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Content

1. Contents of delivery
2. TECH SPECS
3. Positioning
4. Design, dimensions, controls
5. Display
6. Battery
7. Communication capabilities
8. Memory, chipset, performance
9. Камеры
10. Software
11. Competitors
12. Impressions, results

Contents of delivery

• Smartphone
• Charger 30W, 5V / 6A
• USB Type-C cable
• Silicone Case
• SIM card tray eject tool
• Protective film (already glued on)
• User manual, warranty card

Positioning

Today on the test is realme 6 Pro, the flagship of the updated line of smartphones of a young but proud company from the Middle Kingdom, which recently turned two years old. The index of the device unequivocally hints that it replaced the realme 5 Pro, while there is a certain evolution in hardware components, and a bright, distinctive design is also used. Not to say that these features bring something new to the market, but in their price segment they will become one of the defining moments.

Qualcomm 7xx series processors with the letter G are firmly associated with top solutions in the middle segment, or, as it is increasingly called, “middle +”. Devices such as the realme 6 Pro are further blurring its already fuzzy boundaries, offering for relatively little money a number of interesting features that are more often found in more expensive smartphones.

Design, dimensions, controls

The front of the realme 6 Pro differs from many smartphones on the market by the presence of a double cutout in the screen for the front cameras. I will talk about it separately, but for now we will continue to examine the smartphone. I had a quick look at the visual component of the smartphone even before it arrived for the review, and was more or less ready for the double cut. What came as a surprise to me was the single-handed fingerprint scanner on the right side of the smartphone. If you do not take into account folding smartphones, in which there is nowhere else to put this sensor, then in fact there are not so many more or less mass devices with a side scanner on the market, they can be counted literally on the fingers, the most striking example is the cute Samsung Galaxy S10e …

The scanner is a physical button with a quiet and tactilely pleasant click, there will definitely be its fans. It works quickly, the unlocking process takes a little less than a second, as in the case of face unlocking. By the way, in realme 6 the location of the fingerprint sensor is identical.

On the back there is a picture familiar from many current devices: a vertical block of cameras in the upper left corner, next to a flash, and below – the manufacturer’s logo. One gets the impression that once a year, manufacturers secretly define a general trend that is used as a template, and it is not always successful. From the point of view of ergonomics, it is not the best solution, however, even if you use the realme 6 Pro without a case, you can enter text on a smartphone lying on the table: yes, it rocks, but not as critical as, for example, the same realme C3. To dilute this monotony, the backrest design uses an S-shaped gradient iridescent under the glass surface. Its color transitions beautifully from red at the bottom to purple towards the top of the back. This is realized with seven layers of different materials with different treatments.

We note the preserved headphone jack, as well as the standard complexity for this aspect ratio in controlling the smartphone with one hand without changing position and intercepting the device. The smartphone weighs almost 200 grams, which is felt only in comparison with other devices, I would not call it heavy, after all, this is a subjective moment. The tactile and aesthetic sensations are positive, but you should be on your guard, a smartphone without a case is rather slippery. As for the assembly, everything is fine, no complaints. There is no official IPxx certification, only splash protection is declared.

Display

With my dislike of all kinds of cutouts in the screen, “monobrows” and “droplets”, bordering on OCD, it was, to put it mildly, difficult to get used to the already mentioned double “puncture”. The dark theme helped a little, the wallpaper playing out the cutout, the beautiful animation around the camera when unlocking the smartphone in the face, and of course the time. It is clear that such a solution can already be found on the market, just in my memory this is the first test smartphone with such a cutout, not counting the Vivo V19, there is one camera. There is a margin of brightness, in the dimming mode it does not hurt the eyes, if desired, you can use it to the full. With a white theme, 60% brightness is enough. In terms of color modes, there are two settings available: sRGB for more natural colors and DCI-P3 for richer and more vivid hues.

After plus or minus prolonged communication with a smartphone with a screen refresh rate above 60 Hz, other screens begin to be perceived as archaism, the speed and smoothness of scrolling are strikingly different. In realme 6 Pro, you can independently select the hertz mode (90 or 60 Hz), as well as entrust the system with automatic selection depending on the application used. The reduced frequency will have a positive effect on autonomy, while the 90Hz mode will provide a decent visual experience. In the settings, there is also an activation of the dimming mode, which switches the interface to a dark theme, setting the preferred screen temperature is available. OSIE (Object Semantic Images Eye-tracking) virtual mode is used for image enhancement in selected applications that support this technology. For this, artificial intelligence algorithms are used. Using this mode increases the load on the battery, albeit not so significantly, but the fact is.

Battery

Six energy-efficient cores and a battery capacity of 4300 mAh consistently provide one and a half days of operation on a single charge, subject to the load of instant messengers, social networks, several YouTube videos, as well as testing performance in benchmarks. VOOC fast charge fully charges your phone from 0% in about 60 minutes. Performance-demanding games drain the battery by an average of 11% per hour. The looping video scrolled for a little over a day before the realme 6 Pro battery was completely discharged.

Indicators of autonomy can be characterized as acceptable for their segment. When switching to 60 Hz mode, the indicators will improve, three to four hours will be added to the total autonomy. Again, the issue is user experience, individual games benefit from the increased refresh rates. So it all depends on the scenarios that are familiar to a particular user. I will repeat the thought from one of the previous reviews: I am always for the flexibility of scripts and the availability of a choice of settings.

Communication capabilities

In this aspect, everything is familiar: stable audibility in a conversation, a quick start of GPS on the street, stably working both for connecting with gadgets and for paying for NFC. Of course, it would be better if the smartphone had stereo speakers, the volume of the only available speaker is enough, at the maximum level the clarity suffers a little.

