The Oukitel C21 is another mid-range low budget device that promises excellent performance with a strong battery life that can rival other competitors. Despite being a budget phone, it comes with amazing specs that are found in some Xiaomi, Oppo, Infinix, or Tecno medium-low range phones.
There’s no doubt you’ll get the best of performance with the Helio P60 chipset that’s paired with 4GB of RAM. On the camera side, the phone has a manageable 16MP rear camera with 20MP upfront. However, the Oukitel C21 design is among the best you’ll find in this price segment, but you’ll have to do with a mediocre display and battery.
Here’s our honest review and verdict about the Oukitel C21. Read on to know whether it’s worth your buy or go for other brands, but we doubt you’ll find anyone better than the C21 in this price range.
Read more:
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Table of Contents
Oukitel C21 Key specifications
- Display: 6.4-inch IPS LCD
- Resolution: 2310 x 1080 pixels
- Processor: MediaTek Helio P60
- Front Camera: 20-megapixel
- Rear Camera: 16-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel
- RAM: 4GB
- Storage: 64GB
- Battery Capacity: 4000mAh
- OS: Android 10
Design
Being a budget phone, the Oukitel C21 is made from polycarbonate material which prevents it from breaking when forcefully dropped. The phone is well built but easily picks up dirty because of its plastic back. However, one thing is certain. The 157.3 x 75.5 x 8.75 mm makes the C21 easy to hold with one hand and it’s among the lightest phones we’ve come across at 170g.
The Oukitel C21 has a complete selection of buttons and ports. The volume rocker and power button are on the right side of the phone with the SDcard and dual SIM tray on the left. Moving down to the bottom, you’ll be welcomed by the phone’s microphone, USB-C port, and system speaker. Unfortunately, you’re not getting the headphone jack like in other budget phones so you’ll have to rely on wireless headphones. However, die hard wired fans can go for a Type-C earphone which can be connected to the charging port.
Apart from the Xiaomi 10C, Oukitel C21 is another device that has its fingerprint reader integrated into the camera module. This is against the normal centre position as we’ve seen in many phones, but it’s a decision we appreciate as it makes the phone look unique. Beyond this, the sensor is very accurate and reliable, much to our surprise. Just as expected, there’s no water and dust certification, but we don’t expect to find it on a phone of this price.
Meanwhile, there’s a facial unlocking feature for those that detest the fingerprint reader. However, it’s not reliable like the ones on Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Oppo Find X5 Pro as one would expect. Therefore, it’s better to use it alongside the fingerprint scanner for extra security.
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Display
The Oukitel C21 comes with a 6.4-inch IPS LCD with FHD+ (2310 x 1080) resolution that elevates your viewing experience to the next level. With deep poco black levels, we’re glad to say that the C21 display is more than satisfactory for a phone at this price. Another good thing we love was how Oukitel reduced the frames surrounding the screen to the lowest minimum. The punch-hole cutout notch on the top left corner that houses the selfie camera gave the phone a flagship look.
Although an IPS screen is not the best panel, we must say that on a chromatic level this display’s maximum brightness is quite satisfactory to view content in direct sunlight. Despite the price, you’ll enjoy the Oukitel C21 display in different scenarios like Game-playing, Binge-watching, Internet surfing, etc.
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Camera
I believe that despite all, this device still has flaws in some areas as it lacks a wide-angle sensor despite having a quad camera lens. However, it comes with a camera configuration of a 16MP primary shooter, 2MP macro lens, 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP auxiliary lens. With this, Oukitel equipped the phone with the necessary lens responsible for calculating the depth of field and macros.
However, the photographic quality is not bad which at optimal light conditions always delivers the best results. The main camera produces excellent clarity and well calibrate photos that are good for social media upload. Meanwhile, the details are not something you should put much attention to as it fails to yield good results in some scenarios. The 2MP macro lens despite everything didn’t produce the best colours on a general level.
Night shots are not that good even with the presence of artificial lighting as it brings out some noise with poor details. On the video side, you’re getting the basic 1080p videos at 30fps which is nothing new to us.
The 20MP selfie camera hidden inside the punch hole notch delivers nothing short of satisfactory and turns out to be the best sensor in the Oukitel C21 camera department. Beyond this, the quality is good and makes the skin smoother than normal.
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Performance and Software
Under the hood, there’s a MediaTek Helio P60 chipset with an octa-core CPU that’s built on 12nm process technology clocking at 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A53. Also, there’s a single variant of 4GB RAM with 64GB inbuilt storage which can be increased via an SDcard.
Given the cheap price tag which we’ll see later, the Oukitel C21 performance exceeds our expectations even in gaming. The phone guarantees a swift performance in daily use, especially switching between open Chrome tabs. However, you won’t expect the fastest performance or high frame rate while gaming, but you can enjoy your gaming sessions without any lag.
Onboard, the Oukitel C21 ships in stock Android 10 with the Google quarterly security patches. We’re glad it comes with this stock Android software which introduces the required customisation options. The phone comes with some bloatware apps including the “OutdoorTool” which contains selection of apps primarily designed for work.
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Battery Capacity
The Oukitel C21 is powered by a 4000mAh battery cell that barely lasts for 48 hours on average use. Let’s say at the end of the day with the screen turned on, you’ll have up to 15 hours of continuous use left. However, this data should not be trusted much as a phone’s battery duration solely depends on the user.
Inside the box is an 18W charger that’ll power the phone from 0 – 100 within 2 hours.
Oukitel C21: Price in Nigeria and Availability
We’re in the presence of a low budget phone that has almost all the smartphone features anyone needs without many flaws. The Oukitel C21 is sold for ₦89,000 (roughly $152) in the Nigerian market. This introduces us to a high-performance smartphone with some of the best technology currently in the market.
As for availability, you can easily order or buy the C21 device at any leading gadgets market or store in Nigeria and beyond.
Oukitel C21 Key specifications
General
- Brand: Oukitel
- Model: C21
- Release Date: August 11, 2020
- Weight: 170g
- Colours: Neon Purple, Ocean Blue, Midnight Black
Display
- Touchscreen: YES
- Type: IPS LCD
- Display Size: 6.4-inch
- Screen Resolution: 1080 x 2310 pixels
- Facelock Support: Yes
- In-display fingerprint scanner: No
- Sensors: Fingerprint (Rear-mounted)
- Dimensions: 157.3 x 75.5 x 8.75
Platform
- Operating System: Android 10 (Stock)
- Chipset: Mediatek MT6771 Helio P60 (12 nm)
- CPU: Octa-core (4×2.0GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×2.0GHz Cortex-A53)
- GPU: Mali-G72 MP3
Memory
- RAM: 4GB
- Inbuilt Storage: 64GB
- SD Card slot: Yes (dedicated slot)
Camera
- Rear Flash: Dual-LED Flashlight
- Rear Camera: 16-MP f/2.0 (wide), 2-MP (macro), 2-MP (depth), 2-MP (auxiliary)
- Video: 1080p@30fps
- Front Camera: 20-MP f/2.0
- Front Flash: LED Flash
Connectivity
- Wi-Fi: YES
- Bluetooth: 4.2
- USB: USB-C
- GPS: YES
- WLAN: YES
Network
- SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
- Technology: GSM / HSPA / LTE
- 3G Support: Yes
- 4G/ LTE Support: Yes
- 5G Support: No
- Speed: —
Battery
- Capacity: Li-Po 4000mAh, non-removable
- Fast Charge: 18W
Price
- Price in Nigeria: ₦89,000
- Price in the US: $152
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