Poco C65/Redmi 13C 4G review

Design

The Poco C65 has what we would call a very "traditional" design. In other words, its looks are really non-offensive and unobtrusive. Nothing is out of the ordinary here, just your regular old phone that blends seamlessly with its surroundings.

The design team still tried to incorporate a few distinctive details around the rear cameras with an accented area and some perpendicular lines. It all ties together nicely and looks classy. The only thing we don't particularly like about the back of the C65 is the manufacturer's markings. We wish there was a better place for those.

The C65 is available in a total of three colors - Black, Blue and Purple. Unfortunately, our review unit is of the arguably most boring Black variety. The other two colors look more interesting while still remaining subtle and unobtrusive.

The C65 has an almost entirely flat back side that sits flush with the middle frame. Both of these are made of plastic. The phone's sides are also quite flat, with nice rounded corners for extra comfort.

The front glass of the C65 is sort of "floating" on top of the middle frame. It is well attached, of course, but it is protruding rather than sitting flush with the middle frame like the back panel is.

The C65 has pretty thick display bezels, which is expected for its price point. The bottom chin is thicker than the top bezel. Still, there is plenty of room up there for a tucked-away earpiece grill, a few sensors and the selfie camera, which still requires a display notch but a rather shallow one.

The Poco C65 is a pretty hefty device. It measures 168 x 78 x 8.1 mm and tips the scale at 192 grams. We wouldn't say it is unwieldy or anything, but you are still getting a large device with a 6.74-inch display and a 5,000 mAh battery to boot.

Build quality

The Poco C65 feels perfectly solid and well-made. There is no flex in the frame or hollowness to the back side.

Regarding materials, it is no surprise that the C65 is mostly made of plastic. The back side and middle frame are both plastic. Both still look like brushed metal from a distance, so there is that. The front of the C65 is thankfully covered with glass. In particular, Corning Gorilla Glass. Though the manufacturer does not specify exactly what kind, it is still great to hear that some protection is going on.

And speaking of peace of mind, while again there is no official manufacturer info on the matter and the C65 lacks any formal ingress protection rating, we noticed a nice, thick rubber gasket on the SIM tray. That hints at least some level of elemental protection. Though, we wouldn't exactly advise testing it for yourself.

Controls

The Poco C65 has a standard set of controls. Well, perhaps, except for the 3.5mm audio jack, which is harder and harder to come by. It is alive and well, resting on the top side of the C65. There isn't much of anything else on the top frame of the phone.

The left side frame is pretty empty, too. It just houses the SIM tray. The C65 has a total of two Nano-SIM slots on said tray, alongside a dedicated microSD storage expansion slot.

The opposite right side houses the volume rocker and power button. The latter doubles as a capacitive fingerprint reader. The reader is snappy and accurate. We have no complaints about it.

Both of these controls are well-positioned height-wise and comfortable to click. They do feel a bit "mushy" and soft to the touch, though and lack satisfying tactile feedback. Though, that's a really small gripe to have.

The bottom of the C65 is a bit busier. This is where the main microphone is, alongside a USB 2.0 Type-C port. The C65 has a single bottom-firing loudspeaker. No stereo speaker setup here, not even a hybrid one.

Rounding off the controls tour, we have an earpiece tucked away near the top of the phone in the space above the display. This is also where the proximity and light sensors are.

Connectivity

The Poco C65 does pretty well in the connectivity department. Though, straight off the bat, we should note that it is not a 5G device. Both Nano-SIM slots on the phone support simultaneous 4G LTE connectivity.

The C65 also has Dual-band Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth 5.3. It does offer LE support, though. The C65 also has NFC in some markets. You should check with your local retailer for info on that. A receiver with GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO and BDS support handles positioning. There is also an FM radio receiver onboard with recording capabilities.

A USB Type-C port on the bottom can accept USB Power Delivery up to 18W and also supports USB Host/OTG. There is nothing really fancy beyond that, though, like video output. The Type-C port is backed up by a USB 2.0 connection, which means theoretical data transfer speeds of up to 480 Mbps.

The C65 has a bma253 accelerometer but no gyroscope. The two are usually a combo. There is an ltr311 light sensor, but it is also not paired with a hardware proximity sensor. Instead, the C65 has a virtual proximity sensor, which works decently well for turning off the screen but is still far less preferable. Also on board is an mmc5603 magnetometer and compass combo. There is expectedly no barometer inside the Poco C65.