Realme 6i review

Design and handling

The Realme 6i is a good-looking phone, just like the Realmes that came before it. The maker has been known to make eye-catchy designs, and it has delivered once again on one of its cheapest handsets to date.

The 6i has a glass front, made of a flat Gorilla Glass 3, and an all-plastic back and frame. The finish on the plastic is matte, which is a great grip booster, and the phone feels quite secure even in single-handed operations.

There is a large 6.5" IPS LCD at the front with a droplet-shaped notch to make way for the selfie camera. The screen is of basic 720p resolution but looks bright, punchy, and sharp enough, so it should be enough for the class. And we appreciate the double protection - Gorilla Glass 3 and an additional protector that's applied in the factory.

Within the notch you'll see the 16MP selfie camera. There are no visible sensors around, and the Realme 6i lacks a notification LED. The earpiece is almost unnoticeable above the front camera; it's quite thin and nested within the screen frame.

The 6i's back is a sight to behold. The Green Tea version is, well, green like tea, but thanks to some clever layering of plastic and polish, we get these cool light effects mimicking parallel laser beams. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is one.

The back is mostly distraction-free, even if it is one giant distraction itself. The quad-camera setup is humping around the top left corner, and the snappers, top to bottom, are the 8MP ultrawide, the 48MP primary, the 2MP portrait, and the 2MP macro shooters. The LED flash is outside this quartet.

The fingerprint reader is also on the back, it is always on, fast and accurate. Its surface is painted in the same green tea color but lacks the lighting effects.

The plastic frame is also green, and its longer sides are quite sharp and grippy. On its left you'll see the tri-card slot and the volume keys, the power button is on the right, while the bottom has everything else - the USB-C port, the audio jack, the mouthpiece and the speaker.

The Realme 6i is as large as the Realme 6, but it adds 9g of weight for a total of 200g - and the larger battery is probably to "blame".

The Realme 6i has a slim profile and fits well both in hand and in a pocket. It is easy to handle and operate, feels good when handled, and looks great. Overall, the 6i's design and build quality is yet another solid job from Realme.