Realme C3 (2020)
VerifiedMPNs: RMX2020, RMX2020BLUE and RMX2020RED30 reviews
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Quite simply, this is by far the best phone I have ever owned. I researched heavily, and also looked up our country's consumer choice website, which helped inform my purchase. This phone It's very simple to use. The battery life was the winning… Read more
factor for me, along with accessibility, camera quality as key factors. Its gorgeous sun ray effect casing is just a bonus (I have the red version). It doesn't matter how old you are, some of these other phones have keypads that are way too small. There's no way I would buy a mini phone for this reason. I have owned more expensive brands and have not had much success at all in terms of longevity. The old hinged and slide phones were the worst phones for faulty connections. I would simply not buy from any other brands now because I refuse to fall for the aggressive, big brand marketing hype. The latest new shiny thing is not necessarily the best option for you. The camera is excellent. I have taken photos of comets at night without any problems. The video quality too is very high. I am not a great fan of bokeh effects, but for the most part, we have some incredible photos, particularly using different tonal effects. I am still using this phone. Thank you Realme, it's outstanding value for money and we are about to buy another one for someone.
Follow-up · The screen size is ideal for me, a welcome change to the Samsung I once had. Performance is okay, with the occasional lag when browsing but nothing to complain about. What apps do I use most often? As if I would disclose what apps I use? An exception worth noting is the one resource-intensive gaming app and there's no lagging. It's already a… Read more
Best value for money – Having always had Samsung phones I was pleasantly surprised by this phone. I bought it from Big W for under $300 and can't believe how good it is. The number one plus for this product is the battery. Now 2 years old, the phone can last over 3 days on one charge whereas the Samsung's I had needed recharging every day. The camera is brilliant and… Read more
every other feature is as good as the Samsung's I've owned. This has to be the 'best value for money' phone on the market. Love it
OPTUS is so disgusting – so its a dual sim, says its unlocked, that's a lie, in the fine print it states that the phone has been optimised for the oprus network and is not optimal basically meaning its locked, now its not realme, its optus who have actually ensured the phone was designed this way, also the dual sim doesnt even work and theres no options, dont ever buy from optus or realme for allowing this. Show details
A good budget friendly option for those who don't need the absolute best or the price tag that goes with them – The camera certainly isn't up there with the expensive brands of phones that you pay a much higher price for but it does a reasonably quality job during the day. In dim light or at night it can be pretty grainy and not great quality. The display is plenty bright when turned right up and does a pretty good job of auto adjusting to ambient light… Read more
levels if that is turned on. I use a cheap screen protector and haven't had any issues operating the device. Colours are contrasty and vivid unless in very direct sunlight and the auto adjustment is on which can tend to wash them out a little. The bedtime mode features in this device are excellent. You can schedule the phone to go into DND mode at a certain time and back to normal again at a specified time in the morning. No sounds like notifications etc will be made during that time to help ensure a peaceful sleep. You can specify what contacts to allow calls to ring for so that emergency contacts or best friends will still be able to call if they need to even during bedtime mode, but other calls will not ring. Apps run smoothly for the most part. I have had the occasional delay or slowness, particularly with graphic intensive apps. The battery life is pretty good. I tend to charge it less than other phones I've had.
Excellent Phone for kids and young adults – The camera is very clear during the day. At night the quality of image is a little low but very respectable. The screen brightness is very good, Myself and my daughter can see everything clearly. My daughter uses this phone mainly for gaming with friends, video calls using messenger. My daughter has put approximately 30 gb of data from her old… Read more
phone to this phone and has not had any lag.The speed is really good being a 3gb Ram. It has a large internal storage of 64gb which my daughter loves as she transferred her games from another phone. I has many features that you would expect on pricier phones. With 2 years warranty there is nothing to worry about. I will be buying a second one for my other daughter. As an economic phone I rate it 5 stars
i do not like this phone NO MANUAL – it does not come with a manual. i do not like apps and have difficulty deleting as i DO NOT have a manual. The only good thing is, it has a great camera. A cheap phone and i fell for it. My oppo was good should have kept it. Now if this outfit can send me a Manual i will be a happy Jan, and then maybe more stars. Show details
Excllent budget phone – Very satisfied with tje speed and Most importantly the battery! Reminds me of olden days Nokia. Highly recommend this phone anyone who wants a good phone in budget price. Go for it Show details
Great for the price – Bought for $119 on sale at JB Hifi. I'm giving this review as a lower priced phone, so there's no point mentioning the fact that it doesn't have high end features. It still ticks lots of boxes for the price: 6.5 inch screen Rear fingerprint scanner Facial unlock NFC Good battery life No bloat ware or unwanted apps. If you break the screen, just… Read more
buy another new phone instead of paying $500 for a new screen for your Ifone.
