Realme C67 5G Review: Is This the Best Budget 5G Phone of 2024?

Realme, a brand known for disrupting the mobile market with its value-driven offerings, has once again made a significant splash with the launch of the Realme C67 5G. This device is not just another addition to their portfolio; it’s showcasing that 5G connectivity, once a premium feature, is now accessible to the wider masses. This phone emerges in a highly competitive segment, where it aims to balance cost-efficiency with performance.

With its eye-catching design, promising camera setup, and robust performance capabilities, is poised to challenge existing notions of what a budget smartphone can achieve. In this review, we delve deep into every aspect of the C67 5G. From its elegant design and immersive display to its performance under various real conditions and camera capabilities, we explore what makes this device stand out in the crowded budget segment. Join us as we uncover whether the Realme C67 5G truly lives up to its promise of bringing 5G to the masses, and how it stacks up against its competitors in the race for the best budget 5G smartphone experience.

Realme C67 5G Features

Unboxing Experience

Now we’re diving into the unboxing experience of the latest addition to Realme’s budget-friendly lineup, the Realme C67 5G. Upon opening the box, the first thing that greets you is the Realme C67 5G itself. Our unit, bathed in the ‘Sunny Oasis’ color, immediately catches the eye with its dynamic, displaying a spectrum of shades that shimmer under light. As we delve further into the box, we find the essentials neatly packed, Realme includes a dark, semi-transparent TPU case, A 33W Fast Charger, a USB Type-C Cable, a SIM Ejector Tool, and Documentation like a quick start guide and warranty information.

Design and Build Quality

When examining the front design of the Realme C67 5G, it becomes evident that Realme has focused on creating a modern and user-friendly interface that resonates well, and features a large 6.72-inch display, this sizeable screen accounts for an impressive 86.6% screen-to-body ratio, minimizing bezels to provide an immersive viewing experience. The front camera of the C67 is housed in a punch-hole cutout, in the top place to maximize screen real estate while minimizing interruption to the display. Despite being a budget device, it does not compromise on build quality. The front glass is durable and capable of withstanding everyday use.

At first glance, it’s evident that Realme has made significant strides in refining the design language of its C series, and the C67 5G boasts a slim profile, measuring just 7.9mm in thickness. Despite its slender build, the phone feels robust and well-constructed, a balance that is often challenging to achieve in budget smartphones. Weighing in at 190 grams, the phone strikes an optimal weight that feels substantial without being burdensome, ensuring comfortable one-handed usage.

The Realme C67 5G presents a visually appealing design that resonates with modern smartphone aesthetics. It comes in two elegant color options – Sunny Oasis and Dark Purple. The Sunny Oasis variant particularly stands out with its matte finish and subtle glittery effect. The phone’s design is further enhanced by fine linings and textures, visible upon closer inspection, which give it a distinctive look. It also, features a polycarbonate back and frame, offering a lightweight yet durable build.

The camera module on the Realme C67 5G is distinctively designed, featuring two prominent ‘eyes’ that house the camera sensors. This circular camera cutout adds a unique element to the phone’s overall design. The playful placement of the camera lenses, resembling a ‘smiley face,’ adds a quirky touch, making the phone stand out in a market filled with similar-looking devices.

On the practicality front, the Realme C67 5G includes a comprehensive set of features. It offers a 3.5mm headphone jack, a must-have for many users, alongside a Type-C port for charging and data transfer. The inclusion of a full-size SIM tray is a welcome addition, providing users with the flexibility to use dual SIM cards along with a microSD card for storage expansion. The power button doubles as a fingerprint scanner, providing quick and secure access to the device.

In terms of durability, the Realme C67 doesn’t cut corners. It comes equipped with IP54 certification, providing resistance against dust and water splashes. This level of protection is a welcome feature, especially considering the unpredictable nature of daily use and accidental exposure to elements like rain or spills.

Display Quality

The Realme C67 5G emerges into the smartphone market not just as another device, but one that brings a display experience that can easily be the envy of its peers in the budget segment. At the heart of its visual offering is a sizable 6.72-inch IPS LCD panel with vivid colors and sharp details, thanks to its Full HD+ resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. Brightness and visibility are crucial for any smartphone user, and the C67 5G doesn’t disappoint. With a peak brightness level of 680 nits, the phone remains perfectly usable even under the challenging glare of direct sunlight.

