Realme C31 vs Realme C21Y

Here we compared two budget smartphones: the 6.5-inch Realme C31 (with Unisoc Tiger T612) that was released on March 25, 2022, against the Realme C21Y, which is powered by Unisoc T610 and came out 9 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Realme C31
  • Faster storage type - UFS 2.2 versus eMMC 5.1
  • The phone is 9-months newer
Reasons to consider the Realme C21Y
  • Reverse charging feature
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 1080p
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Review

Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Price

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Size 6.5 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 720 x 1600 pixels 720 x 1600 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 270 ppi 270 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 415 nits 400 nits
HDR support No No
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 81.4% 81.6%
Display tests
PWM Not detected -
Response time 48 ms -
Contrast 1033:1 -
Peak brightness test (auto)
394 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 164.7 mm (6.48 inches) 164.5 mm (6.48 inches)
Width 76.1 mm (3 inches) 76 mm (2.99 inches)
Thickness 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) 9.1 mm (0.36 inches)
Weight 197 g (6.95 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors Silver, Green Black, Blue
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in home button Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
81.4%
81.6%

Performance

Tests of Realme C31 and Realme C21Y in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Unisoc Tiger T612 Unisoc T610
Max clock 1800 MHz 1800 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A75
- 6 cores at 1.82 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 1.82 GHz: Cortex-A75
L3 cache - 1 MB
Lithography process 12 nanometers 12 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G57 MP1 ARM Mali G52 MP2
GPU clock 614 MHz 614 MHz
FLOPS - ~71.2 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
353
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
1329
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
211450
195398
CPU 67603 66485
GPU 22171 32103
Memory 61955 37779
UX 58129 57506
Total score 211450 195398
3DMark Wild Life Performance
PCMark 3.0
Web score 6626 -
Video editing 4821 -
Photo editing 15888 -
Data manipulation 5964 -
Writing score 8286 -
Sources: 3DMark [3]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 3, 4 GB 3, 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock - 1866 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 32, 64 GB 32, 64 GB
Storage type UFS 2.2 eMMC 5.1
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB Up to 256 GB

Software

Operating system Android 11 Android 11
ROM Realme UI 2.0 Realme UI 2.0

Battery

Specifications
Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Charge power 10 W 10 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No Yes
Fast charging No No
Full charging time 2:40 hr 3:00 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 13 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 4128 x 3096 4128 x 3096
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No No
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion No No
Lenses 3 (13 MP + 2 MP + 0.3 MP) 3 (13 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 13 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 25 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/3" (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- 13 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Sensor: 1/3.06" (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
Macro lens - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Pixel size: 1.75 micron
- Sensor: 1/5" (CMOS)
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Pixel size: 1.75 micron
Depth lens - 0.3 MP
- Aperture: f/2.8
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
Camera features - Bokeh mode - Bokeh mode
Selfie camera
Megapixels 5 megapixels 5 megapixels
Image resolution 2560 x 1960 2560 x 1960
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 27 mm 27 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns 1.12 microns
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/5" 1/5"
Video resolution 720p at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n) Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 a/b/g/n)
Wi-Fi features - Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, HID, A2DP
USB type Micro USB Micro USB
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
NFC* Depends on the region No
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 7
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Mono Mono
Headphone audio jack Yes Yes
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No No
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Budget Budget
Announced March 2022 June 2021
Release date March 2022 July 2021
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Fingerprint
- Proximity sensor
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Realme C31. It has a better connectivity and sound.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
36 (64.3%)
20 (35.7%)
Total votes: 56

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