Realme 6i Smartphone Review – Successful Germany Launch

For its Germany launch, Realme introduced not one but two devices for less than $200. In addition to the better equipped Realme 6 and today’s review unit, they also launched the Realme C3 that sells for even less than the Realme 6i. The differences start with the USB port (the 6i uses USB-C, the C3 Micro USB) and don’t end there. Both feature new MediaTek SoCs but the Helio G70 that the C3 is equipped with is slower than the 6i’s Helio G80. Consequently, our test group is comprised of various other smartphones as well.
Test Group
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Drive | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
78.2 % v7 (old) | 06 / 2020 | Realme 6i Helio G80, Mali-G52 MP2 | 199 g | 128 GB eMMC Flash | 6.50" | 1600x720 | |
78.4 % v7 (old) | 11 / 2019 | Motorola Moto G8 Plus SD 665, Adreno 610 | 188 g | 64 GB eMMC Flash | 6.30" | 2280x1080 | |
78.1 % v7 (old) | 04 / 2020 | Umidigi F2 Helio P70, Mali-G72 MP3 | 215 g | 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | 6.53" | 2340x1080 | |
79 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2020 | Huawei P30 Lite New Edition Kirin 710, Mali-G51 MP4 | 159 g | 256 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.15" | 2312x1080 |
Case – Unusual Color Options
Granted, our dark green review unit with pinstripes on its back looked somewhat shall we say unique, and at 199 g (~7 oz) it was also quite heavy. Build quality is solid, but the plastic frame surrounding the displays shows that Realme had to cut quite a few corners to hit that price point. Such as for example the lack of IP certification.
Connectivity – Realme 6i as Charger
A huge chunk of the Realme 6i’s rear side is occupied by the protruding (around 1 mm) camera array comprised of four lenses. Naturally, this rendered the smartphone fairly wobbly when used face-up on a flat surface such as a table. In order to alleviate this Realme includes a transparent protective case. The front-facing camera sits inside a small and almost subtle drop-shaped display cutout.
Left and right of the USB-C port at the bottom we can find a mono speaker as well as a 3.5-mm headphone jack. The charging port not only takes a charge but also provides other devices, such as for example a Bluetooth headset, with much needed energy via reverse charging.
Software – New Realme UI
The Realme 6i ships with Realme’s own in-house Realme UI skin atop of Android 10, which effectively replaced Oppo’s (Realme’s parent company) ColorOS that previous devices shipped with. The settings contain an option to switch between gesture controls and Android’s traditional menu buttons as well as an option to disable the app drawer altogether. Realme’s skin also includes dedicated applications for music and photos. The number of preloaded apps that cannot be deleted completely is lower than on the Realme C3. Most noteworthy is the Huafeng AccuWeather joint venture’s weather app.
Communication and GPS – no 802.11ac and slow Wi-Fi
The 6i does not support 5 GHz bands, which means that it is incapable of even remotely keeping up with its Motorola and Huawei competitors when connected to our Linksys Nighthawk AX12 reference router. The built-in Dual SIM LTE modem covers all of the most commonly used European frequencies but lacks support for some internationally used bands, such as band 12 most commonly used in the United States.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Realme 6i | |
Umidigi F2 | |
iperf3 receive AX12 | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Umidigi F2 | |
Realme 6i |
Supported location services include GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, and even SBAS (although the latter’s reception was very poor). Indoors, where GPS connectivity tends to be worse than outside, location lock was obtained fairly quickly. Outdoor accuracy was superb, at least in theory. When compared to our usual professional Garmin Edge 500 satnav the results were less than ideal. For example, the track recorded in residential areas was not particularly accurate. Pedestrian navigation might thus be somewhat impeded.
Telephony and Call Quality
Realme opted for its own telephone app without special features. Conversations on speakerphone were clear, those on the phone’s internal earphone were accompanied by a very minor hiss.
Cameras – Selfie-Camera with Panorama
Back in the early days of 2019 Honor’s View 20 introduced the first 48 MP sensors to the world of smartphone photography and caused quite a stir. Now, less than two years later, sensors with that very same resolution can already be found in mid-range smartphones. Photo quality was decent, and photos taken with the camera remained high in detail even when zoomed in.
