Introduction
Realme's "C" lineup is all about making the best-value, lowest-cost proposition to its users. That's a process that generally requires a lot of research and small variations and alterations in specs sheets across similar, yet slightly different models. In essence - an iterative process of zoning-in on the exact desires of as many prospective buyers as possible. Along with ongoing improvements in yields and cost optimizations in various other ways.
The Realme C15 is the perfect representation of this process. It is a device very similar to the Realme C3, which is now a few months old and you can read a review on here and nearly identical to the Realme C11, which only came out about a month ago. And even more so the C12, which came out a couple of weeks after it.
Realme C15
- Body: 164.5x75.9x9.8mm, 209g; plastic body and frame; Colors: Marine Blue, Seagull Silver.
- Display: 6.50" IPS LCD, 720x1600px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 270ppi; Corning Gorilla Glass.
- Chipset: MediaTek Helio G35 (12 nm): Octa-core 2.3 GHz Cortex-A53; PowerVR GE8320.
- Memory: 32GB 3GB RAM, 64GB 3GB RAM, 64GB 4GB RAM; eMMC 5.1; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
- OS/Software: Android 10, realme UI 1.0.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 13 MP, f/2.2, (wide), PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.3, 119-degree (ultrawide); 2 MP B/W, f/2.4; 2 MP, f/2.4; LED flash, HDR, panorama.
- Front camera: 8 MP, f/2.0, (wide); HDR, panorama.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 6000mAh; Fast charging 18W.
- Misc: Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, proximity, compass; FM radio.
Most of these devices are really meant to target the Indian market. Realme's current strategy on that end is to have a separate product proposition in all budget price segments from as few as 500INR apart. It's a good thing this isn't the case with the new Realme C11, C12, and C15.
As pricing currently stands, in India, you should be able to get the C11, C12, and C15 starting at INR7,499 (2GB/32GB), INR8,999 (3GB/32GB) and INR9,999 (3GB/32GB), respectively.
In any case, you can think of the Realme C15 as the upper tier of the C12. They have the same exterior and proportions and share the most of the same hardware, including the MediaTek Helio G35 chipset, alongside 3GB/32GB memory configuration, 6.5-inch LCD display, and 6000 mAh battery.
Left to right: Realme C3, C11, C15
For the C15, Realme has also thrown-in an 8MP ultrawide camera on the back and swapped the selfie snapper with a higher-res 8MP unit. Also, it has 18W charging - up from 10W in the C12 and that about wraps up the upgrades.
Unboxing
The retail package for the Realme C15 is spartan, as expected, to keep costs down. There's a sim eject tool, USB cable, and a 18W(9V@2A) Quick Charge-capable charger so you can charge at the maximum supported speed. That's one place the price premium over the Realme C12 is going into. Oddly enough, the Realme's 10W and 18W chargers are pretty similar in size. We can only assume that they have artificially bumped-up the size of the 10W brick to reuse molding. That's one theory, at least.
You don't find a case or anything of the sort either. However, if used with care, the textured plastic back of the Realme C15 should hold up everyday use and abuse better than glass.
Design and handling
As we said, the C15 is practically identical to the C12. In fact, they share dimensions perfectly. So much so, that they could share cases, as well, with just the re-arranged single LED flash being a potential issue. That, alongside the different number of cameras on the back, is the only real way to tell the two apart.
Left to right: Realme C11, C15
The differences don't really ramp-up much when moving down to the C1 either, nor the Realme C3, for that matter. All of these use the same textured back finish. Only their designs and colors are slightly different, so we're likely witnessing a nifty cost-saving measure in terms of production. A side bonus, of sorts, is that if you can get your hands on just one of these models, you can get a pretty accurate feel of what all of them are like.
Bottom to top: Realme C3, C11, C15
Due to their increased battery capacity of 6,000 mAh, compared to lower-model-number siblings, the C15 and C12 have their square camera modules almost flush with the plastic back panel. Wobble is hence a non-issue with these models.
Circling back to the huge similarities in body dimensions across the Realme C lineup, we have to assume that this is very-much deliberate and that a lot of mold reusing is taking place for the sake of cost optimization. We can't say that's a bad strategy either, since Realme seem to have found a formula that works construction-wise.
Like its siblings, the Realme C15 employs a three-part build. Both the central frame and the back are made of plastic, but feel very sturdy and well put-together. Plastic has its merits. It is a light, yet structurally sound material that does not bend or shatter and typically chips in a rather unobtrusive manner. Above all, it's affordable and easy to scale, which is all the Realme C lineup is about.
There is still glass on the Realme C15, where it counts - the display. It is covered by a protective Gorilla Glass layer. There are cheaper solutions than Corning's out there, so, we guess Realme deserves a nod for "splurging" on the popular stuff.
