realme 6i Review: A budget gaming phone with quick charging USB-C

During our time with the realme C3, it’s been established that the company is serious in offering a sub-PhP 6K phone that can deliver uninterrupted gaming performances. With its gaming-focused processor and a massive battery, it pretty much got the bases covered except for one small issue — its long charging time due to its micro-USB implementation.

realme

CHECK OUT: realme 6i Unboxing and Hands-on

Now that the realme 6i has been officially launched in the Philippines, it still boasts of its gaming capabilities, multiple-camera setup, and ample battery capacity but now promises a faster charging time. This is our realme 6i review.

Design

Back panels that sport a reflective shine have become quite popular for smartphones and it’s the same case for this phone’s plastic back. While the more affordable C3 comes with a pattern that mimics the sun’s rays, the 6i opts for straight vertical lines that sort of move around depending on how the light hits it.

Additionally, it has a matte finish which is easily a plus for me since it doesn’t attract fingerprints easily.

Housing a 6.5-inch HD+ IPS display, it has a resolution of 1600 x 720 with a waterdrop notch which we’ve seen on previous realme phones. On the right, we have a solo button for both lock and power while the volume buttons sit on the left side of the phone.

Turn it around and we see four cameras slightly protruding off the surface and, just to the right of it, the fingerprint scanner. Its SIM tray can house two SIM cards plus it has an additional microSD slot to add to its storage.

Down below, we pleasantly find a USB Type-C for charging, 3.5mm audio jack towards the left, and speakers on the right. The realme 6i comes in two colors: White Milk and Green Tea — obviously, this one here is the Green Tea variant.

Software

Running on Android 10 with realme’s UI, the interface is simple and similar to Android’s native look so the experience is very straightforward.

Just like with the C3, swiping down on the home screen will take you to your notifications and settings.  Icons are fully customizable with the ability to change from round to square and even adjust their transparency. The original icons can also be customized with your own photos or icons.

Animations and transitions are smooth and navigating through the phone is effortless. Additionally, there’s support for Dark Mode, dynamic wallpapers, native screen recording with internal and external audio, and tap to lock.

Camera

The realme 6i’s quad-camera system consists of a 48-megapixel main sensor, 8-megapixel ultra-wide, 2-megapixel macro, and another 2-megapixel sensor for portrait photography. This is one more camera added to the C3 to be able to capture better scenery using a wide-angle lens.

After a couple of days of shooting what was around our condominium’s compound, I’d say the cameras work together to be able to capture a wide variety of subjects.

For casual snaps, I used its main camera. When I needed to bring out more details on a small subject, its macro shooter comes in handy. For landscapes, nothing beats a wide-angle lens. And finally, if I want a bit of bokeh effect on my shots, the depth-sensing camera is always available.

Images produced by its main camera have good details in them. HDR works well when there are light and dark areas in your shot and its Chroma Boost pulls out extra vibrance for your photos.

For close-ups, its macro sensor is able to produce sharp photos with noticeable details. As for its depth-sensing camera, it was a hit-and-miss especially when it comes to tracing out the hair of the subject you’re shooting. Sometimes the photo comes out decent, but other times you see a bad trace when separating hair from the background.

Meanwhile, its wide-angle mode is probably my favorite among its different shooting modes. Capturing landscapes is simply more interesting when you have a wide-angle lens.

Situated in the display’s notch is a 16-megapixel front camera. Again, it comes with software features to tweak unwanted elements. The app can make your skin smoother, have your face shape slimmer — the whole AI beautification thing, basically. Some might be keen on using it but like other beautification effects, it doesn’t look too natural when you go overboard with the filters.

Performance

Internally, the realme 6i houses a MediaTek Helio G80 octa-core CPU paired with up to 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage. With this combination, daily usage for the 6i has been a smooth sailing affair. Browsing through social media pages and reading articles also benefit from its tall display since more lines can fit the screen.

After taking photos using its quad-camera setup, importing and editing them in apps like Adobe Lightroom or Google Snapseed were easily handled by the phone.

Gaming

We also ran popular titles on the 6i to test its gaming capabilities. Kicking things off with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, our gameplay was uninterrupted and graphics were rendered from the get-go until after a couple of online matches. The fast-paced racing game Asphalt 9: Legends ran smoothly with minimal to no hiccups. There were some slight lags once in a while but not noticeable enough to affect the outcome of the match. PUBG Mobile, on the other hand, was also handled like a boss.

