Entry-level King?
Realme is finally here in the Philippines, with the former OPPO sub-brand targeting the lower end of the market with their first official release, the Realme C1. The C1 is one of the few phones currently in the market that can challenge Xiaomi’s hold on the budget market, thanks to a solid set of hardware and extremely affordable price tag.
Boasting a youthful style, big display, and powerful battery, is the Realme C1 really the newest entry-level king? Read on to find out.
Unboxing
The Realme C1 comes in a simple white box that has a red stripe at the bottom with the company’s logo on it. Opening the box, you’ll see the sim ejector, jelly case and documentation. We then have the phone, a microUSB cable, and the wall adapter.
The phone doesn’t look like a budget device.
It does feel light on the hand, but a bit big to hold. There’s this illusion of metal on the frame thanks to the finish on the sides which make it a bit easier to grip on to. Plus points if you hate fingerprint marks on your device, because the C1 isn’t much of a fingerprint magnet. Yay.
You won’t find a fingerprint scanner at the back with the C1 like most phones nowadays, just its dual cameras and the Realme logo.
The unit we got came in black, but there is a navy blue option as well. There isn’t anything fancy going on there, no gradient or patterned whatever at the back, just a solid, glossy slab of plastic.
The power button is located at the right, while the volume rocker and sim card slot are on the left. Its tray can carry two nano sims, and MicroSD card. At the bottom you will find the MicroUsb port, speaker grille, and the 3.5mm jack. While it does have a headphone jack, Realme didn’t include earphones with the C1.
How big is the display on the Realme C1?
Its display is bright enough to be seen even under direct sunlight, and has pretty accurate colors. It’s viewing angles are decent and I actually did enjoy watching videos on it.
I do have bad eyesight, so I actually do prefer dimming my screen display so that I don’t blind my eyes with blue light. The C1 has a Night Shield option to help with that. Yes you can use it during the day even though it’s a night shield!
Sound quality is okay, nothing special. It does get loud but lacks depth and bass.
The phone’s cameras are decent but aren’t amazing
Let us remember that this is an entry-level device, and unlike most smartphones nowadays, it isn’t actually using its cameras as a selling point? I mean nothing against it, but they are targeting the youth, and the youth sure do love their cameras and selfies, so I guess they’ll be improving that aspect with their future devices? I don’t know, we’ll find out next year. Okay moving on.
It has decent performance for its price
The C1 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450, has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, expandable to 256GB. It does seem to lag when you have a lot of apps opened all at once, but if you do remember to exit your apps properly it gets the job done. Don’t expect much when it comes to gaming as you’ll have to turn down the graphics way down just to get a decent, smooth playing experience.
Since Realme didn’t put a fingerprint scanner on the C1, you’ll have to contend with the face unlock option which worked surprisingly well. Do take note that it’s not as secure as a fingerprint scanner though.
It has insane battery life
Is it an entry-level king?
Realme doesn’t have a physical store yet in the country but you can order their entry-level king at Lazada.ph for Php 5,490.