Recently, realme Philippines has launched its newest device in the country, the realme C15, through an online event that lasted for more than a day. Wherein the young mobile brand showcased the main highlight of its latest offering - the massive 6,000mAh battery!
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| Realme C15 Review; The Incredible |
Realme has changed buyers' perceptions about entry-level smartphones with their budget-friendly, yet capable handsets. And, the realme C15 is their latest phone that belongs to that category. In this review, we will discuss in detail its features that lead to its very successful first outing, which is being sold out in just 15 minutes.
Get yours now at - https://bit.ly/realmec15squad (Squad Edition) and https://bit.ly/realmec15ph (Regular Edition).
PHYSICAL:
The realme C15 shares some aesthetic similarities with its realme C11 brother. Looking at the front, both have the same appearance, and it is quite hard to tell which is which. Both devices have 6.5-inch IPS HD+ Mini-drop Fullscreen display, wherein there is a small notch up to where the front camera is located. For the C15, there is an 8MP mounted within the display notch, while the C11 has only 5MP.
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| Mini-Drop Fullscreen HD+ Display |
When carefully inspected, consumers will see that the C15 screen somehow looks better. That is because it has a Corning Gorilla Glass protection, while the C11 has none. In terms of display quality, it offers good viewing angles, which is expected for a phone with an IPS panel, albeit it tends to be reflective at times when using the phone under direct sunlight.
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| Geometric Gradient Design |
At the back, both devices have square housing for their camera modules, albeit the C15 has four, while the C11 has only two. Both phones also have textured back cover, the new one has something called Geometric Gradient Design, while its older brother has the Geometric Art Design. Moreover, the C15 has a fingerprint sensor, while C11 has none. For color options, you can choose between Seagull Silver and Marine Blue.
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| Rear-Mounted Fingerprint Sensor |
Going through the sides, the top has nothing on it. The right side holds the volume keys and power button. The bottom has the loudspeaker, MicroUSB port, microphone, and the 3.5mm audio jack. On the left is the triple-slot card tray, which can support two Nano-SIM cards and one MicroSD card for storage expansion.
Realme C15 Unboxing and Hands-on
The retail package comes with the unit itself with pre-installed plastic film, the MicroUSB cable, an 18W desktop charger, paper documents, and a SIM ejector tool. The box comes in two options, the Squad Edition with Doodle art, which is available only for the 3GB/64GB variant, and the other box with the regular one. To learn more about its physical appearance, among other things, please watch the above unboxing and hands-on video.
See Also: Realme C12 with 6,000mAh Battery and Triple Camera Launches in PH for Only Php5,990
SOFTWARE:
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| realme UI v1.0 Based on Android 10 |
The realme C15 runs on Android 10 with realme UI version 1.0 on top. It is the same software installed in the C3, C11, X3 SuperZoom, and other realme devices that we reviewed recently. The software interface is clean, easy to navigate, and offers several useful features. To know more about realm UI, visit https://www.realme.com/in/realme-ui.
PERFORMANCE:
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| CPU-Z Info |
The realme C15 employs the MediaTek Helio G35 Gaming chipset as its computing hardware. It is the same silicon chip found inside the realme C11, and we have experienced the same level of performance. Please take note though that both devices that we reviewed have 3GB of RAM. So, if you are getting the 4GB variant, there is 1GB more memory available for smoother multitasking.
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| Benchmark Scores |
| Benchmark | realme C15 | realme C11 | realme C13 |
| Antutu | 111,882 | 108,856 | 179,857 |
| Geekbench 5 (Single-Core) | 167 | 169 | 365 |
| Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core) | 969 | 990 | 1,721 |
| Geekbench 5 (RenderScript) | - | - | 958 |
| PC Mark | 5,943 | 5,991 | 8,649 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot | 846 | 841 | 1,619 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot (Vulcan) | 615 | 612 | 1,180 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot (OpenGL) | 464 | 459 | 1,190 |
As you can see from the above table, the scores are on par with the realme C11 which is expected because they have the same chipset. But fall behind the slightly affordable realme C3, which is powered by MediaTek Helio G70 chipset.
In actual day to day usage, the Helio G35 + 3GB of RAM is enough to give smooth web or social media browsing experience as well as watching videos on YouTube or streaming apps, and switching between them. It is also capable to run popular game titles such as Mobile Legends, PUBG, and Call of Duty Mobile, albeit in low graphics settings.
For work or online schooling, we used Zoom, Google Meet, and Google Classroom multiple times and we never encountered problems while using them.
