Top 4 reasons you’ll want the Realme C25 as your starter phone

While attending a different realme virtual event, one of the company’s representatives mentioned how the brand aims to offer its customers good devices without needing to “break the bank,” which is essential for many users. As much as we aspire to own the latest and greatest, many of us can’t afford that. And some of us don’t even need that much. 

Some users just need a device to handle the basics—answer and make calls, send out messages, access the web, social media apps, and email, as well as take photos and play games on the side. Some are getting their first smartphone ever. And when you’re new to smartphones, you don’t need to go all out for that. 

There are decent, affordable options out there. One of those devices vying for your attention is the latest budget phone from realme, the realme C25. If the reasons below are why you’re looking for a new phone, it might be worth checking out this handset.

Long-lasting battery

While we hardly leave our homes these days, it’s so much better when we can spend longer stretches without having phones plugged into chargers or power banks. The realme C25 is equipped with a large-capacity 6,000mAh battery, which lets you use this phone nonstop for extended periods. 

Even on heavy days when I’d leave the house for errands, I still got a full day and a half out of this. Use it less; two-day battery life is possible. I checked the screen-on time once and saw that it got up to around 14+ hours. Impressive. It’s not a power-hungry phone, so that helps extend its use.

According to realme, the C25 can last up to 47 days on standby mode, 43 hours of the call, 60 hours of music streaming, and 25 hours of video playback. I won’t be surprised if you hit those numbers. 

This phone supports 18W USB Type-C quick charge technology. Admittedly, it takes me around four hours to charge. You can leave it to charge through the night, though.

Pro tip #1: Enable the Optimized night charging in the Battery settings (Settings > Battery > More battery settings). The phone can learn your charging habits to control charging speed at night and avoid overcharging. This feature can help prolong the lifespan of the C25’s battery.

All-around starter phone

Budget phones have gotten better and better as the years pass. So, these devices are good options for those trying out their first smartphone. The realme C25 is a perfect example for this segment. 

Whether you need it for online schooling, mobile work, catching up and posting on social media, or as a hub for your smart accessories, the C25 can help you out with its MediaTek Helio G70 paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage. 

It worked pretty well for my daily use. I don’t heavily game, but I use my device more for work, social media, and content creation. It won’t be as snappy as the more expensive phones, but that’s expected. I’ve never felt like the C25 kept me from doing what I needed to on it. 

I could easily use it for emails, video calls, posting on social media for work or for myself, type out quick story ideas, browsing the web, and more. 

The C25 has a pretty large 6.5-inch 20:9 inch HD+ screen with 1,600 x 720 resolution. It won’t be as crisp and sharp as the more expensive phones. But plenty of users won’t have a problem with it. If you want HD viewing on services like Netflix, unfortunately, this won’t be for you. But you can still watch 1080p resolution videos on YouTube.

It’s also not the brightest screen when you’re outdoors, but you can crank up the brightness to see. Its solitary bottom-firing speaker isn’t the loudest either. But you still do get a 3.5mm audio jack here, where you can plug in headphones. Or you can opt to use a Bluetooth speaker or earbuds, too, to increase the volume significantly.

I can still do with fewer pre-installed apps, but I like the Android 11-based realme UI 2.0. realme gives you a bunch of options on how to customize the C25 to make it your own. For those who like tinkering with their phone’s settings, you have a lot to customize here. Dark Mode even gets additional settings on how much contrast you’d want.

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As an Android 11 device, you get access to Android’s Digital Well-being features like Sleep Mode, Flip to Mute, and data on how often you use your phone.

Pro tip #2: Take advantage of realme’s privacy features like App lock, Hide apps, and Private Safe. As their names suggest, you can lock apps you want, so they’ll require a pin code or biometric authentication to get in. You can hide apps you don’t use and can’t uninstall to declutter your phone, and you can keep personal files tucked away. These features will be handy if you lend your phone to your child or your younger sibling. All of these are accessible through the Privacy tab in your Settings.

Pro tip #3: Speaking of kids, there’s a dedicated Kids Space, too, where you can add the apps you’ll let your child get into.

Creating content on a budget

The realme C25 offers relatively decent camera specs and features for those who want to start sharing their talents on social media apps. At the back, you get a 48-megapixel primary sensor and a pair of 2-megapixel macro and monochrome lenses. In front, there’s an 8-megapixel selfie camera.

I’m missing a telephoto or an ultrawide sensor here, but I’ve still been able to use it to share photos and videos on apps like Instagram and TikTok. In bright conditions, you can get some good shots. Unsurprisingly, it takes some time to focus in low-light situations. You might have already seen some samples I’ve taken here. But let’s add a few more here.

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Pro tip #4: Check out the built-in editing tools in the default Photos app. There’s even an Eraser tool that quickly takes out unwanted objects in your shot. 

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Promised long-term durability

realme proudly promotes the durability of the C25. It’s the company’s first smartphone to pass the TÜV Rheinland Smartphone High-Reliability Certification. The C25 went through numerous major and minor tests to get its certification, including experiments covering common usage scenarios involving daily use, components reliability, and extreme environment. So, there’s an assurance from realme that it’ll last for a long time.

I’ve had our test unit for around a month already, and the only issue I’ve noticed are tiny scratches on the screen, possibly due to it running into other objects in my bag. But those scratches could also just be on the pre-installed screen protector.

realme designed the C25’s eye-catching back cover using the industry-leading German five-axis precise radium engraving machine. The phone underwent 300 minutes of polishing, which gives it this sheen. The phone’s texture makes it pleasing and more secure to hold in hand. Fingerprints that stick to its back become a problem of the past. You can get the realme C25 in Water Grey or Water Blue.

Final thoughts

We appreciate a smartphone that aims to punch above its weight. Of course, there are compromises along the way. But if you need a smartphone for getting the essential tasks done or you’re looking for your first phone, you can get a lot of value out of the C25.

The realme C25‘s SRP starts at PHP 7,490.

Buy the realme C25 HERE. *

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