Realme’s C55 were given the sector’s consideration when it was once first introduced in Indonesia for being the primary Android smartphone with a reproduction of Apple’s Dynamic Island characteristic. Realme has branded this tool characteristic as “Mini Tablet”. Now, the corporate introduced this price range smartphone to India, however it is already transparent that Mini Tablet isn’t essentially the most fascinating factor about it – actually it was once slightly mentioned throughout the release match. What is going to get this telephone numerous consideration in India is its pricing and its design.
Realme’s C-series gadgets were located as entry-level choices for years. Whilst it’s spectacular to peer a C-series instrument with a unique-looking design, you must remember that all of it comes at a value. The cost of the Realme C55 begins within the price range phase as an alternative of the standard entry-level sub-Rs. 10,000 pricing. This telephone is supposed to exchange the Realme C33 (2023) and may be an improve to the C35 as smartly, which can be entry-level gadgets powered via Unisoc SoCs.
I used to be fast to show how this instrument is lacking 5G and the way the Mini Tablet felt half-baked at absolute best in my first impressions of this telephone. A few month later, no longer a lot has modified regardless of a couple of tool updates, however I’ve came upon a number of further shortcomings. Those are principally to do with the person interface, but additionally battery lifestyles. Is the Realme C55 nonetheless a very simple advice in a sea of price range smartphones? Learn on to determine!
Realme C55 value in India
The Realme C55 is to be had in 3 variants. There may be the 4GB RAM and 64GB garage variant priced at Rs 10,999; the 6GB RAM and 64GB garage variant is to be had for Rs. 11,999; and the variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB of garage sells at a fairly aggressive Rs. 13,999 in India. Certainly, it is great to have choices, and it is advisable see Realme offering such a lot selection for a C-series instrument. The Realme C55 may be the primary C-series fashion to pack 8GB of RAM. The instrument is to be had in two finishes – Sunshower or Wet Night time. I won the 8GB RAM variant within the Sunshower end for evaluate.
Realme C55 design
Realme did try to give its C-series a recent, trendy glance when it introduced its C35 remaining yr. Whilst that telephone was once a step up from the fairly elementary entry-level gadgets up to now to be had within the C-series, its design was once actually the one advantage of it, as I came upon in my evaluate.
The Realme C55’s rear panel and body are made from polycarbonate
In relation to design, Realme has taken issues just a little additional with the C55. It sounds as if slender and fashionable with its instantly strains, chiselled frame, and flat facets. There is a flat show at the entrance, and in contrast to the C35, it is of the hole-punch selection so it assists in keeping up with the remainder of the telephone’s fashionable look. Whilst the bezels on the left, best and proper are skinny, the only on the backside is just a little thick.
Turn the telephone over and it does get onerous to inform that it is a price range smartphone for 2 causes. First, there is a dual-tone end at the again, with a finely striped matte texture throughout maximum of it, and a cultured phase across the sticking out cameras. This does glance refreshing for the cheap smartphone. Secondly, this matte end may be lovely excellent at resisting fingerprints. The rear panel and body are made from polycarbonate making them much less prone to crack when dropped than glass. Realme makes use of Panda glass for the show. It’s liable to smudges however those have been simple to wipe off.
The Realme C55’s energy button sits just about flush alongside the body’s flat facets
The telephone weighs 189g which is just a little at the heavier facet, however feels moderately slender at 7.89mm. There is no IP score and no stereo audio system, however you do get a three.5mm headphone jack and a Sort-C USB port on the backside. The fingerprint reader is embedded into the facility button, which I did to find just a little tough to press as it sits just about flush with the flat facet of the body.
Realme C55 specs and tool
The Realme C55 has a MediaTek Helio G88 SoC, which means that that it lacks 5G connectivity. Realme claims that the telephone makes use of LPDDR4X RAM and EMMC 5.1 garage. The SIM tray has two slots for 2 nano-SIMs and a devoted slot for as much as a 1TB microSD card, which is sweet to have.
