Realme C15 Review: Mammoth Battery Saves The Day

Realme C15: Design And Display Performance

Unlike most of the budget smartphones nowadays, the Realme C15 dons a matte textured design with geometric patterns. The company has announced the device in Power Blue and Power Silver colour options.

We got the latter and would like to add that it design has more of a subtle appeal. The rear panel has the square-shaped camera module alongside a fingerprint scanner and the Realme badge at the bottom.

You get a dedicated microSD card on the left, while the right edge has the power and the volume keys. The bottom panel stores a microUSB port, a speaker grille, and a 3.5mm audio port.

What you will like about the device is its smudge-proof design. Additionally, it isn't slippery, thanks to the matte-texture. But, the handset is bulky and you will struggle with single-hand operability.

Specifically using the handset with anything beyond calling or web surfing would need both hands.
Moving up front, the 6.5-inch IPS LCD display offers 720 x 1600 pixels resolution and an aspect ratio of 20:9. The display performance is satisfactory.

Its tall form factor complemented with HD+ resolution is what makes it suitable for media consumption. Besides, the colour production and the viewing angles are decent here; so is the visibility level under direct sunlight. It isn't a super bright panel, but you wouldn't struggle to view content outdoors as well.

Realme C15: Hardware And Battery Performance

Realme has launched the C15 powered by the MediaTek Helio G35 chipset. This is an entry-level game-centric processor which was announced recently.

In fact, it is the first-ever handset by the brand to arrive with this processor. Speaking of the variants, you get two options which include 3GB/32GB variant and 4GB/64GB model. We used multiple applications on the device and there were no issues in installation or usage.

The variant we received was the 4GB model. It performed fairly well with multitasking. Now many of you will be wondering how it performs with gaming since it has a game-centric processor. It renders graphics-hungry games pretty well. Games like PUBG and Mortal Combat 5 can be played with ease. But prolonged gaming slightly warms up the unit.

The battery here is the major highlights of this handset. The Realme C15 is amongst the only few budget smartphones that have a huge 6,000 mAh battery unit which is charged over a microUSB port. This massive battery gets 18W fast charging support.

The battery gets refueled within 2 hours and the device get an entire day run on a single charge. You won't find the need to reconnect it to a charger frequently even if you are using it extensively.

Realme C15: Software And Benchmark Performance

The Realme C15 features Android 10 OS and is pre-installed with Realme UI. We have seen multiple budget smartphones by the company this year that offer the same UI.

You get a dedicated Dark Mode which you can toggle on/off directly from the Notification tab. You will get the same look and feel as the Realme 6 series. The device isn't free of bloatware and you get a handful of them pre-installed.

This makes the UI look a bit cluttered. However, you do get the option to uninstall any unwanted third-party app manually to make more room in the app drawer.

Speaking of which, you can pull up the app drawer by swipe-up gesture on the home screen. This is the default settings. Notably, you can also use gesture-based navigation feature which you can access from the Settings tab.

Coming to the benchmark performance, we ran PC Mark and 3D Mark tests on the Realme C15. The scores were decent. In the PC Mark Work Performance 2.0 test, the device scored 6278 points, while in the 3D Mark Sling Shot Extreme test it logged 1118 points. 

Realme C15: Camera Performance

The Realme C15 is equipped with a triple-lens camera setup at the back. There is a 13MP primary sensor which has an f/2.2 aperture paired up with an 8MP sensor for wide-angle shots with an f/2.25 aperture.

There is another 2MP sensor with an f/2.4 aperture which functions as a depth sensor. The camera app has a dedicated Google lens support.

It is capable of recording up to 1080p@30fps videos and shoot Portrait, Panorama, Slow-Motion, and Time-Lapse. You can also click images using the Pro mode.
It has decent imaging performance and the triple-lens set does a fine job in capturing daylight images.

It's a basic camera setup, so don't expect a super-refined imaging experience.

The 13MP primary sensor with PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus) captures a good amount of detail when there are sufficient lights in the surrounding. The bokeh shots are to the mark and you can also set the background blur intensity manually.

The images do get grainy when there is a shortage of light. Though, there is a dedicated Night mode support which slightly enhances its performance with low-light shots.

The U-shaped notch upfront is a storehouse for an 8MP camera sensor with an f/2.2 aperture for selfies and video calling. It clicks decent images for social media uploads.

Realme C15: Should You Buy?

The Reame C15 is currently retailing at an asking price of Rs. 9,999 in India which is going up to Rs. 10,999. At this price point, the handset competes against the brand's own Narzo 10 series. The latter has got a powerful processor and a quad-camera module.

Also, the UI is identical. The company has been popular in the sub Rs. 10,000 segment with the "C" series. The latest models only bring improvements over the previous generation devices.

The company has taken a gamble by equipping the device with a humongous 6,000 mAh battery unit; adding fast charging support to it is something to appreciate. You can buy this device for its massive battery and cheap price tag.