The Realme C30 is a brand new 2022 smartphone still using microUSB

Realme has a new smartphone in town, the Realme C30. It’s not going to grab headlines as the most powerful device or anything like that though, as it’s an entry-level device positioned in the sub-RM500 category. However, it does have some quirks in its specs, such as having the almost obsolete microUSB port for charging.

Realme C30 Malaysia pricing and availability

The Realme C30 will be available at all Realme Malaysia authorised stores as well as their official Shopee store from 16 July onwards, and will come in three colourways: Lake Blue, Bamboo Green and Denim Black. If you’re interested, here’s how much it’ll cost:

• Realme C30, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage – RM429
• Realme C30, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage – RM499

Realme C30 specs and features

At first glance, the Realme C30 certainly has a rather interesting design, with its blue and green models having a ‘vertical stripe’ design which Realme says is inspired by ‘high-end luggage’. It packs a 6.5-inch, HD+ LCD display with an 88.7% screen-to-body ratio. It weighs 182g and measures 8.5mm thick.

Under the hood, you’re getting neither a Qualcomm or Snapdragon chip here. Instead, the Realme C30 comes with a Unisoc T612 system-on-chip, which is an entry-level chip using two Cortex-A75 cores and six Cortex-A55 cores. You’ll find that mated to up to 4GB of RAM and up to 64GB of UFS 2.2 storage. Additionally, you can put in a microSD card for up to 1TB of external storage too. Perhaps due to the weaker processor used, it comes with Realme UI Go Edition based on Android 11, which is a stripped down version of Android meant for entry-level devices.

As for cameras, you won’t find any fancy multi-camera setups here, but there is still a reasonable 8MP, f/2.0 camera on the rear with support for up to 1080p video recording at 30fps. The front of the Realme C30 meanwhile has a 5MP, f/2.2 camera for all your selfie needs.

Elsewhere, you’ll find a 5,000mAh battery that Realme says will get you 102 hours of continuous music with 10W charging speeds. Unfortunately, the Realme C30 still comes with a microUSB slot even though almost every other smartphone in 2022 has switched to USB-C. At the very least, you do get the charging brick in the box, and there’s a 3.5mm audio jack too. It does seem to lack WiFi 5GHz connectivity though, supporting just 2.4GHz WiFi along with Bluetooth 5.0.

With a rather obscure processor and an outdated microUSB port, the Realme C30’s only redeeming point here might be its large battery and—if you’re into it—its design. A likely rival to the Realme C30 here would be the perennial favourite in the entry-level space, the Redmi series of smartphones. The Redmi 10C in particular has a much more capable Snapdragon 680 under the hood but does cost slightly more at RM559 for the configuration with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.