Along with the announcement of the Realme 3 Pro is the company’s new entry-level smartphone, the Realme C2. It’s the successor to the Realme C1 launched in 2018. Let’s compare to the two to see what has changed and see if it’s worth the upgrade.
| Realme C2 | Realme C1 |
|---|---|
| 6.1-inch HD+ (1560 x 720) 19.5:9 display, 282ppi | 6.2-inch HD+ (1520 x 720) 19:9 display, 271ppi |
| Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| MediaTek Helio P22 (12nm) 2.0GHz octa-core CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 (14nm) 1.8GHz octa-core CPU |
| PowerVR GE8320 GPU | Adreno 506 GPU |
| 2GB, 3GB RAM | 2GB RAM |
| 16GB, 32GB storage | 16GB storage |
| microSD up to 256GB (dedicated slot) | microSD up to 256GB (dedicated slot) |
| 13MP F2.2 (main) + 2MP F2.4 (depth), dual rear cameras | 13MP F2.2 (main) + 2MP F2.4 (depth), dual rear cameras |
| 5MP F2.0 front camera | 5MP F2.2 front camera |
| Dual-SIM | Dual-SIM |
| 4G LTE | 4G LTE |
| WiFi 802.11 b/g/n | WiFi 802.11 b/g/n |
| Bluetooth 4.2 | Bluetooth 4.2 |
| GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS |
| FM Radio | FM Radio |
| 3.5mm audio jack | 3.5mm audio jack |
| micro USB 2.0 | micro USB 2.0 |
| Face Unlock | Face Unlock |
| ColorOS 6 (Android 9 Pie) | ColorOS 5.2 (Android 8 Oreo, upgradable to Android 9 Pie) |
| 4,000mAh battery | 4,230mAh battery |
| 154.3 x 73.7 x 8.5 mm | 156.2 x 75.6 x 8.2 mm |
| 166 g | 168 g |
So, what’s changed?
First up is the display. The Realme C1 had a thicker notch and a 19:9 aspect ratio. With the Realme C2, it has a smaller notch with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio which makes it more immersive. The screen size of the C2 is 0.1-inch smaller, but it has a slightly higher resolution. For protection, it still has Gorilla Glass 3.
The Realme C2 also gets a new chipset and now has the Helio P22 from MediaTek. We encountered this chip before with the Nokia 3.1 Plus, and it got a score of 77,293 in AnTuTu. For the Realme C1, it has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 which got a rating of 72,601 on AnTuTu in our review. That’s not much of an improvement, but you can still expect it to run games like PUBG Mobile in their low-medium settings.
The C2 also now comes in two configurations: 2GB + 16GB and 3GB + 32GB, unlike the C1 that only came with 2GB + 16GB. The C2 retains the dedicated microSD card slot, which is good news to those who want to expand the storage capacity.
As for the cameras, the C2 retained the specs of the dual-rear cameras found on the C1. Same with the front camera, however, we noticed, that the one on the C2 has a slightly larger aperture.
For the software, the C2 now comes with ColorOS 6 based on Android 9 Pie. The C1 came out with ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8 Oreo, but it will soon receive Android 9 Pie.
Lastly, the storage, the C2 gets a lower capacity than the C1 which is quite odd. The C1’s battery life was at 17 hours and 30 minutes with PC Mark. Let’s hope the C2 gets close to it, at least.
The Realme C1 is currently at PHP 5,990. We don’t know yet if it will arrive in the Philippines, but we expect it to be at the same price as the C1 for the 3GB + 32GB model. Time for a price cut for the C1 then if it happens.
So what do you guys think? Let us know in the comments below.
