Realme 16 Pro Plus first impressions: When good hardware starts costing more

Around the time flagship phones such as the iQOO 15, OnePlus 15, and Realme GT 8 Pro launched a couple of months ago, we started seeing noticeable price hikes. The reason was fairly straightforward: rising component costs. I remember asking iQOO India CEO Nipun Marya whether this would eventually affect mid-range phones as well. His answer was clear: these price increases wouldn’t stay limited to flagships and would gradually trickle down across different price segments. That prediction now feels very real with the entry of the Realme 16 Pro series.

The Realme 16 Pro Plus has launched in India at a starting price of Rs 39,999. That is a significant jump when you look at its lineage. The Realme 15 Pro Plus launched at around Rs 32,000, while the older 14 Pro Plus came in closer to Rs 30,000. That is a sharp climb for what is still positioned as a mid-range phone.

Clearly, something has changed. And the new reality seems to be this: either smartphones continue offering good hardware and features but cost more, or they stay affordable and start cutting corners in ways that are harder to ignore. The Realme 16 Pro Plus firmly sits in the first camp.

With the pricing context out of the way, I have been using the Realme 16 Pro Plus for a while now. This is not a full review but solid early impressions based on day-to-day use.

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Design still does the heavy lifting

The Realme number series has always leaned heavily on design, and the 16 Pro Plus sticks to that DNA. I have the Master Gold colour for review, and it is not flashy gold by any means. It is more of a subdued, mature shade paired with a vegan leather finish.

Does it look gorgeous? Absolutely.
Does it attract pocket lint like crazy? Also yes.

You will be wiping this phone often, but once it is clean, the design really stands out. The metallic camera module looks premium, the back has character, and despite housing a massive battery, the phone remains slim and sleek in hand. It still feels like a well-designed big phone rather than a bulky one.

Also, curved displays are becoming a rarity these days, and while I personally lean towards flat panels, there is no denying that curved screens still win on aesthetics. The Realme 16 Pro Plus embraces that fully.

Display: Bright, smooth, and genuinely impressive

The display is one of the phone’s strongest highlights. It now supports a 144Hz refresh rate, but more importantly, it is extremely bright. Of course, Realme’s marketing talks about 6,500 nits, but in real-world testing, I was seeing up to 2,880 nits in high brightness mode. That is seriously impressive. Outdoors, visibility is not an issue at all, and indoors, the panel looks vibrant without being overcooked.

This is genuinely one of the better curved displays you can get right now. Colours look punchy, text remains sharp, and scrolling feels smooth. A quad-curved panel might have struck a better balance between usability and looks, but if visual appeal matters to you, this display delivers.

Performance and the price conversation

The Realme 16 Pro Plus is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset. On paper, that might raise a few eyebrows, especially when you consider the price jump compared to the previous generation. Yes, using the same chipset at a higher price can feel a bit underwhelming. That is a fair criticism. However, in everyday usage so far, the phone feels smooth and dependable. App switching is quick, animations are snappy, and there are no obvious hiccups during normal use.

This is where the broader pricing discussion comes back into play. Realme has clearly chosen not to strip away features or fundamentals to keep the price down. Instead, it has maintained the experience it wants the Pro Plus series to be known for, even if that means charging more.

Cameras: Living up to the Pro Plus name

Camera performance has historically been a strong point for Realme’s Pro Plus phones. I had tested the Realme 13 Pro Plus back in 2024, and for its price, it delivered genuinely impressive results. The Realme 16 Pro Plus continues that tradition. It packs a 200MP primary sensor, a 50MP telephoto camera, and an 8MP ultra-wide camera. This is a solid and versatile setup.

Early results have been reassuring. Images carry good detail, colours look pleasing without being overly aggressive, and the telephoto camera adds real flexibility. Of course, proper testing will reveal more about consistency, low-light performance, and video capabilities, but first impressions are positive.

Battery: Big jump, no complaints

Battery life is another area where the Realme 16 Pro Plus takes a noticeable step forward. Despite retaining a slim profile, the phone now packs a massive 7,000mAh battery, thanks to silicon-carbon battery technology. Charging speeds top out at 80W, which feels adequate given the battery size. So far, there are no complaints here. The phone easily gets through a heavy day, and that added peace of mind goes a long way, especially on a large, media-focused device like this.

Realme 16 Pro Plus: Early thoughts

I keep coming back to pricing because it is impossible to ignore. The Realme 16 Pro Plus is not cheap, and it is asking users to accept a new normal where upper mid-range phones edge closer to premium prices. That said, it does not feel like a phone that is cutting corners. The design is premium, the display is excellent, the cameras are dependable, and the battery upgrade is meaningful. Realme has stuck to its core strengths instead of watering them down.

The real question now is a broader one: would you rather buy a phone that costs less but compromises on hardware, or pay more for a device that gets the fundamentals right? The Realme 16 Pro Plus clearly chooses the latter.

This is just the beginning, though. I will have more to say once the full review is ready. For now, these are my early impressions of the Realme 16 Pro Plus: a familiar Realme phone, shaped by a more expensive smartphone landscape.

Stay tuned for the full review.

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