Connectivity requirements come with 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.2, in conjunction with the standard array of sensors and international positioning techniques. The telephone has a 5,000mAh battery and springs with a 33W stressed charger within the field.
The Realme C55 runs Realme UI 4.0, which is according to Android 13. It comes loaded with a ton of Realme and third-party apps. This implies having two ‘Messages’ apps for SMSes, two document managers, two note-taking apps, and the listing is going on. This is able to get moderately complicated for brand new customers, and it is also stressful since you can not uninstall some of these redundant apps. Lots of the preinstalled third-party ones can be uninstalled, which you’ll do to reclaim some space for storing. It was once additionally stressful to peer advertisements and promotional notifications from the Sport Middle and App Marketplace apps each day.
Realme C55 efficiency
The 6.72-inch full-HD+ IPS LCD show has a 90Hz most display refresh fee. It switches between 60Hz and 90Hz relying at the utility getting used and the content material being considered. The show is colourful and is shiny sufficient to view content material outdoor on a sunny afternoon, and has excellent viewing angles as smartly. As for streaming, it was once great to seek out Widevine L1 certification, which allowed for full-HD high quality playback.
The Realme C55’s IPS LCD panel is shiny sufficient when considered outdoor
The utilization enjoy failed to satisfy my elementary expectancies. Realme UI 4.0 didn’t appear smartly optimised to this {hardware}, which I spotted when the use of the telephone’s interface typically, minimising apps, swiping thru video-heavy feeds in apps like Instagram, and different commonplace use circumstances. There was once a normal stuttering and noticeable lag right through, and it at all times felt just like the {hardware} was once looking to stay alongside of my interactions. I examined the 8GB RAM variant, so I will most effective consider how unhealthy the enjoy can be at the 4GB RAM variant. I additionally skilled some stuttering when streaming video, however this were given resolved with the most recent tool replace, which confirmed up only some days previous to publishing this evaluate.
As for Mini Tablet, no longer a lot has modified since I attempted it out a month in the past. Most of the people would possibly not even realize that this selection exists, as it is simple to omit the animated notification activates that amplify across the hole-punch digicam. Certainly, that is one thing that Samsung does higher with its pop-up notifications, which additionally seem in a pill form and are way more helpful as they relay various kinds of notifications, in contrast to the small handful of activates that Realme’s Mini Tablet shows.
Realme UI presentations numerous spammy notifications
In the case of benchmarks, the Realme C55 plays as anticipated for the reason that it has a MediaTek Helio G88 SoC inside of. The telephone’s ratings were not spectacular in any respect. Even the iQoo Z6 Lite controlled higher ratings with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC. The Realme C55 controlled 2,57,736 issues in AnTuTu in conjunction with 422 and 1,411 issues in Geekbench’s unmarried and multi-core exams. In the case of graphics, efficiency was once no longer excellent both, and is the reason the stuttering and lag within the UI. The telephone controlled 39fps in GFXBench’s T-Rex check, 14fps in Ny 3.1, and eight.5fps in Automobile Chase.
Gaming efficiency was once just a little underneath moderate. Name of Accountability: Cell was once playable at Medium graphics high quality and Prime framerate, however would lag after about quarter-hour of gameplay, which may be when the telephone begian to warmth up. Asphalt 9 Legends became out to be just a little too heavy even on the lowest graphics atmosphere (Efficiency), with numerous lag and stuttering. Certainly, this smartphone is healthier suited for more practical informal video games. Its unmarried speaker will get moderately loud, however sound may be distorted at upper volumes.
