realme C33 vs vivo Y16 - Under 8K brawl

We compare the similarly priced realme C33 against the vivo Y16 to see the strengths and weaknesses of each smartphone.

Similar but different?

The second half of 2022 has been interesting for smartphones where consumers are given so many options to choose from. In this article, we pick two of the recently released smartphones priced under PHP 8K to see which one is the better pick for consumers.

First up is the realme C33. Its key features include the 6.5-inch 180Hz sampling rate IPS screen with 1600 x 720 resolution, 12nm UNISOC T616 SoC, Mali-G57 GPU, LPPDR4X RAM, UFS 2.2 storage, and 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging.

While the vivo Y16 comes with a 6.51-inch LCD display with 1600 x 720 resolution, a 12nm Helio P35 octa-core processor, PowerVR GE8320, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging.

Before we dive into the review, we highly suggest you guys read our realme C33 Unboxing and vivo Y16 Unboxing.

Let's dive into the full review.

Multimedia Experience

Display differences

Both smartphones come with a similar 6.5-inch LCD display with a 1600 x 720 resolution but only realme advertises the fast 180Hz touch sampling rate.

In our experience, the images produced by either panel are very similar. The details and sharpness are decent but the image produced by the vivo Y16 has a higher peak brightness and is more color accurate. The image on the C33's colors are exaggerated and the contrast isn't as dynamic.

The two screens are not as sharp as other similarly priced phones with 1080p resolutions though.

Top and bottom

For audio, both smartphones have one earpiece for calls only and one bottom-firing speaker for other audio needs. At both phones' price ranges, the volume produced could be louder. The sound stage, range, separation, and details are similar and are expected and are similar to their peers.

Both come with a 3.5mm audio jack but neither comes with a 3.5mm earphone in the box.

The microphones of both smartphones pick up sounds from a meter away. It does a decent job at picking-up sound while the noise-cancellation for calls is somewhat effective.

Cameras

Rear cameras

The realme C33 comes with a rear-facing 50MP primary camera with a depth sensor while the vivo Y16 comes with a 5MP selfie camera.

The stock camera app has the following modes: Photo, Video, Pro, Portrait, Night, Pro Video, Single Take, Food, Panorama, Super Slow-Mo, Slow Motion, Hyperlapse, Portrait Video, and Director's view.

The Pro and Pro Video mode allows for controls of white balance, exposure compensation (+-2), ISO (50-3200), and shutter speed (30 seconds to 1/12000s). Both Pro and Pro Video also allow users to switch between the 1x, 3x, and Ultra-wide cameras while recording. Only the Pro Video allows users to change the audio pickup pattern of the microphone (Omni, Front, Rear, USB, BT, BT mix). 

Rear Camera Samples

realme C33 rear daylight

vivo Y16 rear daylight

Both cameras take acceptable daylight images for the price. However, it is clear that the realme C33's image has a wider field of view and stronger contrast. Because of the stronger contrast, the C33's images appear somewhat sharper.

realme C33 rear indoors

vivo Y16 rear indoors

Indoors, the images retain the quality of daylight images. However, the vivo Y16's image has more micro-contrast or 3-dimensional definition so the dried flowers and the objects on the table appear to pop out of the image. In short, the objects on the table in the image are flatter on the C33.

realme C33 low light

vivo Y16 rear lowlight

In low light, the Y16's camera produced low-light images with significantly more noise which resulted in the loss of sharpness, detail, and color accuracy. The realme C33's camera was able to reduce the noise while retaining color accuracy with a slower shutter speed but unfortunately, the objects in the shadow areas are hardly visible.

realme C33 night mode

vivo Y16 night mode

The Night mode significantly improves the sharpness, color, and contrast of the lowlight images while significantly reducing the noise levels on both phones when the subject is standing still.

If the subject is not moving, we recommend using the night mode in low light situations.

Selfie camera

Both phones feature a notch that houses a 5MP f/2.2 selfie camera.

The stock camera mode includes Photo, Video, Portrait, and Night.

Selfie Camera Samples

realme C33 daylight selfie

vivo Y16 daylight selfie

Both smartphones produce sharp and detailed selfies but the vivo Y16's selfie tends to overexpose and the white balance tends to lean on the warmer side.

realme C33 indoor selfie

vivo Y16 indoor selfie

Indoors, the image quality is the same as in daylight. Both are sharp and detailed but the color and white balance of the C33 is more true to life.

realme C33 selfie low light

vivo Y16 selfie low light

In low light, the vivo Y16's selfie camera's field of view is wider but honestly, both images are very similar.

