Realme Philippines officially unveiled its mid-range smartphone the realme 6i thru a livestream hosted on its official Facebook page last May 13 . The latest smartphone is designed by an industrial design master and is powered by MediaTek’s latest processor. We’ll cover all the things we need to know about this budget-friendly device and review some of its notable features.
Packaging and contents
The packaging of the realme 6i comes in a box of vibrant golden yellow color with minimal design such as the realme logo and text on the features of the unit.
Inside the box you get its official retail bundles that includes: realme 6i unit, 18W Quick Charger, USB Type-C Cable, Warranty Card, Quick Guide, SIM Tray Ejector Pin, Clear Jelly Protector Case and the Screen Protect Film that’s already pre-Installed into the phone.
Please don’t forget once taken off the box, the realme 6i must first be updated to the latest software update before using it to ensure the best possible experience and quality of your phone.
Design–build and Display
The realme 6i is a very appealing phone and the smartphone brand never cease to deliver designs that are unique and likeable by its new or loyal customers.
In the front, the glass display is made of 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass, aluminum metal frame and polycarbonate plastic material on the back.
On the display, it’s built of a 6.5-inch Mini-Drop Fullscreen HD+ with an 89.8% screen-to-body ratio. It has a resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels with the display type of High Definition+. We could have wish that realme should have upgraded a little of the screen to a Full HD display but so far the images displayed on the realme 6i are clear, vibrant in colors and text are sharp. Located at the top along the mini-drop notch is a 16MP In-display Selfie Camera with an aperture of f/2.0.
The back design of the realme 6i is a classic masterpiece made by Japanese industrial designer, author and educator Naoto Fukasawa. His famous works includes well-known Japanese retail company of household items Muji and other realme smartphones like the X Master Edition and X2 Pro.
Fukasawa made a polished finish back with an advanced matte visual effect as you move it from side to side you get these cool thin and thick parallel laser beam effects when light is reflected on it. Fukasawa’s nature-inspired design is available in two trendy colors the White Milk our demo unit and the Green Tea
The AI quad-camera setup can be seen at the top left corner that sports the 8MP 119-degrees ultra-wide angle with a f/2.25 aperture first on the top lens; 48MP primary camera at f/1.8 aperture; 2MP portrait and the 2MP macro lens. The LED flash can be seen outside of the quadcam while beside it sports a fast and accurate fingerprint reader for additional security.
On the left you’ll see the volume keys separated and available 3-card slots for two SIM cards and one SD card for additional storage. The power button is on the right while the bottom has the USB Type-C port, 3.5mm audio jack and the grille speaker.
UI Software and New Apps
The realme 6i UI (user interface) is based on Android 10, its minimalist and dynamic as realme keeps four things in mind in its overall designs: system colors, icons, wallpapers and animations bringing a sense of vivacity and freshness.
Here are some of the new modes that were added to the realme 6i to further enhance the experience of the realme UI:
- 3-Finger Screenshot. Capture the selected part of the screen just by swiping your 3 fingers.
- Dark Mode. Works with more third-party apps, app drawer background shifts from light to dark when turned on and enables you to set the Dark Mode to automatically turn off at sunrise and turn on at sunset.
- Focus Mode. To activate this feature, go to the notification bar and select Modes icon. It benefits users to simultaneously play some relaxing music, prevent new notifications from swarming in, and you can choose one of the four built-in tunes to further soothe your nerves.
- Dual Mode Music Share. Go to settings then click realme Lab to activate this feature. It lets two users enjoy the same video or song at the same time from the same device thru a pair of wireless earbuds or wired earphone simultaneously. it supports Bluetooth and wired headphones simultaneously. Also, if one user is on call through bluetooth and the other is listening to music through the wired device.
- Personal Information Protection. The system will provide empty information pages when the apps are requesting to access the user’s personal information. This ensures your call history, contacts and messages stay private, and prevents any information leak.
Camera Test, Sample Photos and Video
The realme 6i offers a quad-camera setup from top to bottom as you’ll see a 8MP ultra-wide angle, a 48MP primary camera, 2MP portrait camera and the last one a 2MP macro snapper. There is an available 2x and 5x zoom as you select it on the viewfinder, but the zoom is purely digital.
So far the image quality we got from our photos with the 48MP main camera looks nice with enough detail plus contrast is decent and colors are accurate. If you need more color improvement to your shots, I suggest you turn on the Chroma Boost. Noise level are present but very low even in such bright conditions.
Capturing photos during low light conditions is a problem with the realme 6i. Shots tend to have more noise and hazy effect on the quality. Good thing they equipped it with Night mode to assist you with this kind of situation.
The 2MP macro camera gets you really close to the subject to get more detail. It’s precisely 4cm way to get a good shot but still those closely shot details are good, some are quite dull so we suggest turning on the Chroma boost might help a little.
For the front camera it has a 16MP with a beauty mode feature should you want to enhance or get a non-invasive treatment thru software technology for a better looking selfie. You can also set your fingerprint scanner as your shutter button to easily take photos. Take your selfie in a well-lighted room to get nice detail and color, however the sensor will adjust automatically to get the right exposure for you.
Here some of our sample photos with the realme 6i:
You can record videos in mp4 format using a 1080p resolution with available frame rate of either 60fps or 30fps and there is also an available 720p resolution but you can’t select any frame rate. There is no image stabilization available for this and no codec options as well. For selfie videos, you can still choose any resolution between 1080p or 720p but the default frame rate is at 30fps.
Actual video recording we had under the 1080p coming from the main camera shows good detail, correct colors, and high contrast plus the dynamic range is decent enough.