Speaking of the display, it is yet another case of strategic part reusing and cost-mitigation. The 6.5-inch, 720 x 1560 pixels, 20:9 IPS panel is a common sight throughout the Realme C lineup. It's nothing to phone home about, but still looks good in person. Brightness is slightly lower than we would have liked to see, which makes for a difficult outdoors experience. At 270 ppi, it's hardly the sharpest around, but plenty good enough for the price. If Realme does decide to take the lineup higher than 16, a bump up to FullHD might be in order in a number or two.
Joking aside, the Realme C15 display appears to offer a perfectly-decent experience. Colors look good and the teardrop notch for the camera is one of the less-obtrusive notch designs out there. Still a notch, though, but that's a topic for a whole other discussion.
Display bezels
Speaking of the notch and space utilization, the bezels surrounding the display are all very reasonable. In fact, it's impressive just how slick budget design have gotten recently.
A few words on controls and usability then, since this is a hands-on experience. The Realme C15 feels confidence-inspiring in the hand, but does have a certain heft to it. That's partly to the larger 6,000 mAh battery. However, even with it, the C15 tips the scale at 209 grams. So, we are inclined to blame imperfect weight distribution for the arguably cumbersome in-hand feel, at times.
Controls and ports on the Realme C15 are a very straightforward affair. All of the buttons are in their correct positions on the right-hand side. Both the volume rocker and power button are nice and "clicky", with great tactile feedback.
The rear-mounted fingerprint reader is a breeze to use. It is very quick and accurate. No real surprises there, though, since traditional capacitive technology has had so long to mature and come down in price now that a great fingerprint experience has become the norm. Even on a budget device.
The bottom side of the phone has a cutout for the single speaker and the main microphone. Alongside that - a 3.5mm audio jack.
Unfortunately, we are still stuck with a microUSB port. The Type-C connector does cost a fair bit in royalties, so this is probably going to remain the budget norm for at least a while longer.
On the left-hand side, we have a rather spacious SIM tray. It's of the triple variety, housing both two nanoSIM cards and a microSD card. Top points there.
Connectivity-wise, you are looking at a MediaTek 4G LTE WorldMode modem, which includes essential dual 4G SIM support allowing VoLTE/ViLTE on both connections. Locally - Bluetooth 5.0, with LE support and aptX are joined by Wi-Fi n (no ac here), GPS, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS and an FM radio receiver. No NFC. No notification LED either, in case you were wondering.
Realme UI on top of Android 10
The Realme C15 comes with Realme's own UI on top of Android 10. It features a relatively recent July 5 security patch (writing this in August), a clean UI that's very close to vanilla Android with no-nonsense homescreens, simplistic notification/toggles area, and an easy-to-use task switcher. An app drawer is available, too, and it is as clutter-free as one could hope for.
The Realme UI supports different icon packs, so if you are not happy with the default one, you can opt for material style, pebbles, or you can even fully customize them by your liking.
Home screen • App drawer • Recent apps • Notification area and quick toggles • About screen
There are a lot of powerful tools within the settings menu if you want full control over your Android OS. Or you can leave everything as is and enjoy hassle-free Android experience optimized by Realme's AI algorithms and machine learning.
Settings menu
The quick toggle selection is fairly extensive as well.
Quick toggles
There is a fairly extensive selection of default and pre-loaded apps on the Realme C15. Still, the selection has been slimmed-down, compared to earlier Realme devices, much to the user's benefit, in our opinion. App Market and other similar unnecessary apps are no longer present. Also lacking - Smart Assistant, which is accessible with a right swipe on the home screen on company devices before the Realme X3.
Pre-loaded and default app selection
Things that are present include the Realme PaySa and Realme Link apps. The Realme C15 also ships with Google's Phone and Messages apps.
Realme UI on the Realme C15 also has a feature called Super power saving mode. It can be toggled on from the battery menu.
Battery menu
It does a few things to the UI and UX once on. Everything becomes dark, which on the LCD of the Realme C15 is more of an aesthetic choice than a major battery-saving one. Still, Google apps, as well as any other app made to properly respect the system-wide dark mode setting acts accordingly.
Super Power saving mode also allows the user to select and use up to six apps at a time. A sort of artificial limitation, since there is no limitation on what apps can be chosen. Realme just identified that as a good number of core apps most users need.
Super power saving mode
The same logic was applied to the quick toggles selection, as well, there Realme UI replaces your choices with its pre-determined ones and does not let you expand the area any further.
Other limitations are sprinkled-in here and there, as well. For instance, you cannot switch between apps. Activities are closed and cleared from memory as soon as you back away from them as a power-saving measure.
Super power saving mode
Overall, though, this mode operates more on the premise of limiting the user, rather than really doing anything too drastic to the phone's abilities. You still retain full network connectivity, data connection, and everything. Still a neat concept.
