Realme C55 Review: Style Over Substance?

Realme’s C55 acquired the world’s consideration when it was first launched in Indonesia for being the primary Android smartphone with a copy of Apple’s Dynamic Island characteristic. Realme has branded this software program characteristic as “Mini Capsule”. Now, the corporate introduced this finances smartphone to India, but it surely’s already clear that Mini Capsule shouldn’t be essentially the most fascinating factor about it – in reality it was barely talked about in the course of the launch occasion. What is going to get this cellphone a whole lot of consideration in India is its pricing and its design.

Realme’s C-series gadgets have been positioned as entry-level choices for years. Whereas it’s spectacular to see a C-series machine with a unique-looking design, you need to needless to say all of it comes at a value. The value of the Realme C55 begins within the finances section as an alternative of the standard entry-level sub-Rs. 10,000 pricing. This cellphone is supposed to interchange the Realme C33 (2023) and can also be an improve to the C35 as properly, that are entry-level gadgets powered by Unisoc SoCs.

I used to be fast to level out how this machine is lacking 5G and the way the Mini Capsule felt half-baked at finest in my first impressions of this cellphone. A couple of month later, not a lot has modified regardless of a number of software program updates, however I’ve found a number of extra shortcomings. These are primarily to do with the person interface, but additionally battery life. Is the Realme C55 nonetheless a simple suggestion in a sea of finances smartphones? Learn on to search out out!

Realme C55 value in India

The Realme C55 is on the market in three variants. There’s the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant priced at Rs 10,999; the 6GB RAM and 64GB storage variant is on the market for Rs. 11,999; and the variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage sells at a quite aggressive Rs. 13,999 in India. Certainly, it is good to have choices, and it is good to see Realme offering a lot selection for a C-series machine. The Realme C55 can also be the primary C-series mannequin to pack 8GB of RAM. The machine is on the market in two finishes – Sunshower or Wet Evening. I acquired the 8GB RAM variant within the Sunshower end for overview.

Realme C55 design

Realme did try to offer its C-series a contemporary, fashionable look when it introduced its C35 final 12 months. Whereas that cellphone was a step up from the quite fundamental entry-level gadgets beforehand obtainable within the C-series, its design was actually the one advantage of it, as I found in my review.

The Realme C55’s rear panel and body are product of polycarbonate

In the case of design, Realme has taken issues a bit additional with the C55. It seems slim and trendy with its straight traces, chiselled physique, and flat sides. There is a flat show on the entrance, and in contrast to the C35, it is of the hole-punch selection so it retains up with the remainder of the cellphone’s trendy look. Whereas the bezels on the left, prime and proper are skinny, the one on the backside is a bit thick.

Flip the cellphone over and it does get onerous to inform that it is a finances smartphone for 2 causes. First, there is a dual-tone end on the again, with a finely striped matte texture throughout most of it, and a elegant part across the protruding cameras. This does look refreshing for a finances smartphone. Secondly, this matte end can also be fairly good at resisting fingerprints. The rear panel and body are product of polycarbonate making them much less prone to crack when dropped than glass. Realme makes use of Panda glass for the show. It’s vulnerable to smudges however these had been straightforward to wipe off.

The Realme C55’s energy button sits practically flush alongside the body’s flat sides

The cellphone weighs 189g which is a bit on the heavier facet, however feels fairly slim at 7.89mm. There is no IP ranking and no stereo audio system, however you do get a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Kind-C USB port on the backside. The fingerprint reader is embedded into the facility button, which I did discover a bit tough to press as a result of it sits practically flush with the flat facet of the body.

Realme C55 specs and software program

The Realme C55 has a MediaTek Helio G88 SoC, which signifies that it lacks 5G connectivity. Realme claims that the cellphone makes use of LPDDR4X RAM and EMMC 5.1 storage. The SIM tray has two slots for 2 nano-SIMs and a devoted slot for as much as a 1TB microSD card, which is good to have.

Connectivity requirements embody 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.2, together with the standard array of sensors and international positioning techniques. The cellphone has a 5,000mAh battery and comes with a 33W wired charger within the field.

The Realme C55 runs Realme UI 4.0, which is predicated on Android 13. It comes loaded with a ton of Realme and third-party apps. This implies having two ‘Messages’ apps for SMSes, two file managers, two note-taking apps, and the record goes on. This might get fairly complicated for brand spanking new customers, and it is also annoying since you can’t uninstall most of those redundant apps. A lot of the preinstalled third-party ones can be uninstalled, which you are able to do to reclaim some space for storing. It was additionally annoying to see adverts and promotional notifications from the Sport Heart and App Market 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 on the appliance getting used and the content material being considered. The show is vibrant and is vivid sufficient to view content material outdoor on a sunny afternoon, and has good viewing angles as properly. As for streaming, it was good to search out Widevine L1 certification, which allowed for full-HD high quality playback.

The Realme C55’s IPS LCD panel is vivid sufficient when considered outdoor

The utilization expertise failed to satisfy my fundamental expectations. Realme UI 4.0 didn’t appear properly optimised to this {hardware}, which I seen when utilizing the cellphone’s interface usually, minimising apps, swiping by video-heavy feeds in apps like Instagram, and different widespread use instances. There was a normal stuttering and noticeable lag all through, and it all the time felt just like the {hardware} was making an attempt to maintain up with my interactions. I examined the 8GB RAM variant, so I can solely think about how unhealthy the expertise can be on the 4GB RAM variant. I additionally skilled some stuttering when streaming video, however this acquired resolved with the newest software program replace, which confirmed up just some days previous to publishing this overview.

