Content
- Video review
- Equipment and design
- Software
- Camera
- Performance and Benchmarks
- findings
Realme C55 - the older model in the budget lineRealme 2023. Its promotion is built around a pointless trick: when you put the phone on charge, an animation in the style of Dynamic Island appears around the front camera. Well, there are a couple more such decorations. Yes, it’s beautiful, but it’s absolutely pointless, and copy-paste from the iPhone even causes unpleasant emotions. So let's not concentrate on this little thing and study Realme C55 in more detail. Suddenly this is a cool budget employee?
 |
Specifications Realme C55 |
|---|---|
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G |
| Firmware | Android 13 with Realme UI 4.0 |
| Screen | 6.72″, 2400x1080 pixels, 20:9, 392 ppi, IPS, 90 Hz, touch 180 Hz, 680 nits |
| Chipset | MediaTek Helio G88, 12 nm CPU: 2 x A75 x 2 GHz + 6 x A55 x 1.8 GHz GPU: Mali-G52 |
| Ram | 6/8 GB |
| ROM | 128/256 GB |
| SIM and memory card | Triple tray (2 x nano-SIM + microSD) |
| Camera | Main: 64 MP, OV64B, 1/2″, autofocus, video recording 1080p@60fps Depth sensor: 2 MP |
| Selfie | hole in the center, 8 MP, f/2.0 |
| Battery | 5000 mAh |
| Charging | 33 W |
| Wireless interfaces | WiFi 5 Bluetooth 5.2 GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou |
| NFC | there is |
| Biometrics | Fingerprint scanner (in power button) |
| Sound | 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Water protection | Not declared |
| Dimensions and weight | 165.6 x 75.9 x 7.9mm 189.5 g |
Video review
Equipment and design
The box design of budget Realme does not change alreadymany years, and it's even nice. There must be some island of stability in this world. The kit is excellent: a 33-W charger, a USB cable, a SIM needle, documentation and a tight silicone case. Plus, a film is glued to the screen. The case is entirely plastic, there are three colors: golden-gradient, black and blue-green. We have the third option, and it looks awesome.
Due to plastic ends and large dimensionsthe smartphone is not very comfortable, but with a branded case, the grip becomes much stronger, so I used it without any problems even with one hand. The lock button with a built-in fingerprint scanner is very conveniently located under the finger, you don’t have to reach too far for the volume rocker either. Other elements: on the left is a triple tray (2 x nano-SIM + microSD), on the top is empty, on the bottom there is an audio jack, a microphone, USB Type-C and a speaker.
The smartphone is budget, so stereo sound is finethey didn’t - although I don’t understand what the problem is with synchronizing two speakers into a “one and a half” speaker. The vibration is also ordinary, not “taptic”, but quite powerful. The screen is made using IPS technology and has a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels with a diagonal of 6.72″. Frequency - 90 Hz; There are three modes (60, auto, 90). Even at 90, many applications work at 60 Hz (Telegram, Weather, games), and in auto mode the high frequency hardly appears anywhere at all. Touch is always 180 Hz.
But if things are bad with frequency, then otherwiseI liked the screen. Maximum viewing angles, cool contrast, high brightness (it seemed to me that it was brighter than the OnePlus 11 outdoors), good color reproduction. And the highest clarity, of course - after AMOLED it's nice to see the screen again, which perfectly draws the smallest details. At the same time, the display is the realme C55's main problem, and we'll talk about that later.
Software
I was very surprised, but Realme C55 runs onAndroid 13 with Realme UI 4.0. What is strange about a Realme smartphone with Realme UI, you ask? I explain: usually, C-series smartphones run on different versions of almost pure Android, stylized as Realme UI; they may be called "Realme UI Go" or "Realme UI R". But no, here is the real Realme UI without any simplifications. And it also updates well, during testing I caught some kind of update for 3.5 GB. See screenshots and move on.
