realme C25 Unboxing and Review

Following the successful launch of the realme TechLife and the narzo 30A in the first quarter of 2021, realme Philippines is ready to disrupt once again the budget niche with the launch of the world’s first TÜV Rheinland certified smartphone – the realme C25.

realme C25, just like its predecessors, packs a well-balanced combination of features – from its triple camera capabilities, trendy design, massive battery capacity and a TÜV Rheinland Smartphone Reliability Verification.

As realme Philippines drives the shift of every Filipino to a highly digital lifestyle experience by launching innovative smart devices for interconnected experiences, realme C25 is a welcome addition to their line of smartphones.

Today, I was able to get my hands on a unit. I’d like to share my unboxing experience as well as the full review of the device. So, let's start with the unboxing.

Unboxing the realme C25

The packaging of the realme C25 doesn’t have much difference from the previous released realme products. As expected, the packaging comes in realme's typical yellow colored box with clean look design.

The front portion indicates the C25 branding, while the brand details, like model number, IMEI number, device variant, color and the summary of the four important features of the C25 --- 48MP AI Triple Camera, 6000mAh Mega Battery, Helio G70 Gaming Processor and 18W Quick Charge, are imprinted on the back portion of the box.

You can also find the realme C25 brand on both left and right sides. While on top indicates the lone realme logo, there is nothing to look at from the bottom portion.

Inside the Box and Accessories

After opening the lid of the box, you are greeted with these pleasing lines -- Hey, welcome to realme Family.

The pack contained SIM Card Ejector Tool, Protective Silicone Case, Quick Guide and Important Information Guide with Warranty Card.

Underneath the pack is the realme C25 smartphone wrapped in a white matte plastic. I will set aside the device for now and review it later. Let's see what else we get in the box.

Beneath is the 18W Fast Charger and USB Type-C to USB-A Charging Cable. realme C25 doesn’t come with headphones – you still have to provide your own.

Here's a closer look of the 18W Fast Charger information.

After unboxing, let us take a look at the physical overview and proceed with my full review of the device.

Design and Walk Around

The realme C25 features a Geometric Art Design and unlike other realme smartphones, the realme C25’s back cover is processed using a German five-axis precise radium engraving machine and undergoes 300 minutes of polishing. Additionally, 450+ curves are engraved to create a special reflective light effect. The visual effect on the brushed finished back cover can be seen when the lighting strikes from different angles.

I like this kind of texture because it is comfortable in the hand, prevents sliding, protects the phone from scratches and is less susceptible to fingerprint smudges.

Even though the realme C25 uses polycarbonate plastic for the frame and back panel, the phone feels solidly built, sturdy and has a hefty weight when gripped, maybe due to the large-capacity 6,000mAh battery.

On the front, realme C25 contains the large 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with a screen protector pre-installed and there’s no glass type protection mentioned. At the top, there’s a mini-drop design notch that houses the front-facing camera and the earpiece. Like most smartphones in this segment, the side bezels are relatively slim but with a pretty thick chin.

On the back is the square shaped camera module which houses the triple camera lens and LED flash are located around the edges and corners, making the back cover look more sophisticated. Also found at the back is the fingerprint sensor and a large realme logo at the bottom end.

Found on the left side is the card tray with 3-card slot --- two Nano SIM cards and the dedicated slot for microSD card.

On the right is your standard volume rocker button while the power button is located below.

The top is clean with the secondary noise-canceling microphone missing.

While at the bottom you can find the USB Type-C charging port, a single downward-firing speaker, primary microphone and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Display and Multimedia

Equipped with a 6.5-inch 20:9 screen, the realme C25 brings a larger field of view and provides excellent game, audio and video experience, allowing users to enjoy less visual disturbance and a wider interface for a near-full-screen viewing experience.

The IPS display panel produces great colors; viewing angles are also decent and the screen can get bright at 480 nits (peak brightness), but could use a bit more boost so you can still use it outdoors comfortably. At 270ppi, the display looks sharp even though the display comes with a HD+ resolution.

As for the loudspeaker, audio quality is like your typical smartphone which is good for an entry-level device. It can get loud, enough to fill the room but no bass. There’s also some distortion when you max the volume. I recommend using headphones or an external speaker for better audio quality.

Camera

Rear Cameras
Students and aspiring content creators can make use of realme C25’s triple camera set-up composed of a primary camera with 48MP F1.8 image sensor and supports Phase Detection Auto-Focus (PDAF), 2MP F2.4 macro lens with a 4cm shooting distance and 2MP F2.4 depth (B&W) of the realme C25 for their online learning and for their daily posting of content on their social media.

Quality from the rear cameras of the realme C25 performs well under daylight conditions, but the colors come out a bit oversaturated, details are not that sharp and exposures aren’t always reliable.

For low light, the sensor struggles even in night mode and it’s generally a poor performer in low light.

Front Selfie Camera
On the front, the realme C25 has an 8MP selfie camera that supports AI beautification, HDR mode and portrait mode. For selfies, it produces good photos especially in bright conditions. Background blurring for portrait selfie isn’t that perfect but good enough.

