realme 13 5G review: A gaming phone without the gaming phone price tag

The realme 13 5G enables gamers to own a gaming phone without paying the typical gaming smartphone price.

For the past two weeks, I had been given the priviledge to test this 5G smartphone, and here’s my review of the device.

Since this is a rather long and elaborate review, feel free to use the links below to jump into any particular section of the review that you would like.

Main highlights

The main highlights for this smartphone is its gaming capabilities.

This is reflected by the formidable MediaTek Dimensity 6300 5G chipset which prioritizes smooth and stable gamepley, 45W fast charging technology, 26GB of RAM and its 120Hz Eye Comfort Display.

In addition, the GT Mode of the realme 13 5G also activates an innovative stainless steel vapor cooling system which keeps the phone cool while gaming.

These hardware combined, makes this phone one of the best for gaming at the moment with this review focusing on my personal experience of the device after two weeks of use.

I must however admit that through the review, I can’t help compare it with the realme 13 Pro I just reviewed recently.

Design & Body

Specs: 165.6mm x 76.1mm x 7.79mm, 190g, side fingerprint.

The overall design of the realme 13 5G looks similar to the realme 13 Pro, but closer inspection shows it is very different.

Here, I don’t get the curved screen and in-screen fingerprint scanner like the realme 13 Pro, but get a side mounted fingerprint scanner and flat side and screen.

The phone also feels slightly lighter as compared to the realme 13 Pro. I find this interesting because the realme 13 Pro is in fact the lighter of the two.

This realme 13 5G is however is much thinner and wider than the realme 13 Pro, and the unit I obtained had this beautiful marble like dark purple rear design. The rear doesn’t attract fingerprint smudges and feels matte and smooth.

The camera bump is protruding and had a simple circular design.

Anyway, if you want to read more about my first experience related to the phone, check the link below.

Screen & Display

Specs: 6.72 inch FHD+ screen with 91.4% screen-to-body ratio.  2400×1080 resolution, 120Hz peak refresh rate, 580 nits typical brightness

The 6.7-inch LCD screen produces accurate colour representation with vivid colours and distinct contrast being very obvious when I play games.

With action packed games such as Mobile Legends and Free Fire, the 60fps experience is definitely dominant and stable as I got an average 58-60 fps during game play.

The 120Hz display made the game very enjoyable due to the lack of lag and the availability of speed and responsiveness.

In addition, my eye also took a while before it felt tired as compared to using other phones, perhaps because of the eye comfort feature in the realme 13 5G.

Audio System

Specs: Strereo Dual Speakers

A gaming smartphone is never complete without great speakers and the realme 13 5G is no different. The phone has dual speakers that are loud with accurate sound.

When gaming, gun shots, as well as action sounds, are crisp with music also sounding equally good. In addition to that, the loud stereo dual speakers also allow me to better pin point enemies when playing games like COD.

You can see how the stereo speaker sounds in the video below.

Processor, RAM & Storage

Specs: 26 (12+14)GB RAM, 256B storage space, MediaTek Dimensity 6300 5G Chipset

The MediaTek Dimensity 6300 5G Chipset which powers the realme 13 5G performs efficiently and smoothly when I play games particularly power hungry games like Mobile Legends and COD.

The 26GB RAM is probably one of the biggest RAM sizes offered in a smartphone of this price range, and such massive RAM allows more apps to be open, and increases smoothness of the phone when in use, or when playing games.

I also opened multiple games at once and was surprise how it could handle all three without much effort. To activate the maximum 26GB RAM, you will however need to change the maximum RAM in the settings.

With GT More, the gaming experience overall improves despite games being played at 60fps.

To further improve gameplay, the realme 13 5G also comes with Dedicated Gaming Memory technology which realme usually reserves for their flagship realme GT series.

This technology further improves the phones capabilities in delivering smooth performances when doing demanding task which includes gaming.

A slight letdown comes in the 256GB internal storage space here, but the phone does allow additional storage space through its SIM tray which doubles as an SD card slot.

Software

Specs: realme UI 5.0 (Based on Android 14)

The realme 13 5G also has limited AI functions if compared to the realme 13 Pro series.

