The recently launched realme C65 is a notable entry in the realme budget-friendly smartphone lineup that promises to deliver essential features that cater to everyday needs and without compromising on quality. Here’s a detailed review focusing on the realme essential features and why it’s better than your average under 10K smartphone.
DESIGN, BUILD AND BATTERY
The realme C65 boasts a sleek and modern design, with a slim profile and lightweight build that makes it easy to handle. Inspired by the sparkle of starlight, its Shining Starlight Design incorporates an advanced 300nm 7-layer coating process, producing a unique double-layered starlight effect which is more subtle than loud. It will not stand out but there’s a certain degree of sophistication around it.
The plastic back panel, while not premium, is sturdy and is pretty much masked by its glossy finish that also adds a touch of elegance. The device is available in two colors – Starlight Purple and Starlight Black. Not too purple and not too black. It’s like I said, subtle.
realme C65 is 7.64mm slim, making it the thinnest phone in its class next to the previously released realme C53 which is by far their thinnest at 7.49mm. When it comes to smartphones, the thinner they are, the lighter and the better they feel on the hands. Manufacturers just need to reinforce the unit so it will not break easily. So this one is definitely a perfect fit!
Now the reason why it’s so slim is because they were able to optimize the internal structures and reduce the thickness of the battery. However, don’t equate batter size with battery strength because the C65 has a total of 5000 mAh of juice in the bank paired with an impressively superfast 45W SUPERVOOC charging capability.
Turn On Smart Charging
Get charged from 0% to 50% in 30 mins, then to 100% in 77 mins. It features the VCVT Intelligent Tuning Algorithm adjusting voltage and current for better performance. Additionally, it has the VFC Trickle Charging Algorithm that slows downs charging for the last 10% to preserve battery health. FFC Charging enhances efficiency between 90% to 100%. With 38 Safety Protections, charging is safe and swift across all components – charger, cable, interface, circuitry, and battery.
The realme C65 features charging technologies that adapt to the user’s habits and sleep patterns to optimize battery health. It includes an “Extreme Cold Mode” that raises the temperature when plugged in under 0°C to ensure efficient charging. The phone is tested to endure 1,600 Charge Cycles compared to the standard 1,200. It also offers PD Charging for 18W, Dart or VOOC Charging for 15W, and SuperDart or SUPERVOOC for 33W/45W. Additionally, it supports OTG Reverse Charging at 5V/1.2A for necessary situations.
Shorter, safer and more intelligent charging process – longer and more efficient phone use!
DISPLAY AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
The realme C65 has a large 6.67″ screen display that has a lot of nifty essential features, but first here are some basic specs:
- Refresh Rate: 90H
- Brightness: 500nit (average)
- Touch Sampling Rate: 180Hz
- Resolution: 1604 x 720
- Screen-to-body Ratio: 89.97%
- Screen Colors: 16.7M
Lowest Brightness
The C65 screen is optimized for eye comfort. There’s a punch hole notch at the top center which houses the front camera. While at average the screen brightness is pegged at 500 nits, it can also go as high as 625 nits in High Brightness Mode or go down to as low as 1 Nit which is quite rare in this price segment. That means you can pretty much adjust the screen’s brightness to whatever lighting environment you have so it won’t hurt your eyes – from bright sunny days to poorly lit and dark areas.
Mini Capsule 2.0
And speaking of the punch hole notch, the C65 also has the mini capsule 2.0 as an added feature. This is the animated expanding pill size display that appears in the same area as the notch to indicate various notification and toggles from other active apps.
- Charging & Battery Status: Turns Red to alert Low Battery status; Blue when plugged to indicate Charging status; then turns Green to indicate Fully Charged status
- Data Usage: Helpful for saving mobile data when being used with no WiFi source. Data Usage Limit can be indicated in the Settings Menu; Capsule notifies at 90% usage
- Step Tracking: Identifies if the user is in motion and counts each recognized step for tracking. Updates the user of total steps taken at 9PM
- Event Reminders: Calendar events set pop up as notifications for an added reminder of any given meetings, appointments, events, and self-set tasks
- Weather Notifications: Shows users a quick look on potential weather conditions for the day when glanced on. It also gives updates for any changes mid-day
- Music Playback Control: Interactive version of the Mini Capsule that shows sound wave animation. Can swipe left & right to change tracks or click the center to pause music
TÜV Rheinland Certified
Problem with most smartphones these days is that all the nice published features are good only for a short period. And in time, with daily usage, these amazing and state-of-the-art upgrades diminish in quality – from the camera down to its display.
With that said, the realme C65 is TÜV SÜD 48-Month Fluency Rating certified which guarantees that your device can live up to its promise for four whole years. Aside from the fluency certification, the C65 screen is also TÜV Low Blue Light Certified which means that it passed a series of tests that determines its ability to reduce the amount of harmful blue light emissions. It’s guaranteed easy on the eyes!
