Very discreet in France for a year, Realme is gently resurfacing with the C67, an entry-level smartphone, ground on which the Chinese manufacturer has carved out a good reputation until now.
It’s a little surprise arriving in February 2024. The Realme brand is back in our region. Very discreet and almost at a standstill in France for a year, the Chinese manufacturer is making a smooth return with the C67. An entry-level mobile capable of attracting those who simply want to have a smartphone capable of accompanying them on a daily basis and who are not looking for performance at all costs. In this area, Realme which stood out with its C55 (still sold at a price of 219 euros), wishes to drive the point home with the C67 and come against well-established brands like Xiaomi with its Redmi Note 13 or even Poco (subsidiary of Xiaomi) and its Poco C65 that we tested a few weeks ago or the brand new M6 Pro.
Entry-level smartphone requires, plastic reigns supreme on this C67. But Realme has worked on it brilliantly, especially on the green model (it also exists in black) which has pretty iridescent reflections on the back. The design is not revolutionary, but the device adopts flat edges like those found on the iPhone or the new Galaxy S24 from Samsung.
It is quite thin with a thickness of 7.6 mm and light (185 g). Still on the back, two photo modules occupy an island whose aesthetic strongly resembles what Huawei offers on its Nova series. Nestled there is an astonishing 108 Mpx sensor (f/1.7) offering x3 digital zoom without loss by cropping in the image. It is supported by a more anecdotal 2 Mpx macro module (f/2.4).
As for the screen, no surprise at this price. Realme has opted for a 6.72-inch LCD panel offering a definition of 2400 x 1080 pixels and refreshing at 90 Hz. The brand has, however, worked on the brightness with a peak indicated at 950 nits. Not bad. On the sound side, this time we benefit from two speakers for the stereo (this was not the case until then).
Under the hood, Realme has called on Qualcomm for the animation. A Snapdragon 685 SoC is in operation, supported by 6 or 8 GB of RAM depending on the configurations. It is this same processor that we find for example on the Redmi Note 13 from Xiaomi. A 4G chip that offers enough power to ensure good fluidity for the system (Android 14) and most apps.
A little touch for the interface: this Realme adopts its own version of the Dynamic Island present on iOS. A way to display real-time notifications around the selfie camera punch. Original. Finally, on the battery side, a traditional 5000 mAh battery is responsible for powering everything. It is compatible with 33W fast charging (the charger is even provided).
The Realme C67 is available in two configurations: the most affordable (6-128 GB) is priced at 219 euros and available only on Amazon. The second (8-256 GB) costs 259 euros. Both models benefit from until 1er March 20 euros discount.
With the C67, Realme marks a first step for its return to France. The firm does not hide its ambition to also relaunch its GT models in our regions, more elaborate but also more expensive. Let’s wait and see. Realme is a Chinese brand from the BBK Electronics group which includes other smartphone giants in its catalog such as OnePlus, Vivo, IQoo and especially Oppo, the flagship. Last year, Oppo withdrew hastily from French territory. In question, setbacks with Nokia concerning patents on the 5G chips used in its smartphones (a conflict recently resolved) to which was added the cessation of activity of its exclusive distributor in France Yang Technology. The return of Realme could also be a preamble to that of Oppo in our region. To be continued.