Such a good deal at this price, I bought two..!
Terrible phone – One of the worst in phones ever l want a replacement it doesn't type what you crappy forever back spacing seriously thought this was the phone think it again beware Show details
Very happy with this phone – I have found this phone easy to use and very good value. I refuse to pay a lot for phones and this Realme 3 has proved this is a good strategy. Ask good as phones 4 times the price. Show details
Excellent value – Very good for the price. Only down side is camera. Screen resolution is passable. Performance is snappy, some occasional lags bit nothing that causes experience to be unpleasant. Highly recommended.
It's my first touch phone so still trying to work out how to drive it, – It's new to me coming from an old flip phone so have been assured that I will soon understand it, although in my case, it,d be handy to have printed instructions with it but will soon get the hang of it (if I don,t run out of friends trying to show me
I Love ❤️ My C3 Realme Mobie – I've just got 1 thing that really annoys me to the T-ski, when I'm texting some letters appear that don't form a word or random letters & then I've gotta delete them & it might do it again & you know when you're in ya zone-ski & this crap happens boys & girls, say no more, fix it please & my blood pressure can get back to normal.ha,ha. Show details
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Great phone, great price, great features – Had the C3 for a month now, and i'm impressed. It's fast and pretty much bloatware free. A few apps to remove and it's pretty clean. All cameras work great. Can't find settings to change pixel size of images taken, but they're good quality anyway. Good build quality. It feels solid. Color blue and red (we bought 2) are very stunning. All the features of the competition at a quarter the price.
Good value & stylish phone – I love this new phone. Upgraded from an old Samsung S5. It's very sleek and fast. Not too much bloatware either. Easy to cleanup. Plenty of onboard memory, plus a card slot makes storage unlimited. The cameras are okay. I havent found where to change the resolution of saved images as yet. Battery has lasted 3 days so far from full charge. I think it's the best value for money ever when comparing other brands.
Good all rounder – Great battery life, good cameras, but works. Love the finger print feature to unlock, and the additional head phones I purchased separately are the best micro earphones I have experienced.
okay phone – it took me months to change over from my oppo. my grandson did it for me. i am totally sick of all the apps that pop up. i have lost my camera icon which used to show on the front screen. i now have to go a round about way to find my camera. emailed this outfit but no reply so i guess their customer service is pretty much zero. i use it for the… Read more
usual things and i must say it takes a great photo. i am an older age group so just need a basic phone with a few bells and whistles. overall it is okay but not my old oppo.
Good value for money – Overall its an excellent phone and represents great value for money. I have noticed that the price varies greatly. Shop around! I paid $260. I have one complaint regarding the very difficult to use and see Navigation Bar situated at bottom of screen. When using the phone in DARK mode, under certain lighting conditions the navigation bar is… Read more
invisible. I've looked everywhere but cannot find a way to brighten up the NAV bar. this is a design flaw the only one that I could find I'm hoping developers will upgrade the phone in the near future.
Good value for money – Excellent phone in all respects except one. The Navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen actually form a part of the main screen they are not independent. The problem is that under diminished light you cannot SEE the buttons to press them. These buttons need to be lit up brightly all the time either that or have a control somewhere to… Read more
control the brightness of the nav buttons. Also the nav buttons dissapear when not in use and you have to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to view them. Depending on the App you are usine this does not always work. These two issues are a total pain and make using the phone unnecessarily ackward to use. Honestly, had I known of this before I would have considered another phone.
Perfect – Simple to Use & has an awesome camera. I’m very happy that with it that I’m Thinking of getting my partner one too. Price is very affordable & does everything my iPhone did if bot better.
