Realme C35 Review: More Than Meets the Eye?

Funds smartphones, particularly these priced beneath Rs. 10,000, often supply respectable worth for cash when it comes to {hardware}, in easy, sensible packages. Flashy, premium designs are uncommon, as the main focus for such units is mostly to ship a ok consumer expertise and superb battery life. Nevertheless, Realme appears to have give you one thing totally different in its C sequence. The new Realme C35 boasts of a premium look and end, which units it aside. The corporate has additionally managed to pack a 5,000mAh battery into the C35’s slim physique. It appears to be like good, however does it carry out effectively too? Let’s discover out.

Realme C35 worth in India

The Realme C35 is on the market in two variants. The bottom variant has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage and is priced at Rs. 11,999, whereas the second variant with 128GB of storage and the identical 4GB of RAM is on the market at Rs. 12,999 in India. Each variants can be found in two finishes: Glowing Black and Glowing Inexperienced. I obtained the bottom variant in Glowing Inexperienced for this overview.

Realme C35 design

In comparison with previous C-series smartphones, the Realme C35 looks like a breath of recent air. It is nonetheless made from polycarbonate however feels a bit extra premium than older fashions from the identical sequence. Holding in step with present design traits, the C35 has a matte body with flat sides and edges. The rear panel can be flat however has a shiny end.

The Realme C35’s again panel and body are made from polycarbonate

The digital camera module on the again of the telephone protrudes fairly a bit, however surprisingly, the C35 doesn’t wobble when positioned on a flat floor. The polycarbonate physique’s shiny end appears to be like distinctive within the refined Glowing Inexperienced color, nevertheless it’s an enormous fingerprint magnet. The chiselled look provides it a contemporary aesthetic, nevertheless it’s not essentially the most snug to carry, primarily due to the comparatively sharp edges.

The ability button sits on the fitting aspect of the Realme C35 and doubles up as a fingerprint reader. I typically discovered it laborious to find, primarily as a result of it is recessed into the body and has little journey.

The Realme C35’s energy button doubles up because the fingerprint reader however is recessed into the body

The 6.6-inch full-HD+ LCD panel has an ordinary 60Hz refresh price and incorporates a dewdrop-style notch. It is not all that intrusive when viewing content material, nevertheless it does look a bit dated. The bezel across the show is fairly slim on the prime and the edges however is sort of thick on the backside. The underside of the C35 has a 3.5mm headphone jack, main mic, USB Kind-C port, and speaker.

Realme C35 specs and software program

The Realme C35 has a Unisoc T616 SoC which has a most clock pace of 2GHz. This can be a shock given that almost all smartphones that characteristic Unisoc SoC’s are entry-level fashions. The telephone has a SIM tray with two slots for 2 nano-SIMs and a devoted one for a microSD card (as much as 1TB). Communication requirements embody assist for 4G/LTE bands, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5 and satellite tv for pc navigation methods.

The Realme C35 has a 6.6-inch full-HD+ LCD panel with a 60Hz refresh price

The Realme C35 runs Realme UI R Version, which is a light-weight model of the common Realme UI that skips resource-intensive options and customisation choices for smoother efficiency. It’s based mostly on Android 11. Whereas this feels like a good suggestion, Realme nonetheless preinstalls a number of third-party apps. These might be uninstalled, nevertheless it considerably defeats the aim of operating a leaner working system.

Realme C35 efficiency and battery life

The general utilization expertise was not one of the best, because it at all times felt as if the Realme C35’s {hardware} was struggling to maintain up with software program. I confronted random situations of lag and stutter whereas scrolling by way of lists and launching apps. In brief, the Realme C35 carried out extra like an entry-level smartphone than one thing at its worth stage.

Whereas the software program expertise was not on top of things, the Realme C35 carried out as anticipated in benchmark checks. It managed scores of two,12,939 in AnTuTu together with 368 and 1,382 in Geekbench’s single and multi-core checks respectively.

