Realme Philippines has officially launched their latest budget-friendly smartphone, an affordable device made for those who want to get the best gaming experience.

Realme 6i is equipped with the new MediaTek Helio G80 processor, a massive 5,000 mAh battery perfect for extended gaming sessions, USB Type-C port and an upgraded 48MP camera system. Now let’s take a closer look at the Realme 6i and see what makes it a saleable gadget.

According to the company, the new Realme 6i is the successor of the Realme 5, and not the Realme 5i. The new Realme 6i follows the pricing and specs upgrade from the Realme 5 which we’ll also discuss later on.

Design & Display

When it comes to design, the Realme 6i has the same layout of previous Realme devices with a vertical camera setup, a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and a 6.5″ minidrop IPS-LCD display. It comes in two unique colors: Milk White and Green Tea. What makes the Realme 6i identifiable is through its matte polycarbonate back that shows a unique pattern of vertical lines that retracts light on its surface.

On the front, it has a 6.5″ mini-drop IPS HD display with a resolution of 1600 x 720p which gives it a pixel density of 270ppi though in 2020’s standards, this is already considered as a low resolution display but the viewing experience is still acceptable for browsing and watching videos. Colors are still accurate with decent level of contrast and saturation.

The power button can be found on the right while on the left are the volume keys and a dual-nano sim tray with a dedicated microSD card slot (expandable up to 256GB). There’s nothing on top while at the bottom, you will find the 3.5mm audio jack, microphone, USB-C port for charging and data transfer and its speaker.

What’s In The Box

The Realme 6i comes in the familiar yellow box that we’ve seen on previous Realme phones. Printed at the center of the box is the 6i logo and the Realme brand at the bottom.

Opening the box, we’re welcomed by a sleeve that says “Hey, welcome to the Realme Family”. It contains some quick guide paperworks, sim ejector pin, and the free translucent jelly case.

Under that is the Realme 6i handset, an 18-watt quick charger, and USB-C port with a yellow accent.

Build Quality

The frame around the phone is made of the same matte polycarbonate plastic on the back which will remind you that the Realme 6i is indeed a budget smartphone. It has a smooth finish on its surface and it honestly feels like it can get scratched easily so I recommend that you use the free case for extra protection.

Battery & Performance

One of the strong points of the Realme 6i is its battery. It’s equipped with 5,000mAh of battery which could last up to two whole days of average to heavy use. This is possible because of the lower display resolution that the Realme 6i is using.

This is also the first Realme phone under 10K that has a USB-C port and supports 18-watt quick charging technology. Though it’s not the fastest charging technology out there, it’s still good to see a faster charging speed at this price point compared to a slower 10-watt charging before. It takes 2-hours and 10 minutes to charge this phone from 0%-100%.

This is a great improvement from the Realme 5 considering they’re both priced similarly.

The Realme 6i is also the very first smartphone in the world to be powered by MediaTek Helio G80 SoC. This is a gaming-centric processor which gives users a better gaming experience in the budget category. Realme is proud to announce that this is also the first sub-10K smartphone to reach a score of over 200,000 in AnTuTu Benchmark. Popular gaming apps such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang can already run smoothly in High Settings with HFR (High Frame Rate mode) turned on. So far, I can say that the Realme 6i is the best budget smartphone for gamers.

Camera

The Realme 6i comes with an improved AI quad-camera system. At the very top is the 8-megapixel ultrawide camera with f/2.3, followed by a 48-megapixel main camera with f/1.8, and two 2-megapixel cameras for macro and portrait lens with f/2.4.

The camera UI offers a number of features such as Nigh Mode, Portait Mode, Standard Photo and Video Mode, 48MP Mode, Ultra Macro, Expert Mode and others. Features like HDR and Chroma Boost are still present if you want to take vibrant photos. The selfie camera also gets an upgrade and can now shoot 16-megapixels f/2.0. For video, the Realme 6i can shoot in 1080p/30fps with EIS.

Software & UI

For its software, the Realme 6i is now running Realme UI v1.0 on top of Android 10. I personally like this UI because it’s clean and almost similar to stock android. It supports gesture navigation, dark mode, game space, customizeable themes and icons etc.

The app drawer is turned on by default and the options to select between standard and simple mode can be selected in Settings.

Verdict

The Realme 6i is a strong contender in the budget category that delivers a better gaming experience to its users. It’s also the most powerful smartphone that Realme released under 10K.

Realme 6i Specifications

Display: 6.5-inch 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass 3 protected IPS (LTPS) screen w/ HD+ 1600 x 720 resolution at 269 ppi
CPU: 2.0GHz 12nm Helio G80 octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G52 2EEMC2
RAM: 3GB/4GB LPDDR4X
ROM: 64GB/128GB eMMC 5.1 expandable via microSD card slot up to 256GB (dedicated)
Back Camera: 48MP f/1.8 w/ PDAF + 8MP f/2.2 119-degree ultra-wide-angle + 2MP f/2.4 4cm macro + 2MP f/2.4 mono + LED flash
Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.0
Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 18W fast charging
OS: Android 10.0 w / realme UI 1.0
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, 700MHz 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, OTG, FM Radio, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Fingerprint sensor, face unlock, splash resistance, Dirac HD Sound, USB-C, Colors: White Milk, Green Tea
Dimensions: 164.4 x 75 x 9.0 mm
Weight: 195 g

Price & Availability

There are two storage variants for the Realme 6i:

3GB RAM + 64GB Storage – Php 7,990
4GB RAM + 128GB Storage – Php 9,990

Both variants are expandable via microSD card up to 256GB.

Realme Philippines also revealed that on May 15 and May 20, customers will be enjoying a price cut of PHP500 on both variants during Lazada’s Flash Sale, which starts at 12:00mn on both dates. See the official Lazada listing here.

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