However, the price of this phone has surprised us a bit. The starting price of Realme 6 in India is Rs 12,999. The phone is definitely a bit expensive, but will the phone be able to impress us with its features to justify this price? To find out, we have reviewed Realme 6. Is this the best budget smartphone that you should buy without waiting? Let’s find out.
Realme 6 design
Instead of the Sunrise design offered on its low-cost model, Realme has given this phone a new Comet design. The Realme 6 has a gradient finish at the back, in which streaks appear when light falls on them. All these streaks start from the top and converge at the bottom like a nozzle on the charging port. Overall, this gives the phone a premium look.
Realme 6 has a 6.5-inch display, which is similar to Realme 5. However, the new phone does not have a notch. Instead, the company has given the hole-punch design which is in fashion this time. This hole-punch cutout is on the left corner of the display. There are thin bezels on the sides of the display, but the chin given below is quite thick.
The edges of the Realme 6 are rounded so that it doesn’t pinch your palm. The back of the phone is slightly curved which makes it comfortable to hold. This time Realme has opted for a side-mounted fingerprint scanner on the budget phone, which is located on the right side of the device. We like the placement as the thumb reaches the power button/fingerprint sensor quite comfortably when holding the smartphone in the right hand. If you are used to using the phone with your left hand, you may have to register your left finger and thumb to unlock the smartphone.
Realme has set the volume buttons on the left side and placed them slightly below which makes them easier to press. The SIM tray is just above the volume buttons. We noticed that the phone comes with a thickness of 9.6 mm, which feels really thick. The phone has a 4,300 mAh battery. This phone weighs 191 grams. The Realme phone has a USB Type-C port at the bottom. Along with the Type-C port, there is also a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a loudspeaker grill.
Like most of the popular smartphones launched recently in the market, Realme 6 also has a quad camera setup at the back. The module is slightly wide and raised, but there is a metal outline around it, which we hope can protect the module from scratches. The rear panel of the phone is not made of glass, so it may get minor scratches. Realme has provided a transparent case in the box. You can use this case to protect it from minor scratches.
Realme 6 specifications and software
Realme 6 has a 6.5-inch full-HD + display, which was not there in the previous model. The main highlight of the display is the 90Hz refresh rate included in it. High-refresh rate enhances your experience. The company has set this refresh rate to auto, which automatically sets the phone between 60 Hz and 90 Hz, but if you want to set its refresh rate according to you, then you also have that option. The density of the display is 405 ppi and due to the hole-punch, the screen-to-body ratio of Realme 6 is 90.5 percent. For display protection, Gorilla Glass 3 is provided in the front, which is of course a slightly old technology.
Realme 6 has been launched with MediaTek Helio G90T processor. This is a powerful chipset, which we have seen in Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro. This processor has two Cortex-A76 cores with 2.05 GHz clock speed and six cores with 2.0 GHz clock speed. Realme phone comes in three variants. Its 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage is priced at Rs 12,999. The 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant and 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant are priced at Rs 14,999 and Rs 15,999 respectively. The smartphone comes with UFS 2.1 storage. We have reviewed the 8 GB RAM variant of this phone.
In terms of connectivity, this phone offers Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi AC and three navigation systems. It is a dual-SIM device, which also includes support for VoLTE along with 4G. It includes all the usual sensors.
Talking about the software, Realme has given its own Realme UI instead of ColorOS custom skin with some changes. The new Realme UI is based on Android 10. Our device was running on the February security patch.
The user interface feels somewhat like stock Android and we found it easy to use. The Settings app is well designed and we didn’t have to struggle to find options. The Realme UI also comes with features like Digital Wellbeing, Focus Mode, Dark Mode, and Riding Mode. Realme also comes with Dual-Mode Audio, which allows you to connect a Bluetooth and wired headset simultaneously for music on the smartphone, but this feature is currently listed under Realme Lab.
We also found a few pre-installed apps on the device, such as Facebook, Dailyhunt, Gaana, Helo, Opera News, UC Browser, WPS Office and a few Google apps. There are also a few pre-installed Realme apps such as Realme Store, Community, Game Center, Game Space and its own app store called App Market. Stock apps like the browser keep showing notifications, which we found annoying and had to disable.