Cameras
I'm used to not judging cameras by theirdesign, but Realme was able to surprise me. Behind two absolutely identical-looking circles are two completely different modules. Above is the main 64 MP camera with a solid OV64B sensor, which is in the periscopes of many flagships (Mate 50 Pro, Axon 40 Ultra, Vivo X90 Pro+). And below is a 2-megapixel plug, which is not even a macro camera, but a stupid depth sensor. That is, there is only one useful camera. Well, let's see how she shoots:
Well, not bad at all.For the budget - very good. Good color reproduction, high detail, minimum noise. Sometimes there is an oversharp, once the autofocus went in an incomprehensible direction, a couple of times HDR did not connect - but in general the camera works stably. Despite the rather large sensor, the minimum focusing distance is quite short, so you can even shoot macro. In general, I liked it.
The front camera has a modest resolution of 8 megapixels and shoots quite modestly. Also some strange algorithms with a glow around the head. But for a video call or a self-portrait to my grandmother, it will do.
Video can only be written in 1080p@60fps, and Ididn't like it. The color reproduction is good, the detailing is about the same as you would expect from Full HD, but the sound recording quality is like talking on a walkie-talkie.
Performance and tests
The heart of Realme C55 has become a forgotten chipsetMediaTek Helio G88. His high point was the Redmi 10; it can also be seen in Tecno Pova 3 and Honor X8a. It has not appeared in Realme smartphones before, but you should not worry about poor implementation. Budget chips are not as capricious as flagship ones, and it is almost impossible to implement them poorly. Here, according to throttling tests, everything is beautiful:
First two screenshots: standard mode. Last two screenshots: game mode.
But only the MediaTek Helio G88 is quitea weak chipset, and pairing it with a screen with a resolution of 2400x1080 pixels was a mistake. The smartphone noticeably dulls in interfaces, menus, browser and when interacting with the keyboard. Games - only unpretentious, well, or on a low graphics. SuperTuxKart at maximum speed, for example, comes with 4-5 fps; Genshin Impact - 15-17 fps with drawdowns up to 8-12. Well, if you set the minimum settings in the same "gene", then there will be 25-35 fps with drawdowns up to 15-20, which is quite tolerable.
I note that not only because of the lowperformance Realme C55 should not be considered a gaming smartphone. Monodynamic, not the fastest 180-Hz touch and the lack of hertz in games, too, will not be written off. Of the benefits - a comfortable grip in landscape mode and an excellent section of the game settings. So if you like simple sticky games, then Realme C55 will please you.
The capacity of the built-in battery is 5000mAh, this is a standard indicator for smartphones of almost any segment. For an hour of playing, the phone is discharged by 13%, for an hour in the browser - by 12%, for an hour of video display - by 10%. In a word, the main consumer of electricity here is not the processor (it is very energy efficient), but the screen - what else did you expect from a bright IPS matrix with Full HD + resolution? So, regardless of scenarios, you can count on about 7 hours of screen time on a single charge. For active users, this is a day and a half, for less active users - about two days.
Included 33W SuperVOOC charging for mineLook, not great. The charging process from 1% to 100% took me an hour and a half, although for such power it would be normal to fully charge a smartphone in an hour. And this, in fact, was where everything was heading; in 50 minutes the smartphone was charged to 78%. In another 10 minutes, he reached 93%, and then the process practically stopped - the phone took the last 7% for half an hour. It is clear that this is protection against overcharging, but it is somehow too aggressive. I checked carefully to see if I had accidentally turned on some kind of “safe charging”, but no. I hope Realme will improve this issue with updates.
Conclusions
Russian price Realme C55 with 6 + 128 GB memoryis 15,990 rubles, for 8 + 256 GB you will have to add another 2,000 rubles. The strengths of the smartphone are design, main camera, software and screen. However, given the lack of stereo, width and powerful processor, the price seems too high to me. Realme should either put an HD screen here and make the smartphone noticeably cheaper, or install more powerful hardware - for example, Helio G96 or even G99. But Realme did what it did by offering the public a rather unbalanced phone. If this imbalance coincides with your priorities, then feel free to take it.
© Oleg Lazarev.