Realme has been creating a wave ever since they entered the market. Touted to be a sub-brand of Oppo, Realme chose to target the ultra-budget category with smartphones that offered even more for less. Some of the specifications seem so unbelievable that you had to buy the phone to see if it’s true, and thus began the uprising of Realme worldwide. The strategy they used is similar to what most other Chinese brands have adopted over time – Release concept images, give exclusive color schemes and finishes, drop in some absolutely unbelievable specifications at even more unbelievable prices, and then go aggressive on the e-retail flash sales. The result was as expected. Realme has now come dangerously close to usurping some of the top-selling brands in the market in terms of smartphone sales. Today, we will be reviewing the newest offering from Realme – The Realme 6.
Realme 6 is a successor to the very popular Realme 5 and in terms of pricing, the Realme 6 sits comfortably in the budget smartphone range. The Realme 6 series has also got a bigger sibling in the form of the Realme 6 Pro, but we will save that for a later date. Today, it’s all about the Realme 6. So without further ado, let’s get started –
Design and Display –
From the very beginning, Realme has introduced some really flashy designs in their lineup and the Realme 6 follow suit. Realme has been using the ‘Sunrise’ design on their lower-end models, but for the Realme 6, they have introduced what they call, the ‘Comet’ design. So you have the trending gradient finish at the back, but additionally, you have multiple streaks that converge at the charging port thus giving it a comet-like appearance.
Realme has also gone for the hole punch design for the front camera. Some prefer it over the notch, but again, its an acquired taste and takes some getting used to. The in-hand feel is next to premium, especially for a phone with an 899 AED price tag.
Realme 6 features a rounded frame, which makes it easy to handle. The sides of the device are also curved slightly to allow for grip. The bonus is something really cool. The Realme 6 features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. It is placed on the right-hand side of the device and your thumb should naturally reach it. The volume rockers are on the left-hand side now and have been slightly lowered to enable easy access. The Sim Tray sits right above the volume rockers and features two dedicated SIM slots and a Micro USB slot, a welcome feature in the era of hybrid SIM solutions.
Coming to the charging port, Realme has finally made the switch to the increasingly popular USB Type-C port. Another bonus feature that you get in the Realme 6 is the Quad Camera setup, but more on that later. Finally, capping off the hardware is the inclusion of the 3.5mm headphone jack and the loudspeaker grille, placed on either side of the charging port.
Coming to the display, the Realme 6 features a 6.5-inch Full HD+ display. While the 6.5-inch display is repeated from the Realme 5, the resolution has been bumped up, and with a pixel density of 405 PPI and a 90 Hz refresh rate, Realme has pulled off all stops in this device. Finally, as a cherry on top, the Realme 6 features Gorilla Glass 3 protection as well.
Performance
Next, let’s take a look at the performance. Realme 6 is powered by the new Helio G90T chipset from MediaTek, which is really powerful processor, which has also found itself in the Redmi Note 8 pro. This processor has two Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.05GHz and six cores clocked at 2.0GHz. Over the years, MediaTek found itself catching up with the dominant Snapdragon chipsets, but it’s worth mentioning here that with the new generation of Helio Chipsets, Mediatek has taken a big leap forward in terms of the competition, and very soon, the gap will be nonexistent.
The unit we have for review is the 8GB RAM/128GB storage variant, but you have two other variants on offer in case of the Realme 6. We have the base version features 4GB RAM/64GB storage and also a mid-level variant with 6GB RAM/128GB Storage.
Another noteworthy change to the Realme 6 is that is now ships with Realme’s own UI, called the Realme UI. The brand used to ship the ColorOS flavor of Android in the past, but it looks like they have made their UI and the Realme 6 gets the same.
The side-mounted fingerprint sensor is also very snappy, and we were surprised to see this new tech fit in so well so early into adoption. We also tested the face unlock option and that too produced promising results. The 8GB RAM test unit showed us that Realme 6 is not just about the looks and flashy features. Multi-tasking is a breeze on this and the app load times are also significantly low. Mediatek has mentioned that the new line of G90 chipsets to be gaming level processors and they are not lying. Gaming performance on the Realme 6 is one of the best in that price range and yes, the phone does get a bit warm after an hour of gameplay, but it’s well within permissible levels, so make sure you keep vigilant and avoid extensive gaming.
Camera
The Realme 6 packs in a quad-camera setup at the back consisting of a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera with a 119-degree field of view, a 2-megapixel monochrome camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. In the selfie department, the Realme 6 comes with a 16-megapixel selfie snapper within the hole punch cutout.
The camera interface and software is a little monotonous and mimics the ones you get on most budget phones today, but that said, the camera performance itself is pretty great. The camera focus is lightning fast and the different modes along with AI integration come together and ensure that every shot you take is a final piece. Make note that photos are taken in 16MP resolution by default, but you can change that to full 64MP if you wish.
The Wide-angle camera could have been a bit better in my opinion. You do get a wide field of view but there is a noticeable reduction in terms of detail and the quality. The output was slightly distorted at the edges too. The portrait mode, however, is a different story. Usually, in budget phones, the portrait mode is more of a gimmick, with edge detection being absolutely disappointing and the result being a forced variant to the original portrait mode. In the Realme 6 though, the cameras do a wonderful job with the portrait mode. The edge detection is immaculate and the result is absolutely clear and accurate.
There is a macro mode, but there is no autofocus and the resolution is maxed out at 2MP. Coming to low light situations, the Realme 6 does not do so well on its own, but when you turn on Night Mode, the results are visibly better.
Finally, the selfie department is very strong on the Realme 6. The output is clear and social media worthy. The beautification is switched on by default, but you can easily turn it off for a more natural output.
Battery Life –
The Realme 6 comes with a 4300 mAh battery. The battery life is obviously subjective and depends on the individual user, but in general, with moderate use, the phone can go one for a day and a half before needing a plugin. Realme has also bundled a 30W Fast Charger which can take the Realme 6 to 65% battery life in 35 minutes. It takes one hour for the phone to charge completely.
All in all, Realme has got a pure winner in the Realme 6. With a beautiful design, updated display, a gaming ready processor, a powerful quad-camera setup and a superb battery, the Realme 6 is everything you need and more in a smartphone, especially if you are on a budget.