Realme 6 performance and battery life
The specifications of Realme 6 are certainly interesting to read. The 90Hz refresh rate in the phone makes the interface very smooth. We found this display to be a bit reflective in sunlight, but the panel was bright enough so that we did not have any problem viewing the content on the display. We also found its viewing angles to be decent.
The Realme 6 has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which means the fingerprint sensor is placed on the power button as well. It is able to unlock the phone accurately and quickly and we really liked its performance. We also set up face recognition, which unlocks the phone by recognizing faces. This feature also unlocks the phone very quickly. After enabling the raised-to-wake feature included in the phone, very little effort is required to unlock the smartphone.
We were happy with the performance of the Realme 6 as we never had to wait long for apps to load. The 8GB RAM on the device ensures that apps don’t lag in the background and you can multitask with ease. App loading time is also very less.
MediaTek has introduced the Helio G90 series as a gaming processor and we were curious to see how the Realme 6 would perform in terms of gaming. We played PUBG Mobile on the smartphone and it ran on high-settings and high frame rate by default with the graphics set to HD. We did not notice any lag or frame drop while playing the game at these settings. After about 20 minutes we did notice that the smartphone got slightly warm to the touch.
Battery life on the Realme 6 is pretty good. It managed to last 19 hours, 26 minutes in our HD video loop test. With our usage, the Realme 6 lasted a day and a half on a single charge. There is a 30W fast charger in the box. Using it, the phone charges up to 65 percent in 30 minutes and takes just over an hour to fully charge.
Realme 6 cameras
The Realme 6 has a 64-megapixel primary camera on the back. Apart from this, this back camera setup has an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera with 119-degree field of view, a 2-megapixel monochrome camera, and a 2-megapixel macro lens. There is a 16-megapixel selfie shooter on the front. The camera software is quite similar to other mid-range smartphones. We had no problem switching to different shooting modes in the camera app. There are quick toggles for HDR, filters and chroma boost. AI detects the scene.
The Realme 6 is quick to focus and measures light well in most scenes. In daylight, the phone’s camera takes some good shots and there is no lack of detail in the images even when zoomed in. In bright scenes, the Realme 6’s HDR mode gets enabled automatically. Photos come at 16 megapixels by default, but you can turn on the 64-megapixel mode if you want.
There is also a wide-angle camera on the Realme 6. However, this camera is not as good in dynamic range as the primary camera. The camera can capture a fairly large area, but the pictures taken with it lack detail and quality. Apart from this, the edges of the picture also appear slightly distorted.
For close-ups, the Realme 6 also has a depth sensor, which blurs the background well. The camera sets focus quickly, which results in good pictures. Portrait mode also gives you the option to set the level of blur before taking a shot. The camera accurately detects the edge of the subject.
The macro camera lacks autofocus but lets you get really close to a subject and still capture photos. It managed to take good shots when shooting indoors.
The camera quality dips a bit in low light. You will get some good looking photos even in low light, but the images lack detail when you zoom in. Night mode works much better in low light and gives a great output by stitching together multiple frames. Photos taken with Night mode also show plenty of detail.
Selfies shot with the Realme 6 also had good detail. However, beautification comes enabled by default. You may have to reduce or turn off beautification for a natural-looking output. These photos were good enough to be shared on social media.
The primary camera can record at 4K resolution and the selfie camera can record at 1080p resolution. Apart from this, users can record 1080p with 60 frames per second from the primary camera. Videos are stable at 1080p resolution, but not at 4K. We also noticed a slight flickering effect in videos taken in low light.
Verdict
Realme has once again delivered a great smartphone at a reasonable price. The Realme 6 comes with a powerful processor, delivers good battery life, and also comes with a 30W fast charger in the box. The company has also improved the Realme UI, but we wish the company would reduce bloatware (unwanted apps) in the future. If you are looking for a value for money device in the price range of Rs 15,000 or thereabouts then you can go with Xiaomi’s Realme 6. Redmi Note 9 Series You can wait for some time for the launch of Realme 6. However, we believe that you will be satisfied with Realme 6 as well.