An extraordinary material makes this cell phone special

The realme 16 Pro+ impresses as a mid-range smartphone with a powerful Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, 144 Hz AMOLED display and a 200 MP camera with 3.5x optical zoom in our review.

However, one thing is immediately noticeable when you pick up the phone, even if you don't know the technical details: the material on the back.

High quality with silicone back

It is made of organic silicone in the colors Master Gold and Pebble Grey.

This material, known from baking molds, pacifiers and medical products, combines inorganic silicon-oxygen chains with organic groups. It is skin-friendly, durable and is considered less harmful to the environment than traditional plastics.

Is organic silicone environmentally friendly?

However, toxic chemicals such as methyl chloride are produced during the manufacturing process, which can pollute water if disposed of improperly.

The fact that Realme calls the material "eco-friendly" is at least questionable. After all, silicone is not found in nature and takes a very long time to break down. Recycling processes are still being researched.

Apart from that, the feel of the material is very pleasant: it quickly absorbs hand warmth, even if it was previously cold, and is pleasantly soft. The leather-like structure makes it nonetheless non-slip.

Fingerprints are not visible. However, it is not yet possible to say how it will look after years of use, for example with traces of grease or sweat.

Strengths and weaknesses of the 16 Pro Plus

Other plus points of the realme 16 Pro Plus are the 7,000 mAh battery, IP68/IP69 certification, i.e. water and dust resistance, and loud stereo speakers.

What we like less in the review is that there is only one USB 2.0 port, that there is no microSD slot and the PWM flickering on the display.

Price and further information

For 450 euros (e.g. at amazon.com), you get a well-rounded package if you can do without high-end features.

You can find detailed test results in our detailed test report on the Realme 16 Pro Plus. There we also show sample images from the surprisingly high-quality camera system.