Apart from its mainstream midrange lineup realme’s C-series has also been getting a lot of attention lately, thanks to numerous releases from the brand in such a short span of time.
realme C15 is one of the latest to take the spot, coming in hot on the trails of the C11. The device offers some notable upgrades that make it a more attractive deal – a quad-camera setup, and a bigger battery would be a couple of the highlights.
Design and Build Quality
The realme C15 basically looks like the C11 from the front, but the back panel’s design has been changed, but the texture remains the same. It’s less of a smudge magnet, which is a good thing. The device also feels a bit heavier than usual, maybe because of the bigger battery. As expected, the back panel is made of polycarbonate material.
The C15 packs a physical fingerprint sensor, something the C11 doesn’t. Then there’s the typical realme branding.
Both the power button and volume rocker are on the right side (if the screen is facing you), while the three-card slot is on the left.
Though dated, the micro USB port is probably here to stay, alongside the headphone jack, microphone, and speaker.
Display-wise, you get a 6.5-inch HD+ screen. It’s your typical LCD, and colors lean on the cooler temperature. It does offer a decent level of brightness.
Performance
Like the C11, realme C15 also runs on an Helio G35 SoC, along with up to 4GB of RAM (the unit that was sent to use had 3GB) and up to 64GB of storage.
- realme C15 System 14
- realme C15 System 12
For typical day-to-day tasks such as web browsing, binge-watching on YouTube, Facebook, Messenger, and Spotify, the device held its ground well without any major issues.
If you plan on getting this for Mobile Legends, it does support HFR and HD Mode in-game, and overall gameplay was very smooth. For CoD Mobile, Low graphics + High Frame Rate was the most it could do. Even then, the performance was pretty decent and enjoyable.
All throughout the tests, the C15 only got just a bit warm, but nothing alarming.
Camera
One of the most notable updates to the realme C15 is the quad-camera system, wherein the main sensor is joined by an ultra-wide unit, a monochrome sensor, and a retro lens.
When there’s ample lighting, the device is able to capture photos with good levels of detail and sharpness. Focusing speed is very fast, and the depth of field effect looks refined.
Normal
Ultra-Wide
Ultra-wide shots aren’t as good as far as quality is concerned, but you do get more in the frame.
Portrait Mode
Normal
Selfies, on the other hand, look pretty neat and well-exposed, with good edge detection and a refined portrait mode.
Software
- realme C15 System 15
- realme C15 System 1
- realme C15 System 16
Apart from the popular Dark Mode, you also get the usual goodies, such as Game Space, which serves as a central hub for all the games installed on the device. It also allows for setting your preferred performance profile.
- realme C15 System 3
- realme C15 System 4
- realme C15 System 5
realme UI also lets you take screen recordings, and lets you adjust the quality up to FHD resolution. The assistive sidebar, which lets you immediately perform certain actions is, unfortunately, missing.
realme C15 gives you the option to enable both Face Unlock and the Fingerprint Scanner. Both of which work well, and are very fast to respond.
Battery
A key asset of the realme C15 is its 6,000mAh battery. In PCMark’s Work 2.0 benchmark which simulates data manipulation and basic video editing, the device managed to churn out a score of just three minutes shy of 18 hours, which is nothing short of impressive.
You may be wondering if there’s a downside to that, and yes, there is. Thanks to its high capacity battery, it took around 3.5 hours to get from zero to full using the default charger.
Verdict
For PhP6,490 (PhP6,990 for the 4GB RAM variant) there’s simply nothing more to ask for from the realme C15. You get the much welcome upgrades from the C11 such as a more flexible set of cameras (which can also capture some good-looking photos and a large battery that delivers an insane amount of uptime.
The device is also a great daily driver and can game as well. The software performs well and is also quite feature-packed.
On the flip side, it still uses a micro USB port, which I think should no longer be the case for a 2020 device, and that it takes so long to charge the battery.
realme has outdone themselves with this one. The realme C15 is a worthy upgrade to its predecessor and should be on your list if you’re looking for a value-packed smartphone.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
