Realme 14 Pro+ Review: Stunning Design & Capable Cameras

Realme 14 Pro+ Featured Image

It’s no secret that last year’s Realme 13 Pro+ was one of the best-looking smartphones. And while I doubted Realme could one-up the 13 Pro’s design, it has outdone itself again with the all-new Realme 14 Pro+. The device features an even more stunning design, the newest Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, and a triple camera setup.

I had the opportunity to test the Realme 14 Pro+ for a couple of weeks. And in this review, I’ll answer whether the device is worth spending your hard earned money or not.

Realme 14 Pro+ Review

Hisan Kidwai

Design & Hardware
Display
Performance
Battery & Charging
Cameras
Software
Speakers

Summary

The Realme 14 Pro+ has a stunning design paired with an excellent display, capable cameras, and solid performance, thanks to the all-new Snapdragon 7s Gen 3.

4.4

Realme 14 Pro+ Review: Design & Hardware

Realme 14 Pro+ back design image-1

Smartphone design has stayed consistent for quite some time, with most brands churning out similar and boring-looking phones. While the same can also be said for the 14 Pro+, which features a familiar glass back coupled with a matte finish, it does have two new tricks.

If you recall, the Realme 9 Pro+ featured a color-changing back panel, which reacted to sunlight. This time, Realme has partnered with Copenhagen-based Valeur Designers to develop a new tech that allows the 14 Pro+’s back panel to react to cold—quite fitting for the season. When temperatures drop below 16°C, the back transitions from pearl white to wavy blue. However, this effect will gradually fade under sunlight.

Realme 14 Pro+ back design image-2

Also, pearl white isn’t just the name; Realme has incorporated real seashell pearl powder in its manufacturing process. This not only gives the phone a stunning finish but also ensures each device has a unique pattern. So, if you like your tech to make a statement, then the 14 Pro+ could very well be it.

Usually, camera modules aren’t worth raving about, considering almost every smartphone has the same one. However, the one on the 14 Pro+ is really pretty, thanks to the symmetry of the triple flash and the camera sensors.

The phone also has an IP68 and 69 water and dust-resistant rating, allowing it to withstand submersion in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes and high-pressure jet streams. On the other hand, the optical fingerprint scanner performed well, unlocking the phone in all scenarios.

Realme 14 Pro+ Review: Display

Realme 14 Pro+ front design image-1

The Realme 14 Pro+ houses a 6.83-inch quad curve 1.5K AMOLED 120Hz display, and it looks pretty, with vibrant colors, inky blacks, and great sharpness. It’s perfect if you love watching movies or shows. Plus, I measured a peak brightness of 1500 nits in outdoor lighting scenarios, which was plenty to make the device visible in direct sunlight.

If you’ve read my reviews, you know that some past Realme devices have struggled with switching refresh rates between different apps. Thankfully, this issue isn’t present on the 14 Pro+, which maintains a high refresh rate, even on third-party apps like Gmail and YouTube.

Regarding display protection, the 14 Pro+ comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 7i—which, when coupled with the plastic side frame, held up just fine during drops and remained scratch-free during my usage. However, I’d advise against keeping the 14 Pro+ face down on a table as the display makes direct contact with any surface, thanks to the quad curves.

Realme 14 Pro+ Review: Performance

Image of a person playing CODM

At the heart of the Realme 14 Pro+ is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor, which features a Kryo Prime core clocked at 2,500 MHz, three Cortex-A720 cores at 2,400 MHz, and four Cortex-A520 cores at 1,800 MHz. This processor is paired with the Adreno 810 GPU. My review unit came with 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage.

In daily use, the phone delivered a fantastic performance, with no stutters or lag, even when performing demanding tasks like recording a 4K video or keeping 20 Chrome tabs running.

Benchmarks & Gaming

Image of the CODM settings

Since this is a review, I also ran a series of benchmarks to test the 7s Gen 3. On Geekbench, the 14 Pro+ scored 1,188 in single-core and 3,294 in multi-core tests. On AnTuTu, it achieved an impressive 825,812 points. During the infamous 30-thread, 30-minute throttle test, the device maintained 84% of its peak performance, meaning the company has implemented ample cooling measures.

