Design and Build Quality
A look at the back of the realme C65 and you’ll immediately be reminded of a device from another brand’s “Galaxy”. I personally prefer their usual design, but props to them for trying to change things up. Speaking of which, they call this brushed finish Shining Starlight design, and it’s eye-catching, especially when you view the rear panel from various angles.
The phone measures 7.64mm thin, with realme saying that it’s the thinnest phone in its class. It does feel a bit easier to handle with one hand. Button placement is the usual – power button and volume rocker on its right side, and the SIM slot on the left. It also has a headphone jack, if you’re into wired headphones.
realme C65 has a 6.67-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate. It’s not very compelling especially when considering that other brands are still going for higher resolution and higher refresh rates even for their budget segment devices.
Performance
On the performance side, this phone has a Helio G85 chipset, which already tells you that this phone isn’t made to tackle heavy multi-tasking, nor is it for heavy gaming. You also get 8GB of RAM, which is standard, and 256GB of storage.
We did try to play Mobile Legends on the realme C65, and to be fair, it did play the game smooth.
Camera
While we’ll have to save our camera samples for the full review, the realme C65 has a 50MP main camera accompanied by a 2MP depth sensor. It’s a decent configuration that should net you photos that are more than good enough for social media posts.
There’s also an 8MP selfie camera, and the device can record up to 1080p 30fps, which, again should be ample for short form content.
Software
At the time of writing, the realme C65 was running Android 14 with realme UI 5.0 on top. And while the UI itself doesn’t look that much different, you do get some interesting features like Air Gestures, which when enabled, allows you to answer calls and navigate select apps with say a flick of your hand or placing your palm in front of the front-facing camera.
There’s also Dynamic Button, which lets you perform actions like changing the alert or sound mode just by double tapping or double pressing the power button.
And of course, mini-capsule 2.0, which lets you control music playback or display certain information via a pill shaped notification.
The device has a TÜV SÜD 48-month Fluency Certification, which means you’re guaranteed to get a smooth user experience for 4 years. That’s something, especially to a device at this segment.
Battery
Lastly, the realme C65 packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 45W fast charge, which is pretty good for a device of this category. Depending on your usage habits, this should deliver a good amount of uptime in a single charge.
realme C65: Initial Thoughts
The realme C65 seems to be an experimental ground for numerous new features. Most of which are nifty, at least for me. The camera seems promising, and battery life should be excellent as well. Performance-wise, it seems to be aimed at more casual users, but it can game as well, though the experience may not be as say, compelling, depending on the title.
As for its design, well, the sparkly, starry approach is a good touch, but for that camera module, I wish they went with something less similar to that other device. Probably should’ve stuck with previous designs.
As a package, it isn’t exactly the best one you can get for this category, but if they manage to strike a good price, then there is definitely a market for it.
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.
