Realme 6 hands-on review

Hardware overview

One of the centerpiece features of the Realme 6 is undoubtedly the 90Hz IPS screen. It's 6.5" in diagonal offering FHD+ (1080 x 2400px) resolution. Realme says the peak brightness of this panel is a little over 400 nits, and we will make sure to check that out once we have more time with it. And as for now, it seems to be doing okay on a bright sunny day. We suspect that there's a Max Auto mode involved here because 400 nits are not enough to provide good enough legibility on an LCD on a sunny day.

Moving onto the chipset, the already familiar Helio G90T seems to be doing a pretty good job in this price range. The chip is based on the 12nm manufacturing process and employs an octa-core CPU (2x2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) and a gaming-capable Mali-G76 MC4 GPU. However, we suspect this won't be enough to drive the modern gaming titles on the Google Play Store at more than 60 fps. So the 90Hz feature of the display will be usable only when navigating through menus, browsing and scrolling on your preferred social media platform. The chipset itself is also paired with a dual-layer graphite and copper foil for improved heat dissipation. Here are a couple of benchmarks to see how it stacks against the competition and its predecessors.

GeekBench 4.4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme 6
  7779
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  7008
• Realme X2
  6926
• Realme 5 Pro
  6106
• Realme 5s
  5596

GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme X2
  1750
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  1692
• Realme 6
  1654

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Realme 6
  223580
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  218200
• Realme X2
  215578
• Realme 5 Pro
  182765
• Realme 5s
  139103

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Realme 6
  290051
• Xiaomi Redmi K30
  272229
• Realme X2
  257443
• Realme 5s
  168635

The available memory variants are 4, 6, and 8GB of RAM while storage can be as low as 64GB and can go up to 128GB. MicroSD card support is still on the list of features along with the 3.5mm audio jack.

Moving onto the cameras, we've got a 16MP unit with f/2.0 aperture. Once you switch over to the selfie cam or if you opt to facial recognition, a ring around the punch-hole lights up - a pretty nice touch.

The back employs a capable 64MP sensor coupled with a f/1.8 aperture and the final output is 16MP stills. Realme promises excellent telephoto-like performance at 2x zoom. But since the ultra-wide viewing angle can't be replicated, Realme has included a dedicated 8MP camera for this. The aperture is f/2.3, the sensor size is 1/4" and provides a respectable 119.1-degree field of view.

The other two cams are 2MP mono sensor for depth information while the other 2MP unit is used for close-up macro shots. The former is used strictly for portrait shots and assists the main camera by providing not only depth information but also additional light helps with contrast and helps with the processing of some filters.

We weren't able to explore all of the camera features but there are a few cool additions. For instance, Realme is hopping on the action camera-like video capturing with its new UIS Video Stabilization and UIS Max Video Stabilization features. The first one should capture gimbal-grade stabilized videos in 1080p resolution using the main camera while the latter version of the feature uses the ultra-wide camera, again in 1080p resolution. Both should come in the near future with an OTA.

The battery department hasn't been overlooked either. Realme has bumped up the battery capacity to a respectable 4,300 mAh but more importantly, the company has put to work Oppo's 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0, which should charge the entire battery in less than an hour. That's definitely one of the fastest charging solutions around these parts of the market.

And as far as biometrics go, we found the embedded capacitive to be super snappy and reliable. However, there are some niche issues that may arise when using this type of fingerprint solution. We already talked about how awkward it would be unlocking the handset using your left hand, so here's another complaint. If you need to just take a look at the lock screen for your recent notifications, pushing the power button using your registered finger will instantly unlock the device when you don't want to. Alternatively, you can always switch on the double-tap-to-wake function as it would wake up the phone without unlocking it.

Software - Realme's own UI

The Realme 6 is among the first devices from the company running the in-house UI based on Android 10 out of the box. So we are rather familiar with it. It's a departure from the heavy UI customization so stock Android fans would appreciate this. Here are a couple of screenshots to get a feeling of how it looks and feels.

Screenshots from the new Realme UI

Additionally, Realme is really proud of its so-called DocVault solution for secure storage of its personal information and important government documents. Users can manage and certify documents digitally without having to sit down on a PC. This includes documents like PAN Card, driving license, Aadhar card, registration of vehicles, etc.

Early verdict

Despite the price hike, Realme is stepping up its game in the sub INR 15,000 segment. Bringing a high-refresh rate screen, high-performance mid-range chipset and unparalleled charging solution at this price is impressive. So even if you are not okay with the price increase compared to the vanilla Realme 5, you can't deny the fact that there are a number of hardware improvements backing up this decision.

There are still some questions to be answered before going out with a final verdict, though. It remains to be seen whether the camera will live up the hype and how the new software feels. It might win over some new fans but lose some current ColorOS users.