CAMERA:
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| AI 13MP Quad Camera |
As mentioned earlier, the realme C15 has four cameras mounted on its back. It is composed of 13MP PDAF f/2.2 primary shooter, an 8MP f/2.3 with an ultrawide lens, and two 2MP modules paired with an LED flash. In the front, there is an 8MP f/2.0 snapper.
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| 8MP Front Camera |
Based on our few test shots, the images produced during daytime or when there is enough lighting are generally good for both primary and ultrawide modules. However, shooting at night gives outputs that have visible noise, even when using the dedicated Night Mode. Based on our experience, HDR, combined with Chroma boost, gives better results at night.
Camera Samples:
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| Day, Ultrawide, Normal |
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| Day, Ultrawide, HDR |
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| Day, Ultrawide, HDR+Chroma |
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| Day, Primary, Normal |
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| Day, Primary, HDR |
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| Day, Primary, HDR+Chroma |
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| Night, Normal |
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| Night, HDR+Chroma |
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| Night, Night Mode |
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| Selfie |
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| Selfie, Portrait |
The realme C15 has quad rear cameras, but technically speaking, only two of them are actually accessible by the users - the primary and ultrawide modules. When the phone's asking price is part of the equation, both of modules provide above-average outputs during day time or when there is enough lighting. Although, colors are usually soft, which is why we highly recommend using HDR or HDR + Chroma to have better or lively colors.
At night or dark environments, the subjects are very much visible, although, digital noise is really evident, whether you are using normal, HDR, or night mode. Nevertheless, outputs are still usable, especially for social media sharing.
Meanwhile, the front camera gives nice selfies with a little bit of touch of beautification. Moreover, selecting Portrait mode enhances self-portray images by blurring the background.
CONNECTIVITY:
The realme C15 is equipped with the usual connectivity options, namely 4G LTE for the mobile network, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n for the home network, and Bluetooth v5.0 for pairing BT-enabled accessories. Meanwhile, the 3.5mm audio jack for connecting wired headset and the MicroUSB 2.0 port for charging and transferring files on the go are both located at the bottom.
It also has GPS with A-GPS along with GLONASS and BDS, which works just fine with apps that require tracking location.
BATTERY:
The main highlight of the realme C15 is its massive 6,000mAh battery, which is still quite rare at this point. There are only a few devices with this capacity, and most of them are more expensive. Realme claims that it has up to 57 hours of standby time, 46 hours of non-stop calls, and 28 hours of watching videos on YouTube. As for their live demonstration, the C15 managed to last 24 hours playing video continuously with about 23% battery left.
As for refilling the depleted energy with the 18W fast charger included in the package, two hours charging time gives 58% battery life, 2.5 hours for 70%, and 4.33 hours to fully charged from 0%. Based on our observation, it reached 99% in about 4 hours but needed around 20 minutes more to achieve 100%.
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| Realme C15 PC Mark Battery Test Score |
In PC Mark Battery Test, it scored a very impressive 21 hours and 38 minutes, which is 1 hour and 58 minutes longer than the Samsung Galaxy M31 that also has 6,000mAh battery.
FINAL WORDS:
The realme C15 has an outstanding battery life, not to mention 18W fast charging capability, that can last more than a day even with heavy usage. It also offers a large high definition display, quad rear cameras, and decent overall performance. These are features that are highly-sought by many consumers, especially those light to moderate users that love binge-watching using their phones. If you are one of those people, then the C15 might be the one for you.
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| Realme C15 |
However, if you are a heavy mobile gamer and mostly play games with high-demanding graphics, then we can say that there are other alternatives in the market, including the realme C3 and realme 6i.
Realme C15 Specs Philippines:
- Dual SIM, dual standby, supports 4G LTE connectivity
- 6.5-inch Mini-drop Fullscreen HD+ (1560 x 720) capacitive touchscreen display
- Dimensions: 164.5mm x 75.9mm x 9.8mm
- Weight: 209 grams
- Realme UI 1.0 based on Android 10
- 2.3GHz 64-bit octa-core CPU, PowerVR GE8320 GPU, MediaTek Helio P35 chipset
- 3GB/4GB RAM
- 64GB eMMC 5.1 internal storage, expandable up to 256GB via MicroSD card, uses dedicated slot
- 13MP f/2.2 PDAF main + 8MP f/2.3 ultrawide + 2MP f/2.4 B/W + 2MP f/2.4 quad rear cameras with LED flash
- 8MP f/2.0 front camera
- Multimedia Player
- FM Radio
- 3.5mm audio jack
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth v5.0
- GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
- MicroUSB 2.0 with OTG function
- Sensors: accelerometer, light, proximity
- Battery: 6,000mAh, non-removable, 18W fast charging
- Colors: Marine Blue, Seagull Silver
- Price: Php6,490/Php6,990