Great value – Exactly what I expected, a great performing phone at very reasonable price. This is my second Realme phone. I have the XT which I am also very pleased with. Happy to recommend phone and support from Realme.
Easy to use – Not a bad phone but there's alot of dead pixels on the screen apart from that it's a nice phone easy to use great value for money cheap phone for price Show details
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Good budget phone! – I’s a smartphone with decent software features, dual SIM capabilities along with a microSD slot. The camera is definitely acceptable, especially for the price. The software, while a tad on the slow side, has some decent enhancements and features that should keep most people happy.
Great phone – I purchased this phone at a great price of $170 at coles.I had a oppo phone before bur broke the screen.I am still tying to find my way around this on ,it is not easy at 77 years old,but will keep tying Show details
Excellent phone! – I received this phone as a gift after my six year old Moto G had battery issues and wouldn't hold a charge. The new phone is very fast and zippy - it's almost as good as my son's flagship Oppo R15 phone, but half the price. The battery is extremely long lasting and apps run smoothly. I haven't used the camera much but the pics I have taken are… Read more
pretty good. Another plus was that the phone was running Android 10 out of the box. All round brilliant budget phone!
- +5
Great budget phone that has made me re-evaluate the things I want in a mobile phone! – I should preface this review by stating I haven’t purchased an entry-level phone since the days of Nokia bricks. I admit that until now I have bought higher-end offerings by larger companies, regularly upgrading whenever an upgrade of certain desirable features occurs. I thought I knew what features I considered essential, and what I considered… Read more
dealbreakers. However, after spending the last 3 weeks using the Realme C3 I can say that it has encouraged me to re-evaluate the things I think I need/want from a mobile phone.
The Realme C3 comes boxed with a charger plug, Micro USB data cable for charging and data transfer, safety guide, quick user guide and a metal SIM ejector tool. I didn’t really know what to expect from a phone at this price point and was impressed with the size and feel of the phone in my hand. The Realme C3 comes with a decent sized 6.5” high definition screen, while the back is a polycarbonate plastic with a pretty sunrise design etching into it. The sunrise design provides texture helping the phone sit comfortably in my hand without slipping, and has a matte finish which means there’s no sign of greasy fingerprints left behind. The phone I had is Blazing Red, a colour I wouldn’t normally choose because it’s so bold, but I loved the red sunrise!
The Realme C3 runs on Android 10, and provides 64GB of dual SIM memory which can be expanded to 256GB if a Micro SD card is also used. I have a lot of applications I use regularly and I take a lot of photos with my phone, and I found the memory sufficient for my needs.
One of the most impressive features of the Realme C3 for me was the battery life. I regularly play games on my mobile and listen to streaming music, and I find with other phones that this drains my battery very quickly. Some days I am down to 20% charge within an hour of use. With the Realme C3, which claims up to 30 days of standby, I was able to play games and listen to streaming music over several days before I needed to recharge. I was extremely impressed with this feature. Realme also state that the phone supports reverse charging, where users can use the phone as a power bank to charge other device. I didn’t try that feature but I can see that it would be very useful while travelling in situations where accessing a power source is difficult.
The Realme C3 comes loaded with a number of standard apps like Google Play, Gmail, Google Maps, Facebook and their own Theme stores which allows users to personalise their phones by downloading pretty backgrounds and wallpapers, and changing the default fonts. There’s not a lot to choose from currently but in the 3 weeks I used the phone new additions were regularly added. The user interface was detailed, settings easy to adjust to personal preference, and for a basic entry-level phone the functionality provided was impressive, even for someone who has never used Android before.
Security features on the Realme C3 include an instant read fingerprint unlock button on the back of the phone, which I really liked. The phone also offers facial recognition which I had mixed results with. I eventually turned that feature off and stuck with the easier fingerprint option. Signal strength was reasonable. There was the occasional drop out of signal which I might have attributed to my network provider if I hadn’t had another phone with me at the time. However, the drop outs weren’t frequent or long enough to be more than a minor inconvenience.
Sound output from the Realme C3 was just okay. Output was via an inbuilt single speaker at the base of the phone. While it was loud, it was mono and my music often sounded tinny and hollow. Sound through headphones (not included with the phone) however was great. Just a consideration for the music lovers.
