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realme 13+ 5G Review—Strong as a Lion, Cool as a Cucumber

Back in July, realme successfully staged the eighth season of its realme Mobile Legends Cup, demonstrating the gaming performance of the realme GT 6 smartphone. This October, realme is cementing further its status in the mobile gaming space by releasing a new gaming-centric smartphone--the realme 13+ 5G. For the Philippine market, the realme 13+ 5G comes in two color variants, Dark Purple and Victory Gold, which is the subject of this review article.

Clad in a metallic body with a thin profile of 7.6 mm, you might instantly assume that the realme 13+ 5G is primarily a fashion phone. The upper portion of the back cover that surrounds the main camera sports a frosted finish. However, below the camera, the back cover features realme's Speedy Lightning Texture, which also looks like a stylish veining on a marble slab. The entire back panel feels smooth and the phone is light, weighing only 185 g. The rounded corners (dubbed by realme as Speedy Curve Arc Design) of the realme 13+ 5G make it comfortable to hold and maneuver as a typical phone or a gaming device.

On the front, the realme 13+ 5G carries a 6.67-inch OLED display panel with an FHD+ resolution (1080 × 2400p) and a brightness range of 600 nits (typical) to 2000 nits (maximum), which makes display content visible under various ambient lighting conditions. In addition to a 92.67% screen-to-body ratio, 16.7-million color gamut, and 6,000,000:1 contrast ratio, the realme 13+ 5G also has a refresh rate range of 120 Hz to 1200 Hz, which makes the display adaptable and compatible with a wide variety of applications and games. For eye protection, the realme 13+ 5G display features PWM dimming, DC dimming, bedtime mode, and AI Eye Comfort, so prolonged phone use because of gaming or other activities should not be a key concern.

In the imaging department, the main camera system of the realme 13+ 5G consists of a 50-megapixel Sony LYT600 image sensor, which measures 1/1.95 inches and has an aperture of f/1.88. The main camera also has a 2-megapixel mono camera and a flicker sensor. The camera is capable of 4K video recording at 30 fps. Positioned at the top of the display, the front camera system has a 16-megapixel image sensor and can do 1080p video recording at 30 fps. In general, images captured by the realme 13+ 5G are clear and vibrant, thanks to the phone's image sensor, LightFusion engine, and optical image stabilization.

Despite its slim profile and light weight, the realme 13+ 5G is a powerful smartphone carrying a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 octa-core chipset, which consists of four ARM Cortex-A78 cores and four ARM Cortex-A55 cores (CPU speed up to 2.5 GHz), and an ARM Mali-G615 GPU. The chipset works with 12 GB RAM, which reach up to 26 GB through dynamic RAM, and 256 GB onboard storage. Operating system-wise, realme 13+ 5G runs on realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14. In AnTuTu Benchmark, the realme 13+ 5G scored 734793, placing it among the Top 100 ranking at the time of writing.

In real-world gaming, the realme 13+ 5G registered a steady 60 fps while running Call of Duty Mobile (COD Mobile) and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), with Hyperboost Gaming Engine optimizing the settings. In COD Mobile, the phone's CPU temperature ranged from 30°C to 32°C, while the battery temperature ranged from 33°C to 36°C. In MLBB, the phone registered a CPU temperature range of 27°C to 29°C and a battery temperature range of 30°C to 34°C. Noteworthy, these temperature readings are much cooler compared to other gaming-centric phones, in which both CPU and battery temperature can hit more than 40°C. The cooler temperature readings of the realme 13+ 5G can be attributed to its 9-layer vapor chamber cooling system that uses stainless steel and graphite sheets for more efficient heat dissipation. Cooler temperature readings translate to lower power consumption and longer battery life.

WATCH: realme 13+ 5G Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Gameplay

WATCH: realme 13+ 5G Call of Duty Mobile Gameplay

Speaking of battery life, the realme 13+ 5G comes with a 5000 mAh battery, which supports 80 W SUPERVOOC charging to achieve 50% battery level in just 19 minutes and 100% in 44 minutes. Connectivity-wise, the phone supports 5G, Bluetooth 5.4, and Wi-Fi 6. Physical connectors include a 3.5 mm audio jack, USB-C port, and dual-SIM slot.

The realme 13+ 5G is a testament to realme's commitment to delivering more gaming-centric smartphones to its young and adult patrons. With its subtle elegant design, the realme 13+ 5G does not scream that it is a gaming phone. It does not have to because it already has all the more important elements for mobile gaming, such as a remarkable display, powerful hardware, optimized software, effective cooling, long battery life, and reliable wireless connectivity options. On top of these, with the realme 13+ 5G, you also get a smartphone that captures nice images. 

realme Philippines recently launched the realme 13 Series 5G, which consists of the realme 13+ 5G and the realme 13 5G. The realme 13+ 5G costs ₱19,999, whereas the realme 13 5G sells for ₱16,999 and is available in Dark Purple and Speed Green color variants.