Realme C53: Entry level smartphone with ‘Mini Capsule’, 50MP camera at RM599

Realme has launched their latest entry in its C-series of budget smartphones in Malaysia, the Realme C53. Despite its fairly low price, you’re getting a device that at least on the surface looks pretty premium with a large screen too.

Realme C53 Malaysia pricing and availability

The Realme C53 will be available in just one version with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, priced at RM599. It will go on sale from 7 June onwards, and you’ll be able to find it at Realme official stores on Lazada, TikTok and Shopee as well as from authorised retailers nationwide.

Realme C53 specs

Right off the bat you may notice that the Realme C53 packs a rather large display. It features a 6.74-inch screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, however it is unfortunately running at just a HD+ resolution. Being an LCD panel you get a peak brightness of 560nits, while up top you’ll notice a tear drop notch that, via Realme’s Mini Capsule software, will ‘expand’ to show you information such as data usage and charging status.

Under the hood, the Realme C53 is powered by a Unisoc Tiger T612, an entry-level system-on-chip that Realme has previously used on their other C-series smartphones such as the Realme C33. This gets mated to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with support for expandable storage of up to 2TB. You’ll also find Android 13 out of the box, skinned with Realme UI T Edition over it.

In the camera department, the Realme C53 has a “triple” rear camera module on the back that looks almost similar to the Pro-tier iPhones. However, unlike the iPhone Pro, it’s actually just a dual rear camera setup, and you’ll realistically only be using one of these lenses to take photos and videos with. It has a main 50MP, f/1.8 camera alongside a black and white sensor, while up front in that tear drop notch is an 8MP selfie camera.

Other features of note include a 5,000mAh battery with 33W SuperVOOC fast charging via USB-C, a single-firing speaker that Realme says goes up to 150% for extra volume, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor as well as a 3.5mm audio jack. You’ll find support for WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 too. The Realme C53 measures just 7.49mm thick and weighs 182g, and will be available in Champion Gold or Mighty Black colourways.