Realme C31 Review: All About That Flair

Folks on the lookout for a brand new price range smartphone have many choices to select from right this moment. The sub-Rs. 20,000 and sub-Rs. 15,000 smartphone segments have been seeing unbelievable developments recently, with firms launching extra units with 5G functionality, larger batteries, AMOLED shows, and extra. Nevertheless, the sub-Rs. 10,000 worth phase shouldn’t be missed because it has gotten some respectable additions in current months.

One of many current launches is from Realme’s C sequence, referred to as the Realme C31. It options a beautiful and slim design, a 5,000mAh battery, and a triple-camera setup on the rear. The Realme C31 is a part of the identical sequence because the Realme C35 (Review), however is priced decrease with a view to enchantment to consumers with a price range of beneath Rs. 10,000. Is the Realme C31 well worth the asking worth, and is there extra to this smartphone than simply the seems to be? Discover out on this evaluate.

Realme C31 worth in India and variants

The Realme C31 is accessible in India in two variants. The bottom variant launched at Rs. 8,999 in March 2022 however as of this evaluate, its worth has elevated barely to Rs. 9,299. This variant comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, whereas the upper variant comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage and is priced at Rs. 9,999. The cellphone is accessible in Mild Silver and Darkish Inexperienced colors. I acquired the mannequin with 4GB of RAM for this evaluate.

Realme C31 design

The Realme C31 seems to be and feels good within the hand for a tool that’s priced at beneath Rs.10,000. The Mild Silver color offers the cellphone a really delicate look. Proper off the bat, I observed that the cellphone is sort of tall after I first held it. The again panel of the C31 sports activities a triple-camera setup which protrudes slightly, making the cellphone wobble when positioned on a desk. The polycarbonate again seems to be fairly minimalistic, with an attention-grabbing texture for the complete panel, aside from the digital camera module. The textured again doesn’t simply entice fingerprints, and doesn’t decide up scratches very simply both.

The Realme C31 seems to be fairly trendy for a price range smartphone

The ability button on the Realme C31 is on the correct facet, and it additionally has a fingerprint sensor embedded in it. I didn’t have any points comfortably reaching the fingerprint sensor because the energy button is positioned effectively and sits in slightly groove. The left facet of the cellphone has the SIM card slot and quantity buttons. The again panel homes the speaker grille. Personally, I’m not a giant fan of this speaker placement because it hinders the sound output each time the system is positioned on a flat floor.

The underside portion of the Realme C31 homes a 3.5mm headphone jack, main microphone, and a micro-USB port. Realme ought to have supplied a USB-Kind C port as a substitute, contemplating that older telephones such because the Micromax In 2B (Review) supplied it in the identical worth vary. You get a 10W charger within the field, however no protecting case.

The Realme C31 has a 6.5-inch HD+ LCD show with a waterdrop-style notch on the highest that homes the entrance digital camera. The show has comparatively skinny bezels, however the backside chin is a bit chunky. The show has a normal 60Hz refresh price. The C31 weighs 197g which is a bit on the heavier facet, though I didn’t really feel any discomfort whereas utilizing it with one hand as the load appears to be distributed effectively.

Realme C31 specs and software program

The Realme C31 is powered by a Unisoc T612 SoC, which relies on the 12nm fabrication course of. It’s an octa-core processor with a clock pace of as much as 1.82GHz. The in-built storage is of the UFS 2.2 normal, which we do not see too usually on this worth phase and it is good that Realme went with this. The C31 can assist two nano-SIM playing cards and a microSD card for further storage, concurrently. The storage is expandable by as much as 1TB.

As for connectivity, the Realme C31 helps 4G/LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, and solely 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. I confronted some points with Wi-Fi on my unit, because the C31 saved disconnecting from my router a number of occasions even after I was in the identical room.

The Realme C31 runs on Realme UI R version, which is a extra primary model of the common Realme UI. This light-weight model is geared to optimise efficiency on lower-end units. Paradoxically, Realme nonetheless ships the system with a number of bloatware apps akin to Fb, Josh, Paytm, Sharechat, and others, though you may uninstall these apps if wanted.

