Design of Realme C2
Most budget smartphones look boring. To keep the prices low and performance good, handset manufacturers usually do not prioritize design. But this is not the case with Realme C2 as it is an attractive smartphone. Like other smartphones in the budget segment, Realme C2 is also made of plastic, but the finish on the back panel is unique.
Realme has used a geometric diamond-cut pattern on the back panel of the phone. You can see it on our Diamond Blue review unit. The patterns emerge when light falls on the back of the phone, giving it a premium look. Due to the finish, the back panel does not get fingerprints easily.
There are two rear cameras with a single-LED flash on the back of the phone. The Realme logo will be found at the bottom of the back panel of the phone. Realme C2 has a large display and the selfie camera is housed in a waterdrop notch. Our review unit already had a screen protector on. We found that the curved frame on the Realme C2 makes the phone fit easily in the hand.
The power button is placed on the right side of the phone, and the hands can easily reach the button. On the other hand, the volume button is on the left side of the phone. The SIM tray is located just above the volume button.
The Realme C2 has a micro-USB port, loudspeaker and primary microphone at the bottom while there is nothing at the top. To reduce the cost of the phone, just like the Realme C1, the Realme C2 also does not have a fingerprint sensor. We found the build quality of the Realme C2 to be good and there were no scratches on the phone during the review.
Realme C2 specifications and software
Realme C2 is a budget phone and its specifications are not very impressive. This phone is equipped with an octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 processor. Its base variant has 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage. The price of Realme C2 starts at Rs 5,999. 2 GB RAM + 16 GB storage variant will be sold at this price.
The 3GB RAM + 32GB storage model of the phone is priced at Rs 7,999. We have the 3GB RAM variant of the Realme C2. The Realme C2 has a 6.1-inch HD+ (720×1560 pixels) display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The handset has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Its viewing angles are also good and the display remains quite bright outdoors. You can also change the color temperature as per your choice.
Realme C2 is powered by a 4,000mAh battery and comes with a 10W charger. It is a dual-SIM phone and has two nano-SIM slots. Both SIMs support 4G as well as VoLTE. Realme has also provided a microSD card slot to expand the storage. Connectivity options on Realme C2 include FM radio, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth version 4.2, A-GPS and GLONASS.
Realme C2 runs on ColorOS 6.0 based on Android 9.0 Pie. Our review unit is running on March 2019 security patch. Some apps like Realme Community, Dailyhunt, Facebook, NewsPoint, UC Browser, Amazon, ShareChat and PayTM are pre-installed in Realme C2. You can also uninstall them if you want.
Support for themes is also included and you can download them from the Theme Store app. The App Market is another alternative to the Google Play Store and is also pre-installed, but we found it to send spammy notifications throughout the day. The Realme C2 also has a Game Center app where you’ll find just games.
Like other Realme smartphones, the Realme C2 also has a driving and riding mode that automatically puts the phone in DND mode when connected to the car’s Bluetooth head unit. It can also auto-send SMS when you reject an incoming call. Gesture navigation is also available on the Realme C2.
Realme C2 performance, battery life and camera
The performance of Realme C2 is acceptable in this price segment, the phone uses MediaTek Helio P22 processor. We did not face any problem while launching apps and scrolling through menus but the phone slowed down a bit when we pulled down the notification panel.
We also tried multitasking on this phone but sometimes the phone takes a little time to load heavy apps. Although the phone does not have a fingerprint sensor, it is equipped with face unlock feature. This smartphone unlocks the phone quickly.
We played PUBG Mobile on low settings, with graphics set to smooth and frame rate set to medium. The gameplay was not smooth and it was stuttering. We changed the frame rate to low which made a slight difference in the gameplay but it was still not smooth. Realme C2 is powered by a 4,000mAh battery, and the battery life of the phone is good.
In our HD video loop test, the phone lasted for 20 hours and 29 minutes. We used WhatsApp on the phone, used Google Maps for navigation for two hours and ran a few benchmarks. The charger that comes with the phone takes a little over 2 hours to charge the battery.
Realme C2 has a dual rear camera setup. The primary sensor is 13 megapixels. Its aperture is F/2.2. A 2 megapixel sensor with F/2.4 aperture will work in tandem with it. For selfies, the handset has a 5 megapixel sensor with F/2.0 aperture. The camera app is the same as we have seen in Realme smartphones before. It has buttons for HDR, Chroma Boost, Filter and Flash.
It also has Pano, Expert, Time-lapse and Slow-mo modes. The camera app offers 2x digital zoom support. The phone has a beautification mode with the help of which you can set the amount of beautification. We liked the pictures taken from Realme C2 in daylight. The focus in the pictures was good and the details were also captured well.
Macro shots were better than we expected and the phone maintained a reasonable distance between the subject and the background. The phone locks focus quickly and there were no issues with exposure while shooting in macro mode. Portrait shots captured good detail. Photos taken with the phone in low light were not very good. The phone lacked sharpness and grains were visible when zoomed in.
The selfies capture good details and the quality is also good at this price. Realme C2 also has HDR support for the front camera. The rear camera is capable of making videos in 1080p resolution while the selfie camera is capable of making videos in 720p resolution.
Our verdict
Starting price of Rs 5,999 Realme C2 There is powerful hardware, good battery life and up-to-date software. We have usually seen smartphones at this price point with weak processors and outdated software. The camera is one aspect of this phone that needs improvement but the quality is decent at this price.
If you buy the base variant of Realme C2, then let us tell you that it can prove to be a profitable deal. If you are thinking of buying the 3 GB RAM variant of Realme C2 and if you can increase your budget a little then Redmi 7 Or Nokia 5.1 Plus ,Review) can also prove to be a great option for you. These smartphones are also available at the same price but if compared, they come with better hardware.