realme has recently launched the new realme C Series smartphones which include the realme C21Y and the realme C25Y. The realme C25Y is a mid-range smartphone featuring a 50 MP camera, Unisoc T610 octa-core SoC, 5,000 mAh battery, fingerprint scanner, and more. Here are our hands-on and first impressions of the realme C25Y smartphone.
realme C25Y Specifications
- Display: 6.5-inch LCD display, tear-drop notch, HD+ resolution (720 x 1,600 pixels), 60 Hz refresh rate, 88.7% screen-to-body ratio
- Software: realme UI R, Android 11
- CPU: 12nm UNISOC Tiger T610 octa-core SoC up to 1.8 GHz frequency
- GPU: ARM Mali-G52 Graphics
- Memory: 4 GB GB RAM
- Storage: 64 GB OR 128 GB on-board, dedicated microSD card support
- Main Camera: Triple (50 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP), 50 MP f/1.8 primary, 2 MP f/2.4 Portrait, 2 MP f/2.4 Macro, LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 8 MP f/2.0
- Connectivity: micro USB, 3.5 mm port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
- Cellular: Dual 4G LTE, 2x nano SIM slots
- Battery: 5,000 mAh
- Charging: 18W fast charging
- Price: ₹10,999 (64 GB Storage), ₹11,999 (128 GB Storage)
- Availability: 27th September 2021 on Flipkart, realme.com, and offline stores
The realme C25Y is the latest realme C Series smartphone featuring a Unisoc T610 octa-core CPU, a 50 MP camera as a new upgrade, and offers a 5,000 mAh battery. The specs are quite identical to the realme C25Y, however, the difference can be one less camera, a smaller 5,000 mAh battery, and realme UI R as the new operating system from the company based on Android 11.
The phone offers a polycarbonate back with a matte finish surface and a vertical stripe design. It weighs around 200 grams, is 9.1 mm thick on the sides, and comes in a 6.5-inch size. The display here is an LCD with 6.5-inch HD+ resolution, a standard 60 Hz refresh rate, 420 nits brightness, and an 88.7% screen-to-body ratio with a teardrop notch design.
The backside has a tiple-camera system that an LED flash. The camera has been upgraded with 50 MP f/1.8 (versus the 48 MP in realme C25), 2 MP as a Portrait lens, and a 2 MP Macro lens. You will find a fingerprint scanner on the back to unlock the phone and realme’s logo along with a loudspeakers grill. The front has an 8 MP f/2.0 camera for selfie needs.
At the bottom side, you will find a traditional micro USB port and not the USB Type-C port for charging which can be a letdown for many users. Moreover, you will find a 3.5 mm jack for earphones/headphones connectivity, and a single microphone. The loudspeakers are provided on the backside, not at the bottom. There is nothing on the top side.
The right side has a power button and volume rockers whereas the left side hold a triple-slot SIM tray with dual 4G SIM card slots with dual standby and a dedicated slot for the microSD card. The fingerprint scanner isn’t on the power button but on the backside.
Take a look at some camera samples we took from the realme C25Y camera.
The realme C25Y runs on the latest realme UI 2.0 with Android 11 out-of-the-box and a security patch dated 5th July 2021. The user interface, as usual, offers a bunch of features and customizations with the native features of Android 11.
The UI performance on the phone is decent, we didn’t see any major lags in our initial use. The processor is from the Unisoc T610 SoC which is equivalent to or close to Snapdragon 665. But you do get some bloatware which can be removed if you don’t need them.
realme uses a different chip this time, you won’t see a Qualcomm Snapdragon or MediaTek Helio chips, rather a new SoC from Unisoc, this is Unisoc T610 or Unisoc Tiger T610 is an octa-core SoC based on a 12nm process, take a look at the screenshot below showing you the specs details.
The processor is clocked at 1.82 GHz speed with two Cortex-A75 for high-performance and six Cortex-A55 for power efficiency. If we compare it with other similar chips, is at par with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC and slightly below the performance of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G SoC. It comes with the ARM Mali-G52 Graphics for gaming and graphics-intensive tasks.
There are two storage and RAM variants of the smartphone, one with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage and one with 4 GB RAM and 128 GB storage, no other RAM variants are available. The color variants include Glacier Blue and Metal Grey.
The price for the 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage starts at Rs 10,999 and the price for the 4 GB RAM + 128 GB starts at Rs 11,999. The sale starts from 27th September 2021 on Flipkart, realme.com, and offline stores.
For its battery, the realme C25Y offers a 5,000 mAh battery with 18W fast charging support. As per realme, the battery can last up to 48 days on standby. The battery if compared to the realme C25, it’s been degraded, the realme C25 offers a large 6,000 mAh battery.
Early Verdict
The realme C25Y offers a new 50 MP camera module, decent CPU performance, and a fair battery capacity. If compared to the realme C25, the specs are identical, the new Unisoc T610 processor is equivalent to the MediaTek Helio G85. The Redmi 10 Prime is its primary rival and is ahead in a few departments including the display which offers a 90 Hz refresh rate and Full HD+ resolution. The battery on the realme C25Y seems degraded (5,000 mAh vs 6,000 mAh), however, the design is now slimmer (9.1 mm vs 9.6 mm). It also misses out on a wide-angle camera, the smartphone offers a triple camera system compared to the quad cameras on the realme C25.