The 4x zoom was nowhere nearly as good as that of the iPhone 11 Pro or the LG G8. However, for its class both the zoom and wide-angle lens achieved respectable results. The same can be said about low-light photos that while not as rich in details were overall brighter than the iPhone’s. In return, the iPhone’s camera managed to capture a much more natural light quality in candlelight.
The front-facing camera supports a panorama mode, which works in the exact same way as on rear-facing cameras: while taking a photo you need to slowly swivel the device from one side to another.
When inspected in our lab under normalized lighting conditions we took a closer look at focus and color accuracy. Under optimal light the zoomed-in test chart shows color fringing in areas where dark and light areas intersect. Skin colors are slightly lighter than they should be.


Accessories and Warranty
The Realme 6i comes with a charging cable, an 18 W fast charger, a SIM tool, documentation, a warranty booklet, a translucent protective case, and a preinstalled screen protector.
Devices sold in Europe come with a default warranty of 24 months.
Input Devices and Handling
Display – High-Contrast IPS Display
|
Brightness Distribution: 89 %
Center on Battery: 518 cd/m²
Contrast: 1992:1 (Black: 0.26 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.8 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.9
ΔE Greyscale 7.3 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
93.4% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.23
Realme 6i IPS, 1600x720, 6.5" | Motorola Moto G8 Plus IPS, 2280x1080, 6.3" | Umidigi F2 IPS, 2340x1080, 6.5" | Huawei P30 Lite New Edition IPS, 2312x1080, 6.2" | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Screen | -8% | -18% | -1% | |
Brightness middle | 518 | 597 15% | 512 -1% | 507 -2% |
Brightness | 484 | 596 23% | 512 6% | 481 -1% |
Brightness Distribution | 89 | 93 4% | 92 3% | 88 -1% |
Black Level * | 0.26 | 0.52 -100% | 0.47 -81% | 0.38 -46% |
Contrast | 1992 | 1148 -42% | 1089 -45% | 1334 -33% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.8 | 5.93 -2% | 6.53 -13% | 4.72 19% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 11 | 9.42 14% | 12.55 -14% | 7.84 29% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 7.3 | 5.3 27% | 7 4% | 5.5 25% |
Gamma | 2.23 99% | 2.232 99% | 2.494 88% | 2.158 102% |
CCT | 8037 81% | 7632 85% | 7119 91% | 7596 86% |
* ... smaller is better
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM not detected | |||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8627 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. |
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
21.6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 7.6 ms rise | |
↘ 14 ms fall | ||
The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 44 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
50.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 25.2 ms rise | |
↘ 25.2 ms fall | ||
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 86 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.7 ms). |
Performance – New SoC with Focus on Gaming
The MediaTek Helio G80 was introduced at the same time as the Helio G70 that the C3 is equipped with. The two differ mainly in clock frequencies. While the Helio G80’s four slower cores run at 1.8 GHz the Helio G70 is limited to 1.7 GHz. The four faster cores run at 2 GHz in both SoCs. Both feature a Mali-G52 GPU that runs at 950 MHz (G80) or 820 MHz (G70), respectively.
For a mid-range device, the SoC turned out to be quite powerful. It managed to outperform the Snapdragon 665 that the Moto G8 Plus is equipped with as well as Huawei's Kirin 710. Only the Umidigi F2’s Helio P70 that was introduced in spring of 2019 and runs at up to 2.1 GHz was capable of keeping up.
