realme C51, which is the latest realme C-Series smartphone launched yesterday in India, is an entry-level Android smartphone in the affordable segment priced at ₹8,999. realme India has added a number of smartphones this year under its C-Series including the recent realme C53 with its mind-boggling camera zoom abilities (108 MP camera with 3x in-sensor zoom). Now the brand has another inexpensive variant, the realme C51 featuring a 7.99 mm slim design, 90 Hz screen, 50 MP AI camera, and 5,000 mAh battery with 33W fast charging, and more. Here’s what we have to say about the budget smartphone in our realme C51 review.
realme C51 Specifications & Features
- Display & Design: 6.74-inch display, HD+ resolution (1600 x 720 pixels), 90 Hz refresh rate, 180 Hz touch sampling rate, 90.3% screen-to-body ratio, 560 nits peak brightness, Stylish Glittery Design, 7.99 mm thickness, 186 grams weight
- Software: realme UI T Edition, Android 13 operating system
- CPU: 12nm Unisoc Tiger T612 octa-core SoC up to 1.8 GHz CPU clock speed (2 + 6 ARM Cortex-A75 cores + ARM Cortex-A55 cores)
- GPU: ARM Mali-G57 MP1 (1-core) Graphics
- Memory: 4 GB LPDDR4x RAM, +4 GB Dynamic RAM
- Storage: 64 GB eMMC 5.1 internal storage, microSD card support up to 2 TB (dedicated)
- Main Camera: Dual cameras (50 MP 27mm f/1.8 primary + depth camera), 1080p Video Recording (30fps), single LED flash
- Selfie Camera: Single 5 MP, f/2.22
- Others: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock
- Cellular: 4G network, dual SIMs, dual standby, VoLTE support
- Battery & Charging: 5,000 mAh battery, 33W fast charging, 50% charge in 28 minutes
- Colors: Mint Green, Carbon Black
- Price: ₹8,999 (4 GB + 64 GB)
- Availability: 4th September 2023 at 6 PM (early bird sale), 7th September 2023 at 6 PM (special sale), available on realme.com/in, Flipkart, and offline stores
- Offers: Up to ₹500 off with ICICI and HFDC bank cards.
Design, Display, & Build Quality
When it comes to the design, there’s hardly a difference between the realme C51 and realme C53, you can see its 7.99 mm slim body weighing about 186 grams, exactly the same as its sibling. It has a slim form factor with flat-style edges making it easier to hold and carry. The backside has a Stylish Glittery design and a dual-tone reflective + matte finish. It comes in two color variants – Mint Green, and Carbon Black colors.
Flipping the phone, you get a 6.74-inch IPS LCD display with an HD+ resolution (1600 x 720 pixels) and a 90 Hz refresh rate. Other display features include a 180 Hz touch sampling rate, a 90.3% screen-to-body ratio, and 560 nits peak brightness. The good part is that it comes with a 90 Hz display which improves the overall display performance, a higher refresh rate adds smoothness and responsiveness while interacting with the user interface.
The rear side offers three big camera modules, one for the 50 MP AI camera and a secondary depth camera while the third one isn’t a camera, it’s an LED flash. The punch-hole selfie camera design in the top center of the screen has a Mini Capsule optimization in the realme UI T Edition, it was first seen on the realme C55.
The fingerprint is on the right side mounted on the power button alongside the volume keys, while the left side holds a dual SIM tray. The bottom side has a USB Type-C, a loudspeaker, a microphone, and a 3.5 mm jack for earphones/headphones.
Software, User Interface, & Features
Like its sibling, the realme C53, you can see the realme UI T Edition running on top of the Android 13 operating system and as per the About section, there’s a security patch dated 5th July 2023. The realme UI T Edition also shares several features including the Mini Capsule from the realme UI 4.0 which is currently the latest interface from realme.
The realme UI T Edition appears to be the successor to the realme UI R Edition and S Edition and is made for light uses and for low-spec devices. The light interface also indicates that the realme C51 has entry-level specs. The realme UI T Edition is trimmed down interface for better UI performance and a smoother experience on a low-spec device.
The realme C51 uses a different user interface compared to its higher-end siblings like the realme 11 5G which runs on the realme UI 4.0 out-of-the-box. Although the interface is similar to the realme UI 4.0 (a more advanced version of the T Edition), you will still find a number of features from the realme UI 4.0 in the realme T Edition including the new Mini Capsule which we saw on the realme C55, narzo N55, and narzo N53.
realme has tweaked the interface to add a special feature that gives you a glimpse of information on the selfie camera notch. The Mini Capsule converts the selfie camera notch into an elongated pill-shaped window. Once deployed, can show you information such as a step count, data usage, or SuperVOOC charging status.