Both the selfie and rear cameras of the vivo Y16 can capture up to 1080p footage with no indication of the frame rate while the C33's rear camera can up to capture 1080p at 30fps while its selfie camera can capture up to 720p at 30 fps.

Performance

AnTuTu and GeekBench

To recap, the realme C33 comes with a 12nm UNISOC octa-core processor, Mali-G57 GPU, and LPDDR4X RAM while the vivo Y16 carries a 12nm MediaTek Helio P35 octa-core processor, PowerVR GE8320 GPU and LPDDR4X RAM.

3DMark and CPDT

realme C33 and vivo Y16 benchmarks:

1. AnTuTu - 228,653/116,596
2. Geekbench 5 - 344 (Single-Core), 1,398 (Multi-Core)/176 (Single-Core), 972 (Multi-Core) 
3. 3D Mark WildLife Extreme - 1,479/734
4. CPDT - 196.45 (Sequential write speed), 502 MB/s (Sequential read speed)/93.55 (Sequential write speeds), 148.96 MB/s (Sequential read speeds)

The scores are consistent with smartphones equipped with the same UNISOC or MediaTek SoC. When compared with each other, it is clear that the realme C33 consistently performs around twice as better as the vivo Y16.

realme C33 is twice as fast as Y16

During the benchmark run, both phones increased temperatures by around 3 to 4 degrees but the vivo Y16 lost 5 percent of battery while the realme C33 only lost 1 percent.

For security, both phones come with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and face unlock via the front-facing camera. Initial set-up and subsequent uses are almost instantaneous. Either Face Unlock or the fingerprint sensors almost never failed. The sensor only struggled when our fingers were filled with dirt.

In terms of connectivity, we have the following: WiFi, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, GLONASS, and dual SIM.

PCMark battery test

Inside both phones is a large 5,000mAh battery. Both smartphones perform similarly and yielded a result of under 9 hours. The Y16 yielded a slightly better result.

In our daily use, both phones managed to last for around 6 hours of on-screen time whereas we watched YouTube continuously for 5 hours.

The C33 battery charges via micro USB while the vivo Y16 charges via USB-C. Both take 10W of charging and will It take under 80 minutes to charge from 0 to 100 percent.

In short, the battery life is only good but we had hoped to find USB-C on the C33.

realme UI and FunTouch UI

Both phones are running on an Android 12 with their own skin on top. Whether one is better than the other will depend on the user's own preference. 

In our experience, realme UI is one of the more modern-looking UI with a smooth experience through. While FunTouchOS is one of the more battery-efficient UI. Both skins are very similar and most newcomers will get used to the UI after a few hours of use.

Our only concern with both phones is that both realme UI and FunTouch OS come with a serious number of bloatware. These can be disabled after the initial setup.

realme C33 advantages - 

vivo Y16 advantages - 

realme C33 Specs

Display: 6.5-inch LCD (IPS) screen w/ 180Hz touch sampling rate, HD+ 1600 x 720 resolution at 270 ppi

CPU: 12nm 2.0GHz UNISOC T616 octa-core processor

GPU: Mali-G57

RAM: 3GB/4GB LPDDR4X

ROM: 32GB/64GB/128GB UFS 2.2 expandable via microSD card slot up to 1TB (dedicated)

Back Camera: 50MP + 0.3MP f/2.8 + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 5MP f/2.2

Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 10W charging

OS: Android 12 w/ realme UI S Edition

Connectivity: WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, dual SIM

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic

Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, face unlock, USB-C, Colors: Aqua Blue, Night Sea

Dimensions: 164.2 x 75.7 x 8.3 mm

Weight: 187 g

Price: PHP 7,499

vivo Y16 Specs

Display: 6.51-inch 2.5D curved LCD screen w/ HD+ 1600 x 720 resolution at 270 ppi

CPU: 2.3GHz 12nm Helio P35 octa-core processor

GPU: PowerVR GE8320

RAM: 4GB

ROM: 64GB/128GB expandable storage via microSD card slot

Back Camera: 13MP f/2.2 + 2MP f/2.4 macro + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 5MP f/2.2

Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 10W charging

OS: Android 12 w/ Funtouch OS 12

Connectivity: WiFi (2.4GHz/5GHz), 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, dual SIM

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic

Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, USB-C, Colors: Drizzling Gold, Stellar Black

Dimensions: 163.95 x 75.55 x 8.19 mm

Weight: 183 g

Price: PHP 7,999 (4GB/64GB), PHP 8,499 (4GB/128GB)

Verdict

Web browsing

Thru our comparison, it is clear that if you want double performance in both tasks and smartphone photography, the clear pick is the realme C33.

But if you prefer half the performance for USB-C and for a brighter and more color-accurate screen, then pick the vivo Y16.

What do you think guys?