All of us pretty much always opted for the best smartphone at a lower cost. And with this new addition of realme to their C-series, The realme C35. This may be one of realme’s 2022 contenders for the budget category. This comes with a new look and design unlike their other entries in the budget categories. Visual yes it looks different and great, but what else does it have to offer?
Pros
Large display
Excellent 50MP camera
Fast and Responsive fingerprint sensor
Cons
No gorilla glass protection
No water or dust resistant
Design & Build
The realme C35 has a curve-edge look, which kind of resembles Apple products. Instead of having a textured finish as the other C-series smartphones, this one comes with a glossy one, but it’s still made out of plastic. It is a bit chunky since it has some thickness in it, but it does feel sturdy. Although as we hold the device, we can feel the cheap materials used. Honestly, even though it looks different, I would still prefer the older designs due to the comfort when holding the device. Another thing that bugs when it comes to this kind of design, is that it is pretty sensitive when it comes to fingerprint smudges.
The camera module is located on the top left side of the phone, and the glossy design remains on the module. The look of its camera module resembles the realme 9 series. Its overall appearance is pleasing, and the build is solid and sturdy, with clicky buttons.
The power button is on the right side of the frame along with the volume rocker, while the sim tray is on the left. The sim tray has a dual nano sim card slot as well as an expandable storage slot that can hold up to 1TB of data. There’s nothing on top, but there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, main microphone, USB Type-C port, and a single down-firing speaker at the bottom part. The realme C35’s fingerprint sensor is now integrated into the power button, unlike the side-mounted one.
Display
Now for the display, just because the realme C35 is a budget smartphone, that doesn’t mean that they cheaped down on their display. It boasts a 6.6″ FHD+ IPS LCD panel which is protected by panda glass. No worries, since both gorilla and panda glass, are pretty much similar since they are manufactured with the same technology; however, gorilla glass is more durable. This is pretty much decent for its price since some smartphones tend to sell out their phones without having decent protection for their display.
The display is bright enough for indoor and outdoor use; it has a crisp screen, vibrant colors, and decent viewing angles. However, it doesn’t have a higher refresh rate display. For the price, they should have upgraded the display’s refresh rate for a better experience. Nonetheless, display features are neat and also responsive.
Camera
Now for the cameras, it is equipped with a triple camera setup, a 50MP main, 2MP macro, and 0.3 depth. Over to the front, the dewdrop notch houses an 8MP selfie camera.
The 50mp shooter, gives an impressive image quality, especially for close-up shots. It is sharp and detailed and the colors are pretty much true to life. Turning HDR on gives more detail and sharpness to the image. It also enhances colors for a more pleasing output.
For the portrait mode, even though edge detection is decent, it lacked the bokeh effect that we are looking for. Still, it uses the main 50mp sensor, so details and color-wise, it is pretty impressive.
For macro shots, image quality is not that great, images are soft, lack details, and it’s hard to get the device to focus. You will get a much better result if you just used the main sensor and took a closer look at the subject.
As for selfies, it is not that great, but decent enough for the price. Highlights tend to blow out when taking outdoor selfies, while indoor selfies look soft even with beautification turned off.
There is no ultrawide mode here, but you can zoom up to 2x and 4x.
Performance
The Unisoc Tiger T616 (12 nm) chipset powers the realme C35. The unit we have has 4GB of ram, with 64GB of storage. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with the ram expansion feature. Even though it was released back in 2019, the performance that it gives is still impressive. Although pretty much all games nowadays are more optimized for snapdragon chipsets, still the T616 delivers for a budget smartphone.
Running on its software is Realme UI R edition, which is based on Android 11. There are some pre-loaded applications installed. However, scrolling through the phone is smooth, and no hiccups. Although if you are accustomed to a higher refresh rate display, you might notice some stuttering.
Battery
For its battery, it is packed with a 5000mAh of capacity paired with an 18WÂ fast charging. Juicing up the device from 0 to 100% took us about 2hours and 10 minutes, which is fairly decent for an 18W fast charging. Putting it to the test, with streaming and browsing, it took us about 16hours of usage. So for casual users, it can last you pretty much the whole day.
Verdict
Overall, the Realme C35 is priced at Php. 8,499 for the 4/64 variant, and Php. 9499 for the 4/128 variant. Is it a good enough device for an entry-level smartphone? Aesthetically speaking yes, it is impressive, especially the new look. It faces stiff competition, especially from other budget-friendly devices equipped with better chipsets, 5G capability, and even higher refresh rate displays. But it’s a decent phone with an attractive design and impressive camera performance. Realme C35 still delivers some gaming performance and battery life, but if you are aiming to play higher type games in the same price category. There are other options in the market.
It is not built for gaming, but still, it delivers considering its price.
Realme C35 specs, price, availability in the Philippines
- Network: 4G LTE
- Display: 6.6-inch IPS LCD FHD+ (2408 x 1080)
- OS: Realme UI R Edition (Android 11)
- Chipset: Unisoc Tiger T616 (12nm)
- Memory: (4GB/64GB), (4GB/128GB)
- Rear Camera: 50MP (main), 2MP (macro), 0.3MP (depth)
- Front/Selfie Camera: 8MP
- Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, Dual-SIM (nano), GPS, A-GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
- Ports: 3.5mm audio jack, USB Type-C
- Battery: 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging
- Dimensions & Weight: 164.4 x 75.6 x 8.1 mm (189g)
- Colors: Glowing Black, Glowing Green
- Price: Php. 8,499 (4GB/64GB), Php. 9499 (4GB/128GB)
- Release Date: May 18, 2022 (Philippines)
