Realme C20 Review: Good Value for the Money

Realme launched the Realme C20 along with C21 in late August focusing on entry-level users.

Realme C20 price in Nepal is Rs. 12,849. The design is very similar to the Realme C11 2021 but it has a better Helio G35 chipset.

So, should you buy this phone for the given price? Find out in my review of the Realme C20.

Realme C20 Review

Good Design

• 165.2 x 76.4 x 8.9mm
• 190g
• Dual Nano-SIM

All the C-series phones of Realme are very similar. The C20 looks even closer to the Realme C11 2021 with similar color options and a similar vertical strip on the rear.

On the back inside the vertical strip is a Realme branding and beneath it is a back-firing speaker.

Except for the back pattern, the phone design is the same as the Realme C21 which I reviewed recently. Another differentiator here from the C21 is the lack of a fingerprint sensor.

As I said, it has the same volume and power button placement on the right as the C21. And, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microphone, and a micro USB port on the bottom.

ALSO READ: Realme C21 Review: Good Camera but Average Performance

There is nothing to complain about the design, it’s made out of plastic but feels good in the hand—considering the price.

Good Enough Display

• 6.5″ LCD Display
• HD+ Resolution

The Realme C20 comes with a large 6.5-inch IPS display. It is an HD+ panel which is to be expected for the device of this price range.

The display here is average. It’s an IPS panel, so the viewing angles are good but other than that, it’s a typical display you find in a typical entry-level phone.

You will not be disappointed by the brightness level, it’s enough for outdoor usability. Though, you might struggle a bit to easily read the content under direct sunlight.

Good Camera

• Rear Camera: 8MP
  • Video: 1080p@30fps
• Front Camera: 5MP
  • Video: 1080p@30fps

Comparing to the triple-rear camera of the C21, the Realme C20 only comes with a single 13MP rear camera.

REAR CAMERA

As I said, it only has a single rear camera, but don’t make the buying decision based on the number of cameras. The camera quality of the C20 is really good, especially considering the price of the phone.

Realme C20 takes great photos in daylight. The photo quality is very similar to the Realme C21.

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I tested both C20 and C21 cameras side by side, and I was amazed by how similar and great the photos look.

Of course, it’s an entry-level phone, so the expectations should be realistic.  When zoomed in, the photos lose their details and the photos look over-sharpened. The photos are also a little over-saturated.

I might not need to tell you about the low light photo quality, it’s not good. As for the portrait images, I was surprised by the edge detection and background blur. It is quite good for a budget phone.

Considering its price, I am impressed by C20’s dynamic range and overall photo quality.

SELFIE CAMERA

Realme C20 has a 5MP front camera. I couldn’t see any difference between the photos taken by the front camera of the Realme C20 and Realme C21.

The details of the photos are not great. As with every other entry-level phone, this also over-sharpens the photo.

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But the selfies look bright and are exposed correctly. And this alone makes it favorable for a lot of people who just want to upload casual selfies on their social media.

In the low-light environment, the selfies don’t come out as good as they would in a bright environment. The photos look soft and the details are even softer.

VIDEO

Realme C20 can shoot up to 1080p at 30FPS from both front and rear cameras. The video quality here is the same as the C21, they both look really bad. It’s heavily over-sharpened, grainy, and has no clarity. But for a budget phone, this is fine.

Performance

• MediaTek Helio G35
• Octa-core (2.3GHz GHz Cortex-A53)
• PowerVR GE8320
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB Internal Storage

The chipset here is the same as the Realme C21, it’s also rocking MediaTek Helio G35. It’s a good chipset for a phone at this price tag.

However, it only comes with 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. The 2GB RAM can bottleneck the phone when using multiple resource-heavy apps but during my usage, I didn’t find any major lags.

Sure, there were frequent small delays here and there, but for an entry-level phone, it’s forgivable.

Getting to the interesting part, let’s talk about gaming. As mentioned earlier, it features an entry-level chipset, so playing high-end games is not its biggest selling point.

However, it can handle games such as PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, and Call of Duty. Though let me warn you, PUBG Mobile won’t be running as smoothly as you would like. Free Fire and Call of Duty were smoother compared to PUBG Mobile with a few frame drops here and there.

So, it can handle light tasks and run games as well, but you won’t get a smooth experience.

Battery

• Non-removable Li-Po 5000mAh
• 10W Charging
• Micro USB Port

One thing, you will not be disappointed with this device is its battery performance. The 5000mAh battery paired with an HD+ display is the best combo you can get for a long-lasting battery.

You can forget your charger at home when going out without any problem. It can easily last a whole day even if you are a heavy user.

While its endurance is great, it would have been better if they had also included fast charging support. The phone only comes with a 10W charger and it takes forever to charge the phone from 0% to 100%.

Though it’s less likely that one would drain the battery to 0% with this device on a single day. If you are one of them, you will need to wait more than 3 hours to charge it fully.

Software

• Realme UI v1.0
• Android 10

Realme C20 comes with Realme UI 1.0 on top of Android 10 out-of-the-box. I had hoped that this phone would come with the latest Android 11, but to my disappointment, it doesn’t.

The UI design is subjective, it depends on yourself if you like it or not. I personally like its launcher and its default app icons.

What is not subjective, and I assume everyone would equally hate is, tons of bloatware. The majority of it can be uninstalled though.

Final Thoughts

Realme C20 is a great phone under Rs. 15,000. The camera exceeded my expectation, it has a great battery life, the design is also good, and it can also handle light games.

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy F22 Review: A Decent Budget Phone with a High Refresh Rate

However, it lacks a fingerprint sensor. So you have to rely on a password or passcode or less-secure face unlock to unlock the device.

Else, Realme C20 is a really good value smartphone for Rs. 12,849.

What do you think of the Realme C20? Let us know in the comments below!

Also, watch our review of the Samsung Galaxy F22 in Nepali.