Realme 13+ review: Best budget gaming phone!

This is the all-new Realme 13+ that I have been testing for the past few days. This phone has just launched for some 20,000 Indian Rupees and Realme says that it is the best performing phone of its class. More specifically, they are hinting that the Realme 13+ has the best gaming performance in this price range. Let’s find out how true that is in this Realme 13+ article. Before, getting any further, lets have a quick rundown of its specifications.

Realme 13 Plus Specifications

• Display: AMOLED, 120Hz, 600 nits (typ), 2000 nits (peak), 6.67 inches
• Resolution: 1080 x 2400 pixels
• Chipset: Mediatek Dimensity 7300 Energy 5G (4 nm TSMC)
• Memory/Storage:
  • Internal: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM
• Rear Camera:
  • 50 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), PDAF, OIS
  • 2 MP, f/2.4 (monochrome)
  • Unspecified AI camera
• Front Camera: 16 MP, f/2.5 (wide)
• OS/UI: Android 14, Realme UI 5.0
• Battery and Charging:
  • 5000 mAh, non-removable
  • 80W wired fast charging
• IP Rating: IP65, dust and splash resistant
• Colors: Victory Gold, Speed Green, Dark Purple

Realme 13+ Review

Performance

• Mediatek Dimensity 7300 Energy 5G (4 nm TSMC)

This phone has the Dimensity 7300 Energy by the way! And theoretically, the Dimensity 7200 indeed has faster CPU and GPU benchmarks than the Dimensity 7300. So, how come Realme is claiming such big things? Well, what Realme has done here is, they have optimized the gaming performance of this phone to give you the best possible fps. So, while all the other phones around the 20,000 ballpark offer a maximum of 60 fps in games like PUBG, COD and Mobile Legends, Realme is offering 90 fps support, which means you can get an even smoother gameplay experience on the 13+. And it's not like the stability while gaming is compromised, no! If you look at the average fps and 99th percentile in Mobile Legends for instance, it’s almost the same, which means you are getting stable frames per second. Even with slightly more GPU intensive games like PUBG and COD, the fps numbers that I am getting are not very far off. So it’s safe to say that you are actually getting good fps numbers in most of the popular titles here. Now, I say most because, in Genshin impact, you are not going to hit the 60fps number, instead you only get around 25-27 fps on average, and that’s about it – if you try to go higher, the gameplay becomes a bit laggy and stuttery.  Another good news about the Realme 13+ is, it does not throttle the performance during gaming. Yes, the phone gets slightly hot, I recorded a max of 42 degrees while playing games but there is no sudden dip in performance,  which may be because Realme has used a big stainless steel vapor chamber cooling solution here! I noticed that, after my long gaming sessions, the heat is mostly localized on the top, like around the camera module. So, overall, I am happy about the gaming results and thermals that I got from this phone! 

UI and OS

BTW, I have already received like two performance related updates on this device, so that’s nice too . Realme has also promised a total of 2 years of OS and 3 years of security updates here although I am still waiting for the phone to receive August’s security patch. I think Realme will only offer Quarterly security patches here!

Display 

• AMOLED, 120Hz, 600 nits (typ), 2000 nits (peak), 6.67 inches

Thankfully, keeping the gamers in mind, Realme has not gone with a curved screen here, it’s a flat screen, so there are no mistouches while playing games on the Realme 13+. And this is a decent AMOLED screen, it’s a Samsung E4 AMOLED panel and the core quality of this screen is quite nice, the touch response is good and it is sufficiently bright as well.  It’s not the brightest you can get in this price range (animation: Peak 2000 nits), but it can go up to 1200 nits in auto mode, which means the visibility is good enough under direct sunlight, no issues.  This screen is HDR certified as well and it works very well on YouTube. Even while playing a 4k HDR video, I noticed no stutters of any kind, so that’s nice. It still does not support HDR playback on OTT platforms as of now, but  It was the same with the Realme GT 6T in the beginning, but later HDR playback on Netflix arrived with an update, so I am hoping it will be the same on this phone as well. Overall, with the thin bezels, superfast in display fingerprint sensor, and nice screen, you can get a good display experience on the Realme 13+ However, I wish I could say the same about its haptic feedback too. Usually, all Realme devices have good vibration feedback, but this one is an exception. They haven't used a more expensive X-axis motor, hence the feedback is buzzy here and it does not feel tight or crisp at all.  And while I am complaining , the speakers are nothing extra too, the highs sound slightly distorted and they are only decently loud.

