Realme 6i, complete analysis with opinion

Realme 6i, technical sheet

Screen: 6.4-inch IPS LCD, HD+ resolution, 20:9, 270 ppi and Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
Processor: MediaTek Helio G80.
RAM memory: 4 GB.
Internal storage: 128 GB.
Rear camera: 48 MP f/1.8 (main) + 8 MP f/2.3 (ultra-wide angle) + 2 MP f/2.4 (macro) + 2 MP f/2.4 (depth).
Front camera: 16 MP f/2.0.
Connectivity: 4G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, FM radio, NFC.
Ports and sensors: fingerprint sensor, face sensor, USB-C, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and compass.
Battery: 5,000 mAh with 18W fast charge.
Operating system: Android 10 + Realme UI.
Price: 179 euros.

Simple but effective design

Realme 6i, complete analysis with opinion

The first thing you realize when you take it out of the box is that we are not dealing with a precisely compact terminal, which is not accompanied by weight either since it is about at 200 grams.

Despite this, we are not dealing with a phone that is uncomfortable in the hand, something that is helped by its non-slippery back made of plastic, something that slightly compensates for being a somewhat large terminal.

As has become common lately in the smartphone world, the rear camera protrudes quite a bit from the body of the terminal, which makes it dance in any flat surface where we place it, with the consequent risk of scratches for said camera.

The front part is dominated by a screen (occupies 82.3%) that is only interrupted by a central notch where the front camera is housed. The frames are moderately well achieved except for the lower one, which is much more voluminous than what smartphone fashion is today in the world of smartphones.

On the right side we have the terminal's on and off button, in a good position to reach it with one hand without problems.

On the left the same thing happens with the volume buttons, in addition to also having the slot for the two SIM cards and a microSD, which can be mounted at the same time.

Upstairs it is completely deserted.

And at the bottom we have the 3.5mm jack for our headphones, the call microphone, the USB Type C and the multimedia speaker.

Fair screen and sound

The screen of the Realme 6i is a 6.5-inch IPS panel, with HD+ resolution(1,600 x 720 pixels), an aspect ratio of 20:9, and a density of 270 pixels per inch.

It is an excessively fair screen in many aspects. It is true that in general terms and at a first "glance" it does not have any significant deficiency, but when we want to watch YouTube videos, something from Netflix or Disney+, that is when we miss more resolution on the screen and we notice all its shortcomings.

Coloring in general cannot be considered a problem, except when we have seen very intense whites. There we realized that those whites were slightly bluish, which put us on warning.

We have continued checking the whites of various photos or videos, and we have noticed that this bluing is something common in all of them, the only thing is that the more intense the white is, the more noticeable is this deviation towards the color blue.

Another facet of the screen that we didn't like are the viewing angles, very disappointing even for the range in which we are.

The sound of the Realme 6i comes out only through the speaker located at the bottom of the terminal with a very good power, but without practically bass, without body and as soon as we go past 80% volume the distortion in the sound appears, substantially spoiling the experience.

With headphones it's totally different, since the sound improves a lot. We also have the Real Sound system with which we can customize and improve the sound, in order to have a good experience.

Performs as expected

Inside Realme 6i we have the following characteristics:

MediaTek Helio G80 Octa-core (2 Cortex-A75 2.00GHz + 6 Cortex A-55 1.8GHz) as processor.
4 GB of RAM memory.
128 GB internal storage expandable via microSD card.
Mali-G52 MC2 as GPU.

If we look for the terminal to respond in what we all do on a normal day, we will find a telephone that works well, without slowdowns or excessive loading processes, as long as they are not excessively powerful applications.

When you have a lot of multitasking you notice a certain laziness of movements, something that is normal since we are not dealing with a precisely powerful terminal either.

When we run powerful games, like Asph alt 9, we notice that both fluidity and load times are greater and the terminal becomes much more lazy when it comes to moving these types of applications. It's not that it can't be played, but we will notice the occasional slowdown.

The fact that we can play our favorite games, even if we have to deal with the small problems that we have exposed before, should accompany the terminal software to complete a good user experience.

Well, we can't say that Realme UI, the customization layer based on Android 10 , it works as we would have liked, as it lacks polish such as transitions and certain errors that occur throughout the game use of the cape, including any crashes.

In any case, in Realme UI we have features that we liked such as its dark mode, its level of customization in terms of themes and icons and, above all, a virtual button on the right side of the main screen where we can place essential applications in order to have them at hand quickly and easily.

It is a 4G LTE terminal that also has WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, FM radio, USB Type C 2.0, fingerprint sensor, sensor for face unlock, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor and compass.