The color reproduction on the Realme C67 5G’s IPS LCD panel is vibrant and punchy. While it might not offer the deep blacks and infinite contrasts of an AMOLED display, it certainly stands its ground with its color accuracy and contrast levels. This makes the viewing experience on the phone enjoyable and engaging, especially when watching media or browsing through photos. Additionally, the viewing angles on the device are commendable. Colors and details remain consistent, even when the screen is viewed from off-center angles, ensuring a uniform viewing experience across the board.

The Realme C67 5G takes things up a notch with its 120Hz refresh rate, as it smoothens out motion on the screen, making every swipe and scroll feel more responsive and fluid. From navigating through the UI to gaming, this high refresh rate transforms the user experience from ordinary to extraordinary, bringing a level of smoothness that is typically reserved for higher-end phones. Touch responsiveness is another area where the C67 5G shines, courtesy of its 240Hz touch sampling rate. This feature ensures that every touch and swipe is registered with precision and speed, an aspect that becomes particularly noticeable in fast-paced games or while quickly navigating through apps.

Protecting this impressive display is the sturdy Panda Glass. This protective layer adds a level of durability to the phone, safeguarding the screen from the daily wear and tear that comes from regular usage. While it might not be as renowned as some other protective glasses, Panda Glass offers a reasonable degree of scratch and impact resistance, giving users peace of mind about the longevity of their device’s display.

Audio and Multimedia

The Realme C67 5G features a single bottom-firing speaker, diverging from the growing trend of dual speakers in smartphones. Despite this, the speaker output is commendably loud and clear. The audio quality at maximum volume maintains a balance, avoiding any significant distortion. However, the lack of stereo sound might be noticeable during media consumption, particularly when watching videos or playing games. The sound profile is reasonably balanced for a budget device, with decent clarity in mids and highs, although it lacks a bit in bass response. The presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack offers the flexibility to use their preferred headphones without the need for adapters.

When it comes to streaming, the device’s Widevine L1 certification is a significant plus. This certification allows users to stream high-definition content from popular platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and others. The experience of watching movies or TV shows on the Realme C67 is quite enjoyable, thanks to the combination of a large screen, decent display quality, and effective sound output.

Performance

MediaTek and Qualcomm are the big dogs when it comes to smartphone chips, and they tend to have pretty comparable offerings. The Realme C67 5G is equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ SoC, a mid-range processor that’s built on a 6nm architecture, which features two performance cores, six efficiency cores, and an ARM G57 MC2 GPU. It’s not the speediest processor out there, but it runs smooth and cool for the price point. Day-to-day use is mostly jitter-free, scrolling is fine, and apps open quickly.

Realme offers two variants of the C67 5G: one with 128 GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage paired with 4 GB of LPDDR4x RAM, and a higher-end model with 128 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM. For most users, the 128GB/4GB variant will strike a good balance between cost and functionality. However, if you’re a heavy user and anticipate keeping your phone for several years, investing in the 128GB/6GB model could be worthwhile for its added responsiveness and future-proofing.

And the additional benefit of virtual RAM expansion. However, it’s important to note that while this feature improves multitasking, it can’t compensate for the physical RAM limitations when dealing with highly demanding apps. Son the device can handle switching between apps reasonably well.

The Dimensity 6100+ is also a fairly stable chipset as you will notice in the screenshot below. In Geekbench 6’s single-core and multi-core tests, the Realme C67 (top variant with 128GB storage and 6GB RAM) scored 698 and 1903 points, respectively. In AnTuTu, a comprehensive benchmark that tests various aspects of performance including CPU, GPU, memory, and UX, the phone score is around 390,000 to 410,000 points, placing it in a competitive position within its segment. The CPU throttling test shows minimal performance drop under sustained load, which is impressive for a device at this price point.