Performance, Benchmarking Scores and Gameplay Test
The processor of the realme 6i features the latest MediaTek Helio G80 ideal for everyday mobile gamers and helps boost the performance of its AI camera. The G80 combines a pair of powerful Arm Cortex-A75 CPUs operating up to 2.0GHz with additional six Cortex-A55 processors in a single, octa-core cluster.
As for the graphics, it boasts of a Mali G52 1000MHz GPU that delivers 25% better performance, greater image quality and a more stable frame rate. There are two optional memory and storage available for the realme 6i: 3GB+64GB and 4GB+128GB. Our review unit comes with the 4GB memory and 128GB storage.
For our benchmark test see the scores and ratings below:
We tested the realme 6i with some of the commonly played online mobile games such as Call of Duty, Mobile Legends, and PUBG. So far we experienced that most games are running smoothly but had different sets of quality on its graphic settings. We just felt the back gets a little warmer after playing with PUBG for almost 1 hour. That’s the temperature of the battery increasing slowly due to the continuous game play we had. Overall, the Helio G80 processor, 4GB memory, and the battery allows the realme 6i to perform better and runs game very smoothly with this affordable smartphone.
You can check out the YouTube video below were we did a game test with the realme 6i.
Battery Life and Charging Tests
The realme 6i is powered by a large 5,000mAh battery with triple safety protection from over-charged, over-drained and short circuits. The safety test covers also every piece of the interior of the battery and charger, expect usage with a long-lasting battery at ease. To juice up this massive battery is an 18W Quick Charge and a 9V/2A charging kit to further raise the charging speed and reduce the charging time.
When we turn on the power of the realme 6 during our unboxing video at around noon, it already had a 60% charge to the unit. We started to use the phone for our initial test, played YouTube videos, downloaded apps we needed then finally played games with it. The unit still has enough battery to last the day with only 6% remaining. We checked the phone how long the battery would last if we do web browsing only, turns out after 24 minutes the battery went down to 1% before it was completely drained.
Our initial thoughts on the long running battery life of the realme 6i can be likewise credited with the built-in low display resolution and the power-efficiency of the new MediaTek Helio G80.
Charging the phone up to 100% took us around 2 hours and 24 minutes. We started at 5:25pm then after 30 minutes we got a 34% charge, after 1 hour we had a 55% charge and going into the 2 hour slate we already got 89% battery charge.
AccuBattery showed results that the battery can last up to 24 hours when screen off or usually in standby mode. While it registered 5 hours battery life if continuous screen is on while using it and an average of 18 hours if normal use.
Conclusion
The Realme 6i is another good solid budget smartphone boasting of a 2.0Ghz MediaTek Helio G80 processor along with a 4GB memory, 128GB storage, large HD+ display and a hefty 5,000mAh battery which serves its purpose to deliver hiccup-free gaming and handle multi-tasking activities.
You get a decent photo and video quality with the 48MP main camera and reliable wide-angle lens but needs an upgrade in the front facing camera to do nice quality selfies.
The realme UI is clean, sharp and easy to navigate on top of a version Android 10 and new modes that can be useful such as the Focus Mode, Dual Mode Music Share and especially the Dark Mode.
Lastly, its large screen even its only HD+ it still has excellent contrast and color display but needs improvement especially on conditions in a bright sunlight.
Price and Availability
The realme 6i is available in two storage variants starting with its 3GB RAM + 64GB storage for PHP7,990 and the 4GB RAM + 128GB storage at PHP9,990. It comes in two trendy colors inspired by nature: White Milk and Green Tea. You can purchase the realme 6i by visiting realme official store in Lazada: https://www.lazada.com.ph/shop-mobiles/realme-219600.
Realme 6i Full Specifications
COLOR: White Milk and Green Tea – MASTER DESIGN BACKGROUND
SIZE & WEIGHT: 164.4mm x 75.4mm x 9.0mm / 199g
DISPLAY: 16.5cm (6.5”) Mini-Drop Fullscreen / 1600 x 720 px HD+ / 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass
CAMERA (REAR): 48MP AI Quad Camera / Normal + Wide-Angle + Macro + Portrait
- Main Camera: 48MP – 4 in 1 Pixels 26mm, FOV 79°, f/1.8 Aperture, 6P lens
- Macro: 2MP f/2.4 Aperture 4cm Focus Distance 3P lens
- Wide-Angle: 8MP f/2.25 Aperture FOV 119-degrees 5P lens
- Portrait: 2MP f/2.4 Aperture Portrait Mode 3P lens
CAMERA (FRONT): 16MP f/2.0 Aperture FOV 80° 5P lens
VIDEO: Front: 1080P & 720P/30fps Video Recording / Rear: 1080P/30fps Video Recording
PROCESSOR: MediaTek Helio G80 SoC Octa-core, Up to 2.05GHz
MEMORY AND STORAGE: 3GB RAM + 64GB storage / 4GB RAM + 128GB storage (Storage expandable up to 256GB)
CONNECTIVITY: SIM Card Type: Dual nano-sim cards, MicroSD Expansion/Triple Slots, Wireless, Support 2.4G Wi-Fi, Supports Bluetooth 5.0
BATTERY: 18W Quick Charge, 5000mAh, Includes 9V/2A charger & cable, USB Type-C port
SENSORS: Magnetic Induction Sensor, Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Gyro-meter, Acceleration Sensor
SYSTEM: realme UI based on Android 10
IN THE BOX: 18W Quick Charger, USB Type-C Cable, Warranty Card, Quick Guide, SIM Tray Ejector Pin, Screen Protect Film – Pre-Installed, Jelly Clear Protector Case
