realme C33 Review: Key specs, pros, and cons

November 10, 2022, 03:27 PM
by Shahriar Rabab

UNB News
Publish- November 10, 2022, 03:27 PM
Shahriar Rabab
Update- November 10, 2022, 03:46 PM

realme C33 Review: Key specs, pros, and cons

realme's latest entry-level device C33

realme started its journey in the smartphone industry as a subsidiary of BBK electronics. It’s the same company that owns Oppo and OnePlus. Since its inception, the brand has focused on producing budget smartphones. realme emphasizes the concept that phones don’t have to be expensive to be good. Holding this legacy, realme launched its ultra-budget offering, the relame C33 on November 08 in Bangladesh. Here’s our detailed take on the device.

Key Specifications of realme C33

Design and Build Quality

The dimensions of realme C33 are 164.2 by 75.7 by 8.3mm. It weighs about 187g.

The realme C33 shines the most in this section. realme has always been big on design elements and even their ultra-budget offering doesn’t miss out here. Even though the C33 has a plastic build all around, it boasts refinements in every department.

The boxy design is complemented by two large vertical camera sensors on the back. The back itself is s mixture of glittering glossy reflective finish. It’s sure to grab anyone’s attention.

Moving to the ports and button selection, everything is in place including the 3.5 mm headphone jack. The fingerprint sensor also stays on the power button and the sim tray makes way for a micro SDXC slot along with two dedicated sim slots.

But the most glaring letdown here is the micro-USB charging. Hardly any phone these days uses micro-USB and it's increasingly becoming obsolete by 2022 standard. Yet somehow realme still went with one.

There’s also no secondary noise cancellation mic on the C33. This might hamper the call quality a bit but that’s understandable given the price constraints. Overall, other than the micro-USB everything felt right on par with the price for the C33.

The Display

The budget smartphone market almost universally uses 720P IPS LCD panels on their devices and the C33 is no different. The smartphone features the same in a 6.5-inch screen with a bit over 82% screen-to-body ratio and a standard 270 PPI density.

While that doesn’t really say much about the quality, it still holds decent numbers for its price. In testing, the device was accurate with the colors and overall sharpness. Viewing angles are also good without any noticeable color shifting. It feels like realme did a better job at calibrating the panel compared to several of its counterparts in this specific segment.

The peak brightness of the display is rated at 400 nits which is about average in its class. The display looks sufficiently good indoors but you will notice glares and readability issues under direct sunlight.

So, will this display be perfect for media consumption? Not really. But it will get the job done as a daily driver.

The Camera

In its initial days, budget and mid-range devices were focused on the number of sensors rather than the actual quality of images. The result was a cheeky marketing bias with little to no performance-backed substance. But that bias is slowly changing.

C33 has a dual-lens camera setup with a 50 MP wide-angle primary shooter and the accompanying one is a 0.3MP depth sensor. This simple setup not only helped the device to maintain a clean look but also allowed realme to focus on what matters the most, the quality of images.

The result is satisfactory. The main sensor does an excellent job in outdoor conditions. the color contrast and dynamic range are well-exposed and well-balanced. The pictures appear to be on the warmer side in a typical realme fashion. But that doesn’t take away from the fact it produces some of the best images in the mid-range category.

The performance slightly drops in indoor and artificial lighting conditions. Though that’s an expected phenomenon at this point. The dedicated night mode on the C33 does a good job of properly exposing the subject and smoothening out the extra noise and grains.

The selfie camera also performs well for a generic 5 MP shooter.

The videography of the C33 is limited to just 1080P at 30 fps for primary rear camera. While the selfie ca,era can shoot 720p footage at 30fps. The quality of videos aren’t much satisfactory as in absence of external or internal stabilization.

Processor and Performance

One of the biggest cut corners in a budget to lower mid-range devices is the processor. Unfortunately, the story is the same with realme C33. Instead of going for an entry-level Snapdragon or Helio processor, realme went with the Unisoc Tiger T612 processor based on the 12 nm architecture.

The octa-core processor has a chip design of 2 1.8 GHz Cortex-A75 and 6 1.8 GHz Cortex-A55 with Mali-G57 GPU. The T612 is a basic processor designed for lightweight day-to-day tasks.

The realme C33 may not come with a robust processor. Still you can play game on this device. The C33 can even handle 3D titles in low graphics settings. Though the phone does get heated up quite easily.

Another problem is the architecture itself. 12 nm isn’t really an efficient design anymore with a general entry-level standard shifting to 6 nm slowly. So the device suffers a bit of RAM management issues here and there.

The realme C33 runs on the realme UI S operating system on top of Android 12. The ram capacity of different variants range from 3 to 4G; while the internet stogae capacity may reach up to 64GB starting from 32GB. This device features UFS 2.2 data transfer technology. It’s External Memory can be increased up to 1TB.

Battery and Charge Time

The realme C33 comes equipped with a 5000 mAh battery. While it may sound a lot, the high-consumption chipset allows for about 6 to 8 hours of continued usage on a full charge.

To add to that, there aren’t any fast-charging options on the C33 so charging with its 1oW charger would be a cumbersome affair.

realme C33's Official Price in Bangladesh

The realme C33 is available in 32/3GB RAM, 64/4GB RAM, and 128/4GB RAM configurations. However, the pre-order option is only valid for the 32/3GB variant as it is the only available model right now. The Price of the variant is 12,999 BDT.

Final Words

The competition and saturation in the ultra-budget segment of smartphones have always been high. So the choice for the perfect smartphone in this category often comes down to the overall design and aesthetics as most brands offer more or less the same internals.

To wrap it up, realme delivers in the lower mid-range or entry-level segment with the C33. While it still may have some drawbacks in the processor and the screen, it more than makes up the camera department. Plus, the realme UI S has also been streamlined to be much more like Android Go which is another welcomed addition.

Overall, the realme C33 can be a good value choice for those looking for a daily beater device at a budget price.