Geekbench 4.4 | |
64 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (1564 - 1841, n=2) | |
Average of class Smartphone (844 - 9592, n=82, last 2 years) | |
64 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (4944 - 5905, n=2) | |
Average of class Smartphone (4134 - 34246, n=82, last 2 years) | |
Compute RenderScript Score (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (4932 - 6486, n=2) | |
Average of class Smartphone (5192 - 28121, n=59, last 2 years) |
PCMark for Android | |
Work performance score (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Umidigi F2 | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (11534 - 12043, n=2) | |
Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Umidigi F2 | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (6168 - 8795, n=3) |
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7 | |
T-Rex Onscreen (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (37 - 59, n=7) | |
Average of class Smartphone (23 - 166, n=170, last 2 years) | |
1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (41 - 44, n=7) | |
Average of class Smartphone (22 - 791, n=170, last 2 years) |
GFXBench 3.0 | |
on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (21 - 43, n=7) | |
Average of class Smartphone (15 - 166, n=170, last 2 years) | |
1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (23 - 24, n=7) | |
Average of class Smartphone (12 - 502, n=170, last 2 years) |
GFXBench 3.1 | |
on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (13 - 31, n=7) | |
Average of class Smartphone (8.9 - 166, n=170, last 2 years) | |
1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (14 - 16, n=7) | |
Average of class Smartphone (8.3 - 365, n=170, last 2 years) |
AnTuTu v8 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (177851 - 181928, n=4) |
VRMark - Amber Room (sort by value) | |
Realme 6i | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (1330 - 1369, n=3) | |
Average of class Smartphone (2523 - 10071, n=4, last 2 years) |
Web browsing performance did not really benefit that much from the SoC’s performance superiority. The differences between the various contenders are only minor, and we did not notice any lags or dropped frames when scrolling through long websites.
Jetstream 2 - Total Score | |
Average of class Smartphone (13.8 - 387, n=169, last 2 years) | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (29 - 40, n=8) | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition (Chrome 79) | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus (Chrome 78) | |
Realme 6i (Chrome 81) |
JetStream 1.1 - Total Score | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (54 - 60.8, n=6) | |
Realme 6i (Chrome 81) | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition (Chrome 79) | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus (Chrome 78) |
Speedometer 2.0 - Result | |
Average of class Smartphone (15.2 - 569, n=151, last 2 years) | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition (Chrome 79) | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus (Chrome 78) | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (21.8 - 32, n=8) | |
Realme 6i (Chrome 81) |
WebXPRT 3 - Overall | |
Average of class Smartphone (38 - 347, n=78, last 2 years) | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition (Chrome 79) | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus (Chrome 78) | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (43 - 60, n=7) | |
Realme 6i (Chrome 81) |
Octane V2 - Total Score | |
Average of class Smartphone (2228 - 100368, n=207, last 2 years) | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (10432 - 12744, n=9) | |
Realme 6i (Chrome 81) | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition (Chrome 79) | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus (Chrome 78) |
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total | |
Motorola Moto G8 Plus (Chrome 78) | |
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition (Chrome 79) | |
Realme 6i (Chrome 81) | |
Average Mediatek Helio G80 (3227 - 4076, n=8) | |
Average of class Smartphone (277 - 28190, n=167, last 2 years) |
* ... smaller is better
Realme’s mid-range smartphone is available in three storage tiers globally, although only the top tier is offered in Europe and the US. Accordingly, all devices come with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.
Storage performance was decent according to Android Bench. On a positive side note the microSD card reader does not share its space with one of the SIM slots but is completely separate thereof. Unfortunately, memory cards cannot be formatted as internal memory. When benchmarked with our reference card the reader performed admirably.
Realme 6i | Motorola Moto G8 Plus | Umidigi F2 | Huawei P30 Lite New Edition | Average 128 GB eMMC Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AndroBench 3-5 | -14% | -5% | 65% | -15% | 355% | |
Sequential Read 256KB | 309.5 | 302.5 -2% | 519 68% | 800 158% | 295 ? -5% | 1931 ? 524% |
Sequential Write 256KB | 256.4 | 217.4 -15% | 189 -26% | 391.1 53% | 195.4 ? -24% | 1549 ? 504% |
Random Read 4KB | 73.5 | 59.9 -19% | 157.1 114% | 198.7 170% | 84.1 ? 14% | 279 ? 280% |
Random Write 4KB | 150.9 | 124.9 -17% | 30.2 -80% | 171.6 14% | 56.4 ? -63% | 319 ? 111% |
Sequential Read 256KB SDCard | 84.6 ? | 72.6 ? -14% | 30.2 ? -64% | 76.6 ? -9% | 78.1 ? -8% | |
Sequential Write 256KB SDCard | 64.5 ? | 52.2 ? -19% | 37.9 ? -41% | 66.8 ? 4% | 61.8 ? -4% |
Gaming – Helio G80 is a good choice
Both new SoC, the MediaTek Helio G70 and Helio G80, are supposed to improve the gaming experience on mid-range smartphones, and we are happy to report that both, the Realme C3 and the 6i, performed very well overall in our gaming benchmarks. Like the C3, the 6i showed only minor lags in very fast sequences. Overall, the gaming experience was very smooth.
