Realme 6 Review: The best smartphone under Rs 15,000 in India

Chinese device maker Realme launched the Realme 6 with tons of improvements over its predecessor. According to Realme, the smartphone was unveiled to replace Realme 5 Pro. In our first impression of the Realme 6, we noticed several improvements that made it worthy of the "Pro" branding.

We explored all the major areas of the device, including its design, battery life, performance and software and on those fronts, the Realme 6 did particularly well.

Realme 6 Specifications

The new design is a big step up from the Realme 5 series. Realme has opted for a new finish, premium build quality and a refreshed design that ditches the waterdrop notch for a punch-hole camera cutout. Realme also claims that the phone can resist splashes of water.

Performance

Another area where the Realme 6 stood out for us was on the performance front. The MediaTek G90T chipset is a mid-range performance beast, capable of delivering a gaming experience comparable to the Snapdragon 720G. The 4GB variant of the Realme 6, however, has a drawback as it doesn't support HDR+ Ultra mode in PUBG Mobile due to limitations of the MediaTek G90T chipset.

Battery

The 4,300 mAh battery capacity lasts for the entire day. And when it comes to charging time, the 30W Super VOOC power brick, included in the box, can juice up the device in just about an hour.

Display

While the Realme 6 does not get an AMOLED display upgrade over the Realme 5 and Realme 5 Pro, the company is offering a brighter screen with a higher refresh rate. The new panel also boasts a higher resolution as compared to the Realme 5. The phone has one of the best displays for gaming in the under 15K smartphone market.

Software

Realme UI replaces ColorOS on the software front. Realme's new OS skin boasts several improvements over ColorOS, with better customisation and a relatively cleaner UI experience.

Here are our first impressions of the Realme 6. The one thing we couldn't cover on the Realme 6 was a comprehensive analysis of the camera performance of the Realme 6.

Firstly, let's take a look at the new setup, which is pretty similar to that on the Realme XT. You get a 64-megapixel primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture, 8-megapixel ultrawide, f/2.3 lens, 2-megapixel, f/2.4 macro shooter and 2-megapixel, f/2.4 depth sensor. The punch-hole notch on the front houses a 16-megapixel, f/2.0 selfie shooter.

The 64-megapixel primary sensor defaults to 16-megapixel images with good details, accurate colours, low noise and wide dynamic range. In bright surroundings, results on the main camera are surprisingly good, especially considering the price of this phone. Chroma boost mode slightly enhances saturation and makes colours pops for livelier photos.

The camera app also has the 64-megapixel mode, which allows you to take full-res photos. However, these photos are better if you want to crop into an image, it isn't useful in most other scenarios and you are better off using the default mode. The phone takes portrait shots on the main camera with the aid of the 2-megapixel depth sensor. Other than the challenge posed by stray hair, portrait results are great with good edge detection and background blur.

Realme also has an ultrawide camera that delivers decent results in bright outdoor light with photos offering a wide field of view. However, there is a noticeable loss in detail, while colours appear oversaturated. While photos on the Realme 6's ultrawide camera leave a lot to be desired, they are still better than most of its competitors. The last sensor on the Realme 6 is a dedicated macro camera that allows you to get up close and personal to subjects.

The Realme 6 has a long-exposure Night mode that takes 3 to 4 seconds to take a picture. Results with night mode are much more evenly exposed than without it, while details pop in well-lit areas. While there is a bit more noise in photos in night mode, it does seem like a big enough step up from the default mode. You also get night mode on the ultrawide snapper, but results are mediocre.

The 16-megapixel selfie shooter on the Realme 6 is housed in a punch-hole display. The camera takes selfies with good details with beautification turned on by default. Selfie's shot in bright light possesses good detail and sharpness while turning off beautification offers more natural-looking photos. You can also get decent portrait selfies with good edge detection and background blur.

The Realme 6 can take 4K video at 30 fps and 1080p video in 30 and 60 fps on the primary camera, while the ultrawide can capture 1080p video in 30 fps. Detail, contrast, and dynamic range are quite impressive when recording in 4K and 1080p, but there is no mention of stabilisation. Overall, there isn't a lot of improvement in video from previous models, but results are still good for a smartphone under Rs 15,000.

Verdict

Starting at Rs 13,999, the Realme 6 delivers an impressive smartphone at a very reasonable price. Considering the Realme 6 is a Realme 5 Pro replacement, the company has done a really good job in bringing several updates to make the device feel like a major reboot.

The new chipset delivers raw performance comparable to the Realme 6 Pro, while the display also gets an upgrade with a higher refresh rate. The biggest improvements on the Realme 6 come on the design and camera fronts. Realme UI also brings a clean user experience over past Realme phones. In terms of value for money, few phones come close to the Realme 6, making it a worthy successor to take over the "Pro" mantle from the Realme 5 Pro.

However, there is one caveat though, the entry-level Realme 6 variant only offers 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, not something we would recommend in 2020. While Realme only informed us about the chipset's limitations in PUBG Mobile, we would recommend opting for the 6GB RAM model to err on the side of caution and for a future-proof solution.