Realme C61 review: is it worth it?

The Realme C61 is something of a younger sibling to the Realme C63. Both entry-level mid-range phones have an attractive design and are very resistant to shocks and drops, with the latter feature being particularly emphasized in the Note 60, a smartphone whose characteristics seem to me ideal for people who work as couriers. After using Realme C61 for several days, I want to express my opinion about this smartphone, is it worth it? I tell you in this review.

Realme C61: features and specifications

Realme C61: screen and design

Realme C61 boasts a 6.74-inch screen. It’s IPS LCD technology, so while you’ll have good picture quality when you’re inside a home or building, you won’t see vibrant colors like those displayed on an OLED or AMOLED screen. The maximum brightness is 560 nits, so you may have trouble viewing in bright sunlight. However, given the range of technology, I think these shortcomings are quite expected.

The design was a success. Like the Realme C63, the Realme C61 boasts a fairly stylized design that is similar to the iPhone Pro due to the distribution of the camera module. The version I received for review has a gold lid that looks elegant, although there is also a dark green model. They both look quite attractive.

Realme C61: how good are its cameras?

The camera layout of the Realme C61 suggests a three-lens system, but there are only two of them and a flash. The brand does not provide information about the characteristics of the second lens, but the data sheet that I found in GSM Arena talks about a 0.8 MP secondary lens with f/3.0 aperture. I don’t know what this lens can do, although it may help with blur in portrait mode.

Auto mode offers 3x digital zoom, which, while not fantastic, helps in certain scenarios. You can get an idea of ​​what you can do with the Realme C61 cameras in the following photos that I took at the Morisco kiosk in Mexico City. During the day, I noticed that the phone achieves some detail in the focus of the photo, but there is a lot of noise around it. When using the 3x zoom, these shortcomings become more obvious.

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One aspect that I just can’t figure out is that the Realme C61 has a portrait mode with very favorable results (sorry for the blur on my daughter’s face), which the Realme C63 doesn’t have. Both phones have the same cameras and the same software. It may be an update issue, but both have the latest software and the C61 has portrait mode while the C63 does not.

Now at night the behavior is quite normal, although when using the 3x zoom it is very noticeable that the phone has problems focusing clearly. However, I think given the range of the team this shouldn’t be a surprise.

Video recording is up to 1080p at 30fps, and while I did notice some stabilization issues, overall I think the phone does a good job from a video perspective.

My overall impression of the Realme C61 cameras is that this is a fairly average phone that definitely offers better options for its price.

Realme C61: performance and autonomy

The Realme C63 chipset is a 12nm Unisoc Tiger processor. In its range and at this price there are cell phones with the best chipsets, such as the MediaTek Helio G85, also 12nm, or, even better, the 6nm MediaTek Helio G99.

Despite the decision made, I can say that I still had a more or less positive experience using the Realme C61. Most of the apps I use every day, such as WhatsApp, Gmail, Instagram, Twitter or Google Sheets, worked well, although the transition between one and the other is a bit slow. Surprisingly I was able to play Call of Duty: Warzone the resolution drops to 30 frames per second without closing the application, so even though the processor has flaws, it works in 2024.

Where I notice complete success is in charging and autonomy. The Realme C61 has a 5,000mAh battery that lasted me almost a day and a half of use, and it is compatible with 45W fast charging that charges the battery in less than an hour. However, the included charger is 15W (the Realme C63 comes with a 45W charger, which I tested the C61 fast charging with). Again, I don’t understand this decision on Realme’s part.

Realme C61: is it worth it?

While comparing Realme C63 and Realme C61, I mentioned that I feel that the ‘little brother’ offers better value for money and the only difference between one and the other is the Vegan leather finish. as well as available RAM and the ability to virtualize (requiring several gigabytes of memory to act as volatile memory and improve performance) – an aspect that does not seem to be very relevant to most users.

Moreover, I believe that for its price and range, the Galaxy A15 is undoubtedly the best option. However, if the dilemma is to choose between Realme C63 and Realme C61, I think the little brother offers better cost-benefit ratio, especially when you have the Php 3,599 offer for the 256GB storage version.