Realme C55 launches as world's first "Mini Capsule for Android" smartphone

Realme is just one OEM that has been believed to follow Apple's lead in developing a Dynamic Island of its own. Now, this 'first-to-Android' feature has been brought to the Indian market in the form of the Helio G88-powered C55. Then again, some consumers who order this new mid-ranger may be very confused when faced with its standard-looking, center-aligned punch-hole display out of the box.

This is because the "Mini Capsule" effect that converts this 8MP selfie camera into an elongated pill-shaped window is in fact a new tweak of Realme UI 4.0 for the C55. Once deployed, the Capsule can be set to display information such as a step count, data usage or SuperVOOC charging status.

The battery tech only goes up to 33W in the new C55, although Realme still asserts this is fast enough to refill its 5,000mAh battery by 50% in 29 minutes. Otherwise, the new smartphone is a measure of how far the lower tiers of the Android smartphone market has come: its 90Hz display refresh rate is found in a flat-edged chassis just 7.98mm-high, making for "the thinnest C-series phone yet".

Furthermore, its rear cameras take the same up-to-date double-barrel style of the higher-end 10 series, although its main 64MP "AI" shooter may not be that much to shout about. Nevertheless, the same inaugural Mini Capsule-enabled UI is based on Android 13, and also supports Dynamic RAM for up to 8GB more 'virtual' memory.

That might be just as well, as the C55 upgrades come screeching to a halt with 4/64GB base model SKUs, with a more modern 8/128GB configuration reserved for the top-end option. They start for INR 10,999 (~US$133) and can be pre-ordered from today (March 21, 2023) from realme.com/in in either Sunshower yellow or Rainy Night black.

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