The Realme 10 Pro series was finally here started in India. The company has launched two new mid-range smartphones as part of its new number series. That Realme 10 Pro+ 5G sits at the top of the lineup and is the successor to the Realme 9 Pro+ 5G (review). That Empire 10 Pro 5G on the other hand comes with only incremental upgrades over the Empire 9 Pro launched in India earlier this year.
The Realme 10 Pro+ 5G is currently the cheapest smartphone with a curved AMOLED display. The company has launched it in three variants. The base model with 6GB RAM + 128GB storage costs Rs. 24,999. It is also available with 8GB RAM + 128GB storage for Rs. 25,999 and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage for Rs. 27,999. The Realme 10 Pro 5G comes in two storage options. The 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 18,999 while the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 19,999.
The Realme 10 Pro+ 5G and Realme 10 Pro 5G come in three colors. We have the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G in its Hyperspace colorway, which is highly polished. Although the back panel is primarily gold in color, it appears prismatic in blue when lit or viewed from certain angles. The Realme logo on the back is given a glittery finish that fades as you move towards the top of the phone. A lot is happening here in terms of design that may not be to everyone’s taste.
Realme 10 Pro+ 5G in its Hyperspace colorway
While glitter and the changing colors give the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G a refreshing look, I’m not a fan of the fingerprint-friendly glossy finish. However, you can always slap the transparent case that the company has provided in the box. Speaking of which, the box includes a 67W charging adapter, a SIM ejector tool, and some documentation. The Realme 10 Pro 5G comes with the same package, except for the 33W fast charger.
I really like the hand feel of the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G despite being a large device. The curved back feels good in the hand, and since the phone weighs only 173g, it’s pretty light in the hand. The device is also only 7.78mm thick. On the right edge of the 10 Pro+ 5G are the power and volume buttons, while below you get the primary speaker grille, a USB Type-C port, and a dual SIM tray. The left side of the phone has nothing while the top has the secondary microphone.
The highlight of the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G is its curved AMOLED screen. The display measures 6.7 inches diagonally and is said to have a curvature of 61 degrees on the sides. I haven’t experienced any accidental touch issues yet, which is a good sign. The display also has many features such as HDR10+ certification, support for a 120Hz refresh rate and a contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1. The display also has a very thin chin frame, something I haven’t seen on phones at this price point.
Realme claims that the chin guard thickness is thinner than that Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (review) at 2.33mm. The 10 Pro+ 5G also comes with a fast and responsive in-display fingerprint scanner. I’ll leave my final verdict on this curved display for full review after using it for a long period of time.
Realme 10 Pro 5G (top) and Realme 10 Pro+ 5G (bottom)
The Realme 10 Pro 5G features a polycarbonate body and back panel. The flat sides of the phone definitely make it easier to hold. The 10 Pro 5G’s frame has a matte finish, which means it shouldn’t easily attract fingerprints, but I can’t say the same about the back, at least not on the glossy finish variants. The SIM slot is on the left side of the phone, while the power button with integrated fingerprint scanner and volume buttons are on the right side of the phone. Below we have the USB Type-C charging port, the speaker grille, the microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The main attraction of the Realme 10 Pro 5G is its display, which is a 6.72-inch IPS LCD panel with very narrow bezels on three sides except for the chin. The display is fairly sharp, has a 120Hz refresh rate and reproduces good colors. This smartphone has a 16-megapixel front camera, as well as a front-facing top speaker.
The Realme 10 Pro+ 5G comes with a dual speaker setup. While the speakers are quite loud and offer rich sound, there is definitely a channel imbalance. The Realme 10 Pro 5G also features a dual speaker setup and offers descending audio output. It should be noted that Realme 10 Pro 5G is equipped with a headphone jack. that’s missing from the 10 Pro+ 5G.
The Realme 10 Pro+ 5G features a MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC and supports up to eight 5G bands in India, while the Realme 10 Pro 5G uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC. The 10 Pro+ 5G packs a 5000mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging. The company claims users can be charged up to 50 percent in 17 minutes. The 10 Pro 5G has the same battery capacity of 5000mAh but only supports 33W fast charging.
Realme 10 Pro+ 5G features a hole punch cutout
There are two large circular cutouts for the cameras on the back of both phones. The Realme 10 Pro+ features a triple camera setup with a 108-megapixel main camera sensor, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 2-megapixel macro camera. The Realme 10 Pro 5G offers a dual camera setup with a 108-megapixel main camera and a 2-megapixel portrait camera.
For selfies, the punch cutout houses a 16-megapixel front camera on both phones. We found that the quality of the front camera differed quite a bit between the two models when trying them side by side. The colors of the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G looked much more natural compared to the high-contrast look of the Realme 10 Pro 5G. Of course, this is just our first impression based on the ambient lighting available at the time, so we should have a more definitive answer by testing these two phones extensively.
Finally, the Realme 10 Pro series runs on the Android 13-based Realme UI 4.0 software out of the box. The new custom skin gets a new design, including an overhauled control center, textured icons with vibrant colors, and an improved always-on display (AoD). The new update also includes Realme’s Dynamic Computing Engine, which claims to offer the perfect balance between high performance and low power consumption.
We’ll be testing the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G and Realme 10 Pro 5G extensively to see if the devices live up to their respective price tags and the company’s claims. Stay tuned for the full review coming soon to Gadgets 360.
