Realme GT 6T review: A smooth operator

Realme GT 6T review

After being away from the market for two years, Realme recently introduced its GT series. The Realme GT 6T is the ‘comeback’ kid for the Chinese smartphone maker in the GT series. The GT series is a notch above the numbered series which the company sells. Realme had positioned the GT series more on the lines of affordable premium phones — in other words, packing relatively premium features in a not-so-expensive package. Can the GT 6T give the competition a run for its money? We put the smartphone to test and here’s our complete review.

Realme 6T GT review: Design and display

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Realme is pitching the GT 6T as a premium device and that starts with the packaging. Adorned in a sleek back box, the smartphone looks quite classy. The case that comes with it also has a premium touch. Inside the box, there are the usual suspects — a Type-C cable, SIM ejector tool, and a 120W SuperVOOC charger. It is good to see Realme giving the charging adapter as there are brands which have stopped doing so in this segment.

The Realme GT 6T is a striking looking phone and that’s down to the shiny, glossy finish. The Fluid Silver coloured variant we got had a dual-tone design at the back. There’s a glossy — almost mirror-like — finish that gives quite a different look. And it is nice different but the design can be polarising at least in the silver colour. The mirror-like finish means that there are a lot of smudges and fingerprints which leave their mark (pun unintended).

Realme GT 6T back

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The back is made of plastic as is the frame yet the edges are flat which makes the phone comfortable to hold. It is on the slimmer side and measures around 8.65mm in thickness. The phone doesn’t feel like you’re carrying an accessory in your pocket as it weighs around 191 grams.

The buttons are placed on the right side whereas on top of the phone there’s an IR blaster, which allows you to use the smartphone as a remote control for TVs and other devices. The speaker grille, SIM-card tray and charging port are placed at the bottom.

On the front, there is a 6.78-inch AMOLED display that offers 1.5k resolution and what is now a standard 120Hz refresh rate. It is a nice touch from Realme to offer 1.5k resolution as the text is clear and crisp and offers a lot of clarity. The colours are accurately depicted and watching videos is a pleasure as there’s sufficient clarity. Even under direct sunlight, you won’t have any trouble or squint too much to read texts on the Realme GT 6T.

The LTPO panel ensures that the display adjusts the refresh rate. If you are gaming on the phone, the refresh rate is amped up and the display remains responsive and fluid.

The display also features an fingerprint scanner which we found to be accurate and responsive. The placement is slightly lower than what we are accustomed to but one gets used to it pretty quickly.

One of the standout quality of the display is the minimal bezels it offers. There’s ample real estate on the screen as Realme has done a fine job in reducing them.

Realme GT 6T review: Performance, battery life

The Realme GT 6T is the first smartphone in the country to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset. There’s up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. However, the base model features 128GB of UFS 3.1.

When it comes to day-to-day tasks, the Realme GT 6T can easily be called an impressive performer. The smartphone handles multitasking quite breezily and the effective RAM management ensures it remains snappy. Switching between apps is hardly an issue and the phone is extremely responsive. Qualcomm has done a fine job in tuning its latest chipset.

The GT series was known for its gaming prowess and the 6T continues to uphold that legacy. Not the best of the best but certainly impressive when it comes to gaming. We tried our hands at the crowd favourites like Call of Duty Mobile or Shadow Fight and saw that the GT 6T does an extremely capable job even at high-frame rates.

There wasn’t any noticeable warming up of the device even after long gaming sessions. In fact, during our time with the Realme GT 6T, we never noticed the phone heating up — be it while gaming or shooting videos. Realme has put in a bigger refined vapour chamber and has the Iceberg Vapour Cooling System. The system lives up to its name and does a commendable job of keeping the phone cool.

Realme GT 6T runs RealmeUI 5.0 based on Android 14. There are quite a few pre-installed apps but not as many as we have seen in Realme’s entry-level or budget phones. RealmeUI has features like File Dock and Microsoft Phone Link experience and the interface is quite smooth. Realme says that the phone will get three years of OS updates and four years of security patches, which is par for the course in this price range.

The impressive battery life is another standout feature of the Realme GT 6T. The smartphone can last up to 8-9 hours on moderate to heavy usage of using the camera, watching videos and performing day-to-day tasks.

Realme GT 6T review: Camera

The Realme GT 6T boasts impressive specs in its camera setup. The primary rear camera features a 50MP sensor, utilising the Sony LYT-600 sensor with an f/1.88 aperture lens. Additionally, it includes an 8MP Sony IMX355 sensor equipped with a wide-angle lens and an f/2.2 aperture.

In daylight conditions, the Realme GT 6T delivers commendable photo quality, though it falls short of the top-tier standards set by other flagship devices and some competitors in its price range. The photos offer enough clarity and detail but just fall short at times. The clarity and detail is due to the Hyper Light Engine.

No phone camera these days comes without any AI chops and the GT 6T is no different. The camera’s AI capabilities enhance scene depth and subject recognition, improving subject isolation. The camera comes with a few nifty features, such as Quick Shot and Target Zooming, which are fun to use and can be quite effective.

What’s new is a new algorithm called HyperShot 2.0 Image Architecture. Realme claims that it accelerates data processing from the camera sensors and includes an improved anti-shake algorithm. The result? Overall, it works quite well as HDR photos come out really well but at times the colours are slightly enhanced for our liking. The low-light mode works quite well and the camera activates Night Mode when needed.

The Realme GT 6T’s video recording capabilities allows you to capture 4K footage at up to 60fps, courtesy of its 50MP primary camera. The video quality is consistent and left us with no complaints.

The Realme GT 6T is equipped with a 32MP Sony IMX615 sensor. The front camera does a fine job of taking portraits but that is something expected from the Sony sensor.

Realme GT 6T review: Verdict

The Realme GT 6T packs noteworthy hardware and delivers solid performance across the board. The design is sleek and different and the display is one of the standout aspects of the phone. In terms of performance, it is a smooth operator and the battery life will impress you for sure.

The Realme GT 6T starts at Rs 30,990 and at this price point, it is quite a compelling package. Of course, there are a few software drawbacks but that doesn’t diminish the GT 6T’s standing as a really strong contender. If you are in the market for a phone under Rs 35,000, the Realme GT 6T certainly deserves more than a dekko.