Realme 14 Pro+ review: Gimmick or innovation?

The Realme 14 Pro Plus as you might recognize it as the “color-changing” is the latest midrange option by Realme. This phone can change its color based on the environment.  Insofar, internet is full of people putting this phone in Ice and cold water.  Apart from this unique design, I believe the Realme 14 Pro Plus is a good overall package under INR 30,000. But it's not all great here, there are a few things about this phone that’s just like a B or a B-. So, let me break down everything for you —the good, the bad, and the ugly aspect – It’s quite interesting! 

Realme 14 Pro+ Specifications

• Display: 6.83-inch AMOLED, 120Hz, 1500 nits, 1272 x 2800 pixels
• Processor: Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (4nm)
• RAM & Storage:
  • 128GB 8GB RAM
  • 256GB 12GB RAM
  • 512GB 12GB RAM
• Rear Camera:
  • 50MP wide + 50MP periscope telephoto (3x optical zoom) + 8MP ultrawide
• Front Camera: 32MP
• Battery: 6000mAh, 80W wired charging
• OS: Android 15, Realme UI 6.0
• Security: In-display fingerprint sensor
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, USB-C
• Durability: IP68/IP69 certified
• Colors: Pearl White, Gray

Realme 14 Pro Plus Overview

Design

• IP66-IP68-IP69
• Gorilla Glass 7i

Ok..let me start with this color-changing design. Here Realme has included something called Thermochromic Pigments on the back panel, which picks up Blue hues as the temperature drops. So, when you put this phone in the water below 16 degrees or place an ice pack on it, the Blue color starts looking darker.  But at the same time, I found this to be a bit of a gimmick over time. It was interesting to me at first, but now I don’t care much about it. But what I will say is this is a really solid design. It feels much better than last year’s Realme 13 Pro Plus or even Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus for that matter – It’s more premium and robust at the same time.  It is MIL-STD-810H compliant, and Realme claims it is shock resistant, so, even if you do this, chances are, the phone is not going to shatter.  Plus, you get all kinds of IP ratings here, IP66-IP68-IP69, which is a first in Realme’s mid-range phone. So, that’s nice too! I just wish the screen had a stronger Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Protection, instead of Gorilla Glass 7i, but other than that I won’t really complain. It actually is the most premium-looking phone in the INR 30,000 price bracket in my opinion. 

Display

• 6.83-inch AMOLED
• 120Hz, 1500 nits
• 1272 x 2800 pixels

The display on this thing is nice too. The color reproduction, the touch response and everything is really good, you get high PWM Dimming, the 120 Hz refresh rate works well and the higher 1.5k resolution makes everything look sharp and crisp.  Its 1200 nits high brightness means it’s bright enough in indoor and outdoor conditions too, so visibility is not a problem here either.  The only issues I found here are, No 1, there is no HDR video playback support on OTT platforms and No 2. HDR videos on YouTube don’t appear as bright. Just look at this video playback comparison between the Realme 13 Pro Plus and the Realme 14 Pro Plus, I’m sure you can spot the difference right away. I know this is something that can be fixed with updates, but I have already received about two updates on this phone after I started testing it, so I hope the third time’s the charm!

UI and OS 

• Realme UI 6
• Android 15

And talking of updates, I think Realme needs to step up a bit. Maybe follow Nothing & OnePlus paths and provide at least 3 years of updates on their number series. Right now, they are only offering 2 years, which is a bit less for a phone that costs INR 30,000.  Good thing is that it boots on Android 15 unlike the Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus, but still, I think they can do better! Here I found the Realme UI 6 to have a bit smoother transitions and a bit of visual change here and there, but at the same time, the bloatware situation remains the same. There are some that cannot be uninstalled at all, so what you can do is disable them. That way, you will not have to deal with unnecessary notifications.

