Realme C25 Review: A big battery phone done right?

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Realme has unfurled new entry-grade smartphones for the summer under its C-lineup. Out of the three phones released, here, we will be sizing up the one named Realme C25. It tries to attract budget buyers with its ginormous 6000mAh battery, MediaTek’s gaming-focused Helio G70 chipset, Android 11 based Realme UI 2.0, and TÜV Rheinland rating for “High Reliability”. For the uninitiated, the brand has partnered with the Germany-based Certification association to ensure its devices meet relevant quality standards. Good. We will see how that manifests in reality among other things that make up this machine.

So, let’s cut to the chase. This is Smartprix’s review of the Realme C25, and these are the specs that we are about to scrutinize here.

Realme C25 Specs and Price in India

PhoneRealme C25
Dimensions and Weight164.5mmx 75.9mmx 9.6mm; 209 grams
Display6.5 inches; 720 x 1600 pixels, 60Hz, LCD, 480 nits
Battery6000 mAh, 18W charger
ProcessorMediaTek Helio G70
Memory4GB LPDDR4x + 64/128GB (dedicated expansion slot up to 256GB)
Rear Camera13MP main camera + 2MP Macro (4cm) lens + 2MP depth; up to 1080p @ 30fps
Front Camera8MP within a waterdrop notch
SoftwareRealme UI 2.0 based on Android 11
ConnectivityDual SIM, 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB OTG, USB-C port
ColorsWatery Grey / Watery Blue
Price4+64GB: Rs. 9,999
4+128GB: Rs. 10,999

Realme C25 Unboxing

  • Handset
  • USB Type-C Cable
  • 9V2A – 18W Adapter
  • SIM Card Needle
  • Phone Case
  • Screen Protect Film
  • Quick Start Guide, Warranty Card

Page Jumps

Realme C25 Design and Display

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Although there is no harmless way of testing the touted quality standards, I can tell you from just holding the device, that it is built strong. As soon as I took it out of the box, I passed it to my brother and he echoed how sturdy and comfortable it feels. Now, I can’t be sure how big of a difference it has made over the pre-TÜV Rheinland releases.

ALSO READ: Realme 8 Review

Anyway, I like the textured touch by the back, the rear placement of the fingerprint scanner, angular edges, and the tactility of the buttons on them. The dual-tone finish, as well as the reflective patterns on the back surface, are very subtle. The camera setup also sits rather flushed. The aforementioned biometric reader along with the face unlock works satisfactorily. My only suggestion, if you may, for future models, is to position the buttons on separate sides. This could benefit reachability. Not that it is challenging here. It is just that the left side is bare save for the triple card slot.

What is actually bare is the top side. So, the device comes with a single mic at the bottom, along with a solo speaker grille, a USB-C socket, and a 3.5mm jack.

Coming to the front, there is a 6.5-inch LCD display with HD+ resolution. It is basic and functional without any fancy traits, although the lack of a 1080p panel is noticeable. Also, I had stumbled upon a weird animation glitch. But things got back to normal upon reboot. Rest, there is decently visibility outdoors and should be fine indoors for day-to-day interfacing and media consumption as well.

Realme C25 Audio, Calls, and Connectivity

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The audio from the speaker outlet is as expected thin. So, plug in your earphone, and whence you do, (bonus tip) try out the Real Sound Equalizer within the settings that’s powered by Dirac technologies. I always switch between Smart and Game profiles.

Call quality was alright. You get VoWiFi option too.

As for other connectivity features, the list includes dual 4G VoLTE, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS.

Moving on.

Realme C25 Helio G70, Realme UI 2.0, and 6000mAh battery

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Realme C25 packs the Helio G70, which is a proven performer and we have seen it within several other phones (incl. Realme’s own) in the previous year. The chip is based on a 12nm manufacturing process and has eight cores with the max performance clocked at 2 GHz. This is complemented by Mali G52 GPU and MediaTek’s HyperEngine Game enhancements.

The phone is made available in two configurations comprising 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM and either 64/ 128GB of eMMC 5.1 storage. You can further expand it up to 256 gigs using a micro-SD card.

Realme C25 Benchmark TestsScores
Androbench Sequential Read | Write (Storage)318.59 MB/s | 220.72 MB/s
Androbench Random Read | Write (Storage)71.27 MB/s | 116.21 MB/s
Geekbench 5 Single-core | Multi-core (CPU)385 | 1291
PCMark Work (Real world scenarios)8464
3DMark Slingshot Extreme (OpenGL) | Slingshot | Wildlife (Graphics)1204 | 1578 | 594

The device clocks decent numbers on synthetic tests. They would only take the backseat against the Helio G80 and G85 wielding competition. In the day-to-day multitasking, I found the app retention in the memory insufficient, and there were some slowdowns once a while.

As far as games are concerned, titles like Asphalt 9 and COD Mobile are playable at 30+ frames per second. The former had frame drops and Call of Duty is limited to Medium Graphics and High FPS.