Video
For videos, you can shoot up to 1080p @ 30fps and 60fps using the rear main camera and 1080p @ 30fps for the front selfie camera. As you can see, video stabilization isn’t present, so recordings will end up looking shaky.

realme UI, Apps and Security

realme C25 is the first realme smartphone to come with realme UI 2.0, based on Android 11 out of the box. realme UI 2.0 brings more customization options for its Gen Z realme fans. Users are free to combine and create their realme UI as they like and define the realme UI 2.0 for themselves. It also has the latest features such as System Themes, Icon Customization, Dual Mode Music Share, Subtitle Stitching, DeepSea Privacy Plan, Sleep Capsules and Dark Mode, to name a few. Pre-installed are the standard Google suite of apps, as well as some bloatware apps.

The realme C25 has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and facial recognition for unlocking the device. Both work pretty fast; however, the face unlock can slow down in situations where there isn’t much light.

Hardware and Performance

The realme C25 features a MediaTek Helio G70 octa-core processor paired with ARM Mali-G52 GPU, which makes it one of the best in its segment. It is ideal for mainstream smartphone users and gamers because of its ability to handle medium to heavy apps. With 4GB of RAM, users need not worry about lagging when it comes to basic day-to-day tasks.

realme C25 Gaming - Asphalt 9: Legends (Visual Quality in Default Settings)

Realme C25 is available in the Philippines in two storage variant - 64GB and 128GB. The 64GB storage variant comes with 46.3GB of available storage (17.3GB used out of the box). If you need additional storage, you can further expand the storage up to 256GB via its dedicated microSD card slot.

Compared to other phones in this segment, the benchmark score of the realme C25 is higher. Here are the benchmark scores for this device:

• AnTuTu v9.0.3-OB – 209,578
• Geekbench 5 – 384 (Single-core), 1,316 (Multi-core), 1,025 (OpenCL), 1,084 (Vulcan)
• PCMark – 8403 (Work 2.0)
• 3DMark – 1,209 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1) 1,229 (SSE – Vulkan)
• AndroBench – 321.36 MB/s (Seq. Read), 249.66 MB/s (Seq. Write)

6,000mAh Mega Battery, 18W Fast Charger and Connectivity

A smartphone is a central component of the digital lifestyle experience. In an age where opportunities are made available with a tap on the screen and output is uploaded to the cloud, a smartphone must have sufficient power that can handle days worth of the hustle.

The realme C25 is equipped with a large-capacity 6000mAh battery and according to the test conducted by realme Lab, the realme C25 can last up to 47 days on standby mode, 43 hours of the call, 60 hours of music streaming, and 25 hours of video playback -- far better than some flagship smartphones. Complementing this massive battery is an 18W fast charge, which allows the phone to charge up to 29% in just 30 mins and 2 and a half hours to recharge from 0 - 100%. The C25 can also serve as a battery life saver of other devices and gadgets with its reverse charge wired charging.

Deep software optimization like App Quick Freeze, Screen Battery Optimization, Optimized Night Charging, Power Saving Mode and Super Power Saving Mode are also available in realme C25 which could make a big difference in battery life.

Aside from the battery and charger, the realme C25 has your usual connectivity features, including 4G LTE, VoLTE, dual-band WiFi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, a 3.5mm audio jack and USB Type-C.

TÜV Rheinland High Reliability Certification

The realme C25 is the first smartphone in the world that passed the TÜV Rheinland Smartphone High-Reliability Certification, meaning it can last for at least 3 years.

Obtaining the high-reliability certificate from TÜV Rheinland, the realme C25 encompassed 23 major tests, including 10 daily use test scenarios, such as drop, wear, and tear; seven extreme environment test scenarios, including super extreme temperature, extreme humidity, voltage fluctuation, button life, static electricity, air pressure; and six component reliability test scenarios.

For more info about realme and TÜV Rheinland in setting a new quality standard in the global smartphone industry, just go here.

realme C25 Specifications:

6.5-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS LCD display, 270ppi
MediaTek Helio G70 octa-core processor, 12nm
ARM Mali-G52 GPU
4GB LPDDR4X RAM
64GB/128GB of internal storage, eMMC 5.1
Storage expandable to 256GB via microSD card
AI triple cameras (48MP F1.8 main + 2MP F2.4 depth + 2MP F2.4 macro)
8MP F2.0 front camera
realme UI 2.0 (Android 11)
Dual-SIM (nano) / 4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac / Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU
Fingerprint sensor / USB Type-C
6000mAh battery w/ 18W quick charge
164.5 x 75.9 x 9.6mm (dimension)
209g (weight)
Colors: Water Blue and Water Gray

Price and Availability

The realme C25 will be available in the Philippines starting April 16 at 12 midnight during the realme Super Brand Day Sale on Shopee. The realme C25 is priced at Php7,490 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant and Php8,490 for the 4GB + 128GB variant.

Verdict

For Php7,490 for the 4GB + 64GB storage variant, the realme C25 is a powerful yet affordable all-around device that is intended for mainstream smartphone users and gamers who rely on their device as the central component for their digital-heavy lifestyle, from online schooling, live streaming, shout casting, content creation to connecting and controlling their smart accessories and devices.

If you’re thinking of getting a new smartphone in this budget, we highly recommend that you shortlist this one.

Edited by Michelle Villa