TechPhonesRealme C35 review: Big features for a small priceThis cheap handset is a great access point to Android if you don’t want to pay big bucksWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Realme)T3 VerdictLooking for a budget buy? The Realme C35 is mighty impressive considering its price point, delivering a strong main camera, reasonable performance considering the cost, and an eye-catching design that doesn’t go over-the-top on branding (like some earlier Realme handsets). Don’t expect miracles for your money, but there’s little else out there that’ll compete at this price point.Reasons to buy+Great price point to rival the Motorola G31+Accomplished 50-megapixel main camera+Decent battery lifeReasons to avoid-Performance is (predictably) not that advanced-Screen doesn’t resist fingerprinting too well-Extra cameras are just excessesWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
TechPhonesRealme C35 review: Big features for a small priceThis cheap handset is a great access point to Android if you don’t want to pay big bucksWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Realme)T3 VerdictLooking for a budget buy? The Realme C35 is mighty impressive considering its price point, delivering a strong main camera, reasonable performance considering the cost, and an eye-catching design that doesn’t go over-the-top on branding (like some earlier Realme handsets). Don’t expect miracles for your money, but there’s little else out there that’ll compete at this price point.Reasons to buy+Great price point to rival the Motorola G31+Accomplished 50-megapixel main camera+Decent battery lifeReasons to avoid-Performance is (predictably) not that advanced-Screen doesn’t resist fingerprinting too well-Extra cameras are just excessesWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
This cheap handset is a great access point to Android if you don’t want to pay big bucks
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Realme)T3 VerdictLooking for a budget buy? The Realme C35 is mighty impressive considering its price point, delivering a strong main camera, reasonable performance considering the cost, and an eye-catching design that doesn’t go over-the-top on branding (like some earlier Realme handsets). Don’t expect miracles for your money, but there’s little else out there that’ll compete at this price point.Reasons to buy+Great price point to rival the Motorola G31+Accomplished 50-megapixel main camera+Decent battery lifeReasons to avoid-Performance is (predictably) not that advanced-Screen doesn’t resist fingerprinting too well-Extra cameras are just excesses
(Image credit: Realme)
(Image credit: Realme)
T3 VerdictLooking for a budget buy? The Realme C35 is mighty impressive considering its price point, delivering a strong main camera, reasonable performance considering the cost, and an eye-catching design that doesn’t go over-the-top on branding (like some earlier Realme handsets). Don’t expect miracles for your money, but there’s little else out there that’ll compete at this price point.Reasons to buy+Great price point to rival the Motorola G31+Accomplished 50-megapixel main camera+Decent battery lifeReasons to avoid-Performance is (predictably) not that advanced-Screen doesn’t resist fingerprinting too well-Extra cameras are just excesses
T3 VerdictLooking for a budget buy? The Realme C35 is mighty impressive considering its price point, delivering a strong main camera, reasonable performance considering the cost, and an eye-catching design that doesn’t go over-the-top on branding (like some earlier Realme handsets). Don’t expect miracles for your money, but there’s little else out there that’ll compete at this price point.
T3 Verdict
Looking for a budget buy? The Realme C35 is mighty impressive considering its price point, delivering a strong main camera, reasonable performance considering the cost, and an eye-catching design that doesn’t go over-the-top on branding (like some earlier Realme handsets). Don’t expect miracles for your money, but there’s little else out there that’ll compete at this price point.
