Realme has been shaking up the local entry level scene since they opened shop in the Philippines. Their latest budget device, the Realme C3, is the first to carry MediaTek’s gaming centric Helio G70 processor. With that release, the brand is aiming for the crown of the best budget gaming phone.
Today, we’re taking a closer look at the Realme C3 to see how it performs relative to its price. Is it worth our money? How well does it play games?
The Realme C3 is available in stores nationwide with a price of PHP 5,990. You can check out more details about its availability here.
Now on with the review.
Design
The Realme C3 looks like any other recent Realme phone. The design revolves around the large 6.5-inch display with a waterdrop notch for the front camera, thin bezels, and a thick chin.
It has a matte back panel with a Sunrise design — wavy patterns that kind of reflects rays when hit by light which also offers some resistance to fingerprints.
The phone itself has a plastic build. It feels very solid and well-built. The device is robust and has a bit of weight, which is probably because of the large battery.
Also see: 5 good reasons why the Realme C3 is the budget phone to have
There are three cameras at the back with an LED flash and a fingerprint scanner. The volume rockers and triple slot SIM tray are on the left, while the power button is on the right. Despite the phone’s size, the buttons are all easy to reach.
At the bottom, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microphone, a microUSB port, and a mono speaker.
The color of our review unit is Blazing Red, which I feel looks better. The other color option is Frozen Blue.
Display
The Realme C3 has a large 6.5-inch HD display with a 1600 x 720 resolution, a small waterdrop notch, and a 20:9 aspect ratio.
The display is actually good for the price. It is bright with good contrast. Colors look great, making this phone ideal for gaming and watching videos.
Performance
This is where the Realme C3 shines. The handset is equipped with the latest MediaTek Helio G70 processor, paired with 3GB RAM and a Mali-G52 graphics chip.
With that, the phone does very well in day-to-day tasks. Basic navigation is smooth and responsive.
Also see: Realme X50 Pro announced; Features 5G, 90Hz display, quad cams
What sets this apart from other budget phones is its gaming performance. It was able to run heavy games with little issues and dropped frames. Into the Dead 2 with graphics set to High ran with no problems. Asphalt 9 also ran well without any hiccups. Of course, if you want a better gaming experience, you can always set graphics to Medium.
For those interested in benchmark scores, check out the results below. In comparison, the Realme C3 did slightly better than the Realme 5i.
- AnTuTu – 182,416 (CPU – 73,738, GPU – 29,436, MEM – 38,674, UX – 39,568)
- Geekbench – 346 Single-core; 1,273 Multi-core
- 3D Mark Sling Shot Extreme – 1,184 (OpenGL ES 3.1), 1,167 (Vulkan)
The Realme C3 has a mono speaker with average sound quality. It’s not bad and it doesn’t sound tinny. It can also get pretty loud but expect some distortion on max volume.
As for call quality, it is excellent. Audio is clear on both sides, and the receiver was able to understand me well.
Cameras
The Realme C3 comes with triple rear cameras — 12MP main, 2MP depth and 2MP macro. For selfies, it has a 5MP front camera. There are various modes including photo, portrait, time-lapse, slo-mo, ultra-macro, expert, and pano.
Also see: Realme 5i review
In daylight, photos taken look good with decent detail and colors. Given the price, this is more than passable. But in moderate lighting conditions, noise creeps in, making images grainy. Details take a dip as well.
The phone also offers digital zoom up to 4x. At max range, colors still look good, but you lose a lot of sharpness and details.
Selfies, on the other hand, are average. Details are not as pronounced as I would have liked, but colors look okay. Despite the setbacks, it gets the job done.
Battery Life
The Realme C3 packs a huge 5,000mAh battery. With moderate usage which includes gaming, social media, and browsing, the handset will last you a day. Charging the phone to full takes more than three hours.
Final Thoughts
For PHP 5,990, the Realme C3 offers tremendous value, given the performance of the MediaTek Helio G70 chipset and the battery life. It does a lot of things well and impresses as a budget smartphone especially when it comes to gaming.
Because of this, the Realme C3 is highly recommended. It is for those who want a good gaming phone on a budget.
The Realme C3 is priced at PHP 5,990. It is available nationwide, offline and online.
Realme C3 specs
- 6.5-inch HD+ IPS Display (1600 x 720, 270 ppi), Corning Gorilla Glass, 20:9 Aspect Ratio
- 2GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio G70 Processor
- Mali-G52 GPU
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB Storage, expandable via microSD
- 12MP f/1.8 Main + 2MP Portrait + 2MP Macro Triple Rear Cameras, PDAF
- 5MP f/2.4 Front Camera, AI Beauty, AI HDR
- 4G VoLTE, Dual Nano SIM
- Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
- Fingerprint Scanner (Rear), Face Unlock
- MicroUSB, 3.5mm Headphone Jack, FM Radio
- Realme UI, Android 10
- Colors: Frozen Blue, Blazing Red
- 5,000mAh Battery, 10W Charger
