The Realme C25, a successor to the Realme C15, attempts to steal the limelight in the budget smartphone segment with its upgraded MediaTek Helio G70 processor. But with a similar starting price as the Realme Narzo 30A, which boasts a more powerful Helio G85 processor, the C25 faces an uphill battle. While the C25 claims superiority with its triple camera setup, including a 2-megapixel macro camera, is this extra lens enough to justify its price tag? Let’s delve into the details and uncover whether the Realme C25 stands out in a crowded and competitive budget phone market.
Realme C25 Price in India
The Realme C25 is available in two variants in India:
- 4GB RAM + 64GB storage: Rs. 9,999
- 4GB RAM + 128GB storage: Rs. 10,999
Both variants are offered in the new Watery Blue and Watery Grey color options.
Realme C25 Design
Maintaining a familiar aesthetic from its predecessor, the Realme C25 adopts a plastic unibody design. Its dimensions and overall design closely resemble the Realme C15, featuring a new textured finish and a prominent embossed Realme logo on the back. The camera layout echoes its predecessor but shifts to a triple camera setup, accommodating the LED flash within the module. A fingerprint reader graces the rear panel, providing swift unlocking.
The left side of the phone houses the triple-card SIM tray, while the right side features the volume rocker and the power/unlock buttons. The volume rocker sits noticeably above the power button, making it a tad inconvenient to reach without adjusting your grip.
Despite the plastic construction, the phone feels quite bulky at 209g, primarily due to its substantial 6,000mAh battery. The plastic back is prone to scratches but benefits from a matte finish, minimizing fingerprint smudges. The fine grooves of the textured back and rounded edges provide a reliable grip.
Realme C25 Specifications and Software
The Realme C25 sets itself apart from previous models with a more powerful processor:
- Processor: MediaTek Helio G70 (12nm) with integrated Mali-G52 graphics
- RAM: 4GB LPDDR4X
- Storage: 64GB or 128GB with dedicated microSD card slot
The provided review unit featured the 64GB storage variant.
The phone runs Realme UI 2.0, based on Android 11. The user interface delivers a smooth experience in day-to-day usage, although occasional hiccups might occur. Realme UI 2.0 offers extensive customization options for icon styles, notification drawer icons, and theming, enhancing personalization compared to its previous version. It also integrates Android 11 features such as the redesigned power button menu, grouped notifications, and more.
Bloatware is minimal, primarily consisting of Realme apps like HeyFun (casual games), Community (forums), Finshell Pay, and Realme Link (for Realme IoT products).
Realme C25 Performance and Battery Life
The 6.5-inch HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels) LCD panel is remarkably bright and vibrant, showcasing good visibility both indoors and outdoors. Text remains legible, images are easily discernible, and the camera viewfinder remains clear even under direct sunlight. However, the display glass is susceptible to smudges and fingerprint marks.
The HD+ resolution proves beneficial for battery life. However, the lack of Widevine L3 certification limits video streaming apps such as Netflix to SD streaming on the Realme C25. Streamed content appears less sharp when stretched over the 6.5-inch display.
Given the MediaTek Helio G70 SoC coupled with 4GB of RAM, performance expectations were modest. However, the C25 exceeded expectations in benchmark tests and gaming sessions.
- AnTuTu: 214,116
- Geekbench: 386 (single-core), 1,278 (multi-core)
- GFXBench T-rex: 52fps
While casual games functioned seamlessly, Call of Duty: Mobile provided a testing ground. With graphics set to Low and frame rate set to Medium, the fast-paced FPS game was playable. However, textures and scene loading occasionally showed a slight delay. Asphalt 9: Legends displayed minor hiccups at the Default graphics setting but ran smoother at Low settings. The phone remained cool during gameplay, a testament to its performance under low graphics requirements.
The combination of low graphics settings for gaming and streaming had minimal impact on battery life. Ten minutes of gameplay in Call of Duty: Mobile resulted in a mere 3% battery consumption. The Realme C25 can easily last a day and a half with moderate gaming and up to two days without it. Our HD video loop test yielded an impressive 27 hours and 2 minutes on a single charge, highlighting its incredible endurance. The included 18W adapter enabled a 19% charge in 30 minutes and a 37% charge in an hour. Achieving a full 100% charge took a longer 3 hours and 7 minutes.
