Realme 6i design: Identical to Realme 6
Realme has been offering phones under the “i” name for a long time. The company’s strategy has been to tone down some of the existing model’s specifications, in order to lower the price. But this time the changes are very minor. In general, there is no difference in design and dimensions. To bridge the gap, Realme has introduced Lunar White and Eclipse Black color variants of the phone. In comparison, the color variants of the Realme 6 (Review) are more attractive.
On the Realme 6i, you will get an edge fingerprint sensor as its design matches the Realme 6. I like the rear fingerprint sensor, but this position is not bad either. The position is such that your thumb easily rests on it when you hold the phone in your right hand. The capacitive fingerprint scanner is clickable and doubles as a power button. I also liked that the Realme 6i is not too wide. That is, the grip is still good. I could easily reach all the edges of the screen.
Realme has placed the volume buttons along with the SIM tray on the left side. Buttons are easily accessible and provide feedback with clicks. Realme has gone for a matte finish on the plastic frame of this device. which gives a good experience. The back of the smartphone easily gets fingerprints and smudges. Especially in the Eclipse Black variant, which we reviewed. The camera sensors on the back are present in a pod-shaped module. This is a common layout for realme smartphones. You’ll find the USB Type-C port, 3.5mm jack, and speaker at the bottom.
Although fingerprint marks easily fall on the back, I really liked the design of the Realme 6i. Its weight of 191 grams is easy to handle. It never feels too heavy or uncomfortable in the hands.
Realme 6i specs: tone it down
The highlight of this phone’s specification is the 90Hz refresh rate display. This feature is not common in the Rs 15,000 price range. For this reason, Realme 6i gets a different identity. The 6.5-inch screen comes with Full-HD+ resolution (1080×2400 pixels). It has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection. I felt the display’s viewing angles were good and its brightness was sufficient for outdoors.
In the Realme 6i, the company has used the MediaTek Helio G90T processor, which is also part of the Realme 6. Realme has brought two variants of this smartphone to the market: 4 GB of RAM or 6 GB of RAM. Both variants are equipped with 64 GB of storage and it is possible to use a microSD card of up to 256 GB if necessary. I had the 4 GB RAM variant available for review.
Realme 6i has dual 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi, and four satellite navigation systems. The Realme 6i also houses the same 4300mAh battery as the Realme 6, but instead of the 30W charger that comes in the box, you’ll get a 20W charger.
The Realme 6i smartphone runs on Realme UI based on Android 10. Our unit had the June security patch. There are many customization options in this user interface. Swiping right on the home screen will open the Realme Smart Assistant feature. Here are shortcuts and recommendations for the things you use. Reality 6i has traditional three-button navigation. If you want, you can use gesture navigation instead. The user interface has a smart sidebar. You can set shortcuts for apps on it.
There’s no shortage of bloatware on the phone: Realme Community, Realme Store, Amazon, Facebook, Google Pay, Realme Link, Realme Pay, WPS Office, HeyTap Cloud, DocVault, and Soloop. I found the stock browser app and App Market to be spam. Because these apps sent notifications over and over again.
Realme 6i performance: up to speed
The Realme 6i never slowed down during use. The user interface is extremely smooth, especially when the screen refresh rate is set to 90Hz. By default, it’s set to Automatic, but you can switch between 90Hz or 60Hz if you want. The viewing angles of this panel are excellent.
MediaTek Helio G90T is a powerful processor. It is fully capable of handling applications and games with powerful graphics. Never faced any problem in normal use. You could easily download multiple apps and multitask between them. The fingerprint scanner on the side unlocks the phone quickly. The same can be said for facial recognition.
The performance of the Relame 6i was as expected in the comparative test. I played PUBG Mobile. It ran on the High preset by default. Graphics were set to HD. The frame rate was also high. I didn’t feel any lag. However, the device got a bit warm after about 20 minutes.
Realme 6i’s battery life packs a punch. The phone easily supports the whole day. Low battery left at the end of the day. The 4300 mAh battery present in it died in 19 hours and 22 minutes in the video loop test. Realme offers a 20W charger in the retail box. It is claimed to charge 44 percent in about half an hour. By the way, let us tell you that the smartphone also supports 30W fast charging. If you have a compatible charger, the battery charge time will be further reduced.
Realme 6i cameras: decent for the price
The camera hardware of the Realme 6i is slightly different from that of the Realme 6. On the expensive model, you get a 64-megapixel main camera. In its place, a 48-megapixel camera has been used in the new model. Apart from this, there is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a black and white portrait camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. A 16-megapixel selfie camera has been provided. The camera app is the same as the Realme 6. It supports AI and can easily detect scenes. HDR automatically starts working on this bright scene. You also have the option of taking pictures in 48 megapixel resolution.
Realme 6i daylight camera sample (tap to see full-size image)
Realme 6i daylight wide-angle camera sample (tap to see full-size image)
Photos taken in daylight turned out fine. Realme 6i managed to achieve a decent dynamic range. Considering the price, the level of detail in the shots would be considered satisfactory. The photos came out sharp. The Realme 6i’s wide-angle camera offers a much wider field of view, but details are reduced. There was a little barrel distortion at the edge of the shots. The grains were clearly visible when zoomed in on images taken at full resolution.
Realme 6i close-up camera sample (tap to see full-size image)
Realme 6i portrait sample (tap to see full-size image)
Realme 6i macro camera sample (tap to see full-size image)
There was no shortage of detail in the close-up shot with the Realme 6i. There was also a smooth bokeh effect. But AI increased the colors artificially. You have the possibility to set the blur level on Realme 6i for portraits, that too before taking the photo. It was successful in achieving good edge detection. Correctly separates the subject from the background. Details came out well in macros taken in adequate ambient light.
Realme 6i low-light camera sample (tap to see full-size image)
Realme 6i night mode camera sample (tap to see full size image)
Camera performance weakens in low light. The details are the ones that suffer the most in the shots. Night mode takes an average of four seconds to capture a photo. Due to this, you need to hold the phone steady. Photos get better. Details improve in shadows. In general, the image looks a little better.
Realme 6i daylight portrait selfie sample (tap to see full size image)
Selfie taken in daylight looks good. Beautification is enabled by default, so you get some smoothing in the output. The front-facing camera also takes decent portraits, and you can adjust the blur level before taking the photo. Low-light performance was very average. But there’s also a night mode that helps take some brilliant photos.
our verdict
Realme 6i will be liked by those users who want to get good hardware on a low budget. In this, you will get features like Realme 6 (Review) Helio G90T processor, 4300mAh battery, and 90Hz refresh rate display. But you will have to compromise on charger and camera performance. Looking at the price, Realme 6i looks like a good value for money product. No smartphone with a 90Hz display is available on the market at this price. If this feature doesn’t matter much to you, Poco M2 Pro (Review) is a good choice.