The Realme C35 manages to pack a 5,000mAh battery inside its slim physique

The show of the Realme C35 produces saturated colors on the default display screen settings, however altering from ‘Vivid’ to ‘Mild’ delivered extra correct outcomes. The total-HD+ LCD appeared sharp and was shiny sufficient for out of doors use, even below direct daylight.

Gaming on the Realme C35 was not an excellent expertise. The Unisoc SoC struggled to play any sport easily. Informal titles resembling Subway Surfers and Temple Run 2 stuttered a bit, whereas video games resembling Name of Obligation: Cell lagged an excessive amount of even on the lowest graphics settings.

The Realme C35 runs Realme UI R Version which relies on Android 11

The Realme C35’s 5,000mAh battery lasted 10 hours and 56 minutes in our HD video loop check, which is effectively beneath common for a finances system. When it got here to common use, the C35 lasted a bit over a day, which once more is beneath common for a finances system. Charging the telephone utilizing the bundled 18W charger took two hours and 7 minutes, which is on par with the competitors.

Realme C35 cameras

The Realme C35 has three rear-facing cameras: a 50-megapixel main, a 2-megapixel macro, and a 2-megapixel black-and-white digital camera. An 8-megapixel front-facing digital camera is answerable for selfies. The digital camera interface is stripped down in comparison with the standard Realme digital camera app. There is no quick-access icon within the viewfinder to allow you to change settings on the fly.

The Realme C35 has three rear-facing cameras

Picture high quality when capturing photographs in daylight was passable at finest. The dynamic vary of the first digital camera is respectable for essentially the most half, however particulars have been surprisingly weak even when capturing photographs in daylight. The HDR system was a bit too aggressive at occasions, so the sky appeared abnormally blue and virtually Photoshopped in some photographs. Macros appeared oversharpened and overprocessed.

Realme C35 daylight digital camera samples. Prime to backside: Auto mode, Portrait mode, Macro mode (faucet to see full measurement)

Portrait mode is barely obtainable on the rear-facing digital camera. It did an honest job with edge detection, however  backgrounds appeared overexposed though the topic had good element. Portrait mode solely labored on individuals and never on objects, for some cause.

In low mild, picture high quality dropped fairly a bit. The digital camera often struggled to lock focus in dimly lit situations, and pictures appeared fairly mushy. Switching to Evening mode did lead to barely higher distinction however photographs turned out mushy and blurry, which made issues appear worse total..

Realme C35 low-light digital camera samples. Prime: Auto mode, backside: Evening mode (Faucet to see full measurement)

The Realme C35 can report movies at as much as 1080p at 30fps. The standard was strictly common in daylight, and photographs additionally appeared fairly shaky, as a result of lack of any stabilisation. In low mild, movies appeared fairly noisy. The digital camera had a lot of hassle locking focus, particularly when panning.

Verdict

The decrease finish of the finances smartphone phase presents loads of decisions lately. Realme has fairly a choice of fashions to select from, a lot of that are priced fairly shut to 1 one other. Poor digital camera efficiency and sub-par battery life are the most important weaknesses of the Realme C35, even contemplating its worth. Its design is the one characteristic that makes it stand out.

So far as alternate options go, the Realme Narzo 50 is on the market ranging from Rs. 12,999, and presents significantly better {hardware} together with a MediaTek SoC, 120Hz show, larger decision selfie digital camera, and 33W charging. We’ve not reviewed it but, however going by specs, it ought to supply significantly better efficiency than the C35.

Past Realme, there’s additionally the Micromax In 2B (Review). It presents a smoother (and bloatware-free) software program expertise and significantly better gaming efficiency at a cheaper price. Motorola’s Moto G31 (Review) is now obtainable at Rs. 11,999, and this telephone presents a near-stock Android software program expertise, an AMOLED show, and a water-repellent design. All these choices ought to supply much better worth and efficiency than the Realme C35, which makes it extremely laborious to suggest.