Realme 6 Review | NDTV Gadgets360.com

Realme started the year with a few updated models in the budget segment and a brand new 5G compatible flagship. Now the company has just launched upgrades to the Realme 5 series, called Realme 6 and Realme 6 Pro. The more affordable of the two, the Realme 6, has a perforated screen with a refresh rate of 90 Hz, the first two for an economical and previously unrealized Realme device in the budget segment. This phone also incorporates the powerful SoC MediaTek Helio G90T, which has been exclusive to the Redmi Note 8 Pro in India for some time now.

What has changed is the positioning as Realme 6, as it now starts at Rs. 12,999. Although the higher price raises eyebrows, does he have the goods to justify this price? We are looking at Realme 6 to see if it is the best economical smartphone you can get right now.

Realme 6 design

Rather than the Sunrise design on its less expensive models, Realme has introduced a new Comet design. The Realme 6 has a degraded finish with multiple ridges in the back, converging down in the center where the charging port is located. It shines when light hits it, giving this phone a premium look.

The Realme 6 sports a 6.5 inch screen which is identical to that of the Realme 5 (Review). However, the new phone does not have a notch. Instead, it has a hole which is not very common at this price. The hole is in the upper left corner. The screen has thin glasses on the side, but the lower chin is considerably thicker.

The corners of the Realme 6 are rounded so that it does not sink into your palm when you hold the device. The back is slightly curved on the sides, which makes it comfortable to hold. Like another first, Realme opted for a lateral fingerprint scanner which is positioned on the right side of the device. We liked the placement because that's where the thumb naturally rests while holding the smartphone in the right hand. If you are left-handed, you may need to register your index finger and left thumb to unlock the smartphone.

The Realme 6 has a perforated screen and slots for two Nano-SIM as well as a microSD card

Realme moved the volume buttons to the left and positioned them slightly lower, making them easy to touch. The SIM tray is located just above the volume buttons and is flush with the body. We noticed that the phone is a bit thick at 9.6mm and that it is packed in a 4,300mAh battery. This phone weighs 191g, which is manageable. Realme has finally switched to the USB Type-C standard, which has been long overdue. Next to the Type-C port is the 3.5mm headphone jack and speaker grille.

Like the most popular smartphones recently launched on the market, the Realme 6 includes a rear camera configuration with four cameras. The module protrudes slightly but is surrounded by a metal trim which should prevent it from getting scratched. Speaking of which, you should note that the back panel is not glass and could pick up minor scuffs and scratches. Realme has provided a transparent case in the box which we recommend you use.

Specifications and Realme 6 software

With Realme 6, the company offers a Full HD + screen, which was missing from the previous model. The screen has a refresh rate of 90 Hz which helps the smartphone to provide a smooth experience. Realme has set the refresh rate to Auto, which allows the phone to choose between 60 Hz and 90 Hz, but you can override it. The screen has a density of 405ppi and thanks to the perforation, the Realme 6 has a screen / body ratio of 90.5%. There is Gorilla Glass 3 on the front for protection.

Realme 6 is powered by MediaTek Helio G90T, a powerful SoC that we used on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro (Review). This processor has two Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.05 GHz and six cores clocked at 2.0 GHz. Realme offers three variants: 4 GB of RAM with 64 GB of storage at a price of Rs. 12,999; 6 GB of RAM with 128 GB of storage for Rs. 14,999; and 8 GB of RAM with 128 GB of storage for Rs. 15,999. The smartphone uses the UFS 2.1 storage standard. We had the high-end variant for our review.

In terms of connectivity, this phone offers Bluetooth 5, a dual band Wi-Fi connection and three navigation systems. It is a dual SIM device that supports 4G as well as VoLTE. It also has the usual sensors.

Realme 6 runs Android 10 out of the box

Realme has made some software changes. The company no longer delivers ColorOS to its smartphones; instead, there is its own Realme user interface. The new Realme user interface works on Android 10 on Realme 6. Our device was running the February security patch.

We found the user interface easy to use with a look close to stock Android. The Settings app is well designed and we had no trouble getting to what we were looking for. Realme UI also has features such as digital wellness, focus mode, dark mode and driving mode, among others. Realme Dual-Mode Audio, which allows you to connect a Bluetooth and a wired headset to the music listed on the smartphone, is available but the functionality is listed under Realme Lab.

We found a number of apps preinstalled on the device, such as Facebook, Dailyhunt, Gaana, Helo, Opera News, UC Browser, WPS Office and a few Google apps. It also has some Realme apps such as Realme Store, Community, Game Center, Game Space and its own app store called App Market. Stock apps like the browser were pushing notifications constantly, which we had to turn off.