The Realme C3 comes with an AI triple rear camera. It supports 1080P video recording, has a 12MP main camera with a 4x digital zoom, 2MP portrait camera and a 2MP macro camera which works at a distance of just 4 centimetres. The camera unit has auto flash and HDR capabilities, a hardware level bokeh effect and is able to take front camera portrait selfies with a beauty mode that can be adjusted for those moments you’re feeling less than your best.The photos themselves were ok. I think I might have been pushing the camera’s capabilities to their limits and expected it to operate at a level I shouldn’t have expected from a budget entry-level phone. There’s a softness to all of the photos I took, bordering on blur. I couldn’t determine whether it was camera shake (user error) or the camera itself. I took photos in a number of conditions including into direct sun, filtered sun and low light conditions. The camera tried hard to keep up with my demands but struggled in conditions where the light was overly bright or dark. In the middle range however it did reasonably well but as mobile photography is a priority for me I’m not sure the Realme C3 would suit my needs long term.
Another area in which I found the Realme C3 struggled was with game play. I play a few energy thirsty mobile games, and I found the Realme C3 struggled to keep up. There was considerable lag and on a number of occasions the app crashed and needed to be restarted.
I thought the Realme C3 was a great little phone, far better than I ever expected from an entry-level phone. It was well made, the battery life was amazing, and it provided great functionality to users. If you’re not looking for top-end sound output, don’t play energy hungry games, or just want a phone camera to take happy snaps, the Realme C3 is fantastic. It ticks most boxes that the average person might be looking for in terms of mobile phone choice. It’s reliable, budget-friendly, and a real eye-opener. The Realme C3 has certainly opened my eyes to cheaper alternatives and made me really think about what it is I really want from a mobile.
Excellent Value - powerhouse for a cheaper model – I will admit, I had pretty low expectations for a phone at this price point. To my great surprise and delight I have found that the C3 is more than adequate as a replacement for my old premium phone, which was dying and originally cost me $1400. Never again will I spend that much money. This phone does everything the more expensive models do and… Read more
does it really well.
It is an attractive phone with a patterned back and a well placed fingerprint reader which works really well. Out of the box it came with a pre-applied screen protector, which was great, getting those things on is a real challenge. It was missing earphones however, which was a little bit of a surprise, certainly not a dealbreaker though as I have a stockpile of earphones from other phones etc.
The big surprise and disappointment was that it isn't USB-C, iti s micro USB for the charger. The charger that comes with it is fast, especially via the provided charger, or through USB on a computer. AC is slower. You can use any micro USB lead but a USB C option would have been much more preferable.
Another surprise was an option to clone your old phone. Not sure if this is just a phone feature or andriod feature, but either way, it was wonderful. In a few moments my new phone had all of my old phone stuff. It avoided the drag of hours of setting up. Was incredibly pleased by this as often the fun and joy of a new device is often crushed by the tedium of setting that shiny new device up. This avoided that completely.
The phone is sturdy and fits comfortably in my hand, the screen is nice and clear, a good size, has good control over brightness or auto bright. It runs all of my apps with no problems and handles skype video calls fine. The reception is good, speed and responsiveness is really good too. The camera is great, (i am no expert on cameras and it looks wonderful to me) as is the video. I also use the phone constantly as a hot spot, often for 2 computers and that works really well too.
After the first few days, I realised it easily replaces my top of the line model with very little compromise. The sound is a little tinny on calls when it is at full volume on speaker. It struggles to find my Bluetooth downlights but once it does find them it works fine. There doesn't seem to be any other issue with Bluetooth connections. Works fine in the car and connects and stays connected to my Megaboom 3 without any issues at all. Have been waiting for the other shoe to drop, come on, a phone this cheap cant be the same as a phone I paid more than 5 times as much for!
It is easy to set songs as message tones and ringtones, which delighted me as many phones make this extremely difficult. The call clarity is pretty good (depending on reception) and works well in the car bluetooth. I get equally as good reception as I did on my previous phone and have noticed no deficits there. It is hard for me to judge the wifi as I have recently moved and the internet here is beyond woeful so haven't been really using it as my phone data is much better. In fact, been using the phone as a hotspot to stream Stan when my home internet is too dodgy to cope. Websites load well on Chrome and Bing and again, no deficits compared to a top dollar phone, at least that I can notice.
