Realme’s new number series comprises 2 smartphones – Realme 15 and Realme 15 Pro. We took a close look at the Pro model last week and found it to be an exciting prospect in the sub-Rs 35,000 price bracket. We now turn our attention to the vanilla model, which is currently priced at Rs 23,999. It flaunts the same 6.8-inch AMOLED display as the Pro model. Both smartphones are rated IP68/69 rating and are compliant with MIL-STD-810H standards. However, the vanilla model packs a MediaTek Dimensity 7300+ chipset under its hood instead of a Snapdragon processor like its Pro counterpart. We used the smartphone for a week and put it through a series of tests. Here is our Realme 15 review.
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In This Article
Realme 15 Review: Design and Display
Here’s what you get inside Realme 15’s retail box:
- Smartphone
- 80W power adapter
- USB Type-A to Type-C cable
- Plastic cover
- SIM ejector
- Seal stickers
- Quick guide
Both models in the Realme 15 series follow the same design language. The vanilla model is available in fibreglass and eco leather back panel variants. The former comes in Flowing Silver and Silk Pink paint shades. The eco leather back panel variant, which we used for this review, is available in a Velvet Green colour. We like this deep shade of green, as it is a charming respite from the standard black, grey, and white colour themes.
The eco leather back has an incredible in-hand feel. Its texture is a smidge coarser than the matte finish panels commonly found in midrange smartphones. This texture keeps fingerprints at bay. The camera panel is moulded out of the same material as the rest of the panel. The three cutouts, LED flash, and fill light are placed in this slightly elevated panel.
The eco leather back panel gently curves into the aluminium frame. This frame houses the volume rocker and the side button on its right edge. The SIM slot, primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and primary speaker grille find their way to the bottom edge. The secondary speaker and noise-cancelling microphone are placed up top.
The 6.8-inch curved AMOLED display has a 144Hz refresh rate and can reach 1,800 nits in High Brightness Mode. While playing HDR content, it can hit a peak brightness of 6,500 nits. In outdoor conditions, this display is able to overcome the bright environment with ease and maintain legibility. Its optical fingerprint scanner is snappy and accurate. The touch response is smooth and fluid. Being a curved panel, it does register the odd accidental touch, but it is not a frequent occurrence.
We used the Realme 15 as our primary media streaming device during the review period. We were quite happy with the vivid and detailed visuals relayed by the OLED panel. You can choose a colour profile for this display from the settings. We tried all of these profiles and found ourselves coming back to the DCI-P3 one. The stereo speaker setup on this smartphone produces a loud audio output, but it sounds slightly boxy.
One of the biggest assets of the Realme 15 is its durability. The smartphone is compliant with MIL-STD-810 standards. It can absorb a decent knock without getting damaged. If you accidentally drop the smartphone from your pocket, you don’t need to worry about the back panel getting cracked. With an IP68/69 rating onboard, this device is completely waterproof. It can survive being submerged in water up to 2 metres for about 30 minutes.
Realme 15 Review: Performance and Cameras
Powering the Realme 15 is the MediaTek Dimensity 7300+ chipset. The smartphone comes in 3 RAM (LPDDR4X) and storage (UFS 3.1) variants:
- 8GB + 128GB: Rs 23,999
- 8GB + 256GB: Rs 27,999
- 12GB + 256GB: Rs 30,999
We ran the Geekbench 6 and AnTuTu 3D benchmarks on the smartphone. Here’s how it scored.
- Geekbench 6: 1,003 (single-core) | 2,846 (multi-core)
- AnTuTu 3D: 736,665
The Dimensity 7300+ processor is reliable for everyday use. Our daily tasks included calling, instant messaging, social media browsing, emailing, media streaming, and navigation. The Realme 15 did not hit a single roadblock in the review period. Even though it doesn’t use the fastest RAM and storage configurations, it still manages to be quite snappy. The device does a good job of juggling multiple apps together. Its optimisation skills are on point.
During the review period, we played titles like Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI on the Realme 15. We kept the graphics at medium settings and pushed the frame rate to 90fps. The gameplay was smooth and free of stutters. The 7000mm² VC cooling system did a good job of handling the internal temperature of the device. The back panel started warming up after 30 minutes of consistent gaming. AI features like GT Boost and Ultra Touch Control push the frame rate and minimise the latency of touch controls. The AI Gaming Coach analyses in-game situations and offers helpful tips along the way. This seems like a bit of a gimmicky feature right now, but it is an interesting concept. We’d like to see Realme work on it and flesh it out in the future.
