Realme C15 Review

Realme C12 and C15 are affordable phones that are more similar than different. We recently reviewed the Realme C12 and will now share our views on the Realme C15 that costs 1K extra and is differentiated by an additional 8MP wide-angle camera. (Realme C15 review हिंदी में पढ़िए).

In case you haven’t yet noticed, phones are now more expensive in general due to several factors at play. Current options under INR 10,000 deliver entry-grade hardware and you’ll need to balance your expectations accordingly. 

The Realme C15 has a few enticements to look forward to – a quad-camera arrangement, 6000mAh battery, and. Is it a phone that you should buy? Let’s try and answer that in our Realme C15 review. 

Contents:

• Realme C15 India Price,Specifications
• Realme C15 Unboxing
• Realme C15 Review: Design and Build
• Realme C15 Review: Display
• Realme C15 Review: Performance and Software
• Realme C15 Camera Review
• Realme C15 Review: Battery and Audio
• Realme C15 Review Verdict, Pros & Cons
•  

Realme C15 Specs and Price in India

Realme C15 Review: Unboxing

The box contents are quite basic. Realme does not bundle a protective case in the C15 box. 

Inside, there is:

• Handset
• Charging adaptor
• Charging cable (regular micro USB)
• Pre-installed plastic film screen protector (scratch-guard)

Also Read: Realme C12 Review

Realme C15 Review: Design and Build

Realme C15 is a well-designed phone. It looks trendy and is reasonably comfortable to wield, especially considering a massive 6000mAh battery onboard. Realme goes for a square camera module and the fingerprint reader is easily accessible.

Of course, as is to be expected in this price segment, the back panel and frame are entirely plastic. The back has a rugged texture that we have also seen on other Realme phones, and we’d say it adds to the overall appeal.

The C15 has a waterdrop notch and bezels surrounding the screen aren’t exactly narrow. Then again, this is to be expected in this price range. The power button and volume rocker are a bit mushy, but they were at all times within easy reach.

There is a dedicated slot for the SD card. And the audio jack, micro-USB port, and mono speaker are all lined up at the bottom.

All in all, we have no complaints regarding the built quality and design.

Realme C15 Review: Display

The good thing about the Realme C15 display is that it isn’t garishly blue. This might seem like a minor point, but the blue tint we have come to associate with affordable panels can be very annoying and harsh on eyes. The IPS LCD panel has a pleasant white point and reproduces deep blacks.

Other than that, the C15 display is pretty average. It’s not very sharp (HD resolution) and we had to cup our hands for usage under direct sun. Colors and dynamic range feel off. There is only one color profile, but Realme UI lets you adjust color temperature.

Though it doesn’t matter much in this segment, the software is missing the DRM L1 certificate, so you will get up to 480p SD quality on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Realme C15 review: Performance and Software

Realme C15 is powered by MediaTek Helio G35 octa-core chipset paired with up to 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. We are testing the top variant and day-to-day usage has been smooth so far. This is not a phone for hardcore gaming, but we still managed to run heavy games at low settings. PUBG for instance plays at ‘Smooth -Medium’ by default and goes up to ‘Balanced – Medium’.

The performance is similar to Realme C12 and for more details, I’d suggest you go through our Realme C12 review.

The fingerprint sensor is quite snappy and reliable. The Realme C15 has all the expected connectivity options including dual 4G VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling. We didn’t face any issues with call quality.

The Realme UI is a well laid out interface and we quite like the overall design. It’s, however, not a light skin and is still rough around the edges. Then there are preloaded third-party apps and ads to deal with (we haven’t encountered any till date, though).

Also Check: Best gaming phones under INR 20,000

Realme C15 Camera Review

This is the area where budget phones predictably falter. We didn’t go into this review expecting much and there weren’t any surprises. The camera performance here is pretty average.

Daylight shots can gather sufficient details. Colors tend to be oversaturated and the software is a little loose with sharpening. In low light and dark ambiance, the camera quality deteriorates steeply. The camera samples look better on our monitor than they do on the phone’s display.

So, maybe the extra sensor on the C15 as compared to C12 is not much of an advantage.

Realme C15 review: Battery and Audio

The battery backup is excellent. The practical mileage from 6000mAh battery can easily stretch across a day and a half. Unlike the C12, the Realme C15 comes with a faster 18W charger bundled in the box.

The Audio output from the bottom speaker is quite feeble. Audio via headphones is decent, though.

Realme C15 Review: Verdict

The base variant of the Realme C15 costs 9,999 for the price, but if you are limited by a budget you might very well go for the Realme C12 without missing out much. The top 4G RAM option costs 10,999 and for the same price, you could also consider the Realme Narzo 10.

The Realme C15 is a decent affordable phone overall and the experience isn’t any better or worse than what you’d currently get at this budget. The phone has a trendy design, a decent display for the price, and should prove to be decent performer for less demanding users.

Having said that, we are still stuck in the limbo from halcyon days where chipsets like SD665 were readily available under 10,000 and it’ll take a while before we can fully appreciate the new normal.

Pros

• Trendy design
• Excellent battery mileage
• Dedicated card slot

Cons

• Camera performance
• Feeble loudspeaker

Realme C15 Quick Review Video [in Hindi]