Realme C55 Review: Gimmicky Dynamic Island with Decent Camera

Realme’s C55 captured the world’s attention when it was first released in Indonesia as the first Android smartphone to include a replica of Apple’s Dynamic Island feature. Realme refers to this software functionality as “Mini Capsule”. The Realme C55 boasts numerous advantages. The phone has an appealing design, decent performance, and good main and selfie cameras for daytime shooting. The small capsule appears interesting and has the potential to be a game-changer. However, the phone falls short in a few areas, so it is not a straightforward recommendation.

REALME C55 KEY FEATURES

The Realme C55 is an improvement over the entry-level Realme C33. It has a higher-resolution display, quicker hardware, better cameras, and significantly faster 33W wired charging. The Realme C55 is also available in India as the Realme Narzo N55, with slightly different color options and no NFC support. We’re confident that our review findings will also apply to that model.

The cameras have been improved on both sides. The back camera is a dual camera with a 64MP main and a 2MP depth sensor, while the selfie camera has been upgraded to 8MP with 1080p video capture from 5MP and 720p. One of the most intriguing upgrades is the charging speed of the 5,000mAh battery. Realme has introduced 33W SuperVOOC charging, a first for the C series and a significant upgrade over the previous 10W charging in the Realme C33.

Finally, as part of the Android 13/Realme UI 4 combination on the Realme C55, there is the Mini Capsule experimental feature, which is a replica of Apple’s Dynamic Island.

We’re happy Realme used such a fast charging technology, and the charger is included with the phone. We believe the only thing missing from such an entry-level smartphone is splash protection or water-repellent coating. However, few, if any, phones in this price range provide such protection, so we will not hold this against the Realme C55.

REALME C55 UNBOXING

The Realme C55 comes packaged in a normal yellow paper box. Inside, you will discover the phone, the 33W SuperVOOC charger, and the USB-C-to-A connection required for charging.

There’s more, of course. The packaging also has a soft and clear protective case. A closer look indicates that the phone’s display has a protective layer applied to it already. It is a gigantic fingerprint magnet, yes, but it does help with scratches.

CAMERA

The Realme C55 boasts two rear-facing cameras: a 64-megapixel primary camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor, which collects depth data while using Portrait mode. Selfies are handled by an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The camera app layout is simple to use, with all necessary functions located around the viewfinder. Realme boasts that the 64-megapixel sensor is from the earlier GT Master Edition, so I was curious to see how it performed in such a low-cost phone. However, keep in mind that camera performance is partly determined by the processor, and the GT Master Edition included a superior mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC.

Daylight image quality was very good. Photos had good dynamic range and detail. Colors were oversaturated, and photographs had a tiny bluish tint, but for this price, it’s difficult to criticize. Close-ups came out bright and clear, with minimal noise and plenty of detail. However, I noticed that the camera was slow to focus indoors, even during the day, thus I frequently had to tap to focus when shooting items.

Selfies seemed slightly sharper in daylight, yet with good detail and dynamic range. Edge recognition in Portrait mode with the selfie camera was average for this category. Regardless of the option I used, selfies in low light were soft and noisy. Edge detection was also not accurate.

The camera’s low-light performance in Auto mode was not particularly good. It struggled to focus in low-light conditions, resulting in photographs that were soft and missing in depth. The dedicated Night mode significantly improved image quality, bringing in more detail and sharpness while also adding clarity to textures. The results for this portion were great, but it takes 4-5 seconds to capture an image, so if you don’t hold the phone steady, image quality suffers significantly.

The video quality is limited to 1080p @ 60fps. The recorded footage exhibited decent resolution but a low dynamic range, with some clipped highlights. Videos lack complete stabilization, resulting in unsteady footage. In low light, filming at 1080p 30fps produced improved quality with a respectable dynamic range, but the video still lacked detail and was noisy. The clips were choppy, and the focus was difficult.

DESIGN AND SCREEN

Realme’s design approach hasn’t changed much from last year’s C33, but it is a significant step forward over the C35, which is virtually its predecessor. At first impression, it resembles the C33, but with slightly larger and googly eyes on the back. This is not a terrible thing. Furthermore, the brand distinguishes itself in this price range by creating unique designs.

