How can you call a phone “pro” when it doesn’t even have basics like an ultra wide camera? Voters in last week’s poll were not impressed by what the Realme 11 Pro has to offer and believe there are much better mid-rangers on the market right now – not the least of which is its own sibling, the Pro+.
What went wrong? Well, the 11 Pro lacks an UW camera, but that’s not all. There were the usual complains about the lack of a microSD slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack (at least there are stereo speakers on board). That Dimensity 7050 also had a tough time concealing that it’s a 1080 underneath, a 6nm chipset that was never top of the line. There isn’t even basic dust and water resistance, which didn’t help either.
Realme 11 Pro series at a glance
The phone does have features that makers consider “pro”, things like the curved display and vegan leather back – but there’s no shortage of people who prefer flat screens and few were impressed with the phone’s looks. The OIS on the main camera did prove to be a rare feature in this price range, however.
A few people may be swayed if the Realme 11 Pro reviews sing its praises, but most are looking at plus sibling or at competing mid-range brands like Poco.
Moving on to the Realme 11 Pro+, this one isn’t a guaranteed hit, but it shows a lot of potential – it will be widely available and it’s not too pricey, it has nothing to worry about when it comes to sibling rivalry either.
The Pro+ fixes one of the major annoyances of the Pro, it has an ultra wide camera. A basic 8MP unit with a relatively narrow 112° fixed-focus lens doesn’t impress anyone, but it’s better than nothing. The plus model also doubles the main camera resolution for improved lossless zoom and doubles the selfie camera resolution.
Still, the phone uses the same Dimensity 7050 chipset, same USB 2.0 port, still lacks an IP rating and so on, which leaves an opening for the competition to draw would-be buyers away from Realme.
The Realme 11 Pro+ went on sale in India on Thursday, the vanilla Pro followed it on Friday, so we should get the first indications of how well the 11 Pro series does in the market.