Fair but sufficient camera

The rear camera of the Realme 6i consists of 4 sensors:

Main: 48 megapixels, f/1.8, 1/2.25", 0.8 µm and PDAF.
Wide angle: 8 megapixels, f/2.3 and 13mm.
Macro: 2 megapixel, f/2.4, 1/5.0", 1.75 µm.
Depth sensor: 2 megapixels and 2.4 focal length.

If we take photos with Auto mode (12 megapixel resolution) and there is good light, the results have been good, both in sharpness as well as color, something that puts the Realme 6i in a good position.

The problem comes when the light starts to fade, since in those snapshots noise appears sooner than we could expect and the focus becomes slow, which will force us to repeat a photo more than once. This isn't to say you can't get decent photos, but you almost certainly won't on the first try.

If we use the 48 megapixel sensor in full, in good light we will achieve (as is normal) agreater detail in photos , but otherwise the result is similar. If we take a photo with this sensor at its maximum megapixels when the light falls, the result worsens compared to normal mode, since the sensor achieves more detail, but captures considerably less light.

Photos with the wide-angle sensor are so extremely close to those with the main sensor in the result (similar colouring, contrast and light) that we will almost not care about one or the other, yes, we are comparing it with the Auto mode that launches some photos in 12-megapixel resolution.

The portrait mode of this rear camera works a lot better than we expected, although we could ask for a little more intensity in the blur, but otherwise very correct for a terminal of this range.

In this mode we have noticed that on some occasions the final results that we see in the gallery are better than what we see when taking the photo, so it is convenient to see what we have taken before taking another snapshot.

The macro camera doesn't take bad photos, but they are too linear and flatin every sense. It is not a camera that we can say anything bad about, but nothing good either, since it is excessively simple.

In night photos the night mode improves snapshots by giving them more exposure. For the rest the color and the noise remain in the same frame of mind. This mode works best on other Realme we've tested.

Realme's camera application is quite intuitive, although if something has not completely convinced us, that is the approach, since it is slow on several occasionsand in others it becomes somewhat erratic.

Realme camera modes are as follows:

Night: to improve night photos.
Video: Records video up to 1080p at 30 fps.
Photo (auto mode): Launches photos automatically.
Portrait: Takes photos with a blur effect (bokeh).
48M: to use the 48 megapixels of the main sensor, otherwise the photos are shot at 12 megapixels.
Time Lapse: Allows you to record in fast motion.
Ultra macro: magnification of the macro sensor that the terminal brings.
Cam. Slow: Records videos in slow motion.
Expert: Other brands call it manual mode. It is to manage the ISO, WB (image temperature), AF (focal aperture) and EV (exposure value) of photos.
Panorama: panoramic style photos.

The front camera is 16 megapixels with a 2.0 focal length, with which we'll get some good selfies In general lines, although the colors are colder than those we saw in the rear camera. As for the portrait mode of this camera, we liked it, since the crop is very correct and the blur looks quite natural.

Very fast unlocking

Speed could be the word to define any of the two main unlock systems of the Realme 6i, since both the fingerprint sensor and the facial unlock system work very well.

The fingerprint reader, located on the back of the phone, works really well, being very fast and precise when using it. The position is a little high for our liking, which will make it easier for people with a less generous hand size to reach.

The face unlocking is spectacularly fast since we are just looking at it and it unlocks us. In addition, the Realme 6i (like many other terminals on the market) has a system that as soon as we move the terminal, the screen is activated to be able to recognize our face and unlock.

Autonomy from another league

The battery of the Realme 6i is huge 5,000 mAh with a fast charging system 18 W and reverse charging.

This battery has greatly exceeded 9 hours of active screen, even reaching 10 hours on occasion. If you are an average user you could get your Realme 6i to be on for 2 whole days.

These results have seemed spectacular to us and show how well Realme knows how to do in this task, using the technology provided by Oppo, as owner of the brand.

The charger that comes with the Realme 6i is not especially fast as it manages to charge from 0 to 50% in about 45 minutes, although not bad for the range in which we find ourselves.

Realme 6i, conclusion

This is a very interesting terminal if the budget available is not too much, since currently costs 179 euros.

We have many interesting things in the Realme 6i, but the downside is that it has very strong competition, especially from the same country. It is true that it has reasons to convince the public to buy it, although in many things its competition can stand up to it and even surpass it.

But that does not mean that if we acquire the Realme 6i we are making a mistake, not at all. It is a terminal with a processor that works better than expected and a photographic section where it can't stick its chest out, but it can comply in practically all situations.

But just as we say this, we must also affirm that his overall balance could be better to try to compete with the best in this range of price. It may be that in certain sections it surpasses the competition, but in this range the group must be more important than the individualities.