Realme C25 Cameras
The Realme C25 departs from its predecessor, the C15, by eliminating the 8-megapixel ultra-wide rear camera and dedicated low-resolution filter cameras. It features a triple camera setup:
- 13-megapixel f/2.2 primary wide-angle camera
- 2-megapixel macro camera
- 2-megapixel f/2.4 depth sensor
The selfie camera remains an 8-megapixel sensor with an f/2.0 aperture.
The camera interface is familiar, mirroring previous Realme devices. Its intuitiveness is enhanced by readily available filters and toggles, with additional settings requiring only a tap.
In terms of image quality, daylight photos exhibit vibrant colours, good detail in darker areas, and impressive dynamic range. The HDR system frequently kicks in, preventing overexposure, resulting in well-balanced photographs. However, shooting subjects using the primary rear camera leads to artificially high saturation levels, deviating from the actual scene. Deactivating AI scene recognition in the camera settings failed to address this issue. The Portrait mode also showcased inconsistency, often overexposing both the subject and background, although edge detection remained decent.
For a sub-Rs. 10,000 smartphone, the digital 2X zoom impressed with its level of detail. However, 5X zoom resulted in largely unusable images.
Daylight selfies revealed sharpness, neutral colours, and decent dynamic range, with proper exposure for both the subject and the background. Portrait mode delivered comparable results in terms of sharpness, colour accuracy, and edge detection.
The macro camera (activated via the Ultra Macro camera mode) produces photos with increased contrast and sharpness. While mostly usable, these images appeared overly dramatic and lacked detail. Cropping photos taken with the 13-megapixel primary camera offered a more appealing alternative, showcasing better colours and appropriate sharpness.
As expected, low-light photography exhibited a decline in quality. Photos revealed significant noise, poorly defined textures, and a lack of detail. Although Night mode aimed to improve the situation, it fell short of expectations. Night mode photos were brighter than those taken in auto mode but suffered from overdramatic contrast, blown-out highlights, and reduced sharpness due to aggressive noise suppression. Consequently, auto mode proved to be a more viable option for low-light photography.
The rear camera supports video recording at up to 1080p 30fps. Daylight videos exhibited slight overexposure and lacked stabilization but remained decent overall. Similar observations applied to the selfie camera, which also records at 1080p 30fps. Low-light videos presented excessive noise and reduced details in darker areas and shadows.
Verdict
Priced at Rs. 9,999 for the base 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, the Realme C25 provides what is expected in the budget segment. While the C15 launched at a higher price (Rs. 10,999 for the 4GB + 64GB variant) last year, Realme has managed to offer a better processor with this model. The Realme C25 is also one of the few smartphones with a 128GB storage variant priced below Rs. 11,000.
The performance boost from the MediaTek Helio G70 is noticeable, ensuring smooth operation for casual users. While the C15 struggled with performance, this upgrade comes at the cost of the ultra-wide camera.
However, the Realme Narzo 30A poses a significant challenge, boasting a superior MediaTek Helio G85 SoC and a starting price of Rs. 8,999 for the 3GB RAM + 64GB storage variant and Rs. 9,999 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage option. Otherwise, the two phones share similar hardware.
Buyers looking for a near-stock Android experience can consider the Motorola Moto G10 Power, albeit with a slight performance compromise. For those seeking future-proofing, Poco’s M3 offers a good alternative with its compelling design, Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC, 6GB of RAM, and a slightly higher starting price of Rs. 10,999.
Given the fluctuating prices during Realme’s sales, last year’s Narzo 20 is also a worthy alternative. It features the same Helio G85 processor as the Narzo 30A but includes a 48-megapixel primary camera. Its price often drops to Rs. 9,999 (from its fixed Rs. 10,499) for the base 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, making it a compelling option. Additionally, consulting our Best Phones under Rs. 10,000 guide provides a comprehensive overview of the best phones available in this segment.
The Realme C25 certainly offers decent performance and a long-lasting battery for its price, but its competition is fiercely competitive. Ultimately, discerning buyers will need to weigh the advantages of the C25’s triple camera setup against the superior processing power offered by the Narzo 30A. Ultimately, deciding whether the Realme C25 is worth its asking price boils down to individual preferences and priorities.
