GADGETS | realme C55: A budget-friendly smartphone with impressive day-to-day performance
The Realme C55 has a new stellar design language that looks very elegant and premium at the same time.
The realme C55 is the latest addition to Realme’s C series and offers some impressive features for its price. It is equipped with a MediaTek Helio G88 SoC, up to 8GB RAM, and 256GB of storage. It’s the first device on the Android side to feature what Realme calls the Mini Capsule, which resembles the dynamic island of the iPhone 14 Pro series.
A closer look
The device features a 6.72-inch (17.07 cm) 90Hz Full HD + IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2400×1080. The Realme C55 has a new stellar design language that looks very elegant and premium at the same time.
The phone is made entirely of plastic, and a jelly case is included in the packaging. Realme has opted for a boxier design for the realme C55 with slightly curved edges, which makes the device comfortable to hold..at least for my personal preference.
The device weighs about 189.5 grams and accommodates a massive 5000 mAh battery while keeping the weight under 200 grams. The power button serves a dual purpose: It is used to turn the device on and off and integrates a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for secure and easier access.
The realme C55 is highlighted among its competitors with its sleek design, performance, and features impressive such as fast charging, camera modes, and a mini capsule on the display.
Mini Capsule
The Mini Capsule is the animation that appears next to the camera on the realme C55 smartphone. It displays different animations depending on the situation and is similar to the iPhone’s Dynamic Island. The Mini Capsule can show you information such as charging status, battery level, data usage, and fitness stats. It’s a neat and stylish feature that could become even more useful if realme adds additional functionality in the future, such as notifications, weather updates or music controls.
Hardware
Packing a large 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support, the realme C55 can pretty much last more than a day on a full charge. The phone has a 64MP primary camera, which is a first in the C-series lineup and is paired with a 2MP depth camera lens. There is an 8MP snapper on the front for selfies and video chats.
At the heart of the device is the Mediatek Helio G88 chipset which offers competitive performance in day-to-day use and gaming.
The phone has 6.72-inch Full-HD+ IPS LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate, 180Hz touch sampling rate which gives the phone a perceived snapiness and fluidity.
Software
The device runs on Android 13 with the company’s Realme UI skin on top. It has some bloatware pre-installed but you can easily uninstall unwanted apps when needed.
Camera performance
The device features a 64MP main sensor and a 2MP depth lens. The camera app has various modes such as portrait, night, panorama, and pro to enhance the shooting experience.
The photos captured by the realme C55 are generally clear and detailed in good lighting conditions, with accurate colors and contrast with HDR enabled.
The realme C55 also has an 8 MP selfie camera that can take decent selfies with good skin tones and exposure. However, it tends to smoothen the facial features and lose some details in low light situations but the HDR mode also does some great magic to make selfies look good.
The video recording quality of the realme C55 is average, with support for up to 1080p at 30 fps. The videos are smooth and stable, thanks to the electronic image stabilization (EIS), but they lack dynamic range and detail in challenging scenarios.
Gaming Performance
The realme C55 offers impressive gaming performance with its Helio G88 processor. The Helio G88 is a 12nm octa-core chipset that features two Cortex-A75 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.8GHz. It also has a Mali-G52 MC2 GPU that supports up to 90Hz refresh rate and HyperEngine 2.0 technology for enhanced gaming experience.
It can handle popular games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, Asphalt 9 and Genshin Impact with ease. It can run these games at medium to high graphics settings and maintain smooth frame rates without overheating or throttling. The realme C55 also has a large 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 180Hz touch sampling rate that delivers fluid and responsive gameplay.
Final thoughts
The realme C55 is a great choice for lifestyle users who are looking for an affordable smartphone that can handle demanding games without compromising on performance, display quality or battery life. The realme C55 has a lot going for it including decent camera performance especially with its selfie camera which has a pretty good dynamic range. The phone is available in two variants: 6GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage.
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Ira James is an enthusiast who has his roots on PC hardware and gaming. His career as a tech journalist began after working in the PR industry for two years. He started GGWPTech to write PC hardware reviews, gaming, cyber security, and enterprise tech news. His works are also syndicated by other media publishers: Tech Sabado, and the Sunday and Business I.T. section of Manila Times.