The Realme C55 is offered in two colors: sunshower and rainy night. A strange collection of names, but it does the job. We have the former for this review, and it is certainly a looker, especially in daylight; perhaps that is where the name originates from. The back panel has a gritty texture with patterns resembling Matrix numbers. Unlike the C35, the C55 does not leave fingerprint smudges. The camera module at the back has no island to protect it from accidental drops. The individual lenses protrude, causing the device to wobble when placed on flat surfaces.

The device has flat sides, similar to the Realme C35, and we had no issues using it with one hand. The Realme C55 feels hefty, yet the weight is evenly distributed. The right frame holds the volume rocker and power button, which also serves as a fingerprint sensor. The button is easy to reach yet difficult to find because it is located in a cave with minimal travel. The fingerprint sensor works effectively.

The device’s bottom side features a speaker grille, USB-Type C port, primary microphone, and headphone jack. The SIM tray, located on the left frame, accommodates two nano SIM cards as well as a microSD card for additional capacity. Finally, the top is as clean as it gets. The 6.72-inch LCD panel is a significant increase over the Realme C35, as the newer edition features a quicker 90Hz panel. Furthermore, instead of the obsolete tear-drop notch, it now features a hole-punch display with a screen-to-body ratio of 91.4%. In addition, the bottom bezel is somewhat thicker than the others. The display was unexpectedly good for both normal usage and content. The touch response was also satisfactory, and it came with a pre-installed screen protector.

Even though it was an LCD panel, the colors on display were decent when the Vivid color preset was enabled. If you prefer a more natural look, you can pick between the offered settings. The Realme C55 supports Widevine L1, and viewing ‘That 90s Show’ on it was entertaining. The viewing angles are very nice. However, we discovered that the gadget had issues with 4K videos on YouTube. We detected jitters during the playback. The Realme C55 has a peak brightness of 680 nits when in a high brightness setting. We had little issue utilizing it outdoors.

HOW’S THE PERFORMANCE?

The Realme C55 is powered by a 12nm 2.0GHz MTK Helio G88 octa-core processor with Mali-G52 MC2 GPU. It comes with a choice of 6GB or 8GB RAM and 128GB or 256GB storage. By the way, we received the 8GB/256GB model. We tested it with the typical benchmark programs, including AnTuTu, Geekbench 6, 3D Mark, and CPDT.

The Realme C55’s core is powered by the MediaTek Helio G88 chipset. This octa-core processor is not the greatest in its price bracket, but it performs adequately. Day-to-day operations such as browsing and switching social media apps, as well as playing some small games, feel reasonable given the price. Yes, I had some stuttering while switching between apps, but this is common for a lower-midrange phone. Aside from that, the Realme C55 meets the needs of the average user in most ways.

The user experience did not satisfy my basic expectations. Realme UI 4.0 did not appear to be properly optimized for this hardware, as evidenced by my use of the phone’s interface in general, including app minimization and swiping through video-heavy feeds in apps such as Instagram and other frequent use cases. There was constant stuttering and considerable latency, and it felt like the hardware was fighting to keep up with my interactions. I tested the 8GB RAM edition, so I can only imagine how horrible the experience would be with the 4GB RAM option. I also encountered some stuttering while streaming video, but this was rectified with the most recent firmware update, which arrived only a few days before I published this review.

The Mini Capsule hasn’t altered much since I tested it a month ago. Most people will be unaware of this feature because the animated notification prompts that extend around the hole-punch camera are easily missed. Indeed, Samsung excels at this with its pop-up alerts, which likewise come in a capsule shape and are significantly more useful because they relay many types of messages, as opposed to Realme’s Mini Capsule, which displays only a few prompts.

Buy it if...

• Sunshower Design is contemporary while being understated.
• The existence of a 3.5mm headphone socket and support for up to a 1TB microSD card.
• A large 6.72-inch display with 90Hz refresh rate.
• A large quantity of RAM and storage for the price.
• Performance from the MediaTek Helio G88 processor is more than enough.
• With Android 13 out of the box
• The Mini Capsule is beneficial in several situations.
• Excellent battery life combined with 33W quick charging is just GOLD.
• Its 64MP main camera is a major leap over its predecessors, particularly the Night Mode.
• A good 8MP front camera.

Don't buy it if…

• At its pricing point, more competitors use AMOLED displays, however, this one uses IPS LCD.
• Uses eMMC 5.1 storage, which can affect the performance of Dynamic RAM Expansion.
• The C55 lacked some functionality seen on other realme phones running realme UI 4.0.
• There’s nothing exceptional about its 1080p video recording.

FULL SPECIFICATION