Introduction
The realme 13 Pro 5G represents the latest iteration in realme’s midrange lineup, offering a combination of a strong suite of features and competitive pricing. This device aims to deliver a premium experience across various aspects, from camera and display quality to performance. In this review, we’ll examine how well the realme 13 Pro 5G fares and where it stands in the competitive smartphone market.
Design and Build Quality
The realme 13 Pro 5G showcases a design inspired by the works of Claude Monet, demonstrating realme’s commitment to aesthetics. The device is available in two distinct finishes: Monet Purple and Emerald Green. The Monet Purple variant boasts a high-gloss AG Glass back with shimmering particles, evoking images of golden haystacks and purple water lilies. In contrast, the Emerald Green colorway utilizes a premium vegan leather back, offering a silky feel and dirt resistance.
A standout design element is the Sunrise Halo camera module, crafted using a CNC process that produced 436 metal lines around its perimeter. This attention to detail elevates the phone’s visual appeal and sets it apart from competitors.
The phone incorporates an Antenna Array Matrix which uses multiple antennas to deliver stable signal and less latency regardless of how you’re holding it.
The device sports an IP65 rating for dust and water resistance. The Emerald Green variant, in particular, has received an SGS 5-Star Drop Resistance Certification, demonstrating its ability to withstand drops from 1.65 meters without visible damage or functional issues.
The realme 13 Pro 5G maintains a relatively slim profile, with the Emerald Green variant measuring 8.41mm. It weighs 185.5 grams, to the benefit of handling despite the large 6.7-inch display and 5,200mAh battery.
As with most recent midrange phones, you don’t get a microSD card slot, and there’s no headphone jack, which may disappoint those who still prefer to use wired headphones. The sides are also in matte finish, which means they’re less likely to catch smudges when the phone is used without a case.
Performance
The realme 13 Pro 5G is powered by a Qulacomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor, and while it can deliver good performance for everyday tasks while being capable of gaming in mid to high settings depending on what you’re playing, it’s an underwhelming choice when compared to several recently-launched midrange devices. You also get 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which are pretty standard.
If you plan on playing Mobile Legends on this phone, you’ll be able to crank the settings up to Super Frame Rate and High Graphics with no issues. Honkai: Star Rail on the other hand, will also run smooth at Medium Preset with 60 fps enabled. You can up it to High and 60 fps, but you’ll run into occasional lag.
The device did get very hot during my playtest, almost to the point where it was uncomfortable. Thank you for the case, though I didn’t see any noticeable drops in performance.
Camera
For optics, the realme 13 Pro 5G boasts a 50MP Sony LYT600 primary camera with OIS, along with an 8MP ultra-wide unit, and a 32MP Sony IMX615 selfie camera.
Photos we took with the device showed good levels of detail and sharpness. Without a dedicated telephoto lens, zoom quality was pretty decent at up to around 5x.
It does support 2x in-sensor zoom and up to 20x digital zoom. At that range, however, and as expected, the quality isn’t so good.
The Portrait Mode offers up to 2x zoom, which is a nice feature to have. While the depth of field effect looks convincing, it does look a bit artificial, like so much processing went into it. The edge detection is on point.
The two photos above were captured in almost pitch black condition, and still came out good.
Video recording maxes out at 4K 30fps for the main and selfie camera, while the ultrawide only maxes out at 1080p 30fps. The main camera supports OIS, and does a decent job of handling shakes.
Audio and Multimedia
The realme 13 Pro 5G is equipped with a 6.7-inch FHD+ curved OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. It supports 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and has ArmorShell protection. There’s an in-display fingerprint sensor for accurate and quick unlocks.
Eye comfort is a priority, with features like, 2160Hz PWM Dimming, DC dimming, and various eye protection modes. Using AI, the device is able to determine when a user blinks or yawns as a signal of fatigue, and can adjust the color temperature accordingly.
Audio is delivered via Hi-Res certified dual stereo speakers, offering an immersive experience for both video and music playback. You get plenty of volume with no audible distortion, decent low-end, clear vocals, and airy treble.
The device also features AI Audio Zoom, which utilizes beamforming algorithms and AI noise reduction to enhance directional audio capture during video recording. This feature works well when you want to isolate or focus on a particular audio source when recording.
Battery and Charging
The realme 13 Pro 5G houses a 5,200mAh battery, which should provide ample power for a full day of use.
Charging is handled by a 45W SUPERVOOC system, capable of charging the device from 0% to 50% in 27 minutes and to 100% in 65 minutes. realme has implemented various safety features, including 38 safety protections and an intelligent five-core chip protection system.
The company also offers a 4-year battery health guarantee, suggesting confidence in the longevity of the battery system.
Software
The realme 13 Pro 5G runs on realme UI 5.0 on top of Android 14. This latest iteration of realme’s custom skin brings updated design elements and features focused on security, personalization, and performance.
While the UI runs snappy for most of the time, you still get the annoying shortcuts which are there whether you need them or not.
realme has incorporated several AI-powered features. There’s AI Ultra Clarity for improving resolution and detail of lower quality photos, which can be useful for enhancing images downloaded off social media, or photos of old photos, or those taken with other devices.
Then there’s the AI Smart Removal for object removal and scene cleanup, and AI Group Photo Enhance for optimizing group shots. For the former, it works well for simple scenes, though you may have to do more than one pass to achieve a clean image. For more complex scenarios, it’s a hit or miss.
Notable features include Air Gestures and Flash Capsule. The former, you’ll really have to do some practice to get it to work consistently, while the latter is a new a new way of showing activity for compatible apps in the form of a bubble at the top of your screen.
realme 13 Pro 5G: Verdict
The realme 13 Pro 5G balances premium features with an eye-catching design. It also offers good battery life with a decently-fast charging speed, an impressive display, and a lot of its AI features can be useful in day-to-day situations. There are also the little things like the Antenna Array Matrix that contribute to the overall user experience.
Its camera system, while not as flexible as its more premium sibling, is still very capable, whilst the device’s attention to detail in areas like cooling and battery health demonstrate the brand’s commitment to deliver a well-rounded user experience.
In terms of performance, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 may not match the raw power of other newly-launched devices, but it should provide more than adequate performance for those who don’t prioritize gaming. I’ll agree that they could’ve put in something better, but that may also raise the price. Then there’s the lack of expandable storage and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
While a decent overall package, I think that the PHP 24,990 price tag is just a bit too high for what it offers, and when you consider what the competition has.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