Included with Realme’s UI comes a game launcher called Game Space, which automatically adjusts processor performance. It also comes with a few comfort features, such as a signal strength overlay, a screen recorder, and a picture-in-picture frame for the front-facing camera. All games listed here were tested using Gamebench.
PUBG
Temple Run 2
Asphalt 9 Legends
Emissions – Great Sounding Realme Smartphone
Temperature
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 34.3 °C / 94 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 34 °C / 93 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.2 °C / 83 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speakers
Music played on the 6i’s mono speaker was fairly loud, and audio quality was pretty good. This was not only discovered by the tests performed in our lab, when out and about the Realme 6i surprised us with its powerful speaker. Naturally, like all smartphones, it lacked bass. A feature called Real Original Sound technology allows for some soundscape finetuning when using an external wired headset.
Realme 6i audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (86.4 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 29.7% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.5% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.8% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (6.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (21.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 36% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 56% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 56% of all tested devices were better, 7% similar, 37% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Huawei P30 Lite New Edition audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (80.8 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 63.4% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(-) | nearly no mids - on average 63.4% lower than median
(+) | mids are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(-) | nearly no highs - on average 63.4% lower than median
(+) | highs are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (120.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 88% of all tested devices in this class were better, 10% similar, 3% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 96% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 1% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Battery Life – Fast Charging that isn’t really Fast
Power Consumption
The race for the lowest power consumption has been decided by the 6i, and it kept its Huawei and Motorola competitors at bay particularly regarding idle power consumption. The included 18 W power supply manages to charge the 5,000 mAh battery to 50% within 40 minutes but takes a total of 2.25 hours for a full charge.
Off / Standby | ![]() ![]() |
Idle | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Load |
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Key:
min: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Realme 6i 5000 mAh | Motorola Moto G8 Plus 4000 mAh | Huawei P30 Lite New Edition 3340 mAh | Average Mediatek Helio G80 | Average of class Smartphone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Power Consumption | -113% | -55% | -55% | -56% | |
Idle Minimum * | 0.37 | 1.7 -359% | 0.95 -157% | 1.025 ? -177% | 0.879 ? -138% |
Idle Average * | 1.62 | 2.3 -42% | 2.1 -30% | 2.04 ? -26% | 1.456 ? 10% |
Idle Maximum * | 1.69 | 3.5 -107% | 2.4 -42% | 2.35 ? -39% | 1.601 ? 5% |
Load Average * | 3.61 | 4.7 -30% | 4.2 -16% | 4.18 ? -16% | 6.71 ? -86% |
Load Maximum * | 5.9 | 7.5 -27% | 7.7 -31% | 6.95 ? -18% | 10.1 ? -71% |
* ... smaller is better
Battery Life
Realme 6i 5000 mAh | Motorola Moto G8 Plus 4000 mAh | Umidigi F2 5150 mAh | Huawei P30 Lite New Edition 3340 mAh | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Battery Runtime | -26% | -18% | -45% | |
WiFi v1.3 | 1318 | 980 -26% | 1078 -18% | 719 -45% |
Reader / Idle | 2002 | 1359 | ||
H.264 | 996 | 802 | ||
Load | 302 | 223 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict – Great Start
Realme’s Germany launch was quite successful as the manufacturer entered the market with three devices in total: the Realme 6i, the Realme 6, and the Realme C3. The 6i’s camera takes good photos, storage space is plentiful and expandable, and the devices can take two SIM cards to boot. And most importantly the SoC performed admirably and without cause for concern.
The MediaTek Helio G80 takes mid-range smartphone gaming from tolerable to enjoyable.
The Realme 6i is worth our endorsement when compared with its contenders, including Realme’s own in-house competition in form of the more affordable C3 that not only performed similarly to the 6i but arguably also looked better. In return, its cameras required more compromises and did not perform as well as the 6i’s.
And if you want to spend just a bit more maybe the 6 with its 90 Hz display is right for you. It comes in three storage tiers at various price points. We are hopeful that this is not just a triumphant entrance but that Realme smartphones will remain affordable in the foreseeable future as well.
Realme 6i
- 05/30/2020 v7 (old)
Inge Schwabe