Realme GT 6T Review: The Jack of All Trades

It’s no secret that Realme’s GT series has been a fan favorite for providing killer specs at reasonable prices. However, as the company’s number series has gradually moved from operating under the 20K mark to now hovering around 25K, the GT lineup hasn’t seen a refresh for two years. Fortunately, that has changed today with the launch of the new GT 6T, which we have been testing for over a week. The question remains: Has Realme done justice to the GT lineup and delivered a compelling option in the sub-35K segment? The short answer is yes. For the long answer, let’s dive into the review of the Realme GT 6T.

Realme GT 6T Review: Design and Hardware

Starting with the unboxing experience, Realme, fortunately, hasn’t cut any corners and has included all the essential items. The box contains the phone, a 120W fast charger, a USB-C charging cable, and a soft-touch case to prevent any damage to the device.

We had the chance to test the silver variant of the GT 6T, and the design is pretty neat for the most part, with premium looks. Additionally, the device feels great in the hand, albeit on the larger side. This means that users with small hands could have some problems reaching the top corners.

Color options

While I loved the silver variant, others had differing opinions, ranging from “The device looks weird” to “The silver color doesn’t look good.” Considering design is a subjective choice, we can’t say much in this regard, but the green variant is probably your best bet.

There is one non-subjective thing that was weird: the back finish. At first glance, you might assume that the Realme GT 6T has a dual-tone finish, with the camera visor being shiny and the rest of the back being matte. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The plastic back panel is pretty shiny on both fronts and attracts a lot of fingerprints, which necessitates constant cleaning if you want your device to look neat.

Moreover, on most curved phones like the Google Pixel 6 Pro, companies design the frame to follow the natural curve of the front and back, ensuring the device feels smooth. Realme, on the other hand, has decided to implement flat sides, which takes some getting used to.

Finally, regarding the camera modules, the Realme GT 6T has two of them. Thankfully, the size of the modules isn’t massive, and they don’t cause any inconvenience.

Realme GT 6T Review: Display

Perhaps one of its biggest strengths, the 6T features a 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED 120Hz LTPO display with a whopping 6000 nits of peak brightness. While this high brightness is limited to HDR content, the outdoor brightness is 1600 nits, which is more than many of the flagships available today. This high brightness, coupled with the excellent display quality and Widevine L1 support out of the box, makes the 6T one of the best content consumption devices on the market currently.

Moving to the refresh rate, the LTPO technology, which allows the phone to go as low as 1Hz, also pays huge dividends in the battery life department. Additionally, we are happy to report that, unlike other Realme phones, the 6T’s software handles refresh rate switching seamlessly, with the phone only changing refresh rates when necessary. Moreover, the third-party app support for high-refresh-rate is top-notch. If a third-party app does not run at a high refresh rate, Realme has provided an option that allows you to force the app to run at a higher rate.

Finally, in terms of display protection, the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 display held up well in our testing with only minor scratches. Additionally, considering that most users apply a screen protector on their phones, durability shouldn’t be a concern.

Display Options

Similar to HyperOS, Realme hasn’t cut any corners in display options either. Firstly, the phone comes with the standard Natural and Vivid profiles, which tweak the colors slightly based on your preference. If you want to tinker further, the options include Pro Mode, which allows users to make specific changes to the red, green, and blue values of the display; Cinematic Mode, which uses the standard P3 color gamut for the display; and Brilliant Mode, which utilizes the widest color gamut.

Furthermore, for users who have trouble seeing specific colors, Realme has bundled a “Color Vision Enhancement” feature, which adjusts the colors of the display based on certain conditions and requirements.

Realme GT 6T Review: Performance

Considering the 6T is the first phone in India to launch with the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, we were excited to put the chip through its paces. But before we get to the results, let’s take a closer look at the specs. The 7+ Gen 3 houses one X4 core running at 2.8 GHz for highly demanding tasks, four performance Cortex-A720 cores running at 2.6 GHz, and three efficiency Cortex-A520 cores running at 1.9 GHz, along with the Adreno 732 GPU. Besides the processor, the phone comes with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. However, it is important to note that the base 8GB + 128GB variant includes the older UFS 3.0 storage.

