Review of the Realme 15T: Not Everything That Shines Is Gold

Variants

8GB+256GB₹21950

8GB+128GB₹22995

12GB+256GB₹25999

₹22995

₹26131

12.00% Price Drop

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Originally positioned as a budget smartphone, the Realme 15T now finds itself firmly in the mid-range segment due to a noticeable price hike. While it does introduce a handful of upgrades over the Realme 14T — including a higher-resolution selfie camera, a modern silicon-carbon battery, and retained IP69-rated durability — it also carries some compromises. A slightly smaller display and familiar performance limitations raise an important question: are these changes meaningful upgrades or simply box-ticking exercises? Let’s take a closer look at whether the Realme 15T is worth your money.

Design of the Realme 15T

Realme has refreshed the design language with the 15T. Compared to the Realme 14T, the phone now features a squarer camera module, smoother rounded corners, and a new finish called Flowing Silver. The camera housing is crafted from aluminum alloy, lending a premium touch, while the frame and rear panel continue to use polycarbonate.

Despite the plastic construction, the finish on the back panel mimics a mother-of-pearl (nacre) texture, giving the device a more premium, mid-range feel rather than a budget one. The only giveaway of its cost-conscious roots is the slightly thicker display bezels, particularly at the bottom.

Thanks to the slim metal camera module housing three sensors, the phone barely wobbles when placed on a flat surface. Its 7.89mm thickness further enhances the sleek appearance, especially since there is no exaggerated camera bump.

While the flat sides and matte rear panel make the phone look modern, they also make it slightly slippery in hand. Realme has retained the IP69 dust and water resistance rating, allowing the phone to withstand high-pressure water jets. However, users should note that water damage is not covered under Realme’s warranty.

Display and Multimedia Experience

The Realme 15T features a 6.57-inch AMOLED display that performs well outdoors and resists fingerprints effectively. Its flat panel minimizes reflections, making content consumption comfortable. However, bezel thickness is uneven, with the bottom border being noticeably thicker.

As an LTPS panel, the display switches between 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz. Watching videos in the default Vivid color mode is enjoyable, with deep blacks and mildly saturated colors. Despite the panel’s high brightness, HDR streaming is not supported, although Widevine L1 certification allows Full HD playback.

Stereo speakers deliver adequate loudness but lack depth and richness, which may disappoint users who prioritize audio quality.

Software and Performance

Out of the box, the Realme 15T runs Android 15, which feels dated in 2026. Realme promises only three years of software updates, which is modest for this price segment. The software experience is acceptable but cluttered, with numerous pre-installed third-party apps and games — all of which can thankfully be removed.

The phone introduces a basic AI Edit Genie feature for voice-based photo editing. While it works for simple commands, processing is slow and it struggles with complex instructions.

Powering the device is the MediaTek Dimensity 6400 Max, a slightly refined version of the 6nm chipset used in the Realme 14T. Paired with LPDDR4X RAM (8GB/12GB) and UFS 2.2 storage (128GB/256GB), performance remains serviceable but unremarkable.

Gaming performance is decent for the price. Titles like Call of Duty: Mobile run smoothly at Medium graphics and frame rates, though slow touch sampling hampers responsiveness in fast-paced shooters. Benchmark results clearly indicate that this phone is not designed for serious gaming enthusiasts.

Camera Performance

The Realme 15T largely carries forward the camera hardware from the 14T, with the biggest upgrade being a new 50MP selfie camera, replacing the older 16MP sensor.

In daylight, the primary camera captures bright images with decent dynamic range and pleasing colors. However, fine details are lacking, with visible softness upon zooming in. Close-up shots struggle with sharpness, and 2x digital zoom results are underwhelming.

The absence of optical image stabilization (OIS) hurts low-light photography, leading to noisy, soft images. Portrait shots exhibit good subject clarity but suffer from a noticeable halo effect around edges.

The upgraded selfie camera produces well-contrasted images with good dynamic range in daylight. Edge detection is mostly accurate, though mild halo artifacts remain. Video recording at 1080p 30fps is stable but shows blown highlights, while 1080p 60fps lacks stabilization and appears shaky.

Battery Life and Charging

A massive 7,000mAh silicon-carbon battery powers the Realme 15T. In the PCMark battery test, the phone lasted 22 hours and 52 minutes until reaching 80%, which is respectable but not exceptional for such a large battery. Competing devices with smaller batteries achieve similar or better results, indicating underutilization due to the older 6nm chipset.

Charging speeds are reasonable despite the 60W cap on the included 80W charger. The phone reached 46% in 30 minutes and fully charged in 1 hour and 42 minutes.

Verdict: Should You Buy the Realme 15T?

Once upon a time, phones around Rs. 25,000 offered excellent cameras, smooth performance, reliable software, and strong value. Unfortunately, rising costs have changed that equation. Despite incremental upgrades, the Realme 15T struggles to justify its starting price of Rs. 22,999.

At this price, alternatives like the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion deliver superior cameras and overall value, while spending a little more on the OnePlus Nord CE5 gets you better performance and battery life. The Realme 15T isn’t a bad phone — it’s simply not the best deal anymore.