Realme C55 Review: The Real Champion?

The C Series is a line of consumer-oriented, budget smartphones from Realme. The C-series is known for offering devices with good features at an affordable price point, making it an attractive option for people looking for a smartphone on a budget.

With the launch of the C-series, Realme is trying to capture the price-sensitive entry-level market by offering smartphones with decent specifications and features at affordable prices, making them a budget option for customers on a small budget.

The Realme C55 is a big leap compared to previous C-series devices – read more in our Realme C55 review.

Realme C55: Build & Design

The Realme C55 comes with a brand new stellar design language that looks very elegant and premium at the same time. It is available in two exciting colors: Sunshower and Rainy Night. We had the Sunshower variant with us for the review, and the color looks really gorgeous in real life. A rainbow-like projection can be seen when the light hits the back. The device feels good in the hand, and when placed on a table with the back facing up, it definitely draws attention. The phone is made entirely of plastic, and although it feels slippery in the hands, a case is included in the packaging. Realme has opted for a boxier design with slightly curved edges, which has become standard and makes the device comfortable to hold.

As for the overall weight of the device, Reame has once again done a great job and managed to accommodate a massive 5000 mAh battery while keeping the weight under 200 grams. The device weighs about 189.5 grams, to be exact. Upon closer inspection, we see a USB Type-C (USB 2.0) port on the bottom, along with the 3.5mm headphone jack – kudos to Realme for not leaving it out. We also have a single speaker on the bottom and a microphone for voice input. On the left side is the hybrid sim slot with support for a dual nano-SIM card and a dedicated micro-SIM card (SD ). This is a nice feature if you opt for the base variant of the device, which only has 64 GB of onboard storage.

On the right side of the device, the volume rocker is located directly above the power button. The power button serves a dual purpose: It is used to turn the device on and off and integrates a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for secure and easier access. The fingerprint scanner is fast enough and gets the job done most of the time.

Realme C55: Display and Sound

As for the display, the device features a 6.72-inch (17.07 cm) 90Hz Full HD + IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2400×1080 and a peak brightness of 680 nits. Despite the fact that the device is equipped with an IPS-LCD display, Realme has not made any major compromises, and the panel is quite good. The display supports a maximum of 16.7 million colors, and the edges are very thin except for the chin area.

The display also houses an 8MP hole punch camera in the center with support for Face Unlock. It comes with Widevine L1 certification for HD playback in various OTT apps.

One of the most noteworthy features of the C55 is the introduction of the Mini Capsule. First of all, the implementation of Mini Capsule is far from what we are used to from iPhone 14 Pro series, but it is a welcome change from Realme.

Currently, the functionality is barebones and needs to be made more user interactive. The only time you would see the mini capsule is:

• To show you the battery percentage when you connect the charger.
• To inform you about low battery levels.
• To inform you of your daily step goals and activities.
• To remind you of the day’s data usage.

We expect Realme to refine this feature by exploring different possibilities. We hope to see integrations with third-party apps and eventually implement this feature on all other Realme devices.

Realme C55: Performance, RAM, and Storage

The MediaTek Helio G88 SoC (system on a chip) powers the Realme C55. The processor, which will be launched in the third quarter of 2021, may look outdated on paper, but that is not true. The chip was introduced as an upgrade of the Helio G85, is based on the BigLittle architecture and features an octa-core CPU with two Cortex-A75 cores clocked at up to 2.0 GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at up to 1.8 GHz. The processor that powers the device is manufactured using 12 nm FinFET manufacturing technology. On the GPU side, there is the Mali-G52 MC2 GPU, which is capable of handling modern games and other graphics-intensive tasks.

As for the RAM and storage, the SoC is coupled with LPDDR4X dual-channel memory clocked at 1800 MHz paired with eMMC 5.1 storage. There is also support for dynamic RAM expansion, where you can expand your physical memory by up to 8 GB by giving up storage space. It would have been nice if Realme had opted for UFS-based storage, which is much faster compared to eMMC, but it all comes down to price, which we can not comment on.

During our rigorous testing, we had no problems with multitasking, and the Realme UI’s memory management is commendable. When scrolling through UI, we sometimes felt that UI was sluggish and animations were not smooth. There is no reason to worry, as these things can be fixed with a software update in this area.

The Helio G88 is capable enough when it comes to multitasking, and in our tests, we got consistent performance even when the display was set to 90 Hz at all times. Performance was good overall during benchmarking and gameplay tests, and there was no sign of significant heating, even under peak load.

We tested the device with two demanding games: Call of Duty Mobile & PUBG New State; the graphics were set to LOW for the games, and we got around 35-40 FPS, which we think is fine considering the device is not geared towards gaming.

Here are the Geekbench 6 and AnTuTu scores below, in case you were wondering:

Note that these benchmark results have very little to do with actual performance and usage scenarios in the world. And should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Realme C55: Camera

The cameras on this device are another standout part. The Realme C55 features a dual camera setup.

It includes a 64MP primary camera, which is the exact same one used on the Realme GT Master Edition. Underneath that is a 2MP B&W sensor that is used for adding color and depth to photos. Honestly, the 2MP sensor is pretty useless, and we would have liked to see a telephoto or macro camera instead.

The primary camera is an Omnivision 64MP, which is good for taking detailed shots. While the camera works well in good lighting conditions and outdoors, it struggled indoors and in low-light conditions and barely worked at all. The device has a dedicated night mode, but even in this mode, the pictures are not usable. Realme needs to work hard on the cameras, fine-tune the software and improve things like post-processing, HDR, edge detection in portrait mode, and night light shooting.

