Realme 16 Pro Review: Everyday Strengths, Occasional Compromises

The Realme 16 Pro feels like a phone designed after listening to how people actually use their phones, rather than how spec sheets want them to. It’s built for long days, constant scrolling, quick photos, and the occasional rough handling that most mid-range phones quietly struggle with. In the pink colour variant, it stands out instantly, understated but distinctive, and the vegan leather back adds a level of comfort and grip that glass phones in this segment often miss. Combine that with unusually strong IP66, IP68, and IP69K ratings, and the Realme 16 Pro starts to feel less like a fragile gadget and more like something you can genuinely rely on day after day. The display is easily one of the Realme 16 Pro’s biggest strengths. The 6.78-inch AMOLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate feels smooth from the moment you unlock the phone. Scrolling through social media, reading long threads, or watching videos feels noticeably fluid, and once you get used to it, going back to a standard 60Hz display feels immediately jarring. Colours are vibrant without being cartoonish, brightness is strong enough for outdoor use, and overall, it’s a screen that elevates everything you do on the phone without demanding attention for it. ALSO SEE: Canva Pro in 2026: Still the Easiest Way to Get Design Done Performance, on the other hand, is where Realme has clearly drawn a line. Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Max, the phone handles everyday tasks with ease. Apps open quickly, multitasking is smooth, and navigation feels responsive. But push it harder with sustained gaming or heavy workloads and its limitations show up. The phone warms up, performance dips slightly, and it becomes clear this isn’t meant for people chasing peak frame rates or extended gaming sessions. For most users, though, it’s consistent and reliable, which is arguably more important than headline-grabbing specs. The camera setup is anchored by a 200MP Samsung primary sensor, and this is where the Realme 16 Pro genuinely stands out. In daily use, it delivers sharp images with pleasing colours and a fast shutter, making it dependable for casual photography. Night mode does a solid job in most lighting conditions, and while the phone doesn’t shoot at 200MP by default, switching to full resolution gives you extra detail that’s useful for cropping later. That said, this doesn’t translate into real optical zoom while shooting, so expectations need to be set accordingly. Portrait mode performs well up to 2x, with decent edge detection and natural-looking background blur. Push it to 4x, though, and the lack of a dedicated telephoto lens becomes obvious, with noticeable pixelation. The AI camera features can enhance photos after the fact, but they feel more like optional polish than essential tools. The 8MP ultrawide camera is serviceable but unremarkable, while the 50MP front camera delivers consistent, well-balanced selfies. Video recording tops out at 4K at 30fps, with stabilisation that’s good enough for everyday clips but not aimed at creators. Where the Realme 16 Pro...

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