Realme GT 6 review

50MP camera setup

Flagship killers have long been associated with a compromise in the camera department. You sometimes get a decent main unit, but the auxiliary sensors are always an afterthought. This year, there's an effort toward breaking the spell.

The GT 6 for the international market offers a trio of cameras, two of which are quite potent. Although the zoom unit's reach is just 2x, it's still much better than some competitors offer. The ultrawide, unfortunately, still uses a tiny, dated 8MP sensor.

• Wide (main): 50MP Sony LYT-808, 1/1.4", 1.12µm, f/1.7, 23mm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS; 4K@60fps
• Ultrawide: 8MP Sony IMX355, 1/4.0", 1.12µm, f/2.2, 112˚, fixed focus; 1080p@30fps
• Telephoto: 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JN5, 1/2.8" f/2.0, 47mm, PDAF, OIS; 4K@60fps
• Front camera: Sony IMX 615 1/2.74", 0.8µm, f/2.5, fixed focus; 4K@30fps

And as for the main camera, it uses a large Sony LYT-808 sensor, promising bright and detailed stills. We've seen it in action on the OnePlus 12.

The selfie unit a regular old 32MP camera.

In addition to the camera hardware, Realme promises AI-powered under-the-hood upgrades. The new processing algorithms aim to improve color accuracy in various scenarios and improve detail without ruining the natural look of the scene in low-light scenarios.

Daylight photos

Main camera

Despite the phone being marketed as a flagship killer, its main camera performance during the day is flagship-level. The daylight photos are excellent, and the camera is quite consistent indoors as well. Sharpness and detail are always superb, while noise is kept at bay.

Main camera daylight samples

Dynamic range is quite impressive and colors are juicy, but without being over the top. The contrast is purposefully higher in some of the scenes, but that results in a more distinct look, which we like. But despite having a wide dynamic range, there are instances in which the software goes for a higher exposure, leaving some highlights clipped.

Portraits

The dedicated 50MP mode, on the other hand, is hard to recommend.

50MP samples

2x zoom camera

Some may argue that 2x zoom cameras are outdated, especially with these big primary sensors around. The 2x zoom crops are just as good as dedicated 2x zoom cameras. However, the GT 6 proves otherwise. The 2x zoom camera delivers clean stills with plenty of detail, wide dynamic range, no noise and exceptional clarity. The color tuning and exposure metering seem to align with the main camera, which means you may sometimes end up with clipped highlights. The unit remains consistent indoors without introducing any noise at all.

2x zoom daylight samples

The camera app offers a dedicated 4x zoom toggle and uses the 2x zoom camera for taking the stills. As expected, the quality isn't as good, but we are pleasantly surprised, nonetheless.

4x zoom daylight samples

Images are slightly fuzzier, but still rather clean and without much loss in sharpness. As long as the lighting conditions are favorable, that includes daylight indoor shots, the 4x zoom photos are comparable to the 2x ones.

2x zoom portraits

Ultrawide camera

Sadly, Realme once again chose to attach an inferior 8MP ultrawide camera, despite the rather competent main and telephoto cameras. Still, the GT 6 delivers okay-ish ultrawide stills with plenty of detail, as far as ultrawide cameras go. The overall processing matches the one from the main and telephoto cameras and you will likely notice some loss in sharpness and only if you look close enough, mainly thanks to the additional sharpening done by the processing algorithm.

Ultrawide daylight samples

In any case, we expected more from a device in this price bracket.

Low-light photos

Main camera

We found that in most cases, the software prefers using the dedicated Night mode instead of resorting to the standard Photo mode. Either way, the overall quality is solid. Some may argue the Night mode takes away the "authenticity" of the night scene due to the overly bright shadows and the added sharpness so that fine detail can pop.

Main camera low-light samples

Conversely, the stills are squeaky clean and sharp. There's no noise around, dynamic range is wide with excellent highlights and plenty of detail in the shadows, while colors are close to natural and contrast is ideal. The GT 6's main camera leaves little to complain about after dusk.

2x zoom camera

The 2x zoom camera struggles at night as the Night mode works overtime to reveal some of the details in the shots and even oversharpens some objects in the scene. On the other hand, dynamic range is great, contrast is good, noise is non-existent and colors are punchy. So, if you aren't specifically looking for flaws, you will find the 2x zoom shots after dark quite decent.

2x zoom camera low-light samples

The same cannot be said about the 4x samples. They are just muddy and the system is pushing the boundaries of the said sensor.

4x zoom low-light samples

Ultrawide camera

Honestly, we expected more from the ultrawide camera at night. The Night mode helps balance the highlights and shadows and the artificial sharpening brings out a bit more detail, but sharpness isn't great and contrast could use a little boost.

Ultrawide low-light camera samples

Selfies

The selfies aren't the best ones around, that's for sure. Colors make the subject look anemic, dynamic range isn't something to write home about and sharpness is poor. We definitely expected more from a 32MP camera.

Selfies

Video recording

The Realme GT 6 supports 2160p video recording at up to 60fps. However, it can only do so with its main, zoom and selfie cameras. The ultrawide unit doesn't support 4K due to the sensor's low resolution.

The GT 6 also offers an Ultra Steady mode, which limits the resolution to 1080p and records only 60fps to mimic the feel of an action camera. The device can also record HDR Dolby Vision-compliant videos and we've uploaded one in our sample playlist, but you won't be able to enjoy it fully if you aren't viewing it on a Dolby Vision-compliant display.

In any case, the 4K footage taken with the main camera shows excellent sharpness and lots of fine detail. Contrast is good and dynamic range is wide, while colors are close to natural. There are a couple of segments with clipped highlights, though. Namely, the building in the distance and all the white and yellow cars passing by.

The 2x footage, which is still 4K, seems to be better in this regard. Highlights and shadows are well balanced, detail is good and the scene is decently sharp. The 2x zoom camera leaves little to complain about.

The 4K zoom clip, however, is a hot mess. It's extremely soft.

Unfortunately, the same goes for the ultrawide camera. Mostly due to the 1080p resolution, but the ultrawide footage also has a narrow dynamic range and virtually no detail.

Taking the main camera for a spin at night will likely reward you with sharp-looking videos with plenty of detail and noise-less shadows. The nighttime 4K footage looks extra nice, but we would have wished for slightly more contrast and maybe slightly lower exposure. Yes, this would darken the shadows, but it would also balance out the clipped highlights. A bit more color would have been appreciated too. The handset also offers AI Night Vision mode for supposedly better low-light videos, but we struggle to find any meaningful difference in normal nighttime scenes. The mode produces marginally sharper footage. It can be enabled once the system recognizes a dark enough scene and it will prompt you with an icon on the viewfinder.

Stabilization is adequate in both cases - standard EIS in 4K and Ultra Steady in 1080p.

Video sample playlist

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.