Realme C100 Malaysia review: A practical budget friendly phone for long days away
The Realme C100 5G arrives with a rather obvious priority: battery life. It packs a massive 7,000mAh battery, which is a pretty ridiculous capacity when you consider that plenty of phones costing much more still settle for smaller batteries. Realme has also thrown in 5G connectivity, a 144Hz display and IP64 dust and water resistance, making the C100 5G look like quite a practical phone on paper.
Having spent close to two weeks with the Realme C100 5G, I went in expecting the battery to do most of the heavy lifting. It does, of course, but I also ended up appreciating the sturdy build, the outdoor-friendly display and perhaps most surprisingly, the main camera. Give it enough daylight and it is actually a pretty enjoyable camera to shoot with.
So, is a huge battery and a more durable build enough to make the Realme C100 5G worth considering? Well, there is certainly more to this phone than I initially expected.
Surprisingly sturdy for a budget phone
Right out of the box, the first thing that caught me off guard about the Realme C100 5G was not actually the battery. It was the way the phone feels in the hand.
I tend to pay quite a bit of attention to smartphone colours and finishes, especially when so many devices today end up looking rather similar. Our review unit came in the Blooming Purple colourway, and I actually quite like what Realme has done here. The subtle floral-inspired pattern across the back panel adds a little character without making the phone look too flashy, while the textured matte finish feels pleasant to hold and does a good job of keeping fingerprints away.
Now, this is still very much a plastic smartphone, and there is no mistaking it for something more premium once you pick it up. But if I am being honest, that does not bother me too much here. The chassis feels reassuringly solid, while the textured back panel gives it a surprisingly comfortable grip. I have fairly small hands, so large phones can sometimes feel a little awkward to use, but I found the C100 5G secure enough to hold even without the included case.
Speaking of the case, it is still nice to have one in the box, along with the bundled charger and USB-C cable. With accessories becoming less common in smartphone boxes these days, being able to unbox the phone and start using it properly without buying anything else is still a win in my book.
As for the display, you are looking at a large 6.8-inch HD+ LCD panel with support for refresh rates of up to 144Hz. Now, much like other phones offering refresh rates this high, you are not going to see every single app running at the full 144Hz. Still, scrolling through social media and navigating the interface feels smooth enough, and that is probably what most users will care about anyway.
One thing I did appreciate was the outdoor visibility. With up to 900nits of brightness in high brightness mode, I had no major issues checking Google Maps, replying to messages or framing photos while out under the afternoon sun. The HD+ resolution is a compromise, especially at this price, and anyone coming from a sharper AMOLED display will notice that text and images do not look quite as crisp. But for social media, YouTube and navigation, it remains perfectly usable.
A battery made for people who are always out
Where the Realme C100 5G really stands out though is with its battery life. I mean, with a 7,000mAh battery, it had better be good right? Thankfully, it is.
My daily usage mostly involved scrolling through social media, watching YouTube videos and taking photos throughout the day. With that kind of use, the Realme C100 5G could comfortably last me around two days before needing to be charged again. Of course, battery life drops faster once you start adding more demanding tasks such as prolonged navigation, mobile data usage outdoors or gaming. Still, for my usual day-to-day routine, the 7,000mAh battery delivered the kind of endurance that genuinely makes a difference.
There is support for 45W charging too, with the charger included in the box. It is not the sort of ultra-fast charging speed that will get people excited on its own, but considering how long the battery lasts in the first place, it is fast enough for a quick top-up before heading out.
Realme also includes bypass charging, allowing the phone to draw power directly from the charger during gaming instead of constantly feeding the battery. I don’t think this will be the main reason anyone buys the C100 5G, but it is a thoughtful feature to have if you occasionally spend longer sessions gaming while plugged in.
Enough performance for the everyday stuff
Powering the Realme C100 5G is a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 processor, paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage on our review unit. It comes with Android 16 out of the box, skinned with Realme UI 7.0 over it.
As for performance itself, it is mostly fine for the kind of everyday tasks this phone is meant for. I could browse social media, watch videos, reply to messages and use navigation without the phone becoming frustrating. It is not especially quick though, and if you are coming from a more expensive phone, you will probably notice that apps take a little longer to open and the interface does not always feel as immediate.
Things do get a little harder when you start switching between several heavier apps. I occasionally noticed apps reloading after being left in the background, while some larger applications took a little longer to launch. This is not something that ruins the experience, but at it price, it is worth acknowledging that users looking for the most performance per ringgit may have other options to consider.
Gaming performance was actually better than I expected. PUBG Mobile ran reasonably well on higher settings, with no major frame drops during shorter sessions, while the phone remained fairly cool when used indoors. There is also a GT Mode available when you want to give games a little extra push.
That being said, I would not buy this phone primarily for gaming. It can handle the occasional session just fine, but the whole point of the C100 5G is clearly endurance rather than performance. If your idea of daily smartphone use involves hours of demanding games, this probably is not the phone for you.
The speakers are worth a quick mention too. Realme claims up to a 300% volume boost, and while I would not say the speakers deliver particularly rich or detailed audio, they do get loud. For listening to navigation prompts outdoors, watching short videos or taking calls in noisier surroundings, that is arguably more useful than having perfectly balanced sound.
There is also still a 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD expansion here, two features that are becoming increasingly rare even on more expensive smartphones. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but having the option to plug in wired earphones or add more storage without paying for a higher storage variant is still genuinely useful.
This camera works best outdoors
Moving on to the cameras, the Realme C100 5G keeps things fairly simple with a 50MP main camera on the rear and a 5MP selfie camera on the front.
Now, you are probably not buying a phone called the C100 5G because you want the ultimate camera experience. The good news is that its main camera is actually quite usable as long as you have enough light. Outdoor scenery and subjects taken during the day look pleasant enough, with vibrant colours, reasonable detail and autofocus that works faster than I expected.
It is the kind of camera that works fine for taking a quick shot for social media, snapping a photo of your lunch or documenting something while you are out. In that context, I really do not have too many complaints.
The limitations become much clearer once you head indoors or start shooting at night. Photos become noisier, finer details start looking softer, and Night Mode can sometimes leave the image looking a little over-processed. It is still usable if you simply need a quick photo, but this is definitely not the phone to get if low-light photography matters a lot to you.
The 5MP selfie camera tells a similar story. It is fine for video calls, casual selfies or the occasional social media story in good light, but that is about as much as you should expect from it.
Video recording is probably the camera system’s weakest area, with limited stabilisation making handheld footage look rather shaky. For basic recordings or documentation purposes, it works. But anyone looking to regularly create video content using their phone will want something more capable.
A practical enough choice for the right user
Overall though, I did come away appreciating the Realme C100 5G for what it does well. Perhaps it is because the 7,000mAh battery really does make a noticeable difference in daily use, or maybe it is because the sturdy build, loud speakers and headphone jack make it feel like a phone designed around practical needs rather than just a marketing checklist.
I mean sure, at RM1,099 for the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage model, it becomes harder to overlook some compromises. The HD+ display is not particularly sharp for this price range, the cameras are best kept to daylight shots, and the Dimensity 6300 is not going to appeal to anyone looking for the most performance per ringgit.
That puts the Realme C100 5G in a rather specific position. It might not be the first phone I would recommend to someone looking for the best all-rounder at RM1,099, but for riders, drivers or anyone whose priorities are long battery life and a phone that feels dependable outdoors, it is definitely worth checking out.
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