We also ran other games like Pokémon Go and TapTap Music to test its accuracy for location via GPS and touch response, respectively. After a few hours of playing, we’re confident to say the phone is able to accurately pinpoint our location and touch response was on point.

When we were using the realme C3 for its review, we found that it can handle resource-heavy games with no interruptions as long as you have no other heavy apps running in the background. Whenever this happened, the phone would be lagging and touch inputs are delayed. This is not the case for the realme 6i at all. Even with multiple games running, jumping from one game to another provided a smooth experience thanks to its G80 CPU.

One thing we noticed, though, was that the phone gets warm with prolonged gaming. This is nothing new for a smartphone and temperature doesn’t really go too high. Although you’ll definitely feel it get warm.

Battery

As for the battery department, it’s got a large 5000mAh capacity that also supports reverse charging. We played games on it non-stop and it was able to stay on from around 7AM until past 5PM where it hit more than 10 hours of continuous gaming between Asphalt 9, Mobile Legends, and Pokémon Go.

As mentioned earlier, it now rocks a USB-C port with support for 18-watt charging to lessen the time it takes to fully charge the device. From 0-100%, it took one hour and 52 minutes as compared to the realme C3’s 3-hour charging time via micro-USB.

Creature Feature

In our reviews, The Modern Creatures aims to find that one special feature of a device that makes it worth having — something that gives the product a slight edge from among its peers. For the realme 6i, it would be the implementation of USB-C.

It’s not new that smartphone brands today are offering powerful performances for an affordable price. Of course, they have to cut corners to be able to lower the price and most of the time, charging time suffers since many in this price range only offer micro-USB connectivity to power and charge their device.

With the realme 6i’s USB-C, charging time has been sped up significantly. While there may always be the convenience of power banks, a faster charging time simply translates to the ability to focus more on other tasks at hand.

Conclusion

Overall, the realme 6i is a very strong contender in the sub-PhP 10K smartphone category. It’s got a straightforward UI, a capable array of cameras, powerful gaming performance, and a battery life that lasts long and charges faster than its peers. Probably the least element that we like about it is its design which is a bit simple for us. But then again, the designer of this phone has that simplistic trademark that he maintains.

The two variants for the 6i starts at PhP 7,990 with 3GB RAM plus 64GB of internal storage. The other model, which has 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage, is priced at PhP 9,990. Plus, to celebrate its launch, realme is having an introductory flash sale on May 15 and May 20 for both variants as well as the realme fitness Band. The 3GB/64GB variant will have a special discounted price of PhP 7,940 while the 4GB/128GB variant will be at PhP 9,490. Both phones will be available through realme’s official shop on Lazada.

At the end of the day, the realme 6i s a well-balanced phone with very little trade-offs. And with its really competitive price points, I’d say that realme has come up with a gaming phone that’s hard to resist.

You may also check out our video version of this review:

Search
-

Ford Ranger Raptor: Like a big guy with a soft side

04/21/2020

Before the lockdown in Metro Manila was implemented, we had Ford’s Ranger Raptor with us and were scheduled to go on an off-road shoot outside the city. Unfortunately, a few days before the trip, the Philippine government had announced quarantine and our supposed adventure was obviously canceled.

The lockdown was yet to take effect in two days so we technically had one last shot to go out of the metro before the quarantine began. So we decided to go for a quick road trip nearby just to take the Raptor with us. And we found ourselves on a spot with a full view of the mountain ranges of Rizal province.

This is where our short, but intimate journey with the Ranger Raptor began.

The gym buff

The Raptor, upon first glance, looks like someone who spends most of its time at the gym. Its overall exterior is bulky and is defined by its flared and blacked-out wheel arches while a commanding grille at the center simply begs your eyes to gravitate towards it.

It’s got HID for headlamps that are accompanied by a pair of daytime running lights and front LED fog lamps. Since Ford built it to be tough, its front fenders resist dings and scratches so you know it’s ready for anything.

Oh and that chunk of metal right under the bumper? That’s Ford’s giant bash plate to protect the underside of the Raptor when it’s doing its thing — like climbing steep trails or going over dunes at full speed. From this angle, we also see its 17-inch alloy wheels with 33-inch all-terrain tires.

