Realme GT 6 review

Competition

The Realme GT 6 shapes up to be a solid all-rounder, leaving little to complain about. The device is a true flagship killer with a relatively lower price than most flagships out there (starting price of around €550 as early bird, normally €600), while offering most of the premium features one would expect from a top-tier phone.

The "affordable flagship" segment, however, is quite saturated. The Realme GT 6 faces competition from various brands, so let's have a look at which ones bring more value for the asking price.

Although it's a smartphone from last year, the Xiaomi 13T Pro is a perfect rival for this year's GT 6. It promises 3 years of major software upgrades, so it's still very much relevant in 2024. It can challenge the GT 6's camera performance and even surpass it with a better ultrawide camera and possibly even better video recording capabilities. On the other hand, it falls short by a little in the display and battery life departments, as the GT 6 has a brighter display and sensibly longer battery life. The Dolby Vision on the 13T Pro is a nice bonus to consider, but brightness is arguably more important. It's not an easy choice to make and it will ultimately boil down to software preferences (Realme UI vs. HyperOS) as pricing is essentially the same - around €550 for both entry-level configurations.

Xiaomi 13T Pro • Xiaomi Poco F6 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S24

A more recent alternative from Xiaomi's camp would be the Poco F6 Pro. The phone runs on a more powerful, albeit last year's SoC (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2), offers the same display quality and matches the GT 6's charging. However, it takes the back seat when it comes to camera performance and versatility as well as battery life.

For around the same price, you can also get Samsung's latest Galaxy S24 phone. The S24+ is also an option worth exploring as it matches the GT 6's display size, but it's much more expensive too. So, if you are okay with settling with a more compact form factor, consider the vanilla Galaxy S24. It may not match the GT 6's battery life and charging, but displays are mostly the same (brightness and feature-wise), performance is comparable and so is the camera experience. Still, you might want to consider the S24's better telephoto, ultrawide and selfie cameras.

Honor 200 Pro • Honor 200 • Motorola Edge 50 Pro

The recently released Honor 200 and 200 Pro are two alternatives worth considering. The two handsets are very similar to each other but sit on both sides of the Realme GT 6 price-wise, that is. The Honor 200 goes for around €50 less, while the Pro asks €100 more. However, if you match the 200 Pro's base 512GB storage, you need to get the €800 GT 6 with 512GB internal storage.

Either way, the Honor 200 series makes a compelling argument, especially the Pro variant. You get an overall better camera experience (better telephoto, ultrawide and selfie cameras) and fast wireless charging, while offering an equally nice display and fast chipset. Battery life is the only reason you might want to get the GT 6.

Last but not least, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro might spark your interest if you aren't particularly fond of the GT 6's cameras. The Edge 50 Pro has a more versatile camera setup - 3x telephoto camera, impressive main camera, a nicer ultrawide unit with autofocus and a superior 50MP selfie cam, again with autofocus. The trade-off you'll be making is the considerably shorter battery life and inferior Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip, compared to the speedy SD8s Gen 3 hardware inside the Realme.

Verdict

All in all, the Realme GT 6 is a great upper-tier smartphone with a well-rounded set of features. It has a potent main camera, good zoom camera, snappy chipset, flagship-grade LTPO OLED panel, fast charging, excellent battery life, blazing-fast charging and loud and good-sounding speakers. In a sense, the GT 6 covers all the bases.

But that doesn't mean there's no competition around that may give you more for the asking price in some aspects. And perhaps the biggest missteps of GT 6 are the ultrawide and selfie cameras. The competition has moved away from the dated 8MP ultrawide unit, and Realme should too. As is usually the case with most phones nowadays, you might want to wait for the dust to settle and grab one at a lower price in case you missed the early bird prices. But if you are in the market for a phone in this segment right now, then the Realme GT 6 is an outright recommendation at its early bird pricing.

Pros

• Class-leading, bright 120Hz LTPO OLED panel.
• Excellent battery life.
• Very fast charging speed.
• Snappy and modern chipset, good sustained performance.
• On-board IR blaster.

Cons

• Unimpressive selfie and ultrawide cameras.
• Telephoto camera has only 2x optical zoom.