Everything has remained the same for the videos as well. Although there is no support for EIS & OIS, the videos are really good in terms of color accuracy and stabilization. The maximum this device can shoot is HD 60FPS. A single LED flash is also present to compensate for images in dark environments.

On the front, we have an 8MP camera for taking selfies with support for AI portrait mode and some fun filters and customization options. One cool thing we noticed that you should try is the ability to take pictures with the front camera by simply showing your palm.

Realme C55: Network and Connectivity

With the launch of Realme C55, the brand has taken some bold steps and made many improvements to stand out from the competition, like the introduction of a full HD display with a refresh rate of 90Hz, punch hole camera in the center, 33W SuperVOOC charging and many other key improvements that factor in for the overall user experience. While the lack of 5G support may look like a bummer for some, it’s not a huge disappointment considering the price of the device and the kind of specs it offers.

The Realme C55 comes with Bluetooth 5.0, with which we get features like dual device connectivity, low latency, and a more extended coverage area. The device supports dual-band Wi-Fi, which is a welcome change, as we are used to seeing single-band Wi-Fi support on budget and mid-range devices. There is support for dual 4G VoLTE with Wi-Fi calling, so calling indoors with low-signal reception should work like a breeze. The Wi-Fi speeds are good, and we didn’t face any coverage or latency issues throughout. Although the Realme C55 comes with a single mic, the quality is adequate enough, and the person in front could hear us out clearly without sounding too mushy.

Realme C55: Software and Updates

On the software side, the Realme C55 ships with the brand new Realme UI 4.0, which is based on Android 13 out of the box. During our initial setup of the device, an update was already waiting for us, which included the latest March 2023 security patch as well as some bug fixes and performance improvements. The Realme UI 4.0 is a heavily skinned version of Android and may look quite different from stock Android. However, it still retains some of the core features of Android 13, such as better support for Material You, newer widgets, a number of privacy features, and under-the-hood improvements.

It offers some beneficial features, such as a variety of customization options and the ability to optimize each system element. Features like the private safe and document vault are just the icing on the cake. Besides the usual bells and whistles, there are some special and unique software features like dynamic memory expansion, mini capsule, dual-mode audio, smart sidebar, floating windows for multitasking, and many other interesting things that improve the quality of life.

During the launch event, there was no word about the update support and lifecycle of this device, which made us curious, so we contacted the team directly, and we got an explicit clarification that the device will get two years of Android OS updates (Android 14 & Android 15) and three years of security updates, which we think is a pretty impressive thing considering that it is a budget device and the price at which it is offered.

After setting up the device, most pre-installed apps and bloatware can be uninstalled, despite the initial greeting with many of them. Although each app has personalized recommendations, we did not encounter any strange ads, and we have to admit that the overall advertising situation has improved somewhat. However, if you are new to Realme UI, you may want to change a few settings, such as raise to wake, double tap to lock and unlock, three-finger screenshot, and more.

Realme C55: Battery & Charging

The Realme C55 has a massive 5000 mAh battery and is paired with a 33W SuperVOOC charger (the charger comes with the device in the box). In our tests, the device charged from 10% to 50% in about 25 minutes, while a full charge from 0% to 100% takes about an hour and 15 minutes, which is a significant improvement over traditional 10W/15W charging speeds.

The MediaTek Helio G88 processor is power efficient as it’s based on 12nm FinFET fabrication technology, resulting in excellent battery life without compromising on performance and efficiency. Realme has made sure that the device doesn’t heat up during charging. There is even a special switch for optimized night charging under the battery settings in the settings app that limits charging to 80% and continues to charge the device in the morning, depending on usage patterns.

In the first few days, we managed about 8 hours and 54 minutes of screen on time, including normal scrolling through social media, streaming videos on YouTube, and an hour or two of PUBG New State, while still having 4% of the charge left. We can expect the device to last a day with occasional use and perhaps almost two with normal use.

Another cool thing we noticed during our testing is that once the device reaches the 100% mark, it stops charging completely – a handy protective feature for those who like to charge their device at night.

Realme C55: Pricing and Availability

The Realme C55 was launched in India on March 21, 2023, and has a very aggressive price tag of Rs. 10,999 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB memory. The prices for the other two memory and storage variants are as follows:

• Rs. 11,999 for the 6GB RAM & 64GB Storage
• Rs. 13,999 for the 8GB RAM & 128GB Storage

Apart from the regular prices, there are bank offers from ICICI and HDFC worth Rs. 1,000. The device is available in two color variants, Sunshower (the one we featured in our review) and the other called Rainy Night.

Realme C55 Review Verdict

In summary, we recommend buying this phone if you are looking for a budget device that offers good value for money, a full HD + display, a decent pair of cameras, and an overall clean UI experience, and that too from a reputable brand like Realme. If that’s the case, you’ll be happy with the Realme C55 unless you are looking for a device with 5G capabilities.

The Realme C55 is suitable for most people as it offers an eye-catching design, good performance, and decent cameras. There are no ads on UI, and the bloatware situation, while not significant, is acceptable. Realme still needs to work a bit on the software to fix the UI issues and optimize the camera a bit. Otherwise, you can opt for the Redmi 11 Prime 5G, which is a bit better equipped and supports dual 5G.

Buy Realme C55