Realme UI comes with numerous of third-party apps preinstalled
My day by day utilization with the Realme C55 consisted of an hour of gaming, an hour or two of video streaming (on Wi-Fi), and going thru more than a few social media apps in conjunction with two e-mail accounts syncing continuously. In spite of going just a little simple, I used to be stunned that the telephone most effective controlled an afternoon on a unmarried rate. Certainly, this might be all the way down to the low-end processor, however I anticipated the 5,000mAh battery to remaining for greater than an afternoon, which is standard for many price range smartphones nowadays. Our same old HD video loop battery check most effective ran for 14 hours, 43 mins, which falls at the decrease facet in comparison to maximum different smartphones at this value level. Then again, the 33W charger controlled to rate this telephone from lifeless to complete in 1 hour, 10 mins, which is moderately excellent.
Realme C55 cameras
The Realme C55 has two rear-facing cameras: a 64-megapixel number one digicam and a 2-megapixel intensity sensor which is used for accumulating intensity knowledge when the use of Portrait mode. Selfies are treated via an 8-megapixel entrance digicam. The digicam app interface is straightforward to make use of with all vital controls to be had across the viewfinder. Realme claims that the 64-megapixel sensor comes from the older GT Grasp Version so I used to be just a little excited to peer its efficiency in this kind of low cost telephone. On the other hand, you do need to remember that digicam efficiency additionally relies on the processor, and the GT Grasp Version had a awesome mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC.
The Realme C55 has two rear-facing cameras, of which just one is obtainable via the person
Sunlight symbol high quality was once nonetheless strangely spectacular. Footage confirmed respectable dynamic vary and excellent element. Colors tended to be just a little oversaturated and there was once additionally a slight bluish tint in footage, however at this value level it is onerous to whinge. Shut-ups got here out sharp and transparent, with low noise and excellent element. On the other hand, I did realize that the digicam was once gradual to center of attention indoors even throughout sunlight hours, so I frequently had to faucet to center of attention when taking pictures items.
Realme C55 sunlight digicam samples. Best to backside: Auto mode, shut up, portrait selfie (faucet to peer complete dimension)
Selfies gave the impression just a little sharpened in sunlight, however with respectable element and dynamic vary. Edge detection in Portrait mode whilst the use of the selfie digicam was once moderate for this phase. In low mild, selfies got here out just a little comfortable and noisy regardless of which mode I selected. Edge detection was once no longer correct both.
The digicam’s low-light efficiency in Auto mode wasn’t nice. It had bother focusing in dimly lit scenes, and the ensuing footage ended up just a little comfortable and missing intimately. The devoted Night time mode massively stepped forward symbol high quality, bringing in much more element in conjunction with sharpness, and added some definition to textures. The consequences have been spectacular for this phase, nevertheless it takes 4-5 seconds to seize a picture, so if you do not cling the telephone stable, symbol high quality can go to pot tremendously.
Realme C55 low-light digicam samples. Best: Auto mode, Backside: Night time mode (faucet to peer complete dimension)
Video high quality is proscribed to 1080p at 60fps. Recorded photos had respectable element however was once low on dynamic vary, and there have been some clipped highlights. Movies lack stabilisation totally, so they arrive out moderately shaky. In low mild, recording at 1080p 30fps led to higher high quality with respectable dynamic vary, however video was once nonetheless moderately low on element and had noise. Clips have been moderately shaky and focusing was once an issue.
Verdict
In 2023, a number of smartphone manufacturers have began providing 5G fashions on the decrease finish of the price range phase. There may be the Infinix Scorching 20 5G (Review), priced beginning at Rs. 11,499, and the Poco M4 5G at Rs. 11,999, to call a couple of. Then there are smartphones such because the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G, which prices Rs. 13,999 onwards and provides higher tool efficiency and excellent digicam efficiency in conjunction with 5G connectivity.
Realme thinks it has discovered a candy spot with a captivating design (for the cheap smartphone) and a tight digicam which shoots excellent sunlight footage. On the other hand, battery lifestyles is not as much as expectancies for the cheap smartphone, and the tool is loaded to the brim with bloat. My unit lagged and stuttered right through the evaluate length, regardless of having 8GB of RAM. This makes the Realme C55 in reality onerous to suggest. Imagine it provided that you want a excellent digicam or are keen to forget about its shortcomings as a result of its exotic design.