Memory, chipset, performance

Well, here realme overtook its closest competitors in the face of Xiaomi, first releasing a device (at first in the Indian market) on a new processor, followed by the Redmi Note 9 Pro (in the global version – 9S) and 9 Pro Max smartphones. Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G was released at the end of January this year, letter G hints at gaming, the processor itself replaced the 710 model, but still does not support 5G frequencies. Compared to its predecessor, the graphics part has been improved, there is support for fast memory, so, according to the manufacturer’s promises, everything should be smooth and fast. In practice, I did not notice any significant episodes with the braking system.

As usual, I conducted game testing in PUBG Mobile, despite the fact that the game does not support an increased screen refresh rate. The system automatically detected the settings as high. For almost the entire gaming session, the frame rate remained at 29 fps. The average processor load was 39%. For some reason, PerfDog this time did not take readings of processor heating, a little warmth was felt in the area next to the camera block on the back of the smartphone, otherwise everything is fine in this parameter. The gaming experience is positive, especially if you download the game with 90Hz support. But the point is not only in this parameter, it is in games that the refresh rate of the sensor layer also “decides”, which allows you to process commands more clearly and respond to them faster. In the case of realme 6 Pro, it is 120 Hz.

Камеры

The smartphone has as many as six cameras, four rear and two front. The main rear camera is the popular Samsung GW1 module, which replaced the GM1 model. It uses the same technology of “gluing” 4 pixels into one, promising more optical information in the frame and comparatively better results in shooting conditions with a lack of lighting. The set of rear cameras is quite universal, there are telephoto and ultra-wide, as well as a macromodule for those who like to shoot micro-life. I liked the detailing of the pictures with the main camera in daylight and bright artificial lighting, there is a feeling that sometimes the sharpness is too emphasized in the pictures, excessively squeezed textures are noticeable. As for the dynamic range, I have no complaints, the details of the frame are not lost in the shadows. The built-in color enhancement mode works, but, in my opinion, there are no striking differences between frames. Professionals will appreciate the RAW capability available in Expert mode.

I also noticed a change in the color scheme of the images when switching between lenses. If we consider each module separately, then I would add sharpness to the telephoto lens, and the ultra-wide one sometimes sins in the dynamic range, there is something to strive for. On night shots, when you zoom in, you can see that the “noise” is smoothed out as softly as possible, the frame loses a little in detail. All shooting modes are also available for night mode: ultra wide angle, normal, 2x and 5x zoom. There is a dedicated tripod mode – Tripod mode, which requires fixing the smartphone in a stationary position, which is only a plus for night mode. A physical tripod is also useful for shooting with a digital zoom of 20x.

The smartphone will definitely delight selfie lovers, for whom there are two cameras: the main Sony IMX471 and an ultra-wide module, 16 and 8 megapixels, respectively. It’s great that the second module is not the usual depth sensor, the “no matter which camera, but two” approach is not the case for realme 6 Pro. The portrait mode works only for the main module, the applied bokeh effect looks good, there are moments with the precision of processing objects, which are eliminated if you do not shoot on the go. The ultra-wide lens in your selfie cam will help convince your followers to self-isolate. In the final shots, you can note the level of detail and illumination, the quality of the images will suit most users, especially if you post photos on social networks.

Good news for fans of stabilization in video mode: ultra stabilization is available in realme 6 Pro, for the main camera – in two modes, normal and maximum. For both cameras, the option of overlaying bokeh is provided; for its stable operation, one person should preferably be in the frame, self-isolation in action. The effect on the front camera does not always correctly process the outlines of the subject in the foreground. In this regard, small artifacts may appear on the video, akin to those in the photo – there is a little blurry, here it is indistinct. This is especially evident when the lighting changes abruptly from normal to bright, and the effect is set to 100%. Otherwise, there are no complaints, this functionality will be appreciated by those who like to upload videos to Instagram, TikTok and similar services.

Software

I have already noted the realme UI 1.0 interface for its conciseness and nice design, it is convenient to work with it, it has a lot in common with ColorOS 7. What is significant, I got acquainted with the realme UI earlier than with the update of the shell from Oppo, but now everything fell into place places. The interface features are described in detail in a separate article.

Competitors

Of the competitors, the freshly announced realme 6, which is already in editorial testing, immediately suggests itself, it is cheaper, it has the same 90 Hz, but one front camera and a MediaTek Helio G90T processor, its gaming performance should be at an adequate level, despite the recent news about the overestimation of the results in benchmarks. From the manufacturer’s line, one can also note realme XT, there is a simpler processor and a drop notch than an analogue, it costs 19 rubles.

Left to right: realme 6, realme 6 Pro, Samsung Galaxy M31, Poco X2, Redmi K30 Pro, source

Another obvious competitor, I would call Poco X2: the image of a popular brand, similar characteristics, a more modern, but practically similar in performance processor, the increased frequency of which can negatively affect the autonomy. The Samsung Galaxy M31, which has not yet been released for sale, falls into the same category, even if it has not 8, but 6 GB of RAM, the cost is 19 rubles.

Impressions, results

Realme 6 Pro almost completely satisfied even the picky user in my face, despite some subjective moments in the design and the habit of the processor faster. Many aspects are pleasing: smooth operation of the screen, 90 Hz “decide”, stability of the system, confident performance, adequate quality frames and video, versatile cameras, as well as a nice “chip” in the form of a side scanner.

I can definitely recommend this model for purchase in the “about 20 rubles” segment, as I already do with the X000 Pro model with a budget of “about 2”, in my value system this is a fairly universal option with a minimum of compromises. Realme 30 Pro has every chance of joining this company and also becoming a hit. In my opinion, the new product turned out to be very curious and “tasty” in terms of cost and set of characteristics.

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