Waterproof Budget Phone? realme C75 Review

Waterproof Budget Phone? realme C75 Review

Review Verdict: The realme C75 gets the job done as far as durability is concerned, making it a reliable budget phone in the Philippines. While it has a decent rear camera, we wished realme used a better processor for it.

Pros

  • IP69 on a budget phone
  • Decent main camera
  • Higher-resolution display

Cons

  • Could have used a better processor
  • So-so battery life

Roughly six months after the C65, realme brought its successor to the Philippines with the C75. Joining in with recent trends, the C75 emphasizes on durability–but is that all it has to offer?

 

realme C75 Review Philippines: Design

The C75 does not deviate much from the design language of its predecessor with flat frame sides and three camera rings in the back. The only difference is that the C75 has a more pronounced camera module that reminds us of realme’s older phones like the GT Master Edition.

Button and port layout is just the same, with the biggest difference being the C75 having a class-leading IP69 rating–the first time we’ve seen such on a budget device. This is made possible with an improved internal frame that has shock resistance and better display protection.

There’s truth to realme’s durability claim on the C75: we submerged the C75 in a tray of hot water, and it managed to survive despite giving us a high temperature warning that made the phone unusable for around 5 minutes.

realme C75 Review Philippines: Display

Coming from the C65, realme gave a Full HD+ resolution on the C75’s display, making it appear sharper especially when watching videos. You also get the same 90hz refresh rate, which are feature we expect on budget phones at the very minimum.

We found it unusual that you can watch YouTube videos at up to 4K resolution, but we advise against it: aside from the display only having a native Full HD resolution, the realme C75’s Helio G92 has difficulties streaming videos in 4k, resulting in stuttering. We found that the YouTube’s 1440p option is the next best option for video streaming on the C75.

While you’re getting a better display, you only get a single, bottom-firing speaker with the C75. Audio quality is decent until around the 60% mark–go beyond that, and you’ll notice distortion.

realme C75 Review Philippines: Cameras

The C75 keeps the same set of cameras from its predecessor, which means that you only get one useful rear camera.

To realme’s credit, the 50-megapixel main shooter is decent for day-to-day photography, and for posting on social media.

The 2x digital zoom feature is usable as long as you have good lighting, though it’s not the best for video recording–aside from the lack of OIS, the quality is not as good as compared to photos.

realme C75 Review Philippines: Internals and Battery Life

You get a Helio G92 processor with the C75, and our review unit comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. On paper, it’s barely different from the Helio G80 used by its predecessor and its one of the weak points of the C75. Despite being a “newer” chip, there are other better options–like MediaTek’s popular Helio G99–for the C75 as a budget phone.

While the Helio G92 has a slightly more poweful GPU, we noticed the C75 being sluggish with multitasking, and it becomes very noticeable when it post-processes captured photos. Considering the aging nature of the Helio G80 (which the Helio G92 is based on), realme could have opted for a different processor for the C75.

The decision to use a rather dated chip also affected battery life. Despite packing a bigger 6000mAh battery, the C75 had a lower PCMark battery life score at 14 hours 14 minutes. While we think that its underwhelming score might be affected by the display having a higher resolution, we think that realme still has room for improvement in optimizing ithe C75’s power management.

You still get the same 45w SuperVOOC charging solution, but you only get Android 14-based realmeUI 5.0 out of the box with an update commitment of 2 major Android versions and 3 years of security updates.

realme C75 Review Philippines: Wrap-up and Conclusions

While we acknowledge the improved water resistance and overall durability on the C75, it falls short when it comes to performance–realme could have opted to use a processor other than the Helio G92, which is barely different from the Helio G80 used by its predecessor.

realme C75 Review Philippines: Price

The realme C75 hais priced at Php 8,999 for the 128GB model and Php 10,999 for the 256GB model.

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