Handling the OS duties on the Realme 15 is the Android 15-based Realme UI 6. There are a lot of bloatware apps on the device, which is not surprising for a midrange smartphone. We do like that Realme has its own messaging and dialer apps. The phone is packed with AI features. You get Gemini AI assistant and Circle to Search right out of the box.
Realme’s AI Edit Genie is one of the more interesting features on the device. It’s similar to the voice command image editing feature that was recently unveiled on the Google Pixel 10 series. The idea is simple – you tell your phone the changes you want to see in an image, and it makes the necessary edits using AI. If you’re not a big fan of voice commands, you can type them out as well. Once the command has been registered, it takes the smartphone 10-15 seconds to make the edit. The results were hit or miss for us. The device did a great job of removing objects from images (much better than the object eraser in the native photo editor), but we found that it messed up some of the text in the pictures. You can see the results for yourself down below.
Another exciting feature on the Realme 15 is the Pulse Light. Bordering the ultrawide lens, it lights up when you receive a call or notification. You can program it to dance along with music, act as a countdown timer, and wake up when Gemini is triggered. You can also choose to keep it switched on at all times if you don’t mind it drawing more juice from the battery.
Talking about the battery, the Realme 15 packs a massive 7,000mAh unit. With moderate usage, we got 2 days of battery life out of this device. On days with heavy usage, we were left with ~20% juice left in the tank. Safe to say, this phone puts any kind of battery anxiety to rest. Using the 80W power adapter provided in the box, we were able to fully charge the smartphone in 55 minutes.
The rear camera array of the Realme 15 comprises a 50MP primary shooter and an 8MP ultrawide lens. A 50MP front-facing sensor is housed inside a punch-hole cutout on the display. When you launch the camera app for the first time, you are asked to choose between a vibrant and crisp colour profile. The app is also equipped with a useful AI landscape mode that gets rid of haziness from the scene while taking wide shots. The AI Party mode analyses the scene in front of you and makes the necessary adjustments to the image. It comes in quite handy in low-light indoor conditions, but other than that, it feels a bit gimmicky.
The 50MP primary shooter takes good pictures in outdoor daylight conditions. It retains the natural colour tones and captures all the important details. The images are sharp and balanced. The dynamic range of the images is decent. In limited lighting conditions, the smartphone does a good job of illuminating the subject and keeping the noise to a minimum.
Images taken with the 8MP ultrawide camera are visibly softer, but they showcase vibrant colours. The sensor lacks autofocus, which makes it less than ideal if you want to capture a subject in your near field. However, wide landscape shots were handled very well. In limited lighting, the smartphone relies heavily on Night Mode to brighten up the ultrawide shots. The final results are grainy and soft.
Portrait shots taken with the Realme 15 are vibrant and well-focused. The camera app has an ‘AI Portrait Clarity’ setting that bumps up the quality of the portraits. The ‘Portrait Distortion Correction’ keeps the edges of the subject from getting blurred. Needless to say, the smartphone does a good job of separating the subject from the background and applying the optimum level of blur. In limited lighting conditions, the fill light on the camera array plays a big role in capturing the subject with precision.
The front-facing 50MP sensor captures clear selfies. The smartphone keeps the skin brightening and texture correction effects to a minimum. This sensor can record 4K, 1,080p, and 720p videos at 30fps. The 50MP main sensor can shoot 4K videos at 30fps and 1,080p/720p videos at 30/60fps. Meanwhile, the ultrawide camera can record 1,080p and 720p videos at 30fps.
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Verdict
The Realme 15 is one of the better bargains in the midrange smartphone segment. Its hardware specs alone make it a great deal. We are big fans of its military-grade durability and IP68/69 rating. The eco leather back offers a nice in-hand feel. The Dimensity 7300+ processor is reliable for everyday tasks. If you want to try your hand at gaming, this processor will not disappoint you.
The ‘AI Party’ reputation of this phone stems from its camera profile. It is a bit of a gimmick, but nonetheless, it is fun to use every once in a while. The 50MP primary shooter and 8MP ultrawide lens do not need to rely on the AI features in the camera app to put up a good performance. However, the AI Edit Genie is an exciting feature in the native gallery app. It makes photo-editing more accessible to casual users. It’s something your parents will enjoy using a lot. Lastly, the 7,000mAh battery pack ties a neat bow to the smartphone’s overall performance. If you’re slightly conservative with your usage, you can get 2 days of battery life out of this phone.
Realme 15: Pros
- Bright display
- IP68/69 rating
- AI features
Realme 15: Cons
- Contains bloatware
- Boxy audio output
