realme C25 Review: 6,000mAh Battery King?

It’s barely been a month since the launch of the Narzo 30A in the Philippines but realme is ready to introduce yet another budget-friendly option for Filipinos. This time around, they are refreshing the C series with the realme C25 after several months. But will the C25 revitalize realme’s long-adored C lineup?

realme C25

Unboxing

The realme C25 does not stray far from the packaging of previous entries from the brand. It comes encased in a traditional bright Yellow Box accompanied by the essentials such as a SIM pin ejector, documentation, an 18W Fast Charging adapter, and a USB Type-C cable.

Screen and Audio

The C25’s display is a 6.5-inch IPS 1600 x 720 screen. While it seems a bit basic on paper, it can deliver an overall okay viewing experience. Blacks are not particularly deep but colors are vivid and saturated.

The sub-FullHD+ resolution may be a bit jarring for others but we can see plenty of detail in games and videos. Thankfully, brightness produced by the display is enough to overpower bright lights or sunlight that can lead to reflections.

realme is including a pre-applied screen protector with the C25 to lessen any costs that end users may have to spend to protect the device. There are minimal bezels at the edges and at the top. The bottom chin, however, seems a bit large but not too much to impede any kind of ergonomic functions.

At the bottom of the C25 is a single bottom-firing speaker. It is a budget-oriented device so audiophiles – or those who like listening to music – should temper their expectations. Maximum volume is a bit weak to our taste and the highs can get a bit tinny at louder settings. Its bass lacks punch as well, which may lead to an anemic listening experience.

Design and Aesthetics

The realme C25 does not change the formula when it comes to design. In fact, its style looks similar to that found in the C11. A large, uniform band runs down the length of the device and the through the realme logo at the left-hand side. Meanwhile, the remaining space is lined with a diagonal pattern to prevent it from looking a bit plain compared to the competition.

Breaking up the dual design of the C25’s rear is the square camera module that houses its triple lenses and LED flash as well as a circular fingerprint scanner. The latter offers an additional layer of security and is lighting fast to respond to fingerprints.

The sides are slightly chamfered and provides a comfortable grip to the hand. At the left-hand side is its triple SIM tray slot that houses a dedicated MicroSD slot and spaces for two 4G SIM cards.

Clustered at the other side are its volume rocker and power button, which give a tactile button feel. At the bottom are the 3.5mm jack, USB Type-C port, and the previously mentioned bottom-firing speaker grilles.

In terms of build, the realme C25 feels solid enough on the hand without the worry of dropping or breaking. The design, however, may be a bit plain to our liking and sticks close to a design they have already used in the past.

Software

The realme C25 is one of the first smartphones to come with the new realme UI 2.0 right out of the box. Most of the stuff we already loved about the original are carried over like the near-stock Android experience and seamless transition from one window to the next.

There are a few enhancements like the additional customizability of the look of the icons and theme as well as additional dark modes for a more minute personalization for the user’s eyes. This new version of the brand’s UI also gets a new Private Space where users can hide specific photos, documents, and files.

realme UI 2.0 also uses less resources and increases overall system functionality. Additional resources can be further expanded by Game Space, which automatically terminates unused apps. This allow games to use more of the system’s resources for a supposed lag-free experience.

Camera

The camera app found on the realme C25 packs all the essentials you need for a proper shooting experience. It comes with Auto, Pro, Portrait, Night, 48MP, Time-Lapse, Slow Motion, Ultra Macro, and Panorama Modes by default. Nothing too far from the usual camera modes we have seen before.

The smartphone does not stray far from the proven realme formula from previous entries in the C lineup. At the back are three cameras: a 48MP f/1.8 main lens, a 2MP f/2.4 mono lens, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro shooter.

The 48MP f/1.8 primary lens takes adequate photos with good color reproduction and saturation but there’s clearly a bit of boosting at play. Details and shadows are also well-preserved with smaller details becoming noticeable when you zoom in.

HDR performance is also acceptable even in less-than-ideal situations. The camera and its software can properly determine bright and dark spots and light them both evenly in HDR mode.

The C25’s 2MP f/2.4 macro lens pales in comparison when it comes to overall performance. Though details are adequate, colors seem lackluster and lacking life especially when taking photos or colorful objects like flowers.

Resting on the notch at the front is an 8MP f/2.0 selfie camera. It’s not particularly spectacular but it can take decent selfies without too much interference from its beautification AI. It can even take natural-looking selfies while left on auto with only a little bit of beautification.

Performance and Benchmarks

Powering the realme C25 is a Helio G70 courtesy of MediaTek complemented by 4GB f RAM and 128GB of expandable storage. Its chip might have a slightly slower clock speeds than the Helio G80, but its not slouch in the performance department.

The Helio G70 is considered as an entry-level chip but it can pull decent scores in synthetic benchmarks. Running AnTuTu scored just above the 200,000 mark while it can reach around 8500 in PCMark Work 2.0.

Gaming poses no problem with the C25 aside from Triple A titles. Those who like competitive games like Call of Duty: Mobile, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, or League of Legends: Wild Rift will be happy to know that the device can comfortably pump out a playable number of frames. More demanding titles like Genshin Impact, however, will need some of their graphical settings turned down to get a smooth framerate.

Battery Life

The brand’s C lineup has had great battery longevity ever since their inception and that does not change with the realme C25. It runs on a 6,000mAh battery, which can reach to more than 24 hours in PCMark Work 2.0 battery loop test.

In a real life, however, you would be hard pressed to run out the battery in normal usage unless you really try. A day of medium usage with work, occasional gaming, and watching videos just drained the smartphone by around half. This leaves plenty of juice to be used for the next day.

Charging is done through an 18W Fast Charging connection through its USB Type-C port at the bottom. It’s fast enough to charge the battery to full from empty in around 2 hours. Those who have other devices on hand can also take advantage of the huge battery reserves thanks to Reverse Charging.

Conclusion

Priced at PhP 7,490, the realme C25 offers a solid experience with an incredibly lengthy battery life, decent gaming performance, and an okay main camera. The only real downside of the device is its rather plain appearance and middling macro lens performance.

When you look at everything at face value, the C25 does not add anything revolutionary to the C lineup. Instead, it refines the most important aspects of the series: long battery life and decent performance wrapped up in a nice entry-level package.

So, if you’re upgrading from an outdated entry-level smartphone or a feature phone and want to have the overall package, then the realme C25 should be at the top of your short list.