realme C11 Review + Unboxing: Budget Smartphone for the New Normal

Realme C11 Review and Unboxing

Fastest growing smartphone brand, realme, refreshes its budget lineup with the realme C11. The handset drops today with a Php 4,990 price tag making it an enticing purchase for those looking for a new phone this "new normal." And since you're here already, we bet you have this phone on your prospects. Check out what we think of this smartphone in this realme C11 review.

realme C11 Review

realme C11 Review

Review Summary:

Pros

  • Long battery life
  • Solid, well put together design
  • Large display is essential for homeschooling
  • Affordable price

Cons

  • No fingerprint sensor
  • Big logo branding at the back

Unboxing

Before anything else, let's keep everything out of the box. The realme C11 sports a bright yellow box with gray accents just like the smartphones before it. As usual, we have its marquee features printed at the bottom of the box - 5000 mAh "Massive Battery," 6.5-inch Mini-drop fullscreen, 13MP AI dual camera, and the Helio G35 "Gaming Processor."

realme C11 Unboxing

Our review unit says it comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. Though it's also worth-noting that the actual retail version will only come with 2GB of RAM.

Opening the lid, we will be greeted by a small packet which houses some documentations. Unlike the previous releases, we don't have a jelly case included in the box. That is also expected since this is only a budget offering. Under the cardboard partition, we'll have the 10-watt power brick and the micro USB cable. The SIM tray pin ejector completes the list of the items.

Design

The realme C11 is made in the same melting pot as the realme C3 and realme 5i - if you place them side by side, these phones are strikingly identical. The newcomer also packs a 6.5-inch HD+ 720 x 1600 pixel resolution framed in a Mini-drop notch. However, when you flip to the back, this is where you'll see the difference.

Read also: realme C3 Review: A Triple Threat

Realme C11 Review

You'll find an unusual vertical stripe running down from the camera module all the way to the bottom side of the back panel. The realme logo is also quite glaring since it's bigger than what we have accustomed to. The stripe also comes in a different texture compared to the rest of the back panel. The camera module is now in squarish form factor instead of the vertically piled one. We love the texture of the backing, it allows easy handling of the realme C11. Our review unit is in Mint Green which technically is a muted grayish-green color, and we love it. You can also opt for the Pepper Gray color if that's your jam.

realme C11 Review and Unboxing Design

At the right, there's the power button and to our surprise, it's accompanied by the volume keys. On the left, there's the SIM tray; while the bottom side has the microUSB port, speaker grill, and the audio port. It's a good thing that we have dedicated slots for the two SIM cards and the microSD card.

The realme C11 is void of a fingerprint sensor; other than that, we have no issues with regards to the design and handling of this smartphone.

Read also: realme X3 SuperZoom Review

Display

The realme C11 frames a 6.5-inch Mini-drop display. It comes with HD+ resolution which is pretty standard to phones less than Php 5K. Just like other realme HD+ panels, we think that this one is pretty solid too. Its brightness is quite sufficient when used indoors. Moreover, it offers good contrast and color reproduction. Viewing angles are also welcoming.

realme C11 Review and Unboxing Display

For its price, the display quality is good enough. Consuming multimedia content or streaming videos with the phone is still a worthwhile experience.

As usual, there's still the temperature slider from Cool to Warm which can be adjusted depending on user's preference. Likewise, the Night Mode and Eye Comfort are essential software tweaks designed to improve display experience.

Performance

At the heart of the realme C11 is the MediaTek Helio G35 chipset. This is an entry level chip off the Helio G series. Comparing it to realme C3's G70, you could definitely spot a big performance gap in favor of the latter. However, that does not mean that the realme C11 does not have the muscle to do your essential tasks.

realme C11 Review and Unboxing

In our real time usage, the realme C11 is not shabby at all. We managed to pull up and close apps with ease. Social media apps run smoothly with the handset. Casual gaming titles like Clash of Clans, Mobile Legends, and Adorable Home also run smoothly with the realme C11.


I tried to open some educational apps. Google Play Books, EDX, and Khan Academy are fun to have with the realme C11. You can store more educational files and PDFs with its roomy 32GB storage.

The phone can also open several apps but it would choke if it reaches a certain number of apps on the background due to its 2GB RAM.

Running PUBG Mobile only gave us Balanced + Medium settings. This means that graphics does not really pop and 3D images may look like flattened. However, it's still playable.

Software

What's great about the realme C11 is that it boots with Android 10 with realme UI on top. We always love how close to stock Android the UI has become. Icons are round, flat, and minimalist. There are also tons of customizations available in the Theme Store if you need some visual tweaks in your phone.


Gesture navigations are supported which is my cup of tea. Likewise, using the facial recognition feature is also zippy.

Camera

The realme C11 packs a 13MP (f/2.2) main camera accompanied by a 2MP (f/2.4) depth sensor. I have no complaints in these kind of set-up since this is common to most entry-level devices. For a budget smartphone, the realme C11 is a winner in capturing daylight photos. Colors are accurate and rich. Contrast is also on-point as well as the details.

realme C11 Camera Review and Unboxing

The camera focus is quite slow. This also means that there is a noticeable gap from the time you press the shutter button to the actual time the camera takes the photo. Thus, you need to have a lot of patience to capture great photos.







Standard Low-light shot

Low-light shot with Night Mode

A quick tour of the camera app, it's surprising to see a Night Mode. If you remember, this feature is not included in the realme C3. The basic modes are present as usual: Video, Photo, Portrait, Timelapse, Google Lens, Slo-Mo, Expert, and Panorama. The usual Chroma Boost, Filter, and HDR toggles are on the top of the interface. You can use up to 4x zoom using the Photo Mode.

Battery

The realme C11 packs a gigantic 5000 mAh battery. We are surprised that the handset nearly closes a two-day battery life. Of course, we knew that the smartphone's hardware is not that power-hungry.

If you're a fair to moderate user with activities including occasional usage of messaging apps, social media, video streaming, moderate gaming, the C11 will give users almost a day and a half in battery life.

The downside is that the battery does not support fast charging. It took me more than 2 hours to charge the handset.

Verdict: Should You Buy The realme C11?

The realme C11 is a budget-friendly smartphone that ticks a lot of great features - decent camera, generous big display, updated design, and longer battery life. With that in mind, I would think that the realme C11 would be an ideal device for students who will be homeschooling this school year, and to those looking for an unassuming device that would get them through their basic daily tasks.
With that being said, the realme C11's general performance is just fine. I'm not sure how it would hold up as it ages. But for now, I would think that the realme C11 is still a good purchase in its own right.

realme C11 Specs

  • 164.4 x 75.9 x 9.1 mm @ 196 grams
  • 6.5-inch Mini-Drop IPS LCD
  • 720 x 1560 pixels, 20:9 ratio, 270 ppi pixel density
  • MediaTek Helio G35
  • 8x 2.3 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU
  • PowerVR GE8320 GPU
  • 2GB RAM + 32GB memory, expandable
  • Rear Camera: 13MP, f/2.2 PDAF + 2MP depth sensor
  • LED flash, HDR, panorama
  • 1080p video at 30 fps
  • Front Camera: 5MP f/2.4
  • 1080p video at 30 fps
  • Loudspeaker
  • 3.5-mm audio jack
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 5.0
  • GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BDS
  • FM Radio
  • microUSB 2.0, USB OTG
  • Accelerometer, proximity, compass
  • realme UI with Android 10
  • 5000 mAh battery
  • Mint Green, Pepper Gray
  • Php 4,990
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