Gaming Capabilities and Limitations

To evaluate its gaming capability, the Realme C67 5G was subjected to tests with popular games such as Mobile Legends, PUBG Mobile, Car X Street, COD Mobile, Modern Warship, and Genshin Impact. These games were chosen for their popularity and graphical intensity, offering a comprehensive overview of the device’s performance across various genres. The settings were maximized for each game to push the device to its limits, with consistent Wi-Fi connectivity, full brightness, and sound, along with a 120 Hz refresh rate. The battery was fully charged to 100% at the beginning of each test to assess battery drain during intense gaming.

While the C67 5G may not be aimed at the high-end gaming market, its hardware configuration should be competent enough to run most modern games in medium settings. However, for extremely demanding games or applications, there might be limitations.

PUBG Mobile:

PUBG Mobile, known for its demanding graphics, was next. The C67 5G adeptly handled the game with balanced graphics with an Ultra frame rate, achieving an average FPS of 38.8. The gyroscope sensor’s addition improved the gameplay experience, providing accurate and responsive controls. The phone’s temperature rose slightly under this load, but the battery continued to impress with minimal drainage.

Mobile Legends:

In Mobile Legends, the Realme C67 5G shone brightly, delivering gameplay at Ultra settings with a superframe rate. The game ran seamlessly, with a high average FPS of 83.9, though there were dips to around 50 FPS in certain intense moments. The device managed to keep its cool, maintaining a stable temperature of around 40 degrees Celsius. Battery efficiency was notable, with a mere 4% drop after a 16-minute gaming session.

Genshin Impact:

Genshin Impact further tested the C67 5G limits. With medium settings in Modern Warship, the phone achieved an average FPS of 61.5, while Genshin Impact, set at the lowest graphics, recorded an FPS of 43. However, the smartphone exhibited discernible lag while rendering the expansive open-world environment. Adjusting to lower graphic settings rectified this issue. However, I did observe the device warming up slightly after the gaming session.

COD Mobile:

COD Mobile presented a smooth experience when played in medium settings with a high frame rate. The game was fluid and engaging, with an average FPS of 57.3. However, there were compromises evident, with the frames per second (fps) dropping to 30-40 under maximum load. Switching to medium graphics resulted in notable improvement, sustaining a respectable 60fps consistently. Although not groundbreaking figures, these rates are more than sufficient to rival more advanced gaming-focused smartphones.

Heat Management

The Realme C67 5G maintains a relatively cool operation even under stress. During intensive tasks like gaming or benchmarking, the device does warm up but doesn’t reach uncomfortable temperatures. This effective heat management ensures sustained performance even during prolonged use.

Software and User Interface

The Realme C67 5G runs on Realme UI 4.0, a custom skin based on Android 13. This combination brings the latest features of Android along with Realme’s personalized touches to enhance the user experience. The Realme UI 4.0 is known for its user-friendly interface, offering a blend of simplicity and customization, from icon shapes and sizes to color schemes and fonts. The UI also comes with interesting features like a floating window, smart sidebar, and personalized gestures which add to the convenience of daily use.

One of the notable additions is the ‘Mini Capsule 2.0’, Realme’s take on an interactive notification and status system. It’s an innovative feature that displays information like music playback, weather updates, and battery status in a dynamic, minimalistic way, reminiscent of the Dynamic Island feature on iOS but with Realme’s unique spin.

Thanks to the integration of Android 13, the Realme C67 5G benefits from improved privacy controls, notification management, and under-the-hood optimizations. The UI performance is smooth, with transitions and animations feeling fluid, complementing the 120Hz display refresh rate. This smoothness extends to multitasking, with the C67 5G handling multiple apps and switching between them seamlessly.

One of the criticisms of Realme UI in the past has been the presence of bloatware. The Realme C67 5G, like its predecessors, comes with some pre-installed third-party apps. However, Realme has taken user feedback into account, and most of these apps can now be uninstalled if not needed.

Realme has committed to providing two years of software updates and three years of security patches for the Realme C67 5G. This commitment ensures that users will not only have the latest features but also be protected against security vulnerabilities. Regular updates are crucial for maintaining optimal performance and security.

Camera Capabilities

The crowning jewel of the Realme C67 5G’s camera ensemble is its 50MP AI primary sensor. This high-resolution sensor is a game-changer in the budget category, bringing the ability to capture images with remarkable clarity and vibrant colors, capturing the subtleties of a landscape or the intricate details of a close-up subject, the camera manages to retain texture and liveliness in every shot. This performance is particularly noteworthy in well-lit environments, where the sensor truly shines, producing images that are rich in detail and dynamic range.

