In this, a recent phone was launched from Realme C series which was realme c31 The name has been given. This phone comes with an attractive and slim design, has a 5000 mAh battery and a triple camera setup is also provided in the rear. The phone is from the same series in which realme c35 Was launched, but this time the price has been kept low to attract customers. Is the Realme C31 attractive in terms of price, and is there anything special about it apart from the design? Let’s find out in this review.
Realme C31 price in India and variants
Contents
Realme C31 comes in two variants in India. The base variant was launched in March 2022 for Rs 8,999 but at the time of this review its price has increased slightly to Rs 9,299. This variant comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, while the variant above comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and is priced at Rs 9,999. The phone is available in light silver and dark green colors. For this review I had the model with 4GB RAM.
realme c31 design
When viewed as a device priced under Rs 10,000, the Realme C31 looks and feels good in the hand. Light silver color gives a very slim look to the phone. When I held it in my hand for the first time, the phone felt quite long from the beginning. The back panel of the phone sports a triple-camera setup that protrudes slightly, causing the phone to wobble when placed on a desk. The entire rear panel has an eye-catching texture, except for the camera module. The back panel is made of polycarbonate. Its textured back prevents fingerprints and scratches easily.
In Realme C31, the power button is given on the right side and the fingerprint sensor is also present in it. I had no trouble accessing the fingerprint sensor as the power button is well placed and is housed in a gently sloping groove. There is a SIM card slot and volume buttons on the left side of the phone. There is a speaker grill in the back panel. Personally, the speaker placement didn’t appeal to me as the sound gets muffled whenever the device is placed on a flat surface.
A 3.5mm headphone jack, primary microphone and a micro-USB port are provided at the bottom of the Realme C31. The company should have provided a USB-Type C port instead, considering that Micromax In 2B Like old phones also come with Type C port at this price. A 10W charger is available in the box, but no protective case is available.
Realme C31 has a 6.5 inch HD + LCD display which has a waterdrop notch. The front camera has been fitted in this. The display has thin bezels, but the chin is slightly larger. The display has a standard 60Hz refresh rate. The weight of the phone is 197 grams which is a bit heavy. However, I did not face any problem while using it with one hand as the company has distributed the weight correctly.
Realme C31 specifications and software
Realme C31 has Unisoc T612 SoC which is based on 12nm fabrication processor. It is an octa-core processor with a clock speed of up to 1.82GHz. Standard UFS 2.2 inbuilt storage is provided which is not seen very often in this price segment. The phone has support for two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card for extra storage. With the help of a card, the storage can be increased up to 1TB.
For connectivity, Realme C31 supports 4G/LTE, Bluetooth 5.0 and only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. I had some trouble with the Wi-Fi on my unit as the C31 kept disconnecting from my router repeatedly even though I was in the same room.
The Realme C31 phone runs on Realme UI R Edition which is a more basic version of the regular Realme UI. This version has been designed to increase the performance of lower end devices. Many types of bloatware apps are available in the phone which includes Facebook, Josh, Paytm, Sharechat and many other apps. You can also uninstall them if needed.
My unit was running Android 11 and had the March 2022 security patch. I didn’t even receive the April security patch update on it. The user interface feels like the vanilla version of Realme UI. Some minor adjustments have been made in this and there is not much available for customization. For example, on the home screen I couldn’t customize the icons, transitions, or even layout of apps.
The user interface is easy and straightforward to use. All important settings and quick actions are easily accessible. The phone has the feature of Smart Controls in which some modern features like Smart wake, Smart motion, Pocket mode etc. are provided. You do not get a dedicated gallery app in the device. You will either have to use Google’s pre-installed Google Photos or use a third-party app.
Realme C31 performance and battery life
There is no problem with the phone in everyday use. There was no problem in scrolling through the user interface and switching between apps. Two types of biometric authentication options are available in the phone – fingerprint and face unlock. Fingerprint is quite fast but face unlock seems a little slower than expected.
Talking about performance, the phone scored 197,830 points on AnTuTu. In Geekbench’s single core and multi core tests, the phone scored 339 and 1279 points respectively. The phone scored 7,348 points in the PCMark Work 3.0 test. These results weren’t great, though, and some were even lower than the company’s own Realme C25. Realme C25 was launched last year in which MediaTek Helio G70 SoC is available.