Starting with day-to-day performance, we encountered no issues, with the phone gliding through the UI without stutters or lag. Additionally, unlike some past Realme devices, the 6T has smooth app opening and closing animations, which enhance the user experience. Moreover, with 12GB of fast RAM, all apps were ready to go.

Synthetic Benchmarks and Gaming

Turning to synthetic benchmarks, we were surprised as the Realme GT 6T scored 1,494,994 points in the AnTuTu test. This places the chip in a similar ballpark to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, last year’s flagship processor. Additionally, in Geekbench, the device scored 1867 in the single-core test and 4951 in the multi-core test. Finally, in a 15-minute, 100-thread stress test, the device throttled to 81% of its performance. While this number might not sound impressive, such performance is expected, considering the high-performance chip and the fact that the device maintained its temperature during the test suggests that Realme’s cooling systems are adequate.

Finally, regarding gaming, the 6T held its ground and delivered exceptional results. The fact that we were able to play games like BGMI at 90 FPS, even on high settings, makes the phone a breeze to game on. However, it is important to note that CODM only ran at 60 FPS. We communicated this issue to the Realme team, and they explained that they have enabled the setting, but the CODM team has yet to issue an update for the chipset.

Furthermore, the included game mode offers a slew of other functionalities, such as refresh rate monitoring, call blocking, screen recording, network optimization, voice changer, and much more.

Battery Life

With a massive 5,500mAh battery, the Realme GT 6T handled every workflow we threw at it, including extended gaming sessions and capturing 4K video, lasting through the whole day without breaking a sweat. Moreover, with the included 120W gallium nitride charger, you can recharge the phone in no time.

Realme GT 6T Review: Cameras

Considering the top-notch performance and price, we believed that if Realme were to cut any corners, it would be in the cameras. However, we were surprisingly proven wrong in this department. Before we delve deeper, the Realme GT 6T houses a 50 MP Sony LYT 600 main camera sensor with OIS, along with an 8 MP Sony IMX355 112-degree UltraWide lens.

Starting with the daylight photos, the resulting shots were bright, sharp, punchy, and had ample dynamic range, even in direct sunlight. The f/1.88 lens provided a soothing shallow depth of field when capturing close-up subjects. Although the phone occasionally overexposed subjects, the overall daylight camera performance of the 6T is better than any phone in the same price segment.

Furthermore, considering that the primary camera also doubles as the portrait lens, the resulting shots were detailed, with great edge detection and a natural depth of field. However, it is important to note that while we observed a lack of detail in low-light scenarios, this is a common trend for mid-range phones and is nothing out of the ordinary.

Nighttime photos

Keeping the great daytime performance in mind, we had high expectations for the low-light performance and weren’t disappointed. The Realme GT 6T captured good shots in both artificial and low-light scenarios thanks to OIS. However, there was some amount of grain in the photos as the device tried to compensate for the lack of light.

UltraWide photos and Selfies

Similar to other smartphones in the segment, the photos captured by the UltraWide lens are usable in daylight conditions. However, the quality deteriorates significantly in artificial or low light, with the results being muddy and washed out.

On the other hand, the 32 MP selfie shooter fared very well, with results showcasing good details, HDR, and skin tones. While we did notice the occasional overexposed shot, it is nothing to worry about.

Videos

Thanks to the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chip, the Realme GT 6T is perhaps the only phone in the segment to support 4K@60FPS video recording. The results of our testing were sharp and detailed, and the phone managed colors well. While the output lacked some stabilization, the fact that this option is available at this price is a huge bonus.

Realme GT 6T Review: Software

Coupled with the new chip and Realme UI 5.0 running on top of Android 14, the 6T’s software experience, from a performance standpoint, has been exceptional, with no complaints from our end. Moreover, with the promise of three years of software updates and four years of security patches, the 6T could be an excellent option if you like using your phone for extended periods.

However, there is one downside to the software: bloatware. Realme has once again bundled a slew of pre-installed apps, including FinShell Pay, Amazon, Snapchat, and many more. While you can always delete these apps, the fact that they are pre-installed hampers the experience a bit.

Is the Realme GT 6T worth it?

Starting at just Rs. 30,999, or Rs. 26,999 with bank offers, the Realme GT 6T has revived the flagship-killer genre with its impressive specs, great display, and good cameras. As a result, the device gets a solid thumbs-up from us. If you are shopping in this price segment, be sure to check it out.