Realme C55 Review: Gimmicky Dynamic Island, Decent Camera

April 30, 2023

Dynamic Island on Android created some buzz amongst Twitter netizens just a while ago. Yeah, I’m talking about the Realme C55 with a Dynamic Island aka Mini Capsule, the company’s latest addition to the C Series. Its pricing starts from NPR 21,999 in Nepal and bears midrange specs like Helio G88 SoC, a Full HD+ 90Hz display, and a dual camera setup. Having used it for more than 10 days, here’s my Realme C55 review where I’ll be sharing my experience. Before that, let’s have a look at the specs of the Realme C55.

Realme C55 Review: Specifications

Body: 165.6 x 75.9 x 7.89mm, 189.5 grams
Display: 6.72″ IPS LCD, 90Hz refresh rate, 180Hz touch sampling rate, 600 nits peak brightness
Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: MediaTek Helio G88 (12nm mobile platform)
Memory: 4/6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM
Storage: 64/128GB eMMC 5.1 storage
Software & UI: Realme UI 4.0 on top of Android 13
Rear Camera: Dual (64MP primary, 2MP depth)
Front Camera: 8MP (punch-hole)
Audio: Single speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack
Security: Fingerprint sensor (side-mounted)
Battery: 5000mAh with 33W SuperVOOC charging
Colors: Sunshower, Rainy Night
Price in Nepal: NPR 21,999 (6/64GB), NPR 25,999 (8/128GB)
Buy Realme C55 here

Realme C55 Review:

Design and Display

6.71-inch IPS LCD (Full HD+)
90Hz refresh rate
Glass front, plastic frame, and plastic back

Okay, let’s begin with the design first. I have this Sunshine color variant of the C55 and it looks quite flashy, to be honest. Plus, its camera module is pretty gigantic for a midrange phone. Personally, I prefer me some minimal colors but those wanting some colors, would definitely love this phone. You get a flat frame design here with a hole punch display on the front. The in-hand feel is good and it doesn’t look cheap either. And the side-mounted fingerprint reader is significantly fast and accurate.

Design

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Coming to the display, Realme could have treated us with an AMOLED panel but an IPS display with Full HD+ resolution is all you get. It still supports a 90Hz refresh rate which is pretty good, but a 120Hz panel feels much better for the price tag. After all, its rival, Redmi Note 12 4G houses a 120Hz AMOLED panel at a similar price range. You get three options to choose from— 60Hz, 90Hz, and Auto Switch. I’ll advise you to set it at 90Hz only mode to enjoy it fully as the Auto Switch option sometimes fails to switch the refresh rate.

Well, the display quality is average here actually. You will notice some color shifts while viewing from different angles. Besides that, it is just okay for the price tag it carries. And, you won’t get the vibrant and punchy colors of an AMOLED here, but watching content on this 6.72-inch screen is fairly enjoyable, I must say.

Performance

Octa-core Mediatek Helio G88 4G SoC (6nm)
6GB LPDDR4X RAM, 64/128GB UFS 2.2 storage
Android 13 with Realme UI 4.0 on top

Powering the Realme C55 on the core is a MediaTek Helio G88 chipset here. This octa-core processor is not the best in this price range but it does a fair job. Day-to-day tasks like scrolling and switching social media apps, and playing some light games feel okay for the price. Yes, I did face some stutters while switching through apps but it’s normal for a lower-midrange phone. Besides that, the Realme C55 suffices the needs of a normal user in most regards.

How about some gaming?

Talking of some popular titles like PUBG and Call of Duty, you can play up to 40fps on the former and 30fps on the latter. The gameplay is not snappy and smooth as it’s a midrange phone. You’ll notice some frame drops and jitters here and there. Less demanding games like Temple Run, Subway Surfers, and Clash of Clans run without a hiccup though. So, the phone is not for—those wanting a gaming device in the 20k price segment.

Realme UI 4 and Mini Capsule

The Realme UI 4 is a feature-packed UI with tons of customization options. It is based on Android 13 out of the box. But the catch is the several numbers of bloatware Realme has shipped the phone with. Of course, you can disable or uninstall those apps but, the first-hand experience is kinda ruined by unnecessary app recommendations. And to top it all, you also get ads on the phone while installing an app.

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Now, let’s talk about the most hyped “Mini Capsule”, Realme’s own Dynamic Island. Currently, it literally does nothing except for showing a fancy capsule animation while plugging in the charger. The company did mention bringing more usability in future updates but for now, the Mini Capsule is more of a marketing stunt and gimmick.

Camera

Dual camera setup
50MP main, 2MP Depth
8MP selfie camera

Let’s move to the camera now. Realme C55 sports a dual camera setup on its rear side: 50MP main + 2MP depth. As the secondary camera is practically useless, the photography aspect solely relies on the 50MP primary lens.

Daylight Imageries

The daylight images from Realme C55 bear superb details and colors. The outputs are mostly on the saturated side though. However, the dynamic range is decent and the shadows also get well maintained. Be it human subjects or architectural monuments, the C55 captures it nicely.

Daylight Shots

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Portrait Mode

Moving to the portrait sides, the main camera captures decent images most of the time with a good amount of background blur. But as it is a budget phone, edge detection gets hit or a miss in some scenarios: mostly with the hair and ear of the subjects. Besides that, the skin tone is also close to natural.

Portrait

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Night Shots

As expected, its nighttime images don’t fancy me. The pictures are not sharp and require more light to get proper output.

Night

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Selfies and Portraits

The phone sports an 8MP selfie snapper on the hole punch cutout. Outputs from the front camera are usually nice with a good amount of details and background blur in portrait mode. But yeah, you do get a pinkish tint on the skin tone.

Front Camera

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Battery Life

5000mAh Battery
33W Fast charging

Moving on, Realme C55 packs a 5000 mAh battery. I got around 7 hours of screen-on time (SOT) on my usage which includes, a bit of gaming, social media, and watching YouTube. So, it’s fair to say that, the battery lasts for a day easily with moderate usage. Accompanying it is a 33W SuperVOOC charger which Realme ships inside the box. It can fill the juice from 0 to 100% in 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Realme C55 Review: Conclusion

Overall, Realme C55 is an “okayish” device for the price point. Realme UI is feature packed and smooth while its bloatware and ads kinda become annoying. The main camera is capable except for slightly boosted colors while I definitely missed an inclusion of an ultrawide camera. Besides that, an AMOLED display and a stereo speaker would have been very favorable.