REALME 6 PRO - Review

If you're on the lookout for a new smartphone that doesn't suck but your budget is as tight as a haddock's ring piece, REALME, like its major rival XIAOMI, is known for producing high-quality devices at a reasonable price. To compete with XIAOMI's own REDMI NOTE 10 PRO, the REALME 8 PRO has some remarkable specifications, including an AMOLED display and a 108 megapixel back camera.

For more on the latest and greatest technology, including roundups of the top affordable smartphones in 2021, see my in-depth analysis. At 6.4 inches, the REALME 8 PRO isn't exactly little, but it's not as huge as some other recent budget blowers. It's also quite light, at only 176 grams. The REALME 8 PRO is enclosed in a plastic frame that stretches from the corners all the way around the back, which is fairly normal for a budget smartphone at this price point. It also has a nice textured feel that helps with grip and prevents greasy finger scuffs, in case you didn't notice. There's also a large motto emblazoned across that arse, the kind of thing you wouldn't yell at someone perilously perched on the edge of a cliff. REALME has taken a very bold step here.

With the REALME 8 PRO, you have two color options: infinite blue or infinite black, which sounds a little morbid. In select regions, a fluorescent yellow version of the REALME8 PRO will also be offered, which sounds absolutely bizarre but should at least be a little brighter and happier.

Plastic is used to make the REALME 8 PRO. Expect scuffs and scratches to appear with time, however, they should fade after a few days.

It gets even better when you turn on the phone since the REAL ME 8 PRO comes with the latest Android 11 operating system as well as the all-new and upgraded REALME UI 2.0. While it has its flaws, such as that jumble of a settings menu, there's still a lot to enjoy here. With a personalization section that gives you full control over the icons, fonts, menu colors, and other bits, REALME UI is certainly easier to customize than stock Android. Forget about the bog-standard dark mode because there are three levels of darkness here, and there's an always-on display feature to take advantage of that OLED screen. There's some cool gesture control in there, like the beams to wake action, as well as the typical hijinks and a much-appreciated one-handed option.

The REALME UI can be a little janky in places, and the animations aren't always super smooth, giving the impression that the performance isn't quite as good as it is, but overall, I'd say the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, and all of the other features I expected from a budget smartphone were present and correct, including dual sim support and a separate MicroSD slot to expand that generation. For your contactless payments, you've got NFC on here with full Google peer support, which is certainly useful these days. You also get an in-display fingerprint sensor that you can use to authorize purchases and unlock the phone, but it's not the best example of an in-screen scanner I've seen. Overall, it works fine, however, it can be aggravating when it takes two or three attempts to recognize your fingerprint and unlock the phone. I even removed the pre-installed on-screen protector to see if that would help, but unfortunately the REALME 8 PRO also supports some very dependable face recognition that works a hell of a lot better combined with raise to wake the REALME 8 PRO pretty much unlocks as soon as you pick up the phone, which means you can't use it until you unlock it.

Although last year's REALME 7 PRO did break that trend with the OLED screen, and of course XIAOMI'S REDMI NOTE 10 PRO very impressive budget handset recently came out with an OLED display as well, the REAL ME 8 PRO is certainly a feast for the eyes with its sharp contrast reasonably punchy colors and the REAL ME 8 PRO is certainly a feast for the eyes with its sharp contrast reasonably punchy colors and the REAL ME 8 PRO is certainly a feast for the eyes with its sharp contrast reasonably punch.

However, since the REDMI NOTE 10 PRO has a 120-hertz refresh rate for us here on the REALME, the refresh rate is just a conventional 60-hertz display.

The REALME 8 PRO only offers a mono speaker arrangement instead of a stereo speaker arrangement, but it's fairly bloody loud once you crank it up to maximum volume. There are no issues with Bluetooth 5 connectivity whether connected to headphones or speakers, and the connection is pleasant and solid throughout. There are no judders, and you get a headphone jack. If you have a pair of phones that support high-resolution audio, the REALME 8 PRO does as well.

So, like last year's REAL ME 7 PRO, you've got a Qualcomm snapdragon 720G chipset driving the show, and while it's a shame that the specs haven't been pumped for this newer edition, you've still got a very generous six or eight gigs of ddr4 ram in reserve. I did notice some lag in transitions when zipping through the UI and such, but I believe that's more due to the launcher than the actual performance, so don't worry if you want to unwind by supplying random online strangers with a dozen new orifices courtesy of an M15 machine gun. Games like Call of Duty Mobile play beautifully even on the higher graphic settings, thanks to the rumbling engine.

With roughly five to six hours of screen on time, you've got a 4500 mAh battery jammed into this plastic shell that performed an excellent job even on the longer steers with plenty of camera use, media stream, and all the fun stuff. I usually have about 20-25 percent battery life left. You also get support for the 50 W super dart charge technology, which means you can get a full charge in under an hour even if the battery is completely depleted, and a 65 W power adapter is included in the box, which is extremely generous for a budget smartphone, especially when some smartphone manufacturers can't be bothered to include any charger with their overpriced blowers.

The camera technology is a significant issue for REALME. The 8 PRO features a 108 megapixel Samsung H2 sensor, similar to the REDMI NOTE 10 PRO's 108-megapixel lenses. This uses nine-pixel bins in a one-pixel bin to help you get somewhat brighter, more balanced photos. As a result, you'll have 12-megapixel images that are still detailed enough to appreciate on a monitor. If you want additional information, you can switch to a 108-megapixel setting. However, color reproduction is definitely degraded. As a result, the majority of my test photographs taken with the 12-megapixel auto modes now seem good. In bright light, there will be some small oversaturation, and those who aren't fond of poison will occasionally turn out fuzzy. For darker scenes, you may now switch to night mode, which helps to lighten up the photo. It's not exactly a miracle worker, but it gets the job done, and you can always switch to the 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle lens for a new perspective. This is obviously not a benefit of having that pixel bin. So you'll notice that photographs are a little bit murkier in color, don't look as natural, and aren't as good overall, but it's an option. You also have a macro lens, which is useful if you want to photograph something from a few centimetres away, as well as a monochrome portrait lens, which produces some quite nice results for your human subjects.

You can choose from a range of effects and filters, including the option to drain the color from the remainder of the photo, which is quite unusual. When you switch to shot and video, you'll find a similar number of filters and fun settings, including a bokeh tool that works well but leaves a fuzzy halo around your subject and more color highlighting options, though you'll have to shoot at a low quality to use them. Your typical 4k film, on the other hand, will look great, with no focus issues.

Unless you're really next to the phone, the audio pickup is a touch weak, and you've got a 16-megapixel front camera that's your standard budget shooter with the usual portrait smarts. My full review of the REALME 8 PRO can be found here, while the XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 10 PRO is a great cheap smartphone in every way. I would have liked to see an upgrade to the snapdragon platform, and the display isn't quite up to par with the REDMI NOTE 10 PRO. If you already have the REALME 7 PRO, don't worry about upgrading because it's only a little step up. At least, that's how I feel about the REALME. It'd be nice to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.