I only found AI Boost and Smart Sensing while trying out the phone.

As mentioned above, the phone has Game Focus Mode which ensures I am uninterupted when playing games.

Aside from having more options dedicated to gaming, the mode also allows me to change my voice as well.

The phone realme UI 5.0 does however come with Dynamic Button, riding mode and smart sidebar. It also has Rainwater Smart Touch which enables the phone to be used as usual despite having a wet screen.

In general, the realme UI 5.0 is snappy and smooth with an app drawer which constantly shows notifications which suggest apps users would appreciate to have in the phone.

Camera

Specs: 16MP front camera, 50MP Samsung S5KJNS main rear camera with OIS, 2MP Mono Camera

The realme 13 5G main camera is a Samsung S5KJNS sensor which is paired with a 2MP Mono Camera and OIS.

This camera’s specialty comes in its ability to capture 2K OIS video, something which is not common in such this segment.

In addition to that, the rear camera also can capture photos in flagship quality as well.

Photography

Flagship quality photographs technically mean the photos are taken using flagship smartphones or DSLRs.

In my opinion, the realme 13 5G definately captures photos in flagship quality and here are some samples for you to see.

I am slighly dissapointed the camera doesn’t have a wide angle lens and the maximum optical zoom is only 2X.

The phone does have a maximum of 10X zoom, but that’s stretching it with the photo quality at 10X zoom not great. For best images, you need to keep it within its optical zoom which is 2X.

The night mode does not dissapoint, with photos being very vivid and colour accurate.

This time around I tried the portrait shot with a cat as the object and I was very impressed with the result as you can see below.

My personal selfies however was average, maybe because I took it while walking.

Food photos are good but are no match for the ones I took using the realme 13 Pro. [See realme 13 Pro review]

Videography

If you didn’t know, this is the first smartphone in its price segment which can record 2K video. This elevates the quality of video recording to a whole new level.

Here’s some videos I took to show you the capabilities of the phone videography.

Battery performance

Specs: 5,000mAh battery with 45W SUPERVOOC Charge

The 45W Fast Charge means that the realme 13 5G can be juiced-up when the battery is nearing zero. To ensure users are safe when charging is done, realme has implemented 38 layers of safety protection.

realme claims that a full charge can give users 7 hours of gaming with titles like Free Fire.

I can’t attest to that because I don’t have 7 hours to spare, but I can tell you that from 47% of power, the phone gets to 97% of power after 45 minutes of charging.

These figures aren’t far from realme’s claim that a mere 5-minutes can give you 30 minutes of intense gaming.

In addition to that, when playing Mobile Legends, the battery drain I detected was from 100% to 86% after about 45 minutes of gameplay.

The battery also comes with 4 Years Reliable Performance by realme.

This means realme assures the battery will retain at least 80% of its effective battery capacity after 1,600 complete charge and discharge cycles.

Durability

Specs: IP54 Water & Dust resistance

The realme 13 5G enjoys an IP54 water and dust resistance rating, which means it is dust protected, and can withstand water splashes for about 10 minutes. This is based on IP ratings explained HERE.

Inside, the phone’s body is made using high-strength internal structure while the front glass features tempered glass. Both gives the phone extra durability and exceptional regidity.

realme 13 5G review verdict & availability

When it comes to gaming, the realme 13 5G performs very well and exceeds my expectations as it enables me to play most games without a hickup and remains very cool while I am at it.

It hits all the right boxes for an enjoyable gameplay with a good 6.72 inch FHD+ screen, stereo speakers and long lasting battery which can be juiced up in an instant.

More importantly, despite being a smartphone dedicated to gaming, the phone doesn’t neglect it’s camera and durability, coming with a Samsung 50MP main sensor and an IP54 rating.

It misses on some pretty interesting AI features that the realme 13 Pro has, as well as misses out on the longer zoom in its camera.

However, since it;s meant for gaming, I reckon you wouldn’t bother about these shorcomings especially if you got the phone specifically for gaming.

The realme 13 5G is already available for RM1,199 and can be obtained from realme online stores.

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