Earlier today, Realme unveiled its latest generation budget smartphone in India, the Realme C30. While the C-series for Realme has always served the most price sensitive smartphone category in India, the Realme C30 comes at a time when the budget smartphone category stands at a pivotal juncture. The latter is particularly sensitive today since more first time buyers are getting smartphones – but at the same time, users are holding on to their smartphones for much longer than before.
On this note, the Realme C30 will serve as competition to a fellow sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone, the Redmi 10A. The latter, which was launched in April this year, makes for one of the best phones in this category in India right now, and it remains to be seen how the two fare against each other. Here’s looking at how they line up in terms of specs, design and more.
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Realme C30 vs Redmi 10A: price in India
The newly launched Realme C30 is priced at Rs 7,499 in India for its 2GB RAM + 32GB storage variant, and Rs 8,299 for its 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant. Both variants are priced lower than what the Redmi 10A costs. Those interested in the Realme C30 can get it in two colour variants – Lake Blue and Bamboo Green, with both the variants featuring a striated back design.
For the Redmi 10A, the price in India starts at Rs 8,499 for the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage variant – which is nearly comparable to the price of the Realme C30. The 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant of the Redmi 10A costs Rs 9,499 in India. The phone is available in Charcoal Black, Sea Blue and Slate Grey colour variants.
Realme C30 vs Redmi 10A: design, specifications and features
Design
As stated above, the Realme C30 features a striated back design, broken in monotony by the simple camera module to the top left. The module has a single rear camera and an accompanying LED flash, and as far as the overall design goes, adds a unique touch to the budget smartphone category. The rest of the design is straightforward – with a drop-notch and a thick bezel chin on the display. The volume rocker and the power button are to the right, and the phone gets no fingerprint sensor. There are also two colour variants – Lake Blue and Bamboo Green.
In comparison, the Redmi 10A gets finer vertical lines on its rear, and gets three colour variants – offering shades of black, grey and blue. The rear camera module looks like a quad camera unit, but actually has a single camera, which looks a bit awkward. This module also includes a physical rear fingerprint sensor. It also gets all buttons to the right, but has thicker bezels than its Realme counterpart.
Processor, storage and RAM
The Realme C30 is powered by a Unisoc Tiger T612 octa-core SoC with a Mali-G57 integrated GPU. It gets 2GB and 3GB RAM variants, with 32GB internal storage. It supports UFS 2.2 storage standard, and has a dedicated microSD card slot that supports up to 1TB external storage.
The Redmi 10A is powered by MediaTek’s Helio G25 octa-core SoC with PowerVR GE8320 integrated graphics. It gets better RAM and storage choices – with a 3GB RAM + 32GB storage base variant, and a 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant as well. While there is no mention of what storage standard is used, the Redmi 10A also supports 1TB microSD cards, and has a dedicated slot for it.
Display
The Realme C30 features a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with HD+ screen resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels, and 20:9 aspect ratio. The display also offers up to 400 nits brightness.
In comparison, the Redmi 10A offers a near-identical, 6.53-inch IPS LCD display, with all other specifications remaining the same.
Cameras
Both the budget smartphones have a single rear camera on offer. The Realme C30 uses an 8MP camera with “artificial intelligence” and an accompanying LED flash, and f/2.0 lens. The camera can also record full HD videos at 30fps. The front camera has a 5MP sensor, and can record 720p HD videos.
The Redmi 10A, meanwhile, offers a 13MP rear camera with f/2.2 lens, and support for full HD 1080p video recording. Its front camera also uses a 5MP sensor, but can offer full HD front video recording.
Battery
Both the Realme C30 and the Redmi 10A feature 5,000mAh batteries, and do not offer any support for fast charging standards.
Connectivity
Both the smartphones offer Wi-Fi connectivity, but only support 2.4GHz bands for wireless internet connectivity. They also offer Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless connectivity, and also feature microUSB ports at the rear. Both the phones also feature 3.5mm audio ports for wired audio connectivity.
Realme C30 vs Redmi 10A: verdict
Based on the specifications on paper, the Redmi 10A slightly edges out the Realme C30 with a higher resolution rear camera and full HD front video recording. However, Unisoc’s T612 SoC is tipped to be a slightly better performer than the Helio G25 on the Redmi 10A. With the Realme C30 offering lesser RAM than the Redmi 10A, things look quite even in the performance front.
However, the Realme C30 has the cost factor going in its favour, since it is less expensive than the Redmi 10A. While the utmost value centric buyers will likely find the Realme C30 to be a better deal, those who can stretch the budget marginally would want to take advantage of the better camera that the Redmi 10A has on offer.
