Realme recently launched the C12 and C15 smartphones as part of its budget line. The aim of these smartphones is to offer users the largest possible battery, which they do. But moreso, they are also here to fill the widening price gap between the company’s C-series and its number series. Realme’s new C1x models, including the C11, however do overlap with the budget C3 and Narzo series in terms of pricing.
Today, we’ll take a quick look at the Realme C15, but more importantly, explore Realme’s budget lineup to see which phones are actually worth considering.
What is the Realme C15?
The Realme C15 is a budget smartphone from Realme, priced starting at the Rs. 10,000 mark. Just like the Realme C12, the C15 isn’t meant to replace any existing model, but rather compliments them. I’m not going to go into too much detail about the design and specifications of the C15, as it’s virtually identical to the C12 and you can read all about that right here. However, in order to justify the higher starting price of Rs. 9,999 (compared to the C12 at Rs. 8,999), Realme has bundled an 18W fast charger with the C15.
The cameras are also slightly different — the C15 has four rear cameras, rather than three. You get the same 13-megapixel primary camera, but also an 8-megapixel ultra wide-angle, a monochrome and a “retro” camera. The Realme C15 skips the dedicated macro camera, which is present on the Realme C12. The C15 also gets an 8-megapixel selfie camera instead of 5 megapixels.
The Realme C15 has a textured, gradient pattern on its back just like the C12
Other than these differences, the C15 and C12 are identical. But how does it fit into Realme’s overall budget portfolio?
Making sense of Realme’s budget lineup
Realme’s C-series is the company’s entry-level series, so let’s begin here. We’ll be going in the order of the starting prices of the various phones.
| Price (RAM/Storage) | SoC | Battery (mAh) | Fingerprint sensor |
Rear cameras | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C2 | ₹6,499 (2GB/16GB) ₹6,999 (2GB/32GB) ₹7,499 (3GB/32GB) |
Helio P22 | 4,000 | No | 2 |
| C11 | ₹7,499 (2GB/32GB) | Helio G35 | 5,000 | No | 2 |
| C3 | ₹8,999 (3GB/32GB) ₹9,999 (4GB/64GB) |
Helio G70 | 5,000 | No | 2 |
| C12 | ₹8,999 (3GB/32GB) | Helio G35 | 6,000 | Yes | 3 |
| Narzo 10A | ₹8,999 (3GB/32GB) ₹9,999 (4GB/64GB) |
Helio G70 | 5,000 | Yes | 3 |
| C15 | ₹9,999 (3GB/32GB) ₹10,999 (4GB/64GB) |
Helio G35 | 6,000 | Yes | 4 |
| Narzo 10 | ₹11,999 (4GB/128GB) | Helio G80 | 5,000 | Yes | 4 |
The Realme C1 (Review) and Realme C2 are still listed on the company’s website, although you can’t buy them easily. The Realme C2 (Review) is more than a year old, but at Rs. 6,999 (2GB+32GB), it’s still not too bad if all you need is a basic Android phone. However, the 3GB+32GB variant at Rs. 7,499 doesn’t make sense anymore with the arrival of the C11.
The Realme C11 (Review) is only available in one configuration at Rs. 7,499. It offers a big 5000mAh battery and a newer SoC. However, in our experience, the 2GB of RAM felt inadequate and performance in general wasn’t up to the mark. I think we could see a 3GB variant of this phone in the future, since there’s still a small price gap between this and the next offerings.
Here, we have a complicated situation with the Realme C3 (Review), Realme C12 and the Narzo 10A (Review) all starting at the same price of Rs. 8,999. The Realme C3 is the oldest, relatively speaking, and has effectively been made obsolete by the Narzo 10A. Both models have the same MediaTek Helio G70 SoC and 5000mAh battery, but the 10A has a third rear camera and a fingerprint sensor.
The Realme C12 on the other hand has a bigger battery and a fingerprint sensor, but has to make do with the relatively weaker Helio C35 SoC. Between the Narzo 10A and the C12, the latter definitely has the battery advantage but I think the Narzo 10A would offer a better usage experience due to its faster SoC.
At Rs. 9,999, we have the top-end variant of the Realme C3 (4GB+64GB), the base variant of the Realme C15 (3GB+32GB) and also the top-end variant of the Narzo 10A (4GB+64GB). I think the C3 can be safely ignored at this price, as once again, the Narzo 10A offers better features. Between the C15 and the Narzo 10A though, it’s a tough call. On one hand, the Narzo 10A offers a better SoC, but the C15 has faster charging, an ultra wide-angle camera, and a bigger battery. Hopefully, I’ll have a clear answer for you once I’m done reviewing the C12 and C15.
The top-end variant of the Realme C15 (4GB+64GB) at Rs. 10,999 seems like a hard sell, as for Rs. 1,000 more, you could instead grab the Narzo 10 (Review), which is better in most ways.
We hope this article has helped bring a bit of order to Realme’s chaotic budget lineup.
Should the government explain why Chinese apps were banned? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
