Last week, we posted our First Impressions of the realme 6i, the youth brand’s newest phone in the market. It’s the successor of the realme 5 series, and while we still have no news about the arrival of the realme 6, the arrival of the 6i is a good sign that the rest of its series will invade the Philippine market soon. If you are looking for a new phone that can ease your boredom whether for streaming videos, gaming or TikTok, then read our Realme 6i review.
REALME 6I SPECS:
| OS: | Android 10 with realme UI |
|---|---|
| Processor: | 2.05 GHz MediaTek Helio G80 Octa-Core Processor | Mali-G52 |
| Display: | 6.5" IPS LCD 720 x 1600 HD+ with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Wireless Connections: | LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, A-GPS, GLONASS |
| Memory: | 64GB/128GB Internal Storage expandable up to 256GB microSD Card (dedicated slot); 3GB/4GB RAM |
| Connectors: | Type-C USB 2.0, OTG Support 3.5mm audio jack |
| Cameras: | Rear: 48MP f/1.8 + 8MP f/2.25 + 2MP f/2.4 + 2MP f/2.4 Front: 16MP f/2.0 |
| Security: | Rear-mounted fingerprint sensor; Face unlock |
| SIM Card Slots: | 2x Nano SIM Cards |
| Battery: | 5,000 mAh |
| SRP: | 3GB/64GB - P7,990 4GB/128GB - P9,990 |
THE LOOKS AND FEEL: REALME 6I REVIEW
The realme 6i is like using the realme 5i. Everything I see in the 5i was carried over to the 6i: the placement of the buttons, speaker grilles, cameras. I mean everything, except for these two factors.
Realme keeps on coming up with new and unique designs for every release, and they did that again with the Realme 6i. Instead of reprising their Sunrise Design found in the 5i and the realme c3, they went for a more simplistic route. Realme tapped Japanese world-renowned industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa, the designer for the flagship realme X series Master Edition to conceptualize the 6i’s looks. The result was a simple but refreshing touch of nature applied on the phones. The illusion of having carved lines is indeed unique, and it looks much better on the Green Tea which I currently use than the White Milk.
Realme has so far used the Type-C USB port on their mid-range smartphones, so it’s a welcome change for them to finally adopt this port over to the 6i. The Type-C USB port is now used in majority of devices and with the 6i now using the same port, you don’t need to bring multiple sets of charging cables.
Personally, I like the grip of the 5i but that doesn’t mean I do not appreciate the feel of the 6i. The latter has a textured matte finish so you don’t have to worry much about accidental slips. It also minimizes fingerprint magnets
THE DISPLAY: REALME 6I REVIEW
There were also no improvements in the screen display of the realme 6i. It still has a 6.5-inch IPS LCD Display HD+ display with a coating of Gorilla Glass 3. If you’re expecting if the phone has an improvement in the screen’s refresh rate, the answer is no. It still has the usual 60Hz refresh rate and not the higher 90Hz or 120Hz seen on flagship phones nowadays. It still has a MiniDrop Display notch which houses the front camera.
Nothing much else to say about the realme 6i’s screen quality. It’s exactly the same as the realme 5 series and C3, which I enjoy using for watching streaming video apps.
THE PERFORMANCE: REALME 6I REVIEW
The realme 6i holds the distinction being the FIRST smartphone in the Philippines and in the WORLD to have the new MediaTek Helio G80 processor. This new processor provides a 35% jump in performance compared to the 5i and is said to be aimed for avid mobile phone gamers. Let me share the benchmark scores by the realme 6i:
The benchmark scores are impressive considering the phone’s price. It beats other phones’ benchmark scores with higher price tags. The 6i comes in two variants, 64GB/3GB and 128GB/4GB giving more options to potential buyers whether they want the cheaper, lower storage or the other variant with bigger storage and memory.
I’ve played two mobile games in the realme 6i for the past few days: Call of Duty Mobile and NBA2K20. I was confident that the 6i can play these games at their highest video settings, and thankfully it did not disappoint me. Gameplays were fast and smooth and didn’t experience a single hiccup after playing for days. I reckon this phone would also be great for other popular mobile games like PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
I commend realme for improving the phone’s performance by upgrading its processor. The only issue I have with the phone is its speaker quality as I found it to be on the weaker side compared to other phones in its price range.
THE CAMERAS: REALME 6I REVIEW
Realme amped up the cameras of the 6i. Where else can you find a smartphone for less than P10,000 ($200) with Quad-Cameras lead by 48 Megapixels? Only the realme 6i has these cameras in the market today! Aside from the 48 Megapixels main camera, it also has 8 Megapixels wide-angle, 2 Megapixel macro and another 2 Megapixel depth camera. As mentioned in my first impressions post, the cameras are defaulted to 12 Megapixels and you would need to select 48M in the camera’s menu. Taking photos with the 12 Megapixels produce good details, but if you want more detailed photos just switch to 48 Megapixels.
Photos taken by the realme 6i under daylight and indoors with good lighting produce nice images with accurate colors. Night photos looked fine but I noticed some noise in the background so I wouldn’t consider this a strength for the cameras. There’s a night mode that could improve the visibility of the photo, but the bad news is the noise would be visible as well.
Here are some sample photos of the Realme 6i:
The 16 Megapixel front camera takes decent selfies and skin tones were spot on. While I hate using the AI Beauty mode, it can be useful if I would like to look less haggard caused by the Extended Enhanced Community Quarantine.
THE BATTERY: REALME 6I REVIEW
Realme is always generous with their phones’ battery capacities. The 6i is equipped with a 5,000 mAh battery and with my heavy usage, I could still end up with 30% of battery power left at the end of the day. On less busy days, I end up with 50-60% so I didn’t have to charge the phone overnight. Adjusting the phone’s performance mode to high will drain your battery quicker, so I’m sticking to the Smart performance mode which is just enough for my everyday tasks including mobile games.
DR’S CONCLUSION
Some might get disappointed with the Realme 6i’s upgrades, or lack of it, but let me remind you guys – the Realme 6 and 6 Pro are not yet announced. If you want real upgrades to the Realme 5 series, expect for these two phones to have them. I think the Realme 6i is off to a good start to launch the 6 series. It’s like the budget phone of the 6 series, but it has what people normally want- a quad-camera system, a processor capable of playing the latest mobile games, and generous amount of storage packed in a trendy-looking smartphone. For as low as P7,990, the Realme 6i is a capable phone you can rely on.
PROS:
- Trendy design
- Impressive Gaming Performance
- Decent Cameras
- Long Battery Life
- Type-C port
CONS:
- Speakers produce weak sound
- Noise in night photos