Design

I like the design on this thing btw, especially the color options are very refreshing. The Green one I have with me looks quite nice and the Purple one looks cool too. You get a frosted plastic design as opposed to the leather back we got on the Realme 12+, but I am not complaining.The dual tone finish gives a definite character to this phone.  Realme is also providing IP65 dust and water resistance here and the build quality and everything is quite sturdy too.  The only thing I am a little torn about the design are these sharp edges which could be a little uncomfortable when you use the phone or game on it for a longer time. And also, there is only Dragontrail glass protection and not Gorilla Glass.   But the best news for the gamers, is right here (show headphone jack), Realme has not removed a headphone jack on this phone, which is great!

Cameras 

• Rear Camera:
  • 50 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), PDAF, OIS
  • 2 MP, f/2.4 (monochrome)
  • Unspecified AI camera
• Front Camera: 16 MP, f/2.5 (wide)

Ok Let’s talk about the cameras now! Here on the Realme 13+, the company has omitted an ultra wide lens, so you are basically getting a 50MP Sony LYT 600 primary sensor and a useless 2MP mono sensor.  Anyway, the primary camera performance of this phone is really nice. Realme phones always have a punchy output which is the same here as well. Sometimes, the colors look overly boosted, but most of the time, you get striking images with good details, so I won’t complain. Infact, I compared this phone with the more expensive OnePlus Nord CE 4 and in good lighting conditions, surprisingly, the Realme 13+ competed quite well.  It’s only in difficult lighting conditions that the dynamic range takes a little hit on the Realme 13+, otherwise, during daytime or even at night, you can actually get some nice shots from this device! I am not a huge fan of the portraits from this phone though. Yes, Realme has included a 2x mode for portraits,  but most of the time there is this red tint on the subject’s face which doesn't look good. So I hope Realme works on fixing the skin tone colors with an update. Selfies are good though, the skin tone and everything is very nicely portrayed.  The videos are not bad as well, you can shoot at a max resolution of 4k at 30 fps and the stabilization is satisfactory. The videos are a little cropped, but they are good enough for casual use. From the front camera, the max you can shoot is at 1080p and the output is just average.

 Battery and Charging

Okay lastly, the battery life on the Realme 13+ is pretty standard. You are not getting the bigger 5500mAh battery as most Oneplus, Realme, Vivo phones. It's a normal 5000 mAh cell, which gave me a consistent 6.5 hours of screen on time – which is decent enough to last for a whole day. Charging is also fast here. You get 80 watt charging support and with the 80 watt brick that you get inside the box, this phone takes 30 minutes to get to 57% and around 43 minutes for a complete refill! 

Realme 13+ Review: Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Smooth Gaming Experience
• Efficient Thermal Management
• Vibrant Display
• Decent Camera Performance

Cons:

• Limited HDR Support
• Average Haptics
• Underwhelming Ultra-wide Camera
• Sharp Edges in Design

Realme 13+ Review: Conclusion

Okay, so with everything I have discussed in this video, it’s safe to say that the Realme 13+ is a decent smartphone for its price. It definitely has an edge with the 90 fps gaming support on popular games which could be a very good selling point for this phone among gaming enthusiasts. But even other than gaming, it is also a very well rounded device with good cameras, nice design, vibrant display and battery life.   Yes, there are a little bit of compromises in haptics and speakers here, but overall for some 20,000, I believe the Realme 13+ is a good value device and it's got my recommendation!

• Meanwhile, watch our review of Realme 13+ Review