The primary camera is a Sony IMX896. The second 50MP is a telephoto/portrait sensor, a Sony IMX882. Both of these have OIS. The third camera is a modest 8MP ultrawide. Still better than a macro or depth sensor. Meanwhile, the front has the usual 32MP selfie camera found in almost every realme number series since the realme 11.
Another one of the phone’s main feature is the IP rating, which combines IP66, IP68, and IP69. What this means is that individual compartments have been durability tested to ensure that the phone is watertight from every angle. How this applies in real life depends on user care.
Finally, you got that mega-sized battery. 6000mAh thanks to it being made of a silicon-carbon composite. This means more battery capacity without actually increasing the physical size of the battery. This is paired with a strangely slow 45W fast charging. Remember when realme had 100W? That was a long time ago. Probably why they went down with the charging speed because the time it takes to charge from empty to full is negligible for either charging rate.
Among other features, you get 5G services, Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, and 4G LTE. It comes in three colours: Pearl White, Jaipur Pink, and Suede Grey.
There are no prices announced yet for the Philippine market. The phone is not listed on realme China’s website but is available for Indian users, in which the phone costs INR 24,999 (~PHP 16.9K) (8/128) and INR 29,999 (~PHP 18.2K) (8/256) respectively. These prices are directly converted without factoring in taxes.
Source: realme Global
realme 14 Pro Plus
The realme 14 Pro Plus is pretty much identical to the realme 14 Pro. So we’re not going to repeat ourselves. Of course, there are notable differences that the Pro Plus has over the simple Pro unit, mainly the chipset and charging rate. The cameras are identical so whether you choose the 14 Pro or 14 Pro Plus for the cameras, are not a matter of debate. However this means the Pro Plus line is less valuable than last year’s.
Instead of a MediaTek chip, the realme 14 Pro Plus uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 instead. The performance is theoretically similar, having a 2.5GHz octa-core CPU, so again both the Pro and Pro Plus are neck and neck in this area.
The phone retains the color-changing back, battery size, display, and design. However, it has now a faster charging rate, from 45W to 80W. Couldn’t have hurt to actually double it, realme? Another thing it manage to keep are surprisingly its camera array, which still consists of a 50MP Sony IMX896 primary, a 50MP Sony IMX882 telephoto, and an 8MP ultrawide. The same 32MP selfie camera remains too.
The phone comes in three colours, all based on the “Unique Pearl” design. The colours include Pearl White, Bikaner Purple, and Suede Grey. While the former and latter colours are the same, the Purple here is of a slightly darker hue. To an average person, there is no difference between the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Plus.
The phone, among other features, include a stereo speaker system, an in-display fingerprint scanner, 5G services, 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.4, and a USB-C port.
As we said, this phone was quietly released in China, mainly because it’s not that heavy of a difference against the realme 13 Pro Plus. It starts at CNY 2,599 (12/256) (~PHP 20.7K) AND CNY 2,799 (12/512) (~PHP 22.3K). These prices are hefty and note that inclusions, such as taxes, are not included in this direct conversion.
And no, the phone isn’t out yet for us Filipino users. Let’s wait for realme Philippines to make a fanfare for either or both!
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