In our initial usage, the realme C51 UI performance is fair, but do not expect much from its entry-level CPU, you may not be able to perform heavy tasks smoothly if it demands hardware resources. Due to its fast 90 Hz refresh rate, it delivers a smoother UI experience in the segment compared to smartphones that use a standard 60 Hz display.
The realme C51 has some pre-installed apps that can be removed. Apps such as Facebook, Amazon, Snapchat, ShareChat, Dailyhunt, PhonePe, Moj, Public, Spotify, LinkedIn, and more come installed on the phone. While setting up the phone it may download more apps from the internet which you can skip if not required.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
The realme C51 is powered by a 12nm Unisoc Tiger T612 octa-core SoC clocked up to 1.8 GHz speed (2x ARM Cortex-A75 cores + 6x ARM Cortex-A55 cores) paired with an ARM Mali-G57 MP1 (1-core) GPU. This is an entry-level SoC with moderate performance and uses 2x ARM Cortex-A75 as performance cores and 6x ARM Cortex-A55 for power-efficient cores.
For its variants, you get only one variant i.e. 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage – the RAM here is an LPDDR4x type and the storage is an eMMC 5.1 type. The storage can be expanded via a microSD card on a dedicated slot up to 2 TB while the RAM can be extended virtually up to 4 GB on top of existing 4 GB RAM making a total of 8 GB overall.
The realme C51 is more of an entry-level device, which means it has a CPU that offers decent performance given the price. The performance of the chipset is suitable for daily use, you can expect a performance equivalent to Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 equipped in some smartphones in this price range. Expect the AnTuTu benchmark to score around 200,000 points in the benchmarks or somewhere near. If you are looking for a budget gaming smartphone in this price range, you might want to check out other options with higher performance and at a higher price of course.
Cameras
The realme C51 equips a dual camera setup on the back, there’s a 50 MP primary camera along with a depth sensor as the secondary camera. The front side has a 5 MP selfie camera with f/2.22 aperture for selfie and video calling needs. The camera offers modes such as 50MP Mode, Video, Night Mode, Panoramic view, Expert, Timelapse, Portrait Mode, HDR, AI Scene Recognition, Filter, Slow Motion, Beauty Mode, Face-Recognition, Filter, and Bokeh Effect Control.
The smartphone mainly relies on the 50 MP camera, no wide-angle or macro option is available, and you get the basic camera controls on the phone. The image quality is acceptable for this price, however, not much you can do with the cameras. You can shoot 1080p videos at 30 fps and slow motion 720p videos at 120 fps. We took some shots from the realme C51 to show you how the camera performs, check them out below.
realme C51 Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Charging
Moving to its battery and charging, the realme C51 offers a 5,000 mAh capacity battery with support for a stunning 33W fast charging. Most smartphones in this price range don’t even offer 18W charging, you are likely to get a standard 10W adapter, so this makes sense that you will get the best charging speed on the phone given the price. Its sibling, realme C53 offers 18W fast charging that charges the battery up to 50% in 53 minutes whereas the realme C51 with its 33W charging can charge the battery up to 50% in 28 minutes as per realme India. Expect the smartphone to be fully charged up to 100% in less than an hour which is great. The 5,000 mAh may deliver good results due to its low-spec, 720p display, and light-weight realme UI T Edition, expect up to 2 days or more battery backup on the realme C51 depending upon your usage.
Verdict – realme C51 Review
The realme C51 comes with a slim flat-style design, a smooth 90 Hz screen, a 33W fast charging which is great for this price segment, a decent 50 MP camera, and features like Mini Capsule, all of which make the smartphone check several boxes for an affordable entry-level smartphone. The realme C51 is a good choice for users with tight budgets under ₹10,000. The price for the realme C51 starts at ₹8,999 which can be grabbed at ₹8,499 with some ongoing discounts making it extremely value for money.
realme C51 Price in India – Where To Buy?
The realme C51 is priced at ₹8,999 for its 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage and will be available from 4th September 2023 as an early bird sale and from 7th September 2023 at 6 PM as special sale on realme.com/in, Flipkart, and offline stores. Offers include up to ₹500 off with ICICI and HDFC bank cards.