Reasons to buy+Great price point to rival the Motorola G31+Accomplished 50-megapixel main camera+Decent battery lifeReasons to avoid-Performance is (predictably) not that advanced-Screen doesn’t resist fingerprinting too well-Extra cameras are just excesses
Reasons to buy+Great price point to rival the Motorola G31+Accomplished 50-megapixel main camera+Decent battery life
Great price point to rival the Motorola G31
Accomplished 50-megapixel main camera
Decent battery life
Reasons to avoid-Performance is (predictably) not that advanced-Screen doesn’t resist fingerprinting too well-Extra cameras are just excesses
Performance is (predictably) not that advanced
Screen doesn’t resist fingerprinting too well
Extra cameras are just excesses
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
I’ve been using the Realme C35 as a secondary device for a number of weeks to see whether it’s strong enough to keep the likes ofMotorola’s Moto G31at bay when it comes to considering an outright Android purchase. Generally speaking I’ve been impressed, although there’s always some caveats when it comes to budget buys. So should you buy the C35? Here’s what I make of it…
Realme C35: Price and availability
The Realme C35 is available right now in the UK, priced at £149 for the 64GB model, or £169 for the 128GB model. I’d suggest plumping for the extra storage option, as operating systems and apps can quickly eat up space and affect overall operability.
Outside of the UK you’ll find the same larger storage model in Europe priced at €199. But one of the main areas for sales is in India, where the same model costs Rs11,999. A relative bargain, whichever currency you’re working in.
Today’s best Realme C35 deals5 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆No price informationCheck AmazonWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Realme C35 deals5 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆No price informationCheck AmazonWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Realme C35 deals
5 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
5 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
☆☆☆☆☆
No price informationCheck Amazon
No price informationCheck Amazon
No price informationCheck Amazon
No price informationCheck Amazon
No price information
No price information
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
Realme C35: Design and Display
Available in Glowing Green (pictured), or Glowing Black (not pictured, but I can’t imagine how it ‘glows’, really), it’s clear from the off that the Realme C35’s design is about capturing your attention. It’s a pretty fetching green colour, and I’m particularly glad that Realme has dialled back the branding to a friendly level – some earlier handsets have been littered with slogans and giant logos that, well, I’m not sure anyone truly wants. This, however, this is pretty smart – but rather plasticky, so don’t get lured into thinking it’s in any way premium.
Unusually for an Android device, Realme separates the power button from the volume up/down switches on the respective right and left sides of the device (when facing the screen). I still find this rather strange, as it’s to no real benefit, not that it’s a total deal-breaker to purchase potential, just that so few other makers opt for this arrangement. The power button is also where the fingerprint scanner lives, which I’ve found works proficiently enough.
And so on to the display. Just because the Realme C35 is affordable doesn’t mean it’s scrimped in every department. This LCD panel, which is 6.6-inches across the diagonal, is of ample scale, and certainly brighter than I’ve seen on many budget phones over the years (Realme quotes 600 nits). That said, in the want to preserve battery life, the auto-brightness does kick in and dim the screen down a bit much some of the time. Also I’ve noticed fingerprints being a bit of a pain on this screen, it’s just less resistive to natural oils than other devices that I also use frequently.
Elsewhere the screen is really well specified: even the resolution is more than plentiful (at 1080 x 2408 pixels). It’s only the refresh rate that’s not going to rival step-up devices, as it’s limited to 60Hz (not the 90Hz or 120Hz smoother potential of some competitors). Oh, and if you don’t like teardrop notches then tough luck: there’s no separated punch-hole version here for the front-facing camera, but I don’t mind either way.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
Realme C35: Performance and battery
It’s what’s under the Realme C35’s skin where it dials things down a bit. The processor is a Unisoc Tiger T616, which might cause you to go “what, no Qualcomm?”. But, honestly, it’s not the end of the world: the C35 still functions just fine, so I’ve had no problems navigating between apps, software screens and even games.
I’ve even been playing Lemmings from time to time and it’s posed no animation issues, no stuttering or the like. No, the C35 is not going to be a PUBG Mobile champion device, but that’s a given on this kind of hardware. But if you don’t care about that kind of thing then you’ll be fine for playing casual play games. And it’s well beyond what you’ll get from aNokia 3.4, for example.