The battery is very good. Took it off charge at about 730 this morning and have had a few short calls, about 15 sms, and spent an hour on a video skype call, as well as running the hot spot for about 5 hours, and the Bluetooth continually on and at 630pm my battery is telling me I have 2 days 20 hours and 35 minutes left. Am exceptionally pleased with the battery life.
The lack of accessories is a little frustrating right now. I would like to buy a case with a stand for it but cant find one anywhere. I am hoping as the phone is on the market longer, that will no longer be a problem, In the mean time I found a little $3 stand at ikea which is doing a great job for standing it up on those skype calls.
Another thing I love about this phone, is there is no dedicated button for stuff that I never use and will never use and can't repurpose but seem to continually press all of the time. This is a big win after my last phone where it drove me crazy.
Overall I give the Realme C3 an enormous thumbs up and am sooo very glad I didn't fork out over $1500 for something similar. The tiny things that I have found in the C3 that don't perform as well are in no way a justification to spend the extra dollars. Am extremely happy with this phone and the value it offers and can't see myself ever shelling out the extra for a 'premium' ever again. The C3 is wonderful.
- +5
Budget friendly smartphone with performance – I received this phone as part of the Product Review Ambassador Program and it was really great to explore. If you are looking for an excellent and budget friendly phone then Realme C3 has got you covered.I am overwhelmed with its high quality, exceptional battery life, great specs and affordable prices. If you are planning to buy one its better… Read more
to go with realme c3 among recent launches as its really hard to find competitive specs with an advanced processor like Mediatek helio g70. The volume rocker sits to the left of the phone, just below the triple-card tray (microSIM+microSIM+microSD card). The volume and power buttons are well within reach for single-hand use. The right side of the phone has a single power. There is 3 GB RAM, has 64GB of internal storage, with a bit over 48GB available for use, dual cameras on the back and a big 6.5" screen on the front. Its a beautiful phone has Finger resistant and scracthless back cover with beautiful Blazing red texture that gives you sense of luxury and means that you would never need to buy a cover for protection. Love the color, feel and the device does not look like a budget device by the looks of it. I also took some photos outdoor, indoor & in dark tried ultra macro, panorama and expert mode. The dual-camera setup of the Realme C3, is accompanied with an LED flash. I found camera to be just an average and the video as well not quite impressed. The selfie pictures were hazy and the details were missing in these shots when you pinch to zoom. But again, given its price, I wouldn’t complain. The Realme C3 comes with a huge battery which also supports reverse charging, meaning you can use the handset as a portable power bank - that's basically two gadgets for the price of one. Interesting part, Realme C3 exceptional battery life and processor is made for gaming as well so if you are a gamer you will love it even more.Battery backup is excellent. I am not a heavy user so It gives me one and half day battery backup. We can say without any doubts that the company has really focused on its processor and battery backup. The bottom-firing speaker of the Realme C3 is meh. Don’t expect it to surprise you. Instead, just stick to using wired earphones via the 3.5mm headphone jack or via Bluetooth. Under the sound settings, there is a graphic equalizer that works only if the headphones are plugged in. Facial recognition unlocking & finger print sensor technologies are quick and can exceptionally match any premium brand. Realme C3 smartphone offers all the essentials that one looks for in a budget product and with the latest Mediatek Helio processor. My husband uses Samsung and it gave me quite the same “look” feel of display etc. 500 mAh of battery capacity is super amazing when you compare that with the pricing. My husband & kids played games, I used it for chats, video calls, taking photos and phone calls and the battery lasted for 8-10 hours which impressed me so much. MTK Mediatak Helis definitely gives stable performance and ensures accurate and faster response during gaming. Its best gaming phone for its price thumbs up! Movie playback as per my estimate is 15-18 hours atleast so thats another plus. Just for its processor it's already a worth it phone to buy, especially if you care less about how your cam works or how fast you charge your phone. My uncle who currently uses a Samsung Phone also tried this phone and was so happy & comfortable using it as he likes less complicated & wide screen phones so I would conclude its definitely a friendly budget smartphone with all essentials. Overall, I’m very happy with making calls, WhatsApp, watching videos, browsing the web and taking a few photos, it performs quite well and shows no sign of stuttering or lagging so I would give it 5 stars for being budget friendly and excellent.
