The Budget Smartphone segment is booming in India right now with a bunch of entrants and three of them that are currently knocking out others, and are worth a comparison are the Realme C21Y, Redmi 10 Prime and the Tecno Pova 2. We feel that these smartphones are worth looking at in the market for buyers with a low budget but which one out of them is better? Let’s find out.
Design
In terms of design, the one with the dullest design is the Realme C21Y. It doesn’t have anything unique and follows the traditional design guidelines as other phones from the brand.
The Redmi 10 Prime does sport a design that hasn’t been seen much before on other devices. The Tecno Pova 2 also has a traditional rectangular camera array, but the back pattern is nothing ever seen before. In our opinion, the Redmi 10 Prime wins this round with a design that catches the eye the most.
Display
The Realme C21Y features a 6.5-inch HD+ mini-drop display with a screen resolution of 1600 × 720 pixels and 400 nits peak brightness. In addition, the phone has a screen to body ratio as high as 89.5% and a 20:9 ratio.
Redmi 10 Prime comes with a 6.5-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display with 2400 x 1080 pixels resolution. In addition, the display further comes with a 90Hz adaptive refresh rate, up to 400 nits brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
The Tecno Pova 2 features a 6.9-inch full HD+ IPS LCD display. In addition, it features a high 180Hz touch sampling rate, 90 percent screen-to-body ratio and a peak brightness of 480 nits.
The Tecno phone gets a bigger display with higher brightness and touch sampling. On the other hand, the Redmi 10 Prime gets an even higher refresh rate. The Realme phone is out of the question here as it gets the worst display with the lowest resolution and 60hz refresh rate. The choice one will have to make here is between the Tecno Pova 2 and Redmi 10 Prime.
Read More: Redmi 10 Prime launched in India starting at Rs 12,499
Performance
Under the hood, the Realme C21Y is powered by a Unisoc T610 Chipset paired with up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Furthermore, it supports up to 256 GB of microSD through the storage expansion slot. In addition, there is a Mali G52 GPU paired with the processor.
It is powered by a MediaTek Helio G88 Processor and Mali G52 GPU. The processor will be coupled with up to 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. There is also a microSD card slot for more storage in the phone.
An octa-core MediaTek Helio G85 processor powers the Tecno Pova 2. The device comes with 4 GB / 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB / 128 GB of storage. For more storage, it features a dedicated microSD card slot.
Strangely, the Realme C21Y runs Android 10 while the other two phones run Android 11 with their respective skins on top. Further, we feel that Realme C21Y again has an inferior chipset compared to the rest and is on a version that is two generations behind now.
The Tecno Pova 2 comes in at second, while the Redmi 10 Prime wins here with a slightly better and latest processor from MediaTek. As far as software is concerned, it is based on the user’s personal preference as to what skin they like the most.
Cameras
On the camera front, the Realme C21Y has a triple rear-camera setup. It features a 13-megapixel primary camera, which can zoom up to 4X and supports PDAF autofocus. Additionally, it has a 2-megapixel Macro lens and a 2-megapixel Monochrome lens. Upfront, there is a 5-megapixel camera sensor sitting inside the waterdrop notch.
The phone packs a quad rear camera system with an LED flash. There is a 50-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture, LED flash. Then there is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens with an f/2.2 aperture. Further, there are two 2-megapixel Sensors – a depth and a macro sensor with f/2.4 aperture. Further, on the front, the phone has an 8-megapixel selfie shooter with an f/2.0 aperture. It is housed in the punch-hole cutout in the display.
Tecno Pova 2 features a quad-camera set up at the rear. There is a 48 megapixels main camera with an F1.79 Aperture, a 2MP macro sensor, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP AI camera unit. For the front, there is an 8 megapixels sensor.
To declare a winner, the phones will have to be compared side-by-side under every type of lighting condition. As far as on-paper specifications are concerned, the Redmi 10 Prime maintains its lead in this comparison with a better camera setup than the rest two. On the other hand, the Realme C21Y falls further behind in this comparison.
Battery Life
The Realme C21Y packs a 5000mAh battery with no mention of Fast charging support. However, it does support wired reverse charging.
The Redmi 10 Prime comes with a 6000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. There is also 9W reverse wired charging support.
A 7000mAh battery backs the Tecno Pova 2 with 18W fast charging support. In addition, the company claims to offer up to 46 days of Standby time and up to 31 hours of video playback time.
The Tecno Pova 2 has the biggest battery out of them all, but it will also charge the slowest. On the other hand, the Redmi 10 Prime has a decently sized battery and will charge faster than the Tecno Pova 2. Secondly, the Pova 2 doesn’t support reverse charging, making Redmi 10 Prime a better pick.
However, if you want a battery that should last you more than a day or maybe even two, the Tecno Pova 2 is an obvious pick over the two.
Price
The Realme C21Y comes in two variants – 3GB + 32GB, and 4GB + 64GB. The 3GB variant of the handset is priced at Rs 8,999, and the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version costs Rs 9,999.
The Redmi 10 Prime is priced at Rs 12,499 for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version. The 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version will cost you Rs 14,499. It comes in Astral White, Bifrost White, and Phantom Black colours.
The Tecno Pova 2 is priced at Rs 10,999 for 6GB + 64GB model and Rs 12,999 for 6GB + 128GB variant. The phone comes in Dazzle black, Polar Silver and Energy Blue colours.
The Redmi 10 Prime has scored the top place compared with the best value for money amongst the three. A second comes the Tecno Pova 2 while at third sits the Realme C21Y.
