Fresh out of the oven right now, the Realme C25 could prove to be a strong competitor for phones in the same price range (cheap), at least at its launch. The list price is higher, but it will certainly be sold with good discounts in the future. But how does it fare in the comparison?

Testing the Realme C25, provided to Vida Celular by the company, the first thing that caught my attention was the speed of the 18W (9V/2A) charger. The battery went from 16% to 50% in 60 minutes in my tests, with the phone on. The 6000 mAh battery, when fully charged, can last up to 48h with moderate use (by moderate use, I mean: using the phone while working from home during the pandemic, spending more time on the PC during the day, and using the phone more at night to play Plants vs. Zombies).

Complicated transfer

A somewhat frustrating aspect of the C25 is to transfer the data and apps from your old phone to the Realme C25. You need to look for a link to read the QR Code by typing the link manually into Google. Then click Allow repeatedly to approve the data sharing. Click Don't Allow to stop the process. The function of transferring the information from your old phone to the C0 is called “cell phone cloning”, which may not be a good choice of words in Brazilian Portuguese, but it may just be a problem with the test phones.

But in terms of usability, the Realme C25 is really fast, a great upgrade to my very outdated Motorola One from 2018. An expected upgrade for anyone buying a phone in this price range.

Web pages and games load much faster, and image definition has leaped forward in 3 years. The screen refresh rate is very good. Realme offers three unlocking options: facial recognition, fingerprint and password. It's up to you, they all work.

Great photos for what it costs

But what I found really noteworthy about the Realme C25 were the cameras. The C25 model has three rear cameras, a triple 48MP (with artificial intelligence), a 48MP primary camera, and a 2MP macro lens camera.

The front camera has a Portrait mode that automatically reduces blemishes and imperfections. This feature is quite impressive, producing selfies worthy of the Kardashians' Instagram in no time, with the option of filters to slim the face and nose, as well as enlarging the eyes and chin.

Or, testing Portrait Mode right here, which is more beautiful (biased opinion):

As for the rear cameras, the Realme 25C has a 48MP Triple camera, a 48MP primary camera, and a 2MP macro lens. The smartphone has an Expert option, which allows you to manually control functions such as white balance, focus, sensor sensitivity to light, and shutter speed. With this function, you can long exposure photos, for example, without having to download an app.

The Realme C25 has a 2MP macro camera, which, according to my tests, produces great photos of detailed shots. The Realme smartphone also has a panoramic photo function, but personally, I had some trouble getting the perfect panorama, with the final part coming out blurry. Maybe a tripod or a more stable hand would be needed.

Overall, I found the Realme C25 to be a very good and practical phone, attractive for its price range, but with room for possible improvements in usability.

the C25 goes on pre-sale in Brazil today (June 23), for the promotional price of R$1.199,00. The pre-sale goes until July 1, after which the price will be R$1.599, but then, from cheap for what it costs, it will be exactly the opposite.