When the lights dim, the C67 5G’s camera doesn’t falter, employing longer exposure times and intelligent software algorithms. This mode enhances low-light photography by brightening up shots, reducing noise, and preserving details that are often lost in darker conditions.

Secondary Camera:

Accompanying the primary sensor is a 2MP depth camera, serving a specific purpose – to add depth to your portraits. This sensor comes into play when creating bokeh effects, artfully blurring the background while keeping the subject sharply in focus. While it may not be a multi-tasker like more advanced sensors, its contribution to portrait photography is undeniable, offering users the chance to capture professional-looking portrait shots with natural depth.

Selfie Camera:

Moving to the front, the C67 5G features an 8MP selfie camera. Integrated seamlessly into the display with a punch-hole design, this camera is adept at taking satisfactory selfies, especially in good lighting conditions. The camera software enhances selfies with various modes and filters.

Video Recording:

For video, the Realme C67 5G doesn’t disappoint. Both the rear and front cameras are capable of recording videos at 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second. This capability ensures that your videos are not just high in quality but also stable, thanks to the built-in stabilization features.

Battery Life and Charging

The Realme C67 5G makes a strong entry in the battery department with its substantial 5,000mAh unit. In heavy use engaging in activities like gaming, streaming, and extensive app usage, can expect the battery to last a full day. For average use, the phone extends its endurance to about a day and a half. A significant advantage of the C67 5G is its 33W fast charging capability. This feature is especially noteworthy given the phone’s budget-friendly positioning. The fast charging allows the phone to power up to 50% in just about 29 minutes – Completing a full charge from zero to one hundred percent is achieved in roughly 90 minutes, a relatively swift duration for a battery of this size.

While the charging speed may not break any records when compared to the ultra-fast charging capabilities seen in some high-end models, it strikes an excellent balance between speed and battery health. The phone doesn’t support wireless charging, which is understandable given its positioning as a budget device.

Connectivity and Network:

The Realme C67 5G’s big focus is taking 5G connectivity to the masses. I tested 5G speeds, and the performance was fantastic. In most areas (home and office) I was getting at least 200Mbps speeds, which is still better than my home Wi-Fi. Do note speeds will differ based on the coverage.

In terms of Wi-Fi, the C67 5G supports Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), with the ability to toggle between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands means that the device can optimize the connection based on range and speed requirements. Bluetooth connectivity also receives a boost with version 5.2, enhancing connection stability and energy efficiency.

Final Verdict:

The smartphone market, particularly in the budget segment, is fiercely competitive, with each brand striving to offer the best blend of features and performance at an affordable price. The Realme C67 5G, Realme’s latest entrant in its C series, positions itself as a strong contender in this arena.

The Realme C67 5G impresses with its vibrant display, featuring a 6.72-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD screen that supports a 120Hz refresh rate, ensuring smooth and clear visuals. Performance-wise, it’s powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ processor, offering robust performance for everyday tasks and moderate gaming. Battery life is a strong suit, with a 5000mAh capacity supported by 33W fast charging, providing long-lasting usage and quick recharge times. Additionally, the Realme C67 5G supports Widevine L1, enabling HD streaming on platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. This feature, coupled with its competitive pricing and 5G capabilities, makes it a compelling choice in the budget smartphone segment.

The camera setup, led by a 50MP primary sensor, is capable of capturing detailed and vibrant photos, making it suitable for various photography needs. In terms of design, the Realme C67 5G boasts a modern, slim profile that’s comfortable to hold. The software experience is enhanced with Realme UI 4.0 based on Android 13, ensuring a user-friendly interface. Additionally, the device offers great value for money, especially considering its 5G capabilities at a competitive price point.

However, the Realme C67 5G is not without its drawbacks. The device comes with a fair amount of bloatware, which can affect the overall user experience and take up unnecessary storage space. Also, The audio experience is somewhat limited due to the presence of a single speaker, missing out on the immersive experience provided by dual stereo speakers. Some users might also notice slight heating issues during intensive gaming sessions.