Even though the benchmark scores were weak, games ran smoothly on the phone. On the phone, I tried playing everything from BGMI, Call of Duty: Mobile to PES 2021, Asphalt 9 Legends. As far as I experienced, Call of Duty: Mobile ran well on the phone with low-end graphics and frame rates. The phone started stuttering when taken to medium graphics. Also, after 15 minutes of continuous play, the phone became quite hot in some parts of the back panel. Asphalt 9: Legends ran fine at high quality settings.
The phone played BGMI without any lag in high frame rate settings. Here the phone started faltering in HD graphics. The gyroscope also worked well and I was able to control the recoil during gunfights.
Games like Temple Run and Subway Surfers run smoothly on the phone. The phone has the option of ‘Auto Resolution’ in which the screen resolution is reduced during games so that the phone’s battery can be saved and heating is also reduced. However, even after enabling it, I did not notice any difference in its performance or usage.
The viewing angles in the display of Realme C31 are good. You can choose from presets of standard, warm and cool color tones. I got the most balanced look in standard mode. The screen is large and the HD+ resolution seems to fall short for it. The brightness of the screen is 400 nits and it is easily readable outdoors, or even in direct sunlight.
Colors look good on the display. In this you do not get support of Widevine L1, hence you will be able to watch content only in standard definition (SD) quality on OTT apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The speaker quality is good and it makes quite loud sound when held in hand.
The phone has a video display enhancement feature which makes the colors brighter and more vibrant while watching videos. When I enabled it, the videos started looking a bit artificial so I kept it turned off.
The Realme C31 packs a 5,000mAh battery that lasted 13 hours and 53 minutes in our HD video loop test, which was slightly less than expected. On an average, the phone lasts comfortably throughout the day which includes regular use along with some gaming and media consumption on a single charge. With light use, I was able to make it last a little more than a full day. The 10W charger that comes in the box with the phone charges it from 0 to 23 percent in 30 minutes and it took 2 hours 30 minutes to fully charge the battery.
Realme C31 cameras
Realme C31 supports a triple-camera setup at the rear, which includes a 13-megapixel primary camera with f/2.2 aperture, a 2-megapixel macro camera with f/2.4 aperture, and a black-and-white camera with f/2.8 aperture. . On the front, there is a single 5-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture. The camera interface is also a simplified version of the regular Realme camera app. I noticed some frame drops in the viewfinder while trying to capture some shots.
The camera app is easy to use and easy to navigate between the options provided. The actual camera performance of the phone will be considered average. Photos taken in daylight were good but there was a lack of details which was clearly visible when zoomed. The 13-megapixel camera maintains good colors but misses out on dynamic range. When switched to Auto HDR mode, the image became too sharp and some colors became over saturated. The phone offers 4X digital zoom but grains are visible in the captured images.
Macro shots taken with the phone’s camera were below average and there was a pinkish tint visible in the photos. It took several attempts to take macro shots as it was not easy to get the correct focus. There was also a lack of details in the photo. Portrait mode only works on the rear camera and for some reason only works on human subjects and not on objects. Edge detection was good but sometimes it blurred some part of the subject which should not have happened. You can also set the blur level before clicking the photo.
Photos taken with the front camera in front of light were overexposed and looked quite ordinary. The 5 megapixel camera fails to capture good details of the face. A lot of noise was also visible in the photo.
Noise was found in the photo taken in low light whereas the photo was taken in good light. Photos looked soft in this and there was a lot of details lacking. The camera also struggled to focus in low light. Photos looked a little brighter when switched to Night Pro mode.
The phone can capture videos in resolutions up to 1080p at 30fps. Videos captured in daylight were mediocre and the lack of stabilization was clearly visible. There was a lot of noise in the video in low light. Since it did not have electronic stabilization, there was no shimmer effect in the video, which was a good thing.
Verdict
The phone is good for everyday use. There is no problem in multitasking or switching between apps. I would not recommend playing games in heavy graphics on this as it is not designed that way. The phone looks quite modern and stylish, and looking at it it is difficult to say that it is a budget device. The phone’s 5,000mAh battery provides good backup.
There is a lot of scope for improvement in the phone’s camera. Portrait mode should not have been limited to just human subjects. If you are going to buy this phone then I would suggest that you buy the version with more RAM, because there is not much difference in its price and it will be beneficial in the long run. If you are looking for an option at this price then you can look at Moto E32s, which can be quite tempting.
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