Realme 6 performance and battery life

The Realme 6 data sheet looks interesting and translates into good performance in everyday use. The refresh rate of 90 Hz makes the interface very smooth. We found that the screen was slightly reflective under sunlight, but the panel became bright enough to watch the content. We found the viewing angles to be correct, and this phone allows you to change the panel color temperature.

The side fingerprint scanner on the Realme 6 is quick to unlock the smartphone and we had no problems with it. We have also implemented facial recognition which uses the selfie camera. We also found it to be very fast. Once the wake up function is activated, unlocking the smartphone requires very little effort.

Realme 6 has a side fingerprint scanner

We were happy with the performance of Realme 6 as we never had to wait long for it to load the apps. With 8 GB of RAM on our device, it could easily multitask without having to terminate the background applications. Application load times were also low.

We have performed performance tests on the Realme 6 to see where it stands compared to some of the other smartphones we have tested recently. In the AnTuTu benchmark, Realme 6 managed to score 290,210 points, which is surprisingly higher than the score managed by Poco X2 (Review). In the single-core and multi-core tests of Geekbench 5, the Realme 6 managed respectively 467 and 1688 points. Realme 6 also scored 59fps and 25fps in GFXBench T-Rex and Manhattan 3.1.

Mediatek has positioned the Helio G90 series as game processors and we were curious to see how Realme 6 would fare with the game. We played PUBG Mobile on the smartphone and it defaults to high settings with graphics set to HD and a frame rate set to high. We didn't notice any lag or stutter when playing the game with these settings. After about 20 minutes, we noticed that the smartphone was slightly warm to the touch.

Realme has finally moved to a USB Type C port

The battery life on the Realme 6 is pretty good. It managed to last 19 hours and 26 minutes in our HD video loop test. With our use, the Realme 6 managed to last more than a day and a half before needing to be plugged in. A 30 W fast charger is provided in the box. Using this, the phone reached 65% in 30 minutes and took just over an hour to fully charge.

Realme 6 cameras

The Realme 6 consists of a rear camera configuration with four cameras, including a 64-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera with a 119-degree field of view, a 2-inch monochrome camera megapixel camera and a 2 megapixel monochrome camera. megapixel macro camera. At the front, it has a 16-megapixel selfie shooter. The camera software is identical to what we have seen in several other mid-range smartphones, and we had no problems going through the different shooting modes in it. camera app. There are quick switches for HDR, filters and Chroma Boost. There is AI scene recognition and the smartphone is able to detect what it is pointing to.

Realme 6 daylight sample (tap to view full-size image)

Realme 6 wide angle sample (tap to view full size image)

Realme 6 quickly developed and measured the light correctly in most scenarios. In broad daylight, the Realme 6 captured good photos and the details were visible when zoomed in. In bright scenes, Realme 6 automatically activates HDR. Photos are taken at 16 megapixels by default, but you can take photos of 64 megapixels if you wish. These had significantly better detail due to the higher resolution.

The Realme 6's wide angle camera is not as good as the dynamic range as the main camera. The photos offer a wide field of vision but there is a noticeable reduction in terms of details and quality. The outlet was also slightly distorted at the edges.

Realme 6 close-up sample (tap to view full-size image)

Realme 6 portrait example (tap to view full size image)

For close-ups, Realme 6 does a good job of separating subjects from backgrounds. He also managed to focus quickly, which gave good shots. Portrait mode allows you to select the level of blur before taking a photo. Edge detection was excellent and the phone could correctly distinguish subjects and backgrounds.

The macro camera lacks autofocus but allows you to get close to a subject. He managed to take good photos when shooting indoors. The output is limited to a resolution of 2 megapixels.

Realme 6 low light sample (tap to view full size image)

Realme 6 nights mode example (press to view full size image)

In low light, the quality of the camera drops slightly. Although you will still get great photos, you will notice a lack of detail when zooming in. Night mode does a much better job in low light by stitching together multiple images for a brighter overall result. Photos taken with night mode had significantly better detail.

Realme 6 selfie sample (tap to view full-size image)

The selfies shot with the Realme 6 had good details and the embellishment is enabled by default. You can turn it off to get natural looking output. These photos are good enough to be shared on social media.

Video recording exceeds 4K for the main shooter and 1080p for the selfie camera. You have the option to shoot at 1080p 60fps using the main camera. Images taken in 1080p are stabilized, but not in 4K. We noticed a slight shimmering effect in low light.

Verdict

Realme has again delivered an impressive smartphone at a reasonable price with the Realme 6. This device incorporates a powerful processor, offers good battery life and also comes with a 30 W fast charger in the box. The Realme user interface has improved, but we want to see less bloatware. If you are looking for a good value for money device at the price of Rs or around. 15,000, you might want to wait a bit for the launch of Xiaomi's Redmi Note 9 series. However, you will still be satisfied with this phone.