Apple launched the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max last year with Dynamic Island, and as is the case with many other things Apple, we expected this feature to be copied by Android OEMs eventually. And it finally happened when Realme introduced Realme C55 about a couple of weeks ago with Mini Capsule. We had one in the office for a full review, but before we put it through our gauntlet, let’s take a quick look at what the Realme C55 has to offer besides the Dynamic Island-like Mini Capsule.
The Realme C55 comes in Realme’s signature yellow retail box, which includes a protective case, a SIM eject tool, some paperwork, a USB-C cable, and a 33W SuperVOOC power adapter (yes, Realme is back to VOOC brand).
The C55 packs a 6.72-inch 90Hz FullHD+ LCD display with a screen refresh rate of 90Hz and a peak brightness of 680 nits. The panel has a centered hole for the 8MP selfie camera and supports the Mini Capsule function, which can show battery power status, data usage and step count.
Out of the box, the Mini Capsule only displays battery status. Its dynamic light turns red when your phone’s battery reaches 5%, blue when it’s charging, and green when it’s fully charged. Support for data usage and step counting will be implemented via OTA. Our unit already received an upgrade weighing in at around 1.2GB, but it didn’t bring those features. If the next update brings them, you’ll find them under the C55s Settings > Realme laboratory > Mini Capsule menu.
On the back, the Realme C55 sports two massive rims that house 64MP primary and 2MP depth cameras. These are placed within a camera island which doesn’t protrude (cameras do, by rocking the phone on flat surfaces) like the camera islands do on most other smartphones, but has a glossy finish and attracts fingerprint smudges, unlike the rest of the panel which It has a matte finish and doesn’t stain easily.
Realme C55 is available in Rainy Night and Sunshower versions. The back cover of the latter, pictured in this article, sports a shower-like pattern and reflects the colors of the rainbow from different angles, while the camera island has a design that gives the impression of the sun’s rays emitting from cameras. That’s where the name Sunshower probably comes from.
That said, the panel doesn’t have curved edges, so some users may not find it comfortable to grip.
Under the hood, the Realme C55 has the Helio G88 SoC with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, expandable up to 1TB since the smartphone has a dedicated slot for a microSD card.
Software-wise, the Realme C55 runs Realme UI 4.0 based on Android 13 with the Android security level of January 2023, but the update we mentioned brings it up to March 2023. The smartphone also comes pre-installed with a bunch of third-party apps, but most of them can be uninstalled if you want.
Keeping the Realme C55 up and running is a 5,000mAh battery with 33W SuperVOOC charging, a first for a Realme C-series smartphone.
The rest of the Realme C55’s highlights include USB-C, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and audio tuning by Dirac. It also has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which we found fast and accurate in the short time we spent with the smartphone.
Realme C55 has three memory options in India: 4GB/64GB, 6GB/64GB and 8GB/128GB, priced at INR 10,999 ($135/€125), INR 11,999 ($145 /€135) and INR 13,999 ($170/€160), respectively.
In Indonesia, the C55 is available in 6GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB configurations. The smartphone has also just been launched in Europe in a single 6/128 GB configuration for €199.
We’re about to start testing the Realme C55 now, so stick around to find out if it’s worth buying.
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