My unit was working Android 11 with a safety patch from March 2022 after I first started utilizing it a month in the past. Nevertheless, I did obtain an OTA replace with the April safety patch lately. The UI seems to be and feels quite a bit just like the vanilla model of Realme UI, however with minor changes right here and there and never a variety of room for customisations. As an illustration, Realme UI R version didn’t permit me to customize icons, transitions and even layouts for the apps on the house display.

The Realme C31 sports activities a 6.5-inch HD+ LCD show

I discovered the UI straightforward and easy to make use of. All the required settings and fast actions have been straightforward to achieve. The C31 additionally comes with ‘Good Controls’ which includes some nifty options akin to Good wake, Good movement, Pocket mode, and extra. The system doesn’t include a devoted gallery app, so you may need to both use the preinstalled Google Photographs app or obtain a third-party one.

Realme C31 efficiency and battery life

The Realme C31 didn’t give me any bother in my day-to-day utilization. Nevertheless, I observed some minor stutter within the animations whereas opening the notification bar when apps akin to WhatsApp and Instagram have been pushing out a number of alerts. Scrolling by the UI and switching between apps was not a problem for the system. The Realme C31 gives two biometric authentication choices, fingerprint unlock and face recognition. The previous was decently fast, whereas the latter was a tad slower than anticipated.

As for efficiency, the Realme C31 managed to attain 197,830 in AnTuTu and produced a rating of 339 and 1279 in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core exams, respectively. It additionally scored 7,348 within the PCMark Work 3.0 check. These numbers weren’t notably nice and a few of them have been a bit decrease than Realme’s personal C25 (Review) which launched a 12 months in the past with the MediaTek Helio G70 SoC.

Apart from the weak benchmark scores, video games ran positive on the Realme C31 for probably the most half. I performed a bunch of titles starting from BGMI, Call of Duty: Mobile, to PES 2021, Asphalt 9 Legends, and extra.

In my expertise, Name of Obligation: Cell ran decently effectively with low graphics settings and low body charges. Bumping up the graphics to medium and excessive body charges pushed the system to a degree the place gameplay was uneven throughout shootouts, rendering the sport considerably unplayable. This additionally resulted in sure parts of the again panel getting fairly heat after enjoying repeatedly for quarter-hour. Asphalt 9: Legends ran effectively on the high-quality settings with minor stutters when utilizing shockwave boosts, nevertheless it was nothing that will hinder the gaming expertise.

Steady gaming on the Realme C31 brought about it to get barely heat 

The Realme C31 allowed me to play BGMI on ‘Easy’ graphics and ‘Excessive’ body price settings with none lag or stutter. Switching issues as much as ‘HD’ graphics brought about a few hiccups throughout squad fights and whereas roaming round in automobiles since components of the map took a bit too lengthy to load. The gyroscope additionally labored positive and I used to be in a position to management my recoil throughout gunfights.

Temple Run and Subway Surfers ran effectively with none issues. The cellphone enables you to allow ‘Auto Decision’ within the Settings app which lowers the display decision in video games to preserve battery and cut back heating. Nevertheless, I didn’t discover any distinction in efficiency or usability after enabling it.

The show of the Realme C31 has respectable viewing angles and it enables you to select between Customary, Heat and Cool color tone presets, relying in your desire. I most popular preserving the preset on the ‘Customary’ mode because it had probably the most balanced look. The HD+ decision shouldn’t be the sharpest for such a big display dimension, however viewing content material on it’s an honest expertise. The display has a brightness of 400 nits and I had no points studying content material outdoor, even beneath direct daylight.

Colors on the Realme C31’s show regarded good for probably the most half. Whites popped effectively and the movies seen on this display had good distinction. Sadly, the C31 doesn’t assist the Widevine L1 normal, so you may need to make do with normal definition high quality playback from OTT apps akin to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The speaker high quality is respectable and it will get loud sufficient if you’re holding the system in your hand. As for the earpiece, it labored positive and I used to be in a position to hear voices correctly on cellphone calls.

The Realme C31 lets you allow video show enhancement, which is a function that’s purported to make colors brighter and extra vivid when watching movies. Nevertheless, I most popular leaving it disabled since this made movies look a bit too synthetic.