Budget Gold – For a budget phone there is plenty to love about this phone which has only just been released on the Australian market. I received this phone as part of the Product Review Ambassador Program and have had plenty of opportunity to put it through its paces over the past couple of weeks or so. Realme is a relative newcomer to the Australian market and… Read more
an offshoot of OPPO and certainly the build quality of this phone is much like the OPPO phones.
I must say for a budget phone it certainly has plenty to satisfy even the most fastidious user. For starters, although it has a polycarbonate body (not metal unfortunately) it not only feels solid but looks good as well. You would almost swear that the casing was metal. Mine came in frozen blue with a sunburst pattern on the back (it also comes in blazing red) and was supplied with a pre-fitted screen protector on the gorilla glass 3 front. It boasts a large 6.52 inch screen and comes with a triple rear camera(12MP/2MP portrait/2MP macro), 5MP front camera (for those selfies!) a Helio G70 processor, a huge 5000mAh battery which should satisfy even the heaviest user for at least a couple of days, Android 10, 3GB RAM and 64GB of storage. Phew! And that’s just for starters.
It’s also one of the few budget phones that comes standard with NFC, very useful in these days when contactless payments are becoming the new norm. And it works well. It doesn’t unfortunately come with fast or turbo charging but, given the battery size, it is not a game changer. I was able to charge the battery from 50% to full in an hour or so. And from 15% to full in 2 hours. It does however come with a dual sim (great if you want a single mobile for business as well as personal use with different phone numbers) and a dedicated microSD slot to 256GB, so plenty of additional storage capability.
The fingerprint sensor is on the rear and is very sensitive, accurate and fast. Because of its location it is easy to use the phone one-handedly, sometimes a problem with those phones which have a front sensor, although if you have small hands you might find this a bit of a problem given the overall size of the phone. Even face recognition works well. One minor complaint, it doesn’t come with USB-C so you’ll have another charger lying about (but they do supply the micro USB cable and the 5V/2AMP charger).
I was very impressed with the cameras I took some shots in low light using the 4X digital zoom and the photos came out well, even without using the flash. It was also very easy to use those same photos as wallpaper on the phone as it gives you the choice of using any photos as wallpaper or contact avatar.
The phone also comes with an earpiece speaker and bottom mount mono speaker and whilst the sound quality is passable it isn’t high quality. Neither does it have noise cancellation so if you want to use it hands-free, hold the phone close and cup your hand otherwise it may be hard to hear as I found when testing it.
Transferring details from your old phone to the new one can be done using the Clone Phone app, but despite several attempts, I was unable to get this to work. Instead it kept reminding me to turn off mobile data and try again (given that my mobile data wasn’t on, this was clearly irrelevant). In the end transferring all the apps and details wasn’t a problem as I had everything backed up to Google. I did check this out and it appears that some people were able to use the app to clone the old phone to the new one. There is a bit of bloatware on the phone (eg. YT music, etc) but you can either uninstall or at least disable these to free up some space if you really need to. It also comes with several “trays” or folders, eg. Google and Tools pre-installed on the home screen, a handy feature for accessing frequently used apps to ensure your home screen doesn’t become too cluttered. There is also a smart sidebar which can be customised to enable you to get to your frequently used apps quickly
There are plenty of websites which will supply the full technical specs for this phone, but from a user perspective the G70 Helio Processor is certainly more than acceptable and the phone is very responsive, even when gaming. It comes with a Game Space app which has a number of features to optimise your gaming experience including a gaming engine, smoothing, and managing your calls during gaming.
There is absolutely no lag at all when loading apps, even those that are memory hungry. I used the Geekbench 5 app to test the phone’s performance and the results indicated that the phone is comparable to several other well-known brands which cost at least double the price of this mobile.
A few minor niggles though. The phone came supplied with a small 2 page quick guide which gave very little information, so you need to get the online manual if you want to really find out all the features of this phone. Be prepared for a good night’s read as the phone is full of features and highly customisable. I also find the status bar icons and notifications at the top of the screen are very small and rather difficult to see especially for those who are short-sighted. There doesn’t appear to be any way to make these just a little larger so they are easier to view. It is well worthwhile checking out all the settings on the phone before use so you can customise it to your personal requirements as some of the standard features you would expect to see on the phone out of the box need to be activated through settings, eg. battery percentage display on the home screen.
