Realme is the latest smartphone manufacture to officially start operations in Kenya. If you have never heard of this brand, you are not alone as it started off as a sub-brand under OPPO and has been focusing on the South East Asia market.
So far, realme has 3 devices in Kenya and the realme 6 is the most expensive of the bunch. At Ksh 29,999, the realme 6 is shooting for the stars and will be battling with some very good devices from OPPO, Xiaomi, Huawei and the two new devices from Transsion Group, the Tecno Camon 16 Premier and the Infinix Zero 8.
I have been using the realme 6 for quite sometime now and in this review I am going to share my experiences with it and if it can offer you value for your money. This is the first smartphone from the company that I have ever used and I was curious to see what it was all about
Before we get to the review, let us first look at some of the key specifications of this phone.
- Display: 6.5-inch ; 1080 x 2400 pixels
- Chipset: Mediatek MT6785 Helio G90T
- RAM: 4/6/8GB RAM
- Storage: 64/128GB
- Rear cameras: 64MP + 8MP + 2MP+ 2MP
- Front camera: 16MP
- Battery: 4,300mAh
Read: Realme 6 Specifications and Price in Kenya
Design and Build
Realme has kept things minimal with the design of the realme 6. The back is made of plastic with the quad camera setup arranged vertically. I will get to the cameras later in this review. The colour I got is what realme refers to as Comet blue. It does look glossy and can be a fingerprint magnet. To avoid this, you can use the free back case that realme is providing on the box.
realme 6 price in kenya
The phone is light and can easily be used with just one hand. Its edges are curved so carrying it is not an issue. The fingerprint scanner is embedded on the power button on the right of the phone with the volume keys on the left. The fingerprint sensor works as you would expect it to and can be set to respond to light or firm touches. These settings depend on what you want and how you use your phone. If you want to prevent accidental touches that may trigger it or even unlock the phone, you can choose the firm touch.
The realme 6 isn’t the thinnest smartphone but does not feel very bulky. It does look bulky compared to some other devices but nothing that can be a dealbreaker for me.
Read: Realme 6 Unboxing and First Impressions
Display
The realme 6 has a 6.5 inch display that is huge and the perfect one for anyone who wants to get more done There is a punch hole notch at the top left corner of the display but it does not interfere with what is on the screen that much. I got used to having it there and even forgot it was there at times.
This display can be used in different environments and even under direct sunlight it gets bright enough and you can make out what is on the screen. Colour reproduction is also great in such settings and there was no distortion on my end during the review period.
Performance and Software
The realme 6 comes with Android 10 out of the box with the company’s own realme UI on top. This is my first time interacting with realme UI and so far I have been impressed. It is very clean and not far from pure version of Android. Visually, realme UI feels close to what you get on some devices with near stock Android. This very simple approach makes it ideal for most users who may not want to deal with the clutter and confusion brought about by the software experience on their phones.
The phone does come with some bloatware but most can be disabled. Like most Chinese manufacturers, realme has included a number of additions to realme UI to make its devices useful. Most of these features are subtle but can be useful when you need them. For example, the calculator app has the exchange rate calculator and unit converter that you can use to do quick conversions from one unit of measurement to another.
As for performance, the realme 6 is a beast. Powered by the Helio G90T processor, 8GB or RAM and 128GB of internal storage space. The Processor used here is fine-tuned for mobile gaming and it does deliver on that. It does not lag during day to day use and is reliable when it comes to gaming. At no single time did I have any performance issues.
The realme 6 supports both fingerprint unlocking and face unlock. Both options are really quick. They can both be used in different conditions and they do work perfectly.
Cameras
The realme 6 has a total of 5 cameras, 4 at the back and one in front.
The back-camera setup is made up of a 64 MP main sensor, 8 MP ultrawide sensor, 2 MP macro lens and a 2 MP depth sensor. The default resolution of photos is not 64 MP but you can toggle that if you really need such shots. The shots you get are detailed with balanced saturation even in different settings. The back camera can also record 4K videos.
The one thing I am not a fan of so far is its night mode capabilities. Compared to some other devices including the Infinix Zero 8, the realme 6 is behind when it comes to its night shooting capabilities. Shots are not very clear and the noise is evident.
As for selfies, they are well detailed for a single sensor and this rivals some of the higher megapixel sensor on some of the other phones it is competing with. This is a 16 MP sensor that should be good for most situations.
Check the samples below.
Battery
I did not have any problems getting the 4300 mAh battery of the realme 6 to last me an entire day. It did serve me well during the review period and most days I could go to bed with enough power left to take me through half of the day the following day. There are a few battery saving features that can get the battery to last even longer when you are running low.
The realme 6 supports fast charging and should get from 0 to 70% in just 30 minutes. This is good and useful if you wake up in the morning and have to leave the house and your battery is running low.
Conclusion
The realme 6 is good value for money. The phone is not gimmicky as we see from other brands as it delivers exactly what it promises. It does feel like a modern device that is ready to battle it out with any other smartphone under Ksh 30,000. I have enjoyed using it during the review period and the software experience was way better that what I was expecting. This being the first time using realme UI, I have been impressed.
What I Like
Performance – the phone does handle everything you throw at it
Software – first impressions of realme UI and I have been impressed
Build – it may not feel expensive but it is well built
Cameras – they are good for anyone who wants a reliable point and shoot camera
Battery – it never disappoints. Fast charging support is also a plus
What I did not like
Night mode is not necessarily the best
Bloatware
Also Read: Five Things to love About the realme 6