Benchmarks
The Realme C15 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G35 - a fairly common choice in the Realme C family. Also rocking the same chipset - the C12 and C11. Interestingly enough, though, not the Realme C3. It has the Mediatek Helio G70 at its disposal. Both of these are 12nm chips, but the G70 is clearly better, even on paper, since it is rocking 2x2.0 GHz Cortex-A75 & 6x1.7 GHz Cortex-A55. In contrast, the Realme C15 has eight older Cortex-A53 units to work with. All of them do clock slightly higher, to 2.3GHz, which, perhaps, could make up some of the performance difference.
GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G Pro
1385 - Realme 6i
1349 - Xiaomi Redmi 9
1325 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 9
1292 - Realme C3
1262 - Infinix S5 Pro
1039 - Realme C15
996
GeekBench 5.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Realme 6i
388 - Xiaomi Redmi 9
362 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 9
361 - Realme C3
347 - Motorola Moto G Pro
311 - Infinix S5 Pro
187 - Realme C15
168
Looking at GeekBench and its pure-CPU loads, though, is seems that core speed alone does not cut it. The Helio G35 lags not only behind the G70, inside the Realme C3, but also Qualcomm solutions, like the Snapdragon 665.
AnTuTu only furthers the picture of a power-lacking Realme C15. Mind you, the unit these numbers come from is the higher-tier 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM one. And AnTuTu does take that into some consideration.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Realme 6S
278982 - Realme 6S
278982 - Realme 6i
202275 - Xiaomi Redmi 9
201829 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 9
200414 - Realme C3
192223 - Motorola Moto G Pro
173611 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
167395 - Nokia 6.2
140736 - Infinix S5 Pro
117533 - Realme C15
110234 - Xiaomi Redmi 8A
89901
Last, but not least, here is what you can expect to get from the PowerVR GE8320 GPU inside the Realme C15. We remind you, that native screen resolution matters for the on-screen GFXBench runs. In that sense, the HD+ resolution of the Realme C15 is giving it a leg up.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Realme 6S
31 - Realme 6S
31 - Realme 6i
16 - Realme C3
14 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
13 - Motorola Moto G Pro
13 - Nokia 6.2
10 - Realme C15
8.3 - Infinix S5 Pro
8.2 - Xiaomi Redmi 8A
6.3
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Realme 6i
31 - Realme C3
27 - Realme 6S
27 - Realme 6S
27 - Realme C15
14 - Xiaomi Redmi 8A
13 - Motorola Moto G Pro
12 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
11 - Nokia 6.2
9.2 - Infinix S5 Pro
7.3
All things considered, though, we weren't expecting the Realme C15 to blow us away with chart-topping performance either.
Camera
Cameras are one of the upgrade departments for the Realme C15, compared to the C12 and its other siblings. The main addition to the mix is a new 8MP, f/2.9 ultrawide camera. It offers around a 119-degree field of view, minus a little for distortion correction.
Beyond that, you get a main 13MP, f/2.2 camera. It boats a 5-piece lens design and has PDAF. On the software side of things, Realme claims it has infused its fair share of AI to get the most out of the rather mundane hardware. As per marketing, Super NightScape mode is particularly potent. There are also Chroma Boost, Portrait, and HDR modes to explore. Realme even felt confident enough to include an Expert mode here. At least to some extent.
We managed to shoot a few quick shots with the Realme C15. The following set is from the main 13MP camera, it auto mode, with Auto HDR enabled.
Realme C15 main 13MP camera samples
Here we have the same scenes, as captured by the 8MP ultrawide.
Realme C15 ultrawide 8MP camera samples
And finally, we have a few photos taken with the Chroma Boost feature on.
Realme C15 Chroma Boost camera samples
Naturally, we will reserve our observations on camera quality and performance for the full review.
The pair of additional 2MP, fixed-focus auxiliary cameras, both behind a dark f/2.4 lenses are hardly worth getting overly-excited over. Still, Realme could have done something cool with them as well. One is strictly black and the other is being marketed as a "retro lens". From what we can gather, there is a special sepia effect powered by one, while the other is a depth sensor.
Final thoughts
Traversing through the ranks of Realme's constantly-growing budget "C" family of devices is often a daunting and confusing task due to Realme's goal of saturating the local market as much as possible bringing together price brackets as close as possible.
The end result, from such a strategy, however, is not necessarily ideal for prospective buyers either. And definitely frustrating for fresh new owners, who get to witness a constant stream of often better-value devices pour-in merely weeks after they have made a purchase.
Currently, the Realme C15 seems to fit into all of this as one of the better-value offers, managing to outpace the C12 with an extra ultrawide camera and faster charging, for just a small price overhead. In a more general sense, just like its sibling, our initial impressions of it are positive. As a device, it is well put-together, Realme UI is pleasant to use and the C15 delivers, as expected, for its price segment. How long it will maintain this leading position, though, is an entirely different story.
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