VP Tech Review: realme 11, A Gaming Phone with Fast Charging and Essential Mobile Photography Capabilities!
realme Philippines is closing the year with flying colors! Throughout this year, the brand has introduced several noteworthy mid-range phones. Featuring flagship-level attributes, with a primary focus on camera capabilities and fast charging. Just a few weeks before Christmas, realme has just introduced the realme 11, the more budget-friendly choice within the realme 11 series. It targets budget-conscious consumers but still packs powerful specifications, including a gaming processor, fast charging, and an impressive camera.
We have already shared our unboxing and initial impressions of this device. If you missed it, you can find it here. Furthermore, we are now presenting an in-depth #VPTechReview of the new #realme11, which we will delve into below.
Elegant Glittery Gold Design
As we mentioned in our first impressions of the realme 11. Just like recent releases, realme is putting effort into the aesthetics of its smartphones. The realme 11 is no exception. While realme 11 remains a budget-friendly choice in the 11 series, it stands out with its premium and stylish appearance.
This model is available in two color options: Dark Glory and Glory Gold, with the latter being the focus of this VP Tech Review. At first glance, this model looks incredibly chic and stunning. Glittery gold accents adorn its back, becoming even more visually appealing when exposed to light. Furthermore, I applaud this unit for its resistance to smudges, which is a definite plus. In addition, similar to its older siblings in the 11 series, it features a large circular camera setup. Adding to its elegance, the camera and side bezels are all coated in gold. This particular design will undoubtedly appeal to both Gen Z and Millennial females. However male users can also appreciate its simplicity and sophistication in gold.
Furthermore, this model boasts an ultra-slim design, measuring just 7.95mm, and it is lightweight, weighing only 178g. This provides users with the flexibility to carry it in their pockets or small pouches with ease, anytime and anywhere.
Super AMOLED Display and Smooth Navigation
The realme 11 comes equipped with a large 6.4-inch FHD+ 1080*2400 Super AMOLED display, featuring a 90.80% screen-to-body ratio. This model offers the standard 90Hz refresh rate for seamless navigation. Moreover, it incorporates a Touch Sampling Rate of 360Hz and a high brightness of 1,000 Nits, enhancing the viewing experience despite its budget-friendly nature. Additionally, the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, designed to shield the screen from drops of up to 1.6 meters on hard and rough surfaces.
Furthermore, it comes with a punch-hole front camera resting at the upper left corner of the screen.
Despite some downgrades in its specifications to maintain an affordable price point, the realme 11 still delivers smooth navigation on its screen. It experiences fewer delays and can handle multiple app switches simultaneously.
100MP ProLight Main Camera
The realme 11 is equipped with a dual camera setup, featuring a 108MP f/1.8, 25mm (wide) rear camera and a 2MP f/2.4 (depth) Portrait lens with PDAF (phase detection autofocus). It utilizes a Samsung HM5 Sensor, allowing up to 3x In-Sensor Zoom for capturing photos with exceptional clarity. Moreover, the camera permits users to zoom up to a maximum of 20X, which comes in handy when capturing distant subjects.
In addition to the main camera feature, the realme 11 is furnished with Night Mode, Street Mode, Portrait Mode, and 108M Hires Mode. Furthermore, it offers PRO camera features for a more customizable experience, along with Panorama, Slowmo, Timelapse, Text Scanner, Tilt Shift, and Dual-View Video.
In our previous review, the camera setup of the realme 11 Pro series 5G delivers flagship-level camera capabilities and produces outstanding photo results. Impressively, the realme 11 also captures stunning photos with its rear camera. Photos taken in daylight and good lighting conditions exhibit clarity and impressive color accuracy. In low-light conditions, some noise is visible but remains acceptable, thanks to the impressive photo stabilization of this model.
For a smartphone priced under P15,000, the realme 11 delivers remarkable photo outputs.
Sample photos are provided below.
Daylight Shot using realme 11’s main camera in 1x, 3x
Daylight Shot using realme 11’s main camera in portrait mode
Night Shot using realme 11’s main camera in Night Mode
16MP Selfie Camera
The realme 11 features a punch-hole front camera located in the upper left corner. It boasts a 16MP, f/2.5, 27mm (wide) lens, capable of producing appealing selfies under various lighting conditions.
In our tests, the front camera of the realme 11 captures decent selfies, especially in daylight and well-lit areas. Notably, the beauty feature appears more natural in this model compared to recent releases. If you enjoy taking selfies and are budget-conscious, this phone is a choice you shouldn’t overlook. Please refer to the sample photos below.