As mentioned earlier, the C35 is reasonably thick, which will partly be down to the 5,000mAh battery on board. That’s a decent capacity, though, especially with a processor that doesn’t cause the device’s body to turn into a miniature furnace. It keeps cool, and lasts for a pretty cool amount of time too – I’ve been getting well over a day of ‘normal’ use, so 16 hours plus, no problems.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
Realme C35: Cameras
When it comes to cheap phones the cameras are typically a compromise. The Realme C35 does things at least a little differently though: it combines one pretty decent main camera with, well, what I can only call two throwaway lenses. But that’s pretty typical of many budget devices – latching on a batch of less useful optics to up the number count.
I’ll get the bad news out of the way first: the 2-megapixel macro and 0.3-megapixel are of real limited use, as the macro quality is low-res, blurry to the edges, and you need a bit of guesswork to get the focus right (as its all about distance, i.e. it’s manual). I’ve also found that I can get far better close-up images without turning the ‘Macro’ setting on within the app and just using the normal camera instead!
The depth sensor? I’ve never seen much use for these, as the kind of portraits aren’t ever that convincing given the ‘fluffy’ blurred edges around subjects' faces. If you want it, though, there is a ‘Portrait’ setting to make some use of this lens, so it’s not entirely useless.
Image1of6(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
Image1of6(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
Image1of6
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
But – yes, there’s a but! – stick with the main camera and things are really rather good. The camera app is slick in operation, lag is limited (I often didn’t even know I’d taken a picture, it’s that speedy), and best of all the resulting images from that sensor – which uses four ‘pixels’ to render one in the final image, at 12.5MP rather than 50MP – are clean and clear.
There’s automatic high dynamic range (HDR) to offset the shadows and highlights and various in-app editing after the fact if you want to make tweaks to your shots. That means backlighting isn’t an issue, with a simple click-to-focus/expose on the screen handling a multitude of subjects with ease.
So while there’s no wide-angle, no optical zoom, and no real bells and whistles as part of the C35’s camera make-up, that’s no surprise. But focus on that main optic and, at this price point, it’s a strong performer for the money. It even does fairly well in dim lighting situations, such as when I was on the London Underground, which adds another string to this budget phone’s bow.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
Realme C35 review: Verdict
If you’re looking for a budget buy then the Realme C35 is mighty impressive Android handset considering its price point, delivering a strong main camera, reasonable performance considering the cost, and an eye-catching design that doesn’t go over-the-top with its focus on logos and branding. Don’t expect miracles for your money, but there’s little else out there that’ll compete at this price point.
Realme C35: Also Consider
We’ve got a variety ofcheap phones to check outin our dedicated feature, but the most obvious direct competitor at this Realme’s price point is theMoto G31. We prefer the Moto’s software setup overall, while its MediaTek processor is arguably a little more capable too. Certainly a sensible alternative to consider, but not one to write-off Realme’s attempts either.
Today’s best Realme C35 deals5 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆No price informationCheck AmazonWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Realme C35 deals5 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆No price informationCheck AmazonWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Realme C35 deals
5 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
5 Amazon customer reviews☆☆☆☆☆
☆☆☆☆☆
No price informationCheck Amazon
No price informationCheck Amazon
No price informationCheck Amazon
No price informationCheck Amazon
No price information
No price information
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
T3 tests a wide range of products, from kayaks to kick scooters, mattresses to laptops, but the one thing that links them all is our approach to testing. Here’sT3’s How We Test page, so you know you’re getting the real deal – actual time spent with testing products in the real world, not make-believe reviews based on spec sheets and assumption.
Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox
Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts
PS5 could finally be getting Gears of War and Halo after game-changing decisionThe age of exclusives is coming to an end
The age of exclusives is coming to an end
Is this the most insufferable Netflix trailer of all time?Meghan Markle has a show coming
Meghan Markle has a show coming
Samsung Galaxy Ring just got bigger, and so did its sleep-tracking featuresThe brand expands its compact wearable with larger sizes and enhances the Samsung Health app with smarter sleep and wellness tools
The brand expands its compact wearable with larger sizes and enhances the Samsung Health app with smarter sleep and wellness tools
