realme releases another budget smartphone off its popular C-series called the realme C15. The handset becomes available today; and it starts at ₱6490. At the heels of the realme C11 release, the company revved up its entry-level line thru a smartphone with longer battery life, fast charging capability, and a generous set of cameras.
realme C15 Review
This release makes the gap among the company's budget devices even narrower. If you're considering the realme C15, you might as well read this review. At the end, we'll answer some questions like "who is it for" and "why buy this one instead of the realme C11".Review Summary:
Pros
- Super long battery life
- 18W fast charging in a budget phone
- Large display is essential for homeschooling
- Affordable price
- Flexible cameras
Cons
- A bit on the heavy side
- microUSB port
Unboxing + PH Squad Edition Box
The realme C15 comes with an interesting box - the PH Squad Edition Box. The featured design is the winning entry of the recently held Doodle Contest. I am quite delighted with the doodled design - it's an intricately-drawn piece which represents the realme squad culture and the best features of the realme smartphones.
At the bottom highlights the marquee features like the 6000 mAh Massive Battery, 13MP AI Quad Camera, 6.5-inch Mini-drop Fullscreen and 18W Quick Charge. Opening the lid, we have the same packet with "Welcome to the realme family" prints. This small box also houses the documentations and other stuff needed for you to get started. We also have the pin ejector. Underneath the cardboard partition, there's the 18-watt wall adapter and the microUSB cable.
Design
The realme C15 sports a unique polycarbonate backing which the company calls the "Geometric Gradient Design." The back of the realme C15 is divided into 3 trapezoids of different areas with lines engraved into different angles. This also gave our Seagull Silver review unit three different shades of gray...no pun intended. But to be honest, I'd wish this handset had one uniform tone. Call me boring but this backing does not float my boat the way the realme C3 and 5i did. But one good thing about this design is that it automatically rejects fingerprints. Due to its 6000 mAh battery capacity, you'll notice a heft on the phones profile; but I think it's negligible when you place it next to the realme C11.
There's also a "trendy square" quad-camera module on the upper left with the LED flash below it. Plus, the back-mounted fingerprint sensor is where it should be. The frame is also made of plastic. On the right side, we have the power button and the volume rocker. The left side is a home to the SIM tray with triple-card support; and the bottom houses the 3.5-mm audio jack, microphone, microUSB port, and the speaker grill.
Display
Flipping the smartphone, you'll see the 6.5-inch Mini-Drop LCD display. Just like the realme C11, it packs an HD+ resolution which is quite standard for budget-friendly phones. But we think that this panel is pretty solid for an HD+ screen. Screen is very legible outdoors with sufficient brightness. Colors are somewhat accurate with good contrast and details.
The viewing angles are also very welcoming; thus, this could be a great smartphone for sharing online classes or even streaming Netflix with your loved ones. There are also tons of toggles you can do to improve your display experience that are supported by the realme UI. The Dark Mode and Eye Comfort are great examples. Plus, you can also adjust the screen color temperature from Cool to Warm. Sadly, there's no OSIE Vision feature in here.
Battery
Usually we discuss this section in the latter part of the review, but due to the fact that it's realme C15's main turf, we'll give it an early spotlight. The smartphone crams 6000 mAh battery which the company claims could last up to 57 days in standby.
In our video loop test, we played an HD video with 50 percent brightness and 50 percent volume. The smartphone got a solid 24 hours and 36 minutes. Unlike other big-battery entry-level smartphones, the realme C15 is supported with 18-watt fast charging. In our charging test, a 30-minute charge gives the phone 24% which is quite close to what realme is advertising.
There are lots of battery-related software tweaks included in the realme UI. This includes the Power Saving Mode, Super Power Saving Mode, App Quick Freeze, Screen Battery Optimization, to name a few.
Performance
Under the hood, the realme C15 ticks with the MediaTek Helio G35 chipset. This SoC may sound familiar since it's also the same chip that powers the realme C11. Our review unit comes with 3GB RAM and 64GB storage, but there's a 4GB RAM variant. For an entry-level device, the processor is more than enough to handle non-demanding tasks. In our Antutu benchmark test, the smartphone tallied a decent 112,031 score.
The realme C15 is quite zippy in handling most of the tasks thrown at it. Pulling and dismissing apps go with ease. Social media apps run smoothly with the handset. We tried playing educational videos as well as entertainment titles and the experience are pretty solid. Plus, reading eBooks and PDFs are well supported.
Gaming titles like Clash of Clans and Adorable Home do not have issues with this handset. Playing Mobile Legends with high graphics run smoothly on the realme C15 with minimal frame drops. On top of that, playing PUBG Mobile defaults to Balanced + Medium settings making the graphics seem flattened but playable.
Read also: realme C11 Review + Unboxing: Budget Smartphone for the New Normal
Camera
The realme C15 is the first smartphone off the brand's budget line to don a rear quad-camera setup. The main camera is equipped with a 13MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture. This sensor supports up to 4x zoom. On top of that, the main camera is complemented by the 8MP ultra-wide angle lens with 119-degree field-of-view. The handset also features a 2MP B&W lens and another 2MP for the Retro lens. The Retro lens is simply the portrait lens which give better depth of field in subjects; while the B&W lens provide artistic effects when called for.
The realme C15 produces good photos in good lighting conditions. Photos come with decent amount of details and contrast. The dynamic range is also good, as well as the color saturation. Just like the realme C11, the camera takes time to focus. However, you can still get great shots if you're patient enough.
The smartphone also supports Nightscape Mode which produces fair to decent shots. Photos in low-light tend to have muted colors and a bit noisy. It's also worth-noting that phones at this price range does not support night mode.
Ultra-wide angle shots are surprisingly good. With ChromaBoost turned on, you'll have fun landscape photos that have good contrast and color accuracy. However, details are trimmed down compared to shots coming from the main sensor. Selfies are also great for social media postings.
Software
We still have the realme UI powering the realme C15. This skin is based on Android 10 which gives the handset access to Google apps and Play Store. By default, icons are rounded and minimalist. You'll also have the app drawer which you can access by swiping from the bottom of the homescreen.
Notification Shade is clean as usual with toggles for your most used functions. There's a Theme Store app which gives you the ability to customize your phone with visual tweaks. I always love the fact that the realme UI is close to stock Android. However, there are still bloatwares that come on the get-go.
Fingerprint and facial recognition are quite zippy. Swipe Gestures function in navigation mode is also a lifesaver for me.
Verdict: Should You Buy The realme C15?
There's a sea of smartphones in the budget segment, but the realme C15 sticks out with its 6000 mAh battery, 18-watt fast charging, rear quad-camera, and generous display. Definitely, it's a solid smartphone for homeschooling which could provide longer hours of usage time and shorter charging time.
However, realme has released a number of entry level phones this year, particularly the realme C11. So if you're confused on what to choose between the two, well the realme C11 comes with great value for its price. But if you want to up the ante with a longer battery life, fast charging support, and more flexibility in terms of cameras, the realme C15 got you covered.
realme C15 Specs
- 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
- 3GB/4GB RAM
- 64GB memory, expandable
- Rear Camera:
- (1) 13MP, f/2.2 PDAF
- (2) 8MP Ultra-wide camera f/2.3
- (3) 2MP B&W sensor
- (4) 2MP Retro
- LED flash, HDR, panorama
- 1080p video at 30 fps
- Front Camera: 8MP f/2.0 wide
- 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
- Fingerprint Sensor
- realme UI with Android 10
- 6000 mAh battery w/ 18W fast charging
- Seagull Silver, Marine Blue
- ₱6,490 3GB + 64GB
- ₱6,990 4GB + 64GB