The Realme C31 has a 5,000mAh battery which lasted for 13 hours and 53 minutes in our HD video loop check, which was a bit decrease than anticipated. On common, the cellphone was in a position to final for a whole day’s price of utilization, which included slightly little bit of gaming and media consumption along with common utilization, on a single cost. With lighter use, I used to be in a position to make use of it for slightly multiple full day. The equipped 10W charger was in a position to cost the Realme C31 to 23 % in half-hour, and took 2 hours, half-hour to cost the battery utterly.

The Realme C31 sports activities a triple-camera system on the again

Realme C31 cameras

The Realme C31 sports activities a triple-camera setup on the rear, consisting of a 13-megapixel main digital camera with an f/2.2 aperture, a 2-megapixel macro digital camera with an f/2.4 aperture, and a black-and-white digital camera with an f/2.8 aperture. On the entrance, there’s a single 5-megapixel digital camera with an f/2.2 aperture. The digital camera interface can be a simplified model of the common Realme digital camera app, and I observed some body drops within the viewfinder whereas making an attempt to seize some photographs.

The digital camera app is simple to make use of and navigate between the given choices. Nevertheless, precise digital camera efficiency of the Realme C31 was common at greatest. Photographs taken in daylight have been respectable, however lacked good particulars which have been fairly evident upon zooming in. The 13-megapixel main digital camera managed to maintain the colors pretty real looking however the dynamic vary was in every single place. Switching to ‘Auto HDR’ mode oversharpened the picture and likewise oversaturated a number of the colors. The C31 has digital zoom as much as 4X, and as you may need already guessed, pictures captured with the utmost magnification had a variety of grain and weren’t excellent.

Realme C31 daylight digital camera samples (faucet to see full dimension)

Macro pictures have been beneath common, with photos having a pink tint to them. Capturing a profitable macro picture wanted a few makes an attempt because it wasn’t straightforward to get the correct focus. The photographs additionally lacked good element. Portrait mode solely works with the rear digital camera and for some cause, solely labored on individuals and never on objects. Edge detection was respectable and considerably constant, though at occasions it did blur some components of the topic which it did not need to. The digital camera UI lets you set the blur stage earlier than clicking every shot.

Realme C31 macro (high) and close-up (backside) digital camera samples (faucet to see full dimension)

Footage taken with the entrance digital camera in opposition to the sunshine on the Realme C31 appeared overexposed and regarded very odd. The 5-megapixel sensor struggled to seize good particulars on the face and within the environment. Photos additionally appeared to have noise in them, which wasn’t superb.

Realme C31 daylight selfie digital camera pattern (faucet to see full dimension)

Low-light images weren’t good as pictures had a good bit of noise even in well-lit environments. Photographs regarded gentle and lacked good particulars. The digital camera additionally struggled to lock focus in dimly-lit circumstances. Shiny mild sources have been usually blown out in low mild photographs. After switching to Night time Professional mode, low-light images regarded a bit brighter. It additionally managed to steadiness the overblown lights from the sunshine supply however tended to saturate the pictures, as you may see within the samples.

Realme C31 predominant digital camera pattern in Photograph (high) and Night time Professional (backside) mode (faucet to see full dimension)

The Realme C31 can report movies at as much as 1080p decision at 30fps. Movies shot in daylight have been odd with common particulars, and pictures appeared shaky because of the lack of any stabilisation. Footage shot in low mild had loads of seen noise. That stated, a bonus of not having digital stabilisation meant there wasn’t any shimmer impact even whereas strolling throughout recording, which was good.

Verdict

The Realme C31 carried out effectively as my every day driver. Switching between apps and multitasking on the Realme UI R version was an honest expertise, though I would not recommend enjoying graphics-heavy video games on such a cellphone as it is not designed to deal with such exercise. The cellphone seems to be fashionable and classy and at first look, it is powerful to inform that it is truly a price range system. The 5,000mAh battery was additionally adequate to ship good battery life.

The cameras on the C31 might’ve been higher and ideally, Portrait mode mustn’t have been restricted to only human topics. For those who plan on getting the Realme C31, I’d recommend shopping for the upper RAM and storage variant since that worth distinction shouldn’t be a lot and it ought to supply higher efficiency in the long term. In case you are on the lookout for options in the identical worth bracket, the lately launched Moto E32s (First look) may be an attractive choice to contemplate.