realme C53 First Impressions

We got a hold of realme’s newest upcoming C-series phone, the realme C53!

If you’re interested in learning more about this new realme device, we got you covered.  Check out first impressions of the realme C53, down below!

realme C53 First Impressions

Starting off, our initial thoughts upon first holding the realme C53 was that it felt surprisingly substantial in the hand. It’s got a good weight to it but doesn’t feel unwieldy despite its size.

You get chamfered edges and rounded corners so gripping the phone feels comfortable. realme says that the C53 is 7.49mm in thickness — so it isn’t surprising that it feels easy to hold despite the large screen.

For I/O, we have a USB-C port at the bottom, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a mic, and a single downward-firing speaker.

Unfortunately, there are no stereo speakers here so we’ll get back to you if this is a dealbreaker after our full testing.

On the right, we get the volume rocker and power button — which doubles as a fingerprint sensor.

And on the left, we get the SIM slot, which houses two nano SIM slots and a dedicated micro SD slot that’s expandable to up to 2TB. That’s pretty neat if you’re a user who needs two SIMs or somebody that regularly uses expanded memory with your devices.

At the back, we get a frosted glass-looking finish, which, unfortunately, seems to catch fingerprints fairly easily.

The Black colorway does look really clean and sleek. Aside from this understated Black, the C53 will also be available in a Champion Gold colorway, if you want a flashier look.

For its display, the realme C53 sports a 6.74-inch HD+ LCD screen, which is a 720 x 1600 resolution, with a 90 Hz refresh rate, and a teardrop notch up top.

At first glance, the C53’s display looked decently bright and vivid. We would, however, be remiss if we didn’t mention how an FHD resolution would’ve been great on the C53 but HD+ is what we have here. That comes out to about 260 ppi and pixels were admittedly more noticeable than usual.

We do see some color shifting on the C53 when you view its display at different angles but we’ll see if this matters with more testing.

Its display does have a higher refresh rate, at 90 Hz, so scrolling and navigating the UI feels zippy and smooth.

Powering the realme C53 is an Octa-core Unisoc T612 processor, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage. That 6GB of RAM can be extended up to 12GB with the C53’s dynamic RAM capability.

We were able to download and run Genshin Impact after we unboxed the device, so the initial performance of the C53 is promising. Of course, we’ll know more once we put the C53 through its paces in our in-depth gaming and performance analysis.

Software-wise, the C53 runs on realme’s skin called the realme UI T edition, based on Android 13. Surprisingly, we did find out that the C53 has realme’s iteration of a “Dynamic Island” software-enhanced notch.

We did only observe it appearing as a battery indicator when charging the device, but that’s just from our initial hands-on with the C53. We’ll see if other features are baked into the C53’s version of the dynamic island.

For cameras, we get a 50MP AI camera at the rear which serves as the C53’s main shooter, an LED flash, and an additional 0.8MP Black and White depth sensor. For selfies, we have an 8MP AI front-facing camera, with support for 720p video recording at 30fps.

Realme says that the C53 will have a 50MP Mode, so we’re excited to see how well that mode performs and what photos we can get out of it.

While we continue testing, we did take some initial photo samples from the C53 that you can check out below:

For its battery, the C53 comes with a 5000 mAh battery that is capable of 33W of SUPERVOOC fast charging. We’re curious to see how fast we can top up the C53 but we’re just glad we get relatively fast charging out of the box with that 33W fast charging capability.

That ends our first impressions of the realme C53! While we feel that an FHD+ display is missing here, other aspects of the C53 look to be solid.

And, as of right now, we don’t know the official price of the C53 just yet.  We do expect it to slot below realme’s recent C-series phone, the C55 — which came in at around 8k-10k pesos. But until then, we’ll reserve judgment till the official price comes out.

Anyways, what do you think of realme’s newest C-series phone? Are there any features you want us to focus on in our full testing?

Let us know in the comments down below!

realme C53 specs:

6.74-inch HD+ (720 x 1600) LCD
90 Hz refresh rate
Unisoc T612 Processor (12nm architecture)
6GB RAM (+6GB Virtual RAM expansion)
128GB of internal storage (Expandable up to 2TB via microSD)
50MP main lens
0.8MP Black and White Depth sensor
8MP front-facing camera
WiFi 2.4GHz, 5GHz
Bluetooth 5.0
2G / 3G / 4G
3.5mm Headphone Jack
USB Type-C
realme UI T Edition, based on Android 13
5000 mAh with 33W fast charging
Mighty Black, Champion Gold
167.26mm x 76.67mm x 7.49mm
182g