As for Mini Capsule, not a lot has modified since I attempted it out a month in the past. Most individuals will not even discover that this characteristic exists, as it is simple to overlook the animated notification prompts that broaden across the hole-punch digicam. Certainly, that is one thing that Samsung does higher with its pop-up notifications, which additionally seem in a capsule form and are much more helpful as they relay various kinds of notifications, not like the small handful of prompts that Realme’s Mini Capsule shows.

Realme UI reveals a number of spammy notifications

When it comes to benchmarks, the Realme C55 performs as anticipated provided that it has a MediaTek Helio G88 SoC inside. The cellphone’s scores weren’t spectacular by any means. Even the iQoo Z6 Lite managed higher scores with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC. The Realme C55 managed 2,57,736 factors in AnTuTu together with 422 and 1,411 factors in Geekbench’s single and multi-core checks. When it comes to graphics, efficiency was not good both, which explains the stuttering and lag within the UI. The cellphone managed 39fps in GFXBench’s T-Rex take a look at, 14fps in Manhattan 3.1, and eight.5fps in Automobile Chase.

Gaming efficiency was a bit under common. Name of Responsibility: Cell was playable at Medium graphics high quality and Excessive framerate, however would lag after about quarter-hour of gameplay, which can also be when the cellphone begian to warmth up. Asphalt 9 Legends turned out to be a bit too heavy even on the lowest graphics setting (Efficiency), with a number of lag and stuttering. Certainly, this smartphone is best suited to less complicated informal video games. Its single speaker will get fairly loud, however sound can also be distorted at larger volumes.

Realme UI comes with a whole lot of of third-party apps preinstalled

My each day utilization with the Realme C55 consisted of an hour of gaming, an hour or two of video streaming (on Wi-Fi), and going by numerous social media apps together with two e-mail accounts syncing always. Regardless of going a bit straightforward, I used to be stunned that the cellphone solely managed a day on a single cost. Certainly, this might be right down to the low-end processor, however I anticipated the 5,000mAh battery to final for greater than a day, which is regular for many finances smartphones as we speak. Our commonplace HD video loop battery take a look at solely ran for 14 hours, 43 minutes, which falls on the decrease facet in comparison with most different smartphones at this value level. Alternatively, the 33W charger managed to cost this cellphone from useless to full in 1 hour, 10 minutes, which is sort of good.

Realme C55 cameras

The Realme C55 has two rear-facing cameras: a 64-megapixel major digicam and a 2-megapixel depth sensor which is used for gathering depth knowledge when utilizing Portrait mode. Selfies are dealt with by an 8-megapixel entrance digicam. The digicam app interface is simple to make use of with all essential controls obtainable across the viewfinder. Realme claims that the 64-megapixel sensor comes from the older GT Master Edition so I used to be a bit excited to see its efficiency in such a low-cost cellphone. Nevertheless, you do should needless to say digicam efficiency additionally relies on the processor, and the GT Grasp Version had a superior mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC.

The Realme C55 has two rear-facing cameras, of which just one is accessible by the person

Daylight picture high quality was nonetheless surprisingly spectacular. Images confirmed first rate dynamic vary and good element. Colors tended to be a bit oversaturated and there was additionally a slight bluish tint in photographs, however at this value level it is onerous to complain. Shut-ups got here out sharp and clear, with low noise and good element. Nevertheless, I did discover that the digicam was sluggish to focus indoors even throughout daytime, so I typically had to faucet to focus when capturing objects.

Realme C55 daylight digicam samples. High to backside: Auto mode, shut up, portrait selfie (faucet to see full dimension)

Selfies appeared a bit sharpened in daylight, however with first rate element and dynamic vary. Edge detection in Portrait mode whereas utilizing the selfie digicam was common for this section. In low gentle, selfies got here out a bit delicate and noisy regardless of which mode I selected. Edge detection was not correct both.

The digicam’s low-light efficiency in Auto mode wasn’t nice. It had hassle focusing in dimly lit scenes, and the ensuing photographs ended up a bit delicate and missing intimately. The devoted Evening mode vastly improved picture high quality, bringing in much more element together with sharpness, and added some definition to textures. The outcomes had been spectacular for this section, but it surely takes 4-5 seconds to seize a picture, so in the event you do not maintain the cellphone regular, picture high quality can deteriorate drastically.

Realme C55 low-light digicam samples. High: Auto mode, Backside: Evening mode (faucet to see full dimension)

Video high quality is restricted to 1080p at 60fps. Recorded footage had first rate element however was low on dynamic vary, and there have been some clipped highlights. Movies lack stabilisation fully, so they arrive out fairly shaky. In low gentle, recording at 1080p 30fps resulted in higher high quality with first rate dynamic vary, however video was nonetheless fairly low on element and had noise. Clips had been fairly shaky and focusing was an issue.

Verdict

In 2023, a number of smartphone manufacturers have began providing 5G fashions on the decrease finish of the finances section. There’s the Infinix Hot 20 5G (Review), priced beginning at Rs. 11,499, and the Poco M4 5G at Rs. 11,999, to call a number of. Then there are smartphones such because the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G, which prices Rs. 13,999 onwards and affords better software performance and good digicam efficiency together with 5G connectivity.

Realme thinks it has discovered a candy spot with an fascinating design (for a finances smartphone) and a good digicam which shoots good daylight photographs. Nevertheless, battery life is not as much as expectations for a finances smartphone, and the software program is loaded to the brim with bloat. My unit lagged and stuttered all through the overview interval, regardless of having 8GB of RAM. This makes the Realme C55 actually onerous to advocate. Think about it provided that you want an excellent digicam or are keen to disregard its shortcomings due to its distinctive design.