We already published our full review of the realme 11 Pro Plus 5G last month, calling it a “generation-defining glow-up” for the company’s mainstream series.

The smartphone’s unique faux-leather rear design alone is worth a deep dive, and its haptics and battery life are both excellent — something flagship and increasingly midrange customers expect from their purchase. But that’s not what we’re here for today. realme recently brought members of the local media to Cebu as part of its monthlong realme Fan Fest 2023, which includes events, interactive activities, and live music to celebrate the brand’s fifth anniversary.

This gave us the opportunity to revisit the realme 11 Pro Plus 5G as our main camera to capture scenes around Cebu’s bustling city center and Plantation Bay resort, a scenic tourist hotspot that boasts an extensive private lagoon and artificial beaches, but not without some guidance and help from street and lifestyle photographers whom realme invited to join the final leg of Fan Fest 2023.

SEE ALSO: realme 11 Pro 5G review: Style and substance?

Having spent considerable time using the 200-megapixel camera phone during realme’s photowalk at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar hotel and resort in Bataan last July, we’ve come to appreciate both the unit’s hardware and software capabilities and features. This is especially true in the realm of street photography, where we think it does a more commendable job than its rivals.

And so our recent trip to Cebu only confirmed what we knew and what many other tech journalists have already said or are also learning about the realme 11 Pro Plus 5G: This is a terrific option for daytime shots, and even more so black-and-white photos.

Let’s start with some monochrome pictures we shot in the realme 11 Pro Plus 5G’s Street Photography mode. These samples were captured with continuous lighting from one side to produce a split-lighting effect, which complemented the filter we used. As always, we recommend shooting portraits with the phone’s 2x zoom setting, or closer, to fix the wide, fish-eye effect most smartphones have when shooting with a wide lens.

Set A

Switching to a longer focal length (aka zooming in more) will also lead to a stronger bokeh effect or more background blur, such as the ones you see in these examples.

Set B

Here are other monochrome shots we took with the realme 11 Pro Plus 5G. Some of the best subjects for this type of photos are those with lines and shapes, as well as interesting textures, patterns, and shadows. Motion is another good subject, especially when it comes to street photography.

Set C

Besides realme’s built-in monochrome filters, we also found the Dramatic filter to be particularly useful when shooting everyday scenes.

Set D

Like other smartphones in the premium category, the realme 11 Pro Plus 5G has an ultrawide camera for sweeping landscapes, large indoor areas, and group photos. And although it does not produce the same image quality as the main camera with a 200-megapixel image sensor, it still has its merits beyond the usual use cases, such as if you’re taking a picture of the view outside while inside a moving vehicle.

Set E

In the Philippines, the realme 11 Pro Plus 5G carries a suggested retail price of P24,999 (around $440 converted) for the variant with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. There’s a lot to like about the Plus model. It’s easily the best-looking smartphone in the segment, and there’s no shortage of impressive features here — not the least of which is the phone’s versatile camera system.

If you want something more affordable, there’s also the realme 11 Pro 5G that boasts the same faux-leather back and curved OLED screen of its more expensive sibling for under P20,000 ($352).

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