realme C53 REVIEW: New Budget Champion?

“Charge like a Champion,” that’s the tagline of the new realme C53 smartphone. Fast charging technology is indeed a nice feature especially in a budget-friendly smartphone but does the realme C53 offer “champion-like” overall performance?

Let’s find out by examining its design and build quality then testing its performance, cameras, connectivity, and battery life. Here’s my full review of the realme C53!

 

Unboxing the realme C53

The realme C53 comes in the brand’s usual yellow box.

Sliding out the box sleeves reveals a FREE transparent phone case, quick start guide, SIM ejector pin, the smartphone itself, USB type-C cable, and 33W charging brick.

There are no earphones inside the box but this is a typical unboxing experience. Thankfully, realme isn’t following the decision of other brands to exclude the charging brick in the package.

 

realme C53 Design & Display

 

The realme C53 is a fairly large smartphone with a width of exactly 3 inches. That’s mostly occupied by the 6.74-inch HD+ display with normal-sized side bezels and a small notch for the selfie camera.

The screen looks clear and bright indoors with good color saturation. It’s well-suited for watching videos and scrolling across social media feeds. The 90Hz screen refresh rate also makes the user interface feel snappy.

However, it’s a bit dim when used outdoors under bright sunlight. The HD+ resolution might also be a let down for those who’ve used FHD+ displays.

 

 

At the back is a velvety texture for the Mighty Black color option and ribbon-like pattern for the Champion gold colorway. Either color looks good but the latter is the head turner.

When viewed from the side, the realme C53 shows its slim profile measuring 7.49 millimeters only. There’s a fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button while the USB type-C port and 3.5mm audio jack are all at the bottom.

Overall, the realme C53 has a no-frills design and the build quality feels sturdy just like other realme smartphones. The notch has to go in its next iteration though.

 

realme C53 Performance and User Interface

 

A UNISOC Tiger T612 chipset powers the realme C53 with 6GB of physical RAM and 6GB of additional Dynamic RAM Expansion or DRE.

Based on benchmark scores, this combination has decent raw performance. However, I can’t help but notice how the software does the heavy lifting in making it smoother.

The realme C53 comes with realme UI T Edition which is based on Android 13. Animations are snappy while transitions look fluid. Apps still take some moments to launch but the overall experience is smooth for an entry-level smartphone.

Surprisingly, the “Mini Capsule” feature which looks similar to the iPhone’s “Dynamic Island” is present in this device too. It’s currently limited to battery notifications, data usage warning, and step count.

 

realme C53 Gaming Performance

 

In terms of gaming performance, the realme C53 has enough processing power for playing games like Mobile Legends at high graphics quality.

However, several frame drops appear during team fights. Reducing the graphics quality to medium results in a smoother gaming experience. It actually defaults to the lowest graphics settings and that might be the best option.

More resource intensive games such as Call of Duty Mobile are also playable but only at the lowest graphics quality although there are still some frame drops during busy scenes.

 

realme C53 Camera Quality

The realme C53 is equipped with a 50 Megapixel rear camera. It’s actually a dual camera system but the small secondary camera only serves as a depth sensor.

Anyway, the pictures produced by the camera with its default settings look good with sharp details and balanced tint. Most pictures look bright and it automatically applies HDR enhancement in many scenes.

Here are several sample pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a good camera for an entry-level smartphone as long as you have steady hands while taking pictures and shooting videos.

Its camera also has several tricks including built-in beauty filters and Portrait Mode.

There’s even a dedicated Night Mode for taking low light pictures. It works well with decorative lights and beautiful city sights but low light pictures of people require the use of its LED flash.

Here are some sample Night Mode shots:

 

 

On the other hand, a single 8 Megapixel camera takes care of selfies for the realme C53. It produces good-looking selfies in well-lit scenes but with a slight yellowish tint.

Here are several sample selfies:

 

 

 

 

It’s limited to 720p video resolution though for front camera video capture. The rear camera can capture up to 1080p videos.

 

realme C53 Connectivity and Audio Quality

The realme C53 is a dual-SIM smartphone with separate slots for two nano SIM cards and a microSD memory card for additional storage.

It can connect to 4G LTE networks for mobile internet with fast speed in areas with uncongested LTE signal coverage. However, you can’t benefit from faster 5G networks.

There’s also a single bottom-firing loudspeaker with up to 150% volume but it sounds better when set at 100% volume only.

 

realme C53 Battery Life and Charging Time

A large 5,000mAh battery powers the realme C53. It can easily last more than a day of my normal usage. I’m usually left with around 35% at night.

When playing games continuously, it can last more than 8 hours at 50% screen brightness.

Recharging the device from 0% to 100% battery capacity only takes about 1 hour and 25 minutes thanks to the bundled 33W SUPERVOOC fast charger. This is one of the fastest charging times for a smartphone in its price range!

 

CONCLUSION

The realme C53 is an outstanding budget smartphone. It has a large display, smooth user interface, capable 50MP camera, long lasting battery, and fast charging time.

However, its screen isn’t very bright outdoors and gaming performance is limited to low/medium graphics quality.

I can recommend the realme C53 to those who prefer a smartphone that performs smoothly in basic tasks like browsing social media, watching videos, playing some games casually, and capturing good-looking pictures on a limited budget.

Back to my first question, does it offer a “champion-like” overall performance? It comes very close. At a promo price of ₱6,999, it’s already a steal but we simply can’t have it all.

If budget permits, the realme C55 is a better choice with its equally large but brighter display. There’s also the narzo 50 5G which comes with faster mobile internet speeds.