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Realme has been focused on the premium segment like other brands in the country this year. But the company is reverting back to its old formula and launching a budget 4G phone, because there are still quite a few who want a phone that costs around Rs 10,000 to Rs 11,000. Realme C55 fits that box and the brand is now looking to change the perception of a budget phone, and show everyone that phones in this range don’t need to look boring and also pack a few surprises.

We have been using this budget 4G phone for sometime now, and in this review we tell you if Realme C55 has the makings of a quality budget phone or not.

Realme C55 Review: What’s Cool?

Realme has tried to show everyone that a budget phone can be good looking. The sun shower variant has that colour-charging element but the overall compactness of the device (even with a big screen) makes it easy to use. The volume and power buttons are on the right side and at the back you will notice the gigantic camera sensors moulded into the panel. The whole package for its design works for us.

Moving to the display, you have a 6.72-inch IPS screen that gets a 90Hz refresh rate and offers Full HD+ resolution. The screen has a peak brightness of 680 nits which is good enough in this range, and then you have the unique punch hole cutout that includes a Dynamic Island-like feature called Mini Capsule.

That’s right, the display tool is slowly coming to Android phones, and Realme makes it public with the C55. You can only use it for charging status, step count and low battery alert. Realme says it will continue to work with the community for more use cases and we can’t wait to see how that pans out.

Realme C55 is powered by MediaTek Helio G88 chipset which is a 4G hardware and you get it with up to 8GB RAM and support for virtual RAM expansion. The storage option maxes out at 128GB but you can expand it further.

Talking about performance, this phone will easily manage your daily tasks and let you play casual games without any strain. This chipset is not gaming-centric, and you shouldn’t expect any top-end levels from the device, which is understandable. You have the Realme 4.0 UI based on Android 13 running out of the box, which is also a plus point about the phone.

The main 64MP camera on the phone performs better than we expected. You get crisp and detailed shots in bright conditions and the HDR levels are also balanced, while the colours are natural.

Realme has offered a 5000mAh battery on the phone but you get it with 33W fast charging support, which is the best-in-segment speed for a budget device. The company has said that 33W is going to be the base charging speed for its phones, and the Realme C55 benefits from this strategy. Having said that, the battery life of the phone is not bad either.

The unit can easily last the whole day and being a 4G chipset means you get better power efficiency. All this makes the Realme C55 ideal for people who like to watch videos, engage on social media and surf the web.

Realme C55 Review: What’s Not So Cool?

We talked about the good things, now it is time to focus on what are the shortcomings in this phone. Realme C55 has a bright display but the colours look washed out, and that is probably the price you pay for juggling too many features.

Some might say that’s a deal breaker. The peak brightness is good but even then we noticed that the panel needs a bit of covering up in bright outdoor conditions to see anything on the screen.

While the main camera surprised us, we saw nothing worthy from the secondary sensor. Companies continue to use the 2MP sensor, and claim it offers versatility but let’s be fair, it is hard to give premium cameras at this price. Even the front 8MP camera is bang average. Realme offers Android 13 but the bloatware problem continues. And with brands like Motorola now able to ditch the bloat, it is hard not to make a case for Realme to ditch the unwanted apps as well.

Realme C55 Review: Should You Buy?

Realme C55 has the design, performance, main camera and battery support that makes it a quality buy if you don’t want to spend upwards of Rs 12,000. Realme has three variants of the model, including an 8GB option but we feel that the 4GB and the 6GB models give you better value for the money. This is a 4G-only phone, and it won’t get any update to run 5G, so make sure you are aware about that.

The mini capsule is an interesting addition that is still in its infancy but good to see it on a budget phone. Buy the Realme C55 if you need a compact device with performance reliability and fast charging battery.

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