For those into numbers, it’s designed to have a 283mm ground clearance, 850mm wading depth, towing capacity of 2,500kg, and payload capacity of 766kg.

Same same, but different

If you’ve been inside the Ranger Wildtrak, it’s pretty much the same tune for the Ranger Raptor except for some highlights here and there. There are vertical air vents still sandwiching its touch-enabled head unit with knobs and buttons for the lower half.

What’s changed, though, are some of the materials used. There are now more metal-inspired elements and non-glossy panels when you look around. There’s also a red strip on the top center part of the steering wheel to remind the driver of the correct orientation of the wheels when off-roading, for example. Its combination of analog and digital gauges also made it easy to glance at for needed information while driving and button placements all over the cockpit are ergonomically placed.

The interior is spacious and can comfortably seat up to four people. Since this is a pickup, you can have one more person sit in the middle of the backseat but that might not be too comfy especially for long drives.

It features body-contoured sports seats wrapped in leather, an eight-way power adjust driver seat, push-start button, USB ports, and a useful 230V power socket for laptops and even small appliances.

With these amenities, our drive up to the mountains of Rizal was comfortable — our phone was paired using Android Auto, navigation and directions were displayed on its screen, and our music was playing on Spotify. While these are not key features of the vehicle, they do contribute in making your road trips more enjoyable.

Brawns and brains

The Ranger Raptor isn’t all brawns, however. It’s also packed with intelligent features to make driving easy and most importantly, safe for everyone onboard.

For getting out of a parking space or in tight spaces, the Raptor is equipped with front and rear park assist that use its proximity sensors in addition to its reverse camera. There’s cruise control for laid back driving on highways, adjustable speed limiter, and hill start assist for a bit of assistance on inclines.

The mere presence of these features already suggests that while the Raptor can take on the heavy beatings of off-roading, it can very well deliver the same performance for gentle, relaxed drives. Additionally, it also has keyless entry, auto headlamps, and rain-sensing wipers.

If the need arises, the interior has been equipped with front driver and passenger airbags as well as side and curtain airbags. The truck has Electronic Stability Program working with its Anti-lock Braking system, too, so you don’t easily lose traction and control of the vehicle even when road conditions get tricky.

The Ranger Raptor’s commanding stance and bulk make it stand out on the road

A more laid back pace

You’ve probably seen a few videos or images of the Ranger Raptor speeding through unpaved roads or probably jumping its way through ramps like it’s not a huge vehicle. This is because the Raptor is more of an agile performance truck than an off-roader that slugs its way out of obstacles.

This is also why it’s equipped with shock absorbers from Fox Racing — a company that specializes in motocross and other extreme sports. With these 2.5-inch shocks and its giant bash plate, the Raptor is capable — if needed — of soaring in the air and landing as if nothing happened. How’s that for a pickup truck?

Of course, our trip to the mountains didn’t require us to do any of those. Instead, we took its 2-liter bi-turbo engine on a relaxed drive but still enjoyed the response it offered during those times we needed to speed up.

Its 10-speed automatic transmission also made sure that it can correctly accommodate the input we give its accelerator. It was handy for long, straight roads of the highway but also useful for the varying driving habits in the city.

The two-sided Raptor

What we specifically admire about the Ford Ranger Raptor is the fact that once it rolls out of the dealership, you can bring it to any off-road environment and it will most likely be ready to take it on — no questions asked. Other vehicles might need to swap out certain parts but the Raptor has been built to always be ready.

Of course, you don’t always have to push the Raptor to its limits just to enjoy the vehicle and that’s what adds appeal to it. With the Raptor, you have the choice to use it as a no holds barred performance truck or settle for a more conservative driving style.

raptor

Mind you, going for the latter doesn’t mean you’re wasting the potential of this vehicle. With its size and power under the hood, you can still take advantage of its capabilities like hauling and transporting stuff — especially during these trying times that we’re all in.

So with that short drive, we were able to get acquainted with the softer side of the Raptor. No, we didn’t make it fly or went river crossing, but that doesn’t mean the truck wasn’t able to showcase what it offers and what it’s capable of.

CHECK OUT: Ford uses F-150 parts to make ventilators for coronavirus patients

REVIEWS