Performance 

• Snapdragon 7s Gen 2

Moving on, over the years, Realme’s number series has become more design and camera focussed and performance is not really something they shine at. I mean Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (LPDDR4X and UFS 3.1), for INR 30,000 Rupees. Yes, It is an improvement upon the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, but this chipset is clearly not meant for gaming. For instance, the Realme 13 Pro Plus could barely provide 30 fps in games like Genshin Impact in high settings, but the Realme 14 Pro Plus can reach about 45 fps. Similarly, you can get slightly better fps in PUBG as well with the phone remaining considerably cool, but that is all the performance you can expect from this phone.  I have even noticed slight lags while opening app folders, and a hint of delay while opening and installing apps sometimes.  So, if you are someone who prioritizes performance over everything else, this is simply not the phone you should get, instead, go with options like the Realme GT 6T or Nord 4 with Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 or the Poco F6 with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. 

Camera

• 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide)
• 50 MP, f/2.7, 73mm, (periscope telephoto) , 3X
• 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 112˚ (ultrawide)
• 4K@30fps
• 32 MP, f/2.0, 21mm

But if you don’t care about the fastest performance so much, and you want something that is a good camera phone instead, the Reamle 14 Pro Plus is actually the best option for the price. Especially while clicking portraits, its 3x periscope lens does a nice job of handling skin tone and highlights on the face.    Realme has also included something called a colour spectrum sensor here, which, in a simple sense, helps manage white balance in images.  Now, I have clicked more than 100 photos from this phone and wouldn’t say it does a fantastic job because the white balance is off sometimes. But that said, the images have good color reproduction and sharpness, so I won’t complain.  I even shared some of its samples on social media and people had good things to say about it too. The primary lens does a fantastic job during the night time too, the images have nice details, the exposure management is good and you can get some nice shots with this phone even during nighttime.  Likewise, the selfies look decent too, there is a little bit of sharpening being done, but the skin tone and background look nice, so no complaints there as well.  But what I will complain about is the ultra-wide camera. I mean, the Realme 14 Pro Plus is not a performance-centric smartphone, I get that, but I think if you are not focussing on one aspect, you need to make other things better. Like Thanos said – Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. So, yeah Realme could have definitely given a higher resolution Ultrawide sensor here so that the camera performance was more versatile.  As things stand, this measly 8MP sensor is the reason, no 1, you are getting average ultra-wide images during daytime and at night and no 2, you cannot shoot 4k videos with it. So, every time, I am shooting a nice 4k video from the primary camera and want to switch to the ultra wide, I have to shoot in 1080p.  Also, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 does not support 4k 60 fps recording, so the max you can shoot from the main and front camera is 4k 30 fps. The quality of 4k 30 fps videos are nice and stable with good exposure management. There’s a bit of movement wobble, but nothing significant, the videos come out quite nice from this phone. 

Battery

Ok… Lastly, I have a few more things to cover, like the battery life! The Realme 14 Pro Plus has a huge 6000 mAh battery and even on heavy usage, I have been easily getting over 8 hours of screen on time with this phone, so easy one or 1.5 days of battery life. Plus it charges pretty fast like, within 55 minutes with its 80-watt charger.  Likewise, I forgot to mention earlier, but this phone has a good stereo speaker setup along with crisp and punchy haptics, thanks to its X-axis vibration motor. It’s not OPPO’s O haptics technology like you get with Realme’s GT series, so you don’t get feedback when iterating with all the UI elements, but it is impactful enough, so I won’t whine about it much. 

Realme 14 Pro+ Review

Pros:

• Unique design
• Premium build quality
• Good cameras for portraits and low light
• Excellent battery life

Cons:

• Average performance
• Poor ultrawide camera
• Limited software updates
• Bloatware issues

Realme 14 Pro+ Review Conclusion

So, overall, the Realme 14 Pro+ is not the most balanced mid-range phone, mainly because of its average performance and lack of a good Ultrawide lens.  But, I think this is a great option for someone who likes flaunting a nice design and wants good cameras for shooting portraits and selfies. It also has good battery backup and an excellent display for the price. So overall, it's not an overpriced phone like we saw with the Redmi Note 14 Pro+.  But, at the same time, I think Realme could have become the King if they had provided at least a better chipset here. That would have really killed the OnePlus Nord 4 and Moto Edge 50 Pro, like, in every aspect! 

• Meanwhile, check out our review of the Realme 14 Pro+