Yesterday saw the launch of the realme C3 in Malaysia. While it only came with one RAM and storage configuration instead of two, the Malaysian model also comes with an extra camera, compared to the one we saw launch in India. I took some time after the launch to get a feel of what the phone was like, and here are my thoughts on the phone.
To start, it’s a pretty large phone, especially for an entry level model. I’m still not sure about what to feel about a 6.5-inch screen with only a HD+ resolution. But on the flip side, if you’re looking for an entry-level phone you’re probably not too fussed about the crispness of the images you see.
But then again, many of the more affordable smartphones have begun trending this way. On a related note, it also comes with a waterdrop notch for the front-facing camera.
While its pretty common to see chamfers instead of curves at the edges of a phone, it’s a little unusual to see them near the phone’s buttons. No doubt it makes the phone look slightly better than without them, even if they serve no other functional purpose. But it’s just rare that this much attention to detail was given to an entry-level phone.
Said buttons themselves are quite ordinary. This includes placement, with the power button on the right and the volume rocker on the left. The top and bottom are pretty ordinary too, with the former being pretty much spotless.
At the bottom is where you see the usual suspects. First is the micro-USB port, which is both expected and a little unfortunate. Next is the 3.5mm audio jack, which is a sight for sore eyes. And finally, the mundane mono speaker grille.
The back is lightly textured, but the highlight of it is, well, the simulated sun rays. They are made to look as it they are emanating from the camera. That’s another bonus point as far as aesthetics go.
The realme C3 has a MediaTek G70, which was touted as a gaming chipset for entry-level phones. The oxymoron aside, it does provide a good experience for general use. Swiping from screen to screen is smooth, though this may have something to do with the software as well.
It’s running the new realme UI, which is based on Android 10. The overlay also gives you control over some UI elements, such as the size of your app icons, and the edges around it.
For cameras, it comes with a 12MP main camera, a 2MP portrait lens, and a 2MP macro shooter. That last one is the one that was added to the Malaysian units. It also makes the realme C3 one of the most affordable phones to come with a macro lens.
But the overall performance is about what you’d expect from an entry-level device. Colours are a little on the warm side, and even under well lit conditions there looks to be some distortion to the images.
That said, that’s in no way a conclusive test. Maybe an in-depth review will yield different results. But until we get a chance to do that, we’ll have to leave things at that.
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