This cooling made the gaming experience enjoyable, with BGMI and CODM running at the “Smooth” and “Extreme” settings. The gameplay was solid, with no dropped frames or lag. Also, note that 90 FPS support in BGMI will be available following a software update next month.

Battery Life

Image of the phone charging

Battery technology has significantly changed with the introduction of Silicon-Carbon batteries. These cells provide better energy density and capacity while supporting faster charging. In keeping with this trend, the Realme 14 Pro+ houses a massive 6,000 mAh battery, which works wonders.

Even with heavy use—including long camera usage, hour-long BGMI sessions, and scrolling Instagram—the phone easily lasted a full day, typically ending with 10-20% remaining charge. When it was finally time to recharge, the included 80W fast charger charged the device from 20% to 80% in just 30 minutes.

Realme 14 Pro+ Review: Cameras

Image of the cameras on the Realme 14 Pro+

Realme’s number series has always focused on cameras, and the same trend continues with the 14 Pro+. But before we proceed, the device features a triple-camera setup: a 50MP Sony IMX896 primary sensor, a 50MP Sony IMX882 3x periscope lens, and an 8MP ultra-wide lens.

Daylight & Portrait Shots

I recently went to Jaipur and took the Realme 14 Pro+ as my primary phone to capture all the moments. During the day, the primary lens delivered surprisingly aesthetic-looking photos with natural colors, ample HDR, and good sharpness. The white balance was consistently on point, and there weren’t any scenarios where the camera struggled.

Thanks to the periscope lens, I loved the device’s portrait shots, which had excellent edge detection, natural skin tones, and a soothing shallow depth of field. However, the device does apply a subtle brightening filter to faces, and nighttime portrait shots can sometimes appear softer than expected.

Nighttime Shots

With an f/1.8 lens and OIS support, I had high expectations for nighttime photography, and the Realme 14 Pro+ did not disappoint. It captured good-looking photos in artificial and low-lighting scenarios with ample details, vibrant colors, and minimal noise.

Zoom & UltraWide Shots

Realme claims that 14 Pro+ can capture detailed photos even at 120x. But while this claim isn’t obviously true until you use some AI trickery, the results between 3x and 15x zoom are genuinely impressive, retaining sharpness and colors. So, if you love taking zoomed-in shots of animals or skyscrapers, the 14 Pro+ can be pretty handy.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the UltraWide lens. At just 8MP, it struggles in all but ideal daylight conditions, where the images are okayish.

Selfies and Videos

The 14 Pro+’s 32MP selfie shooter captures decent photos with solid details and HDR performance. Just note that it applies a subtle beauty filter to faces, which some people don’t like.

On the video front, the Realme 14 Pro+ supports recording up to 4K at 30 FPS. While I’d have loved to see a 60 FPS option, the overall quality was pretty nice, with solid stabilization and colors.

Realme 14 Pro+ Review: Software & AI

Image of the software on the Realme 14 Pro+

The Realme 14 Pro+ runs on Android 15, with Realme UI 6 on top, and I love this new UI. It has the best animations after iOS, the RAM management is top-notch, and everything feels super snappy without being clunky.

As you may have guessed, the phone also has a slew of AI features ranging from super helpful to just another gimmick. One useful one is an object eraser, which uses generative AI to fill the image—and it works surprisingly well. Furthermore, the Ultra Clarity mode was pretty helpful in bringing out details in super-zoomed shots.

On the software support side, Realme promises three years of Android updates and four years of security patches.

Should you buy the Realme 14 Pro+?

Back design image of the Realme 14 Pro+

At a starting price of INR 27,999, including launch offers, the Realme 14 Pro+, like its predecessor, is for people who like their tech to make a statement. The quad curve display and design are stunning, the cameras deliver solid results in all scenarios, and even the performance is a big step up. As a result, the Realme 14 Pro+ gets a solid thumbs up from my end, and you can check it out on Realme’s website.

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