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy F12 Review

It is also good to see Realme UI 2.0. The Android 11 based skin brings a lot of customization and privacy-centric features for a refreshing and reliable user interface. I speak from my experience using other Realme phones recently. In the time, I’ve had it, I have cycled through many of its software tricks and treats like enhanced dark mode, the handy game assistant, newly-added sleep capsule, Super Power Saver mode, etc. I always turn off the Lock Screen Magazine and ‘Get a Recommendation’ toggles. You may also. I missed Google Feed access from homescreen and wished Realme had made some pre-installed apps (FinShell Pay, HeyFun tap to play mini-games, music, and video player) easily uninstallable.

I also got a system update (v. RMX3193_11_A.13) which claimed to fix camera and overall system performance.

On the battery-front, this thing’s a monster. 6000mAh. That should extensively juice your device. In our PCMark battery test, the device scored 11Hr 37mins, which falls in line with our expectation. The supplied 18W charger takes around 3 hours 30 mins mark to score 100.

Realme C25 Cameras

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Then there are the cameras — triple at the back (13MP main+ 2MP Macro (up to 4cm)+ 2MP (depth) and one on the front (8MP). You get to record 1080p videos at 30fps from both ends. The camera setup is middling if you consider some of its competition that has proper ultrawide and larger megapixel main sensor.

Anyways, let’s see how they output in the real world. Here are some daylight shots:

The shutter speed is quick. There is up to 5x digital zoom, HDR, Chroma Boost, Google Lens, Night Mode, Portrait mode (also on the front), Slo-mo, Time-Lapse, Expert mode, Panorama, Macro mode, and some filters to try.

With ample ambient light, you could expect some fine clicks out of the main sensor. It fizzles out in metering the exposure and in some cases, you will have to sacrifice details, especially in the shadows.

If you feel the colors are not vivid enough, the Chroma Boost mode can do some magic, even though the trickery falls flat in long-range landscape shots. Again exposure control and details aren’t up to the snuff.

Macro is meh. The details on the subject are meager and the background plane appears weirdly warped.

5X digital magnifications can be useful to see distant writings. Alas for anything more, it would be just writings on the wall.

There have been instances where the thing didn’t do the background blurring and I was left with regular photos. And when it does work, you would find smudged edges and softened details on the subject. While taking selfies, ensure you turn off beautification. Still, the skin color wasn’t always accurate. Now, these cases are few are far between. So, when it works, portraits can be largely good for social shares.

Night mode ups the contrast, sharpness, saturation, and fills in missing details (removes digital noise) to some extent.

And that’s about the extent of this review. So, finally, here’s the —

Verdict: Should you buy Realme C25?

Realme C25 appears to be consistent with the core competencies of a budget phone. It has got a biggie big battery, a fairly powerful processor, a healthy set of connectivity options, and TÜV Rheinland certified physique. The rest of the exterior, style-wise is pretty basic, so much as the screen, sound, and camera sensors. That is then you take phones with FHD+ displays, 48MP, and ultrawide cameras into consideration. Even the CPU and GPU performance would be only second to select counterparts, that too by a small margin. Now if you add and subtract all that, what you get is a mixed bag. So, as the first date of its sale is upon us, make your decision based on the following pros, cons, and what matters to you the most.

Realme C25 Review Rating

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pros

  • TÜV Rheinland certified Physique
  • Fairly powerful processor for gaming
  • Biggie big battery
  • A healthy set of connectivity options

Cons

  • Basic camera setup
  • 720p screen
  • Paltry speaker audio

Realme C25 FAQ

Q. Does Realme C25 support carrier aggregation?

A. No, the Realme C25 doesn’t support carrier aggregation.

Q. What is the protection offered on Realme C25 display?

A. Realme C25’s screen protection is unspecified.

Q. What is the screen refresh rate of the Oppo F19?

A. Realme C25 screen refresh rate is just 60Hz.

Q. What are the SAR values of Realme C25?

A. Realme C25 SAR values are: 0.822 W/kg @ 1gm (Head) & 0.805 W/kg @ 1gm (Body).

Q. Does Realme C25 support dual-band WiFi?

A, Yes, Realme C25 supports dual-band WiFi (2.4GHz + 5GHz).

Q. Does Realme C25 support VoWiFi?

A. Yes, Realme C25 features Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi).

Q. Does Realme C25 support HD stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime?

A. First of all Realme C25 has a 720p display. As for DRM certification, it comes with Widevine L3 rating.

Vasan G.S.Vasan G.S.
An inquisitive mind who spends a big chunk of the day keenly tracking every emerging detail and is responsible for quickly passing on important developments to Smartprix followers. He loves to stay in his bubble scripting his destiny involving amazing technology and people with good character, passion, and brilliance.

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1 Comment
User
Ayush
Anonymous
2 years ago

Realme and mediatek really do know how to make classy budget friendly smartphones.

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