Another concern is that there are no earbuds included with the phone, although I understand that free wireless earbuds are available when purchasing this phone as a promotional item until May 9. It is certainly not essential but certainly worthwhile buying a gel cover for the phone (which are now available online) as the painted polycarbonate body could easily scratch and ruin the very impressive painted finish.
To sum up: if you’re in the market for a new budget phone, this is definitely a serious contender - a quality build, great features on a par with far more expensive phones and good looks as well. And of course the price is not too shabby either. A word of caution however, make sure you buy it from an Australian supplier as it differs from those sold overseas (eg. different processor, NFC, certification for Australian LTE 28 Band and Australian charger). All in all a great phone at a very competitive price point- why would you buy anything more expensive??
Real me C3, Mid range STAR – First and foremost, the phone feels like quality! It has a good weight to it, and feels very solid in your hand. So, on to the review. First thoughts. The phone feels brilliant, in the hand. Having used a lot of phone models over the years, I have felt some that just give you the concern that it will break when you press a button. The Realme C3… Read more
is the opposite. A good, rigid feel to the phone and body. A nice surprise is the screen appears to have a screen protector already on it. Bonus!
Installation of SIM and SD Card. Very well done, using common card slide. The biggest benefit is you can run TWO SIM cards, hence have two numbers associated witht he phone. In addition, this slide holds a MicroSD card, of up to 256GB, which is surely enough for a couple years of happy snapping.
Standby, namely just leaving your phone doing nothing, and I was amazed at the battery life. After 3 days of just sitting, the phone had lost just 10% battery.
The Realme C3, under heavy use is actually surprising. Gaming while being more than acceptable, uses a lot less than I would have expected. I have spent the better part of a day to just playing games on the Realme C3. It was going strong well into the evening.
Battery. The battery is listed as a 5000mAh. Straight from the box, I had approx 1/2 a battery, so, without bothering to recharge, I was able to setup, update and install games and apps, and still had the majority of the battery left. So far, after 2 days of just sitting, the phone has used approx 4% of battery each day. I checked the specs for the Galaxy S9 and it only has a 3500mAh battery and while it will happily go all day with use, it can start to struggle after heavy use.
One part of the phone I was very disappointed with was the use of a Micro USB connector, as opposed to the newer, faster, better to charge your phone with, USB-C. Yes, it wil charge your phone and transfer data, but not as efficiently as the USB-C connector. The fact that even Apple have moved to the USB-C, tells you that Realme has in this instance gone the cheaper route.
Unlocking the phone. As one would expect, the Realme C3 has a good choice of unlocking options. Face, fingerprint and code. The code works as expected, the face unlock while it works, also requires you to also swipe up, to complete unlock. the most effective seems to be the fingerprint reader on the rear of the phone. Once properly registered, the fingerprint unlock all but instantly unlocks the phone, to the main screen. In addition, the fingerprint reader is very easy to locate and seems fairly forgiving.
Looking closely at the info provided, the RealmeC3, has 64GB of internal storage, with a bit over 48GB available for use. The RealmeC3 has 3GB of RAM, which surprised me, I would have expected 4GB. The processor is an Octa Core unit, which seems quite fast and stable. Having used this phone for phone calls, SMS, Video Calls, and a wide manner of games and apps, the available RAM is sufficient, albeit a bit slow to load. But once loaded, it performs as well as the Samsung Galaxy S9.
Start up speed. Fast. Granted it was the initial start up, but the phone starts quickly. And a week later, still fast to load.
Screen. The screen size is more than adequate for everyday use. The touchscreen is very responsive. Colours are clear and bright. Initially, I was concerned that the screen was seemingly dark at anything past about 15 degrees from direct view. But then I realised, I had to brighten the screen. After that, WOW! Whatever angle, the screen and colours are exceptional.
