Realme C1 had a strong finish last year as we named it the best budget smartphone of 2018. With the arrival of Realme 3, yet another budget phone from the same company, are we already looking at a new budget king?
Table of Contents
Realme 3 and Realme C1 Differences
Advantages of Realme 3
- lustrous gradient finish
- Android 9.0 Pie with Color OS 6
- Helio P60
- up to 4GB/64GB
- 13MP selfie camera
- rear-mounted fingerprint scanner
- 10W fast charging
- smaller notch
Advantages of Realme C1
- battery-efficient Snapdragon 450
Realme 3 and Realme C1 Similarities
- IPS LCD
- 720p+ resolution
- polycarbonate build
- Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- 6.2-inch display size
- dedicated microSD slot of up to 512GB
- 13MP + 2MP main camera
- single selfie camera
- BT 4.2
- 4230mAh battery
Which is a better buy between the Realme 3 and Realme C1?
From Realme C1 to Realme 3, a few design cues look welcoming such as a smaller notch intrusion and a better gradient finish on the back despite both having the same plastic layer. But in terms of display quality, it’s the same old HD+ IPS LCD panel.
Realme 3’s performance gets a significant boost thru the Helio P60 running Color OS 6 based on Android 9.0 Pie. It gets even better with a slightly larger starting variant at 3GB/32GB going up to 4GB/64GB.
While the camera department remains a deadlock on 13MP + 2MP main shooter (on paper), the main sensor of Realme 3 packs a larger f/1.8 aperture for better low-light shots. The selfie camera, however, goes to Realme 3 once again with a larger 13MP sensor.
Amongst the ports and connectivity features, Realme 3 added the benefit of 10W fast charging together with the bonus of a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.
The Realme C1 still sales for as low as Php5,590(from Php5,990) while Realme 3 is already expected to retail anytime soon for Php5,990. For an additional Php500, we have a new king of budget phones in 2019.
| Specs | Realme C1 | Realme 3 |
| Display | 6.2-inch IPS LCD, 720 x 1520, 271ppi, 19:9 ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | 6.22-inch IPS LCD, 720 x 1520, 270ppi, 19:9 ratio |
| Dimensions | 156.2 x 75.6 x 8.2 mm, 168g | 156.1 x 75.6 x 8.3 mm |
| Chipset | Qualcomm SDM450 Snapdragon 450 (14 nm) | Mediatek MT6771 Helio P60 (12 nm) |
| GPU | Adreno 506 | Mali-G72 MP3 |
| Memory | 16 GB, 2 GB RAM + dedicated microSD, up to 256 GB | 64 GB, 4 GB RAM or 32 GB, 3 GB RAM + dedicated microSD slot, up to 256GB |
| Main Camera | 13 MP, f/2.2, AF + 2 MP, f/2.4, depth sensor |
13 MP, f/1.8, 1/3″, 1.12µm, PDAF 2 MP, depth sensor |
| Front Camera | 5 MP, f/2.2 | 13 MP, f/2.0, 1/3″, 1.12µm |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 /b/g/n/, WiFi Direct, hotspot, BT 4.2, A2DP, LE, micro USB 2.0, headphone jack | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, hotspot, BT 4.2, A2DP, LE, micro USB, headphone jack |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Ion 4230mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Ion 4230mAh battery, 10W charging |
| OS | Android 8.1 (Oreo) with ColorOS OS 5.2 | Android 9.0 (Pie) |
| Official Price | Php5,990 | $120 or P5,990 estimate 3GB model |
