New smartphone entrant has come with a real bang, launching gadget after gadget and accessory after accessory. And this is a good thing because it is always good to give people choices across their needs and budgets. I’ve looked at the phones before and for this post I’m looking at the realme C15 which I’ve been using for a few weeks now.
Design
realme phones generally give off a feel of quality right from the moment you take it out of the signature yellow box. The back cover is textured and this gives the phone the advantage of good grip. Just as well because it is slightly on the heavier side though this is not too noticeable except in a case like mine where I handle quite a number of phones.
Something else that this textured finish does is to reduce fingerprints. A really good consideration because a phone that is always stained with smudges of hair oils, hand lotions, and foundations can be a put off. And we can’t help but have lotions and hair oils on our hands all the time.
The camera is on the top left corner of the phone, and well aligned with the branding and flash so that the phone is generally not cluttered. I feel that the C11 look is more stunning especially the engraved branding but that does not mean this one is shabby either with its geometric design. We can’t have identical phones after all.
The camera notch is barely there. If you run your hand through the whole phone it goes right through without running into a bump. Again a nice touch.
Battery
The massive 6000mAh battery is the selling point for this phone. Add to that the fact that it is a fast charge and I’ve had a phone which I can use comfortably without the worry of anxiety of incessant low power warnings. As I’ve mentioned in earlier reviews, I start getting anxious when the phone is at 50%. If I ever get to the red warning level, there’s a full war going on at the back of my mind and that is no way to spend
The phone has power saving options alright, but I rarely ever use power saving on any gadget. I’m dependent on my phone more than I care to admit and I usually feel that I need full functions all the time. I want to whip out the phone and take a quick photo with flash, or check a video in peace. I also want to access my email and other notifications as they come and reply to them because the nature of my work is rather fast.
With all my heavy use, I’m good to go for slightly over 12 hours and this is enough to get home and re-charge. Or to go on a long road trip and be on phone the whole time now that we are so addicted to our handsets we don’t look up to admire the country any more. Users who are not battery hoggers are obviously covered and can go 2 to 3 days without having to worry about a dead or dying phone. Or the need to walk around with a power bank.
To put the battery in precise perspective, this phone is able to retain power for 57 days on standby. That’s almost 2 months! The battery is also able to last for 46 hours if one is continuously making calls. If one is a YouTuber or enjoys watching videos on YouTube, with realme C15, one can watch YouTube continuously for 28 hours without power running out.
Photography
The realme C15 has a 13 megapixel primary rear camera, an 8 megapixel ultra-wide angle lens, 2 megapixels for black and white and a 2 megapixel for depth. The camera has pre-sets for photographers to take panorama, slow motion video, time lapse and expert. We get 8 megapixels for the selfie camera with artificial intelligence for beauty enhancement so selfie lovers are up for a treat.
I took some photos with the phone. These are all outdoors with glorious weather and I’ll be doing a separate photo post in different circumstances.
Storage
As much as the C15 is a budget phone, technology has come a long way and nobody can get away with a slow phone or one that fills up memory within a short time. It is reassuring that the C15 will not let users down with its 64GB ROM and 4GB RAM. Quite a lot to store all those photos, videos, series to watch on the go, and fast enough to multi talk and play games which are not too intensive.
Convenience
Press and hold the power button for 0.5seconds to access Google Assistant. The phone has a beautiful and pleasant UI. There are a bit of pre-installed bloatware but they actually nowhere near intrusive.
Conclusion
The realme C15 is certainly a device I would go for considering the balance between the features and the price of Ksh19,999/-. The speed and consistency with which the company has hit the Kenyan market signals a player that is here to stay and that is reassuring. The company also has accessories like buds and the realme watch in the market and this gives users even more variety.