Dust and Water Resistant
realme C65 is also IP54 Dust and Water Resistant. The unit is not submersible so don’t go diving is a pool with it. But it is however, splash and rainwater proof! So yeah, go on and message whoever even while it’s raining.
Rainwater Smart Touch
Another super awesome feature of the C65 is the rainwater Smart Touch that has a unique algorithm which allows the display to stay 96% accurate to touch even when your hand or your screen is wet. So unlock your phone, enter your passwords or answer a call in the rain without needing to wipe your phone dry first.
Riding Mode
The C65 also has an in-phone Riding Mode that shows an easy to navigate app window where users can access Google Maps, Music Apps, Contacts, and Google Dialer for ease of use when riding motorcycles or driving. Do Not Disturb (while riding) can be calibrated to set preferences like who to allow calls from, set a riding speed when receiving calls to auto-block for less distraction, ring for repeated calls plus send an auto reply for easy responses. Banner notifications can also be blocked.
Paired with all the other display features, I should say that this is the perfect phone for riders or those who uses motorcycles or bicycles for day-to-day mobilization and work. From food delivery riders to motorcycle taxi and courier services – this is probably their best mobile companion yet.
Dynamic Button
The C65 doesn’t have an on-screen fingerprint scanner but it does have however a dynamic button on the side. The side-mounted power button doubles as a fingerprint or biometric scanner and also acts as a gateway to various functions. By simply double-tapping or double-pressing the button it can also do the following upon set-up:
- Sound Modes (Ring, Vibrate, Mute)
- Quick Card Pack / Snap Cards
- Turn On/Off DND (Do Not Disturb)
- Turn On Riding Mode
- Turn On/Off Airplane Mode
- Turn On Camera (Street Mode / Google Smart Lens)
- Open a preferred App like Flashlight, etc.
Smart Code Scan
Scan codes more seamlessly than ever. Open Smart Code Scan by simply tapping the upper back cover of your phone, to launch the rear camera for a quick code scan. New intelligent phone algorithm makes it more easy to scan codes for payments (GCash, Maya, Grab).
Air Gesture
And lastly, the Air Gesture feature that allows the front camera to detect hand signals for a touchless control of several phone functions. AI gestures allows you to swipe through short videos, social media pages and more by waving your hand up or down. The function is still very limited but the possibilities for an expanded use of this feature in the years to come is definitely a go, and we have Tony Stark to thank for that!
POWER AND PERFORMANCE
realme C65 boast of Quality Champion Experience and this is going to be determined in part with what this device has inside.
This unit has a dedicated octa-core MediaTek Helio G85 chipset that features a clock speed of up to 2.0 GHz. With a 12nm architecture, the devices offers faster computing efficiency and lower power consumption.
You can run up to 21 apps simultaneously on this device because of its built-in 8GB RAM that can go up to 16GB through DRE technology. Paired with 256GB of storage space, this is the only device you’ll ever need for both work and play. For casual gamers, this unit will do most nicely. For heavy those heavy on the Kdramas, this will do well too. And for those who like it loud, this unit also has a 200% ULTRABOOM Dual Linear Speakers. Just don’t be a jerk and use that feature on public areas especially on trains and other public utility vehicles. Buy yourself the new realme Buds T110 (1,399 PHP) or a nice TechLife Wireless Headphone.
What makes the C65 even more interesting is that this unit uses the power of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to its advantage by optimizing its antenna to allow a smooth signal experience regardless of the way the phone is held.
The realme C65 is also introducing through this unit the AI BOOST. A cutting-edge feature made to reduce lag and improve high frame rate gaming performance. Combining Smooth Boost and Game Boost, you get a comprehensive phone experience made for advanced multi-tasking and seamless gameplay. This feature promises 5% faster app launch and 5% smoother app switching.
CAMERA
And finally, The realme C65 has adopted a high-end vertical lens module similar to what flagship smartphones are using nowadays.
The rear camera module holds a 50MP main shooter with an FoV of 79.5° and a Focal Length of 26mm. This camera is capable of taking 50MP Full Resolutions shots, and can record video at up to1080p @30fps. It’s paired with a variety of features embedded into realme UI such as the Portrait Mode, Street Mode, Night Mode, Tilt-Shift, Dedicated Filters and Dedicated Watermarks with a wide selection of choices for customization. The main rear camera above is paired with a secondary lens that acts as a depth sensor. The front camera is 8MP.
CONCLUSION
And since I’m a camera guy who loves to explore the photography capabilities of various smartphone units, I am going to reserve my review on the quality of photos produced by the C65 camera for another blog post. But for now, I am just going to say that for the SRP of 9,999 Pesos, the new realme C65 is indeed a good investment! While this camera is initially intended for the school teens and young adult market segment, I am inclined to think that this is also best for those who earn their living by using a motorcycle as well. The price point is actually not that high and they can easily ROI with this phone.
