You might be forgiven for mistaking Realme’s new C67 smartphone for the midrange Realme 11x when comparing their technical specifications. They are basically separated by a 108MP camera with a different look to the camera island.
Otherwise, there’s very little to distinguish the two, which is what makes the C67 noteworthy as an entry-level smartphone.
Design-wise, it comes with flat edges to keep up with the times, while the back houses the cameras in a pill-shaped island. As with most other smartphones today, the bulge of the camera island ensures you cannot leave the C67 completely flat on its back.
The matte finish ensures this is no fingerprint magnet, giving it a look of sophistication often missing in the entry-level market. Not using a glass back also has another advantage: you do not have to worry about cracking it if you have butterfingers.
A 6.72-inch (17cm) IPS LCD display at Full HD+ resolution greets you in front. It has a 90Hz refresh rate that is the bare minimum these days, while a punch-hole selfie camera is located smack in the centre at the top.
With a maximum level of 550 nits, you will have some trouble using this handset under bright sunlight when outdoors. The bezels are rather noticeable but do not detract from the overall viewing experience.
The volume rocker is located on the right of the handset, above the power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner. The presence of dual stereo speakers is certainly a bonus!
The bottom features a USB-C port and a 3.5mm audio jack, while the left houses a dual-SIM tray with a microSD slot to boot for memory-expansion purposes.
Armed with 360° NFC, which lets you share data between the device and an NFC tag, you can now swipe NFC cards at any position and angle for an increased success rate. While this is nice to have, it’s not entirely necessary.
Having explored the Mini Capsule in earlier iterations, the Realme C67 features Mini Capsule 2.0 to deliver notifications that pop up intelligently in a capsule-like design (hence its name!) around the front camera.
Three new functions are supported this time around: music, weather and events, with the latter requiring an OTA update further down the road.
Performance and software
The C67 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 685 chipset that was manufactured using the 6nm process, a rarity in this price segment. Still, mated to 8GB RAM and 128GB or 256GB of RAM, it is not going to break any records in benchmark tests.
The C67 can do everything a flagship smartphone does when it comes to most apps, albeit a smidge slower owing to the internal hardware. There are very short lags at times when switching between apps, though this is not worth harping about.
Bear in mind this is not a gaming smartphone, so if you are into mobile gaming, it is best to skip this market segment entirely and aim for a more powerful model in the upper-midrange to flagship tiers.
What a pleasant surprise it is to discover that the Realme C67 runs on the Realme UI skin based on Android 14, which was just released in October, making it the most current version. To see it on an entry-level smartphone is certainly an achievement.
Realme’s update policy for most of its non-flagship handsets consists of two Android upgrades and three years of security patches. This means you will be able to enjoy Android 16 when it rolls out at the end of next year and have security patches until the end of 2026 – although you will most likely have bought another phone by then.
Camera and battery life
Realme has decided to stick with just one primary camera this time around. You get a 108MP-resolution camera with 3x in-sensor zoom, which makes full use of all 12 million pixels in the centre of the 108MP sensor to enable lossless photo capture.
There is no ultra-wide angle sensor here, while the 2MP depth camera could have been left out. Should your inner Narcissus awaken, the punch-hole 8MP selfie camera front and centre gets the job done for social media posts, accompanied by the standard beauty filters most budget phones include.
Overall, the 108MP camera performs brilliantly outdoors with good lighting, as all smartphone cameras should. Do not, however, get your hopes up when it comes to low-light performance: there is noticeable noise and dull colours most of the time. For its class, it would’ve been a surprise if the results were otherwise.
Only Full-HD video recording at 30fps is available with the Realme C67 for both cameras. The jump to 4K video recording on entry-level handsets has not yet happened, but you at least get Electronic Image Stabilisation for less shake and stutter.
Armed with a 5,000mAh battery, most users should be able to obtain a day’s worth of battery life based on a standard usage pattern. This would include an hour or two of streaming music, perhaps an episode of a K-drama thrown into the mix, with a slew of instant messaging and doom scrolling on social media.
The Realme C67 supports 33W fast charging, taking approximately 90 minutes to go from 0-100%. While not the quickest in the industry, it should be adequate for most users.
Overall, it is hard to argue against an entry-level handset that delivers IP54 rating. The 360° NFC feature is a gimmick at best, while the 2MP depth camera is nothing more than a superfluous addition.
The 3x in-sensor zoom camera that delivers lossless image quality, though – now THAT is something that separates the wheat from the chaff.
The 128GB model and 256GB model will retail for RM799 and RM899, respectively.
Edwin Kee dreamt of being a pro-gamer only to have circumstances mould him into a programmer in a past life. He has since moved on to write about consumer electronics and other topics. Read more articles by Edwin here.