realme has made a name for itself when it comes to budget friendly smartphones. While they mostly play at the budget, entry-level smartphone range, it does not mean that their products are in any way bad products though. Their C series has proven to the market that cheap products does not mean cheap quality and cheap experience. They have a proven track record in the segment is what we are trying to say.
Their latest addition to their C family has just landed in Malaysia today. What a follow up though. As expected, it is sold at less than MYR 1,000; way lower. It will set you back MYR 499. Who says you cannot own a smartphone below MYR 500?
You are not paying for less features too. It is powered by MediaTek’s latest Helio G70 System on a Chip (SoC). While some may perceive MediaTek’s processors to be slower or inferior to the Qualcomm’s that is just not the case. They may not perform as well as the Qualcomm chipsets, but that does not mean that they do not pack a punch.
The MediaTek Helio G70 SoC is effectively an Octa-core processor with two high powered ARM Cortex-A75 cores and six low powered Cortex A-55 cores. It clocks at a maximum of 2.0GHz, which is powerful enough to plenty of today’s flagships, technically. The only thing it might lack at this point is a 5G modem. While that seems like a bad thing, trust me, it is not as bad as you think.
While you do not get 5G, you still get dual 4G LTE connection on the realme C3. Yes, a you get to push in two SIM cards into this device. Then again, dual-SIM standby is quite expected these days. Nothing to shout about then.
Having the MediaTek Helio G70 however, is something that they can shout about a little bit. The realme C3 is currently the only device that packs the MediaTek SoC in Malaysia.
The big power from the MediaTek SoC is matched to three cameras at the back. Yes, it is effectively a triple camera set-up. We did say that it packs quite a lot for MYR 499.
Its main camera is a 12-Megapixel shooter paired to 12-Megapixel telephoto lens with 4x zoom, and a 2-Megapixel macro lens for that extra close, extra detailed photo. At the front is a 5-Megapixel shooter with the expected AI beauty function, HDR, and what not. That front-facing camera is housed in a small notch on top of the 6.5-inch 720p HD+ LCD display.
Small compromise on the display, a Full HD+ display on a small budget smartphone at this price is quite impossible, you know. You still can record at Full HD 1080p on your rear camera though, no problem with that.
No, you do not get in-display fingerprint sensor on this device too. Again, expecting those kinds of things in a smartphone less than MYR 500 is a little unrealistic. Still, it has a fingerprint sensor recess at the back of the device. The back is not really glass but has a nice beaming texture and pattern to it.
What it lacks in those features though, it makes up in battery size. It packs a 5,000mAh battery within its small body. That should be good for a whole day of battery and even more. You can even use this device as your friend’s power banks so they owe you their lives. The Android 10 with realme UI overlay device is charged at a maximum of 10W via a MicroUSB port; a little old school, but hey it works. Also you may reuse all the old MicroUSB cables you might already have.
The realme C3 is now available via Shopee for MYR499. If you get the device today itself, you will get a 6-month extended warranty for free. You can get your hands on one to feel and touch from the 7th of March 2020 though if you really want to. If you missed the extended warranty promotion on Shopee, you can also get the same promotion when you get your device in realme stores on the 7th of March 2020. The realme C3 is available in Blazing Red and Frozen Blue colour options.