Menu. Being a Samsung Galaxy S9 user at present, I am able to use the Samsung as a 'standard'. Basically, I can compare the RealmeC3 to the Samsung. While the menu is an Android system, sadly it looks like a cheaper version. From the main screen, you swipe up to access the apps. From there, it is scrolling. No sideway pages, so if you have a lot of apps on your RealmeC3, finding them from the main menu may take a little time, as I expect the app list will be very long.
After having a play with the menus, I was amazed. The options for screen layout are exceptional. The Smasung Galaxy S9 is good, but once you try some settings, you will surely find the best fit for you.
Gaming. When I try out mobile devices, I like to push them to their limits. So, in this case, Asphalt 9. Extremely graphics intensive, and a real workout for the processor. I am happy to say the Realme C3 performed exceptionally well, when running Asphalt 9. No jittering images, no frame loss, the colours were still very bright, and the phone seemed to handle the program with absolute ease. Some issues with anti-aliasing and edges, but as a mid range priced phone, this is a very good gaming unit. It easily plays the most demanding games, with auto settings to suit, but the majority are comparable to the Samsung Galaxy S9. Very clear, good graphics, without the horrid blur. At the price point of this phone, I reckon any teenager or mature adult would love this phone.
Sound. Well, this is where the excitement stopped. The Realme C3 internal speakers are quite simply atrocious. They are fine for phone calls etc, but once it comes to music, sound effects and the like, the speaker/s really seem to struggle. This is very obvious when playing games with multiple sounds in games.
When used for music, the internal speaker leaves a lot to be desired. Sadly it is lacking in bass. However, when used with wired or bluetooth headphones, the sound is quite good. Not in the league of exceptional, but more than passable, when using headphones. This is the ONLY part of this phone that I was disappointed with. I so wish they had used a better speaker. It just doesn't do it. Greanted, most people will use bluetooth headphones nowadays, but the in-built graphic equaliser only works with plug in 3.5mm headphones. So, unless you get a quality set of plug in or bluetooth headphones, the sound will be a real let down.
Under the sound settings, there is a graphic equaliser, however, it ONLY works when a set of headphones are plugged in. So, if you are using bluetooth headphones, sorry . . . No graphic equaliser.
Camera. WOW! This could be a long bit. As a photographer, I am very picky on the quality of photographs. I am also quite picky on video, so this could get somewhat ugly.
The Realme C3 takes quite good photos. Granted, it isn't as good as say a Samsung Galaxy S9, but then again, the price difference is massive. As a mid range mobile phone, the camera is surprisingly very good. For photos!
With the usual standard photo ability, the Realme C3 also offers ultra macro, panorama and expert mode. So lets have a look at these.
Standard photos are quite good for a mid range camera phone. Coulours are clear and vibrant, but sadly there is a lot of chroma effects on edges. This is a result of a less than great sensor, which has problems coping with light and dark suddenly changing. But for your average user, who simply wants to capture some memories, the camera on standard is more than acceptable.
Panorama mode is quite surprising. A single press, and rotate the camera. A very important note. Move it VERY SLOWLY, or the image will be blurry and absolutely lack in quality.
Ultra Macro mode is also surprisingly quite good, but don't expect an award winning photo without a lot of practice. The ideal distance is apparently 4cm. The camera struggles at anything closer. However, for a mid range camera in a mid range phone, it isn't the worst I have seen.
Expert mode. This provides a lot more control for those with the knowledge. The adjustments are very good and the results more than acceptable.
Video. Video has a number of options as well. Standard, timelapse and slo-mo. But first let's get something out there. The video capabilities of this phone are a bit hit and miss. Capable of 720p and 1080p, it offers the user the opportunity to capture those special moments, for a mid range camera, it achieves that. Nothing special, but sufficient to record those memories.
The resulting video is OK, but you may find some artifacts and movement blur. However, for a mid range priced phone, it does a lot better than I expected.
The options within the settings, is actually better than the Samsung Galaxy S9, in my opinion. There are options for how the phone works when you swipe. There is even a way to set it which would be ideal for older users, or those with vision issues.
Overall, the Realme C3 is a great phone, at a very reasonable price. I would consider it ideal as a first phone, or one for those who don't have a need for the high end features, yet can still game at a more than acceptable level.
At the price of around $270, it is definitely a phone to consider, if you don't want to spend $1000, as expected for the high end phones.
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