Sefies using realme 11’s 16MP front camera
Flagship-level Gaming Processor
Beneath its stylish exterior, the realme 11 boasts a potent gaming processor commonly found in 4G gaming smartphones: the MediaTek Helio G99, a flagship-tier proccessor. This processor delivers a seamless gaming experience with most of today’s popular games.
Regarded as one of the top 4G processors available today, the MediaTek Helio G99 operates efficiently, thanks to its 6nm architecture. It features a powerful Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU and an octa-core setup. Moreover, it includes x2 Arm Cortex-A76 Cores clocked at 2.2GHz and x6 Arm Cortex-A55 Cores with a clock speed of 2.0GHz.
Our team extensively tested this device with games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Pokémon Unite. We can confidently affirm that the realme 11 offers a smooth gaming experience, even when running these games on their highest settings. However, it’s important to note that online gaming experiences may vary depending on your internet connection. Additionally, it’s evident that realme’s exclusive game space app provides extra optimizations for an enhanced gaming experience.
Ultra-Fast Charging with 67W SuperVOOC Charge
Consistent with previous realme smartphone releases, the brand is renowned for its fast-charging technology features. The realme 11 includes a 67W SuperVOOC Charging adapter and a USB-C cable. Furthermore, the unit houses a substantial 5000mAh battery. To ensure safety, the charging interface is fine-tuned with realme’s exclusive charging algorithms, such as the VCVT Intelligent Tuning Algorithm and Dual Charge Pump Technology. Additionally, realme incorporates 38 layers of protection to guarantee secure and efficient charging.
But does it live up to its fast-charging claims? On paper, realme asserts that it can charge up to 50% in 17 minutes and reach a full 100% charge in 45 minutes. As we do in our typical VP Tech Reviews, we decided to put this to the test.
We drained the battery as usual and commenced charging at around 11:57 am. By 12:21 pm, or 24 minutes later, it had reached a 56% charge. The full 100% charge was achieved at 12:54 pm, which took 57 minutes in total. While this is about 10 minutes longer than the advertised time, it’s still an impressive result, delivering genuinely fast-charging for a smartphone priced under P15,000.
Massive Storage and Expandable Memory
The realme 11 provides an expansive 256GB of storage, offering users ample space to store heavy files such as thousands of photos and videos, as well as numerous social media apps and mobile games. If 256GB isn’t sufficient, there’s no need to worry, as the realme 11 also supports expandable storage of up to 1TB via a micro-SD card.
In terms of memory, this model features 8GB of RAM. Additionally, it supports a Virtual RAM Expansion feature that utilizes internal storage to function as RAM, enhancing multitasking capabilities and overall performance. This results in a total of up to 16GB of usable RAM.
Furthermore, essential phone features include support for WiFi at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, LTE, 4G, and a Side Fingerprint Sensor.
To assess its performance, we conducted varied benchmarking tests on the device using apps like AnTuTu, Geekbench 6, 3DMark, and CPDT.
Here are the realme 11 benchmarks:
- AnTuTu: 427,286
- Geekbench 6: 649 (single-core), 1,838 (multi-core)
- 3D Mark Wild Life: 1370 at an average of 8.21 fps
- CPDT: Sequential write speeds of 370.30MB/s, sequential read speeds of 305.31MB/s.
VERDICT
realme continues to excel in providing Filipinos with high-quality, flagship-tier smartphones that are within reach this year. The launch of the realme 11 towards the year’s end reaffirms this commitment, particularly as more people from this generation seek quality, functional, feature-rich smartphones while remaining budget-conscious.
The brand maintains its strong presence in the midrange market, even in the face of stiff competition. We’re excited to see what realme has in store for us next year and whether they have more new models in the pipeline before the year concludes.
The realme 11 boasts an impressive fast-charging feature, quality mobile photography capabilities, and a smooth gaming experience commonly found in pricier flagship smartphones. With a price point of just P13,999 and its remarkable performance based on our testing, this model is undoubtedly a choice you shouldn’t overlook.
It’s the perfect Christmas gift, offering quality and flagship features at an affordable price.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
The realme 11 will be available online starting today, November 9th, and in realme stores and partner stores beginning November 10th, with an SRP of P13,999.
Furthermore, you can take advantage of substantial discounts and freebies with the following promotions starting today:
Don’t miss out on these fantastic deals and offers for the realme 11!
