With the recent launch of the Realme 6 series, we have multiple phones at similar price points. All of them are excellent, but with them all being similarly priced, so represent better value than others.
Currently, you can buy the Realme 5 Pro for the same price as the Realme 6i then the Realme 6 is just 30-Euros more. At the moment we don’t have the Realme 6 Pro available in the UK, it will likely cost quite a bit more, so in reality, if you are looking at spending around 200-Euros/£180 you have a choice of the 6i, 6 and 5 Pro.
Realme 6i vs 6 vs 6 Pro vs 5 Pro
I will make a more detailed comparison at a later date but some key differences:
Chipset
- Realme 6i – Mediatek Helio G80
- Realme 6 – Mediatek Helio G90t
- Realme Pro – Qualcomm Snapdragon 720
- Realme 5 Pro – Qualcomm Snapdragon 712
Camera
- Realme 6i – 48MP/8MP ultrawide/2MP macro/2MP depth
- Realme 6 – 64MP/8MP ultrawide/2MP macro/2MP depth
- Realme Pro – 64MP/12 MP telephoto/ 8MP ultrawide/2MP macro
- Realme 5 Pro – 48MP/8MP ultrawide/2MP macro/2MP depth
Display
- Realme 6i – LCD 6.5 inches / 720 x 1600 pixels / 60Hz refresh rate
- Realme 6 – LCD 6.5 inches / 1080 x 2400 pixels / 90Hz refresh rate
- Realme Pro – LCD 6.5 inches / 1080 x 2400 pixels / 90Hz refresh rate
- Realme 5 Pro – LCD 6.5 inches / 1080 x 2340 pixels / 60Hz refresh rate
Mediatek Helio G80 vs G90T vs Snapdragon 720 vs SD712 Specification
While the Helio G80 sounds like it will be a slightly lower specced version of the G90T, there is quite a big difference.
The Helio G80 SoC is built on the 12nm node and features an octa-core CPU with 2x Cortex-A75 cores clocked at 2.0GHz while the other 6x Cortex-A55 cores running at 1.8GHz. The GPU is a Mali-G52 GPU but running at 950MHz
The Snapdragon 712 is the closest in spec with 2x Kryo 360 (CA75) @ 2.3GHz and 6x Kryo 360 (CA55) @ 1.7GHz. This then uses an Andreno 616 GPU.
In comparison, the Helio G90T which is used on the Realme 6 has 2×2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 with a Mali-G76 MC4 GPU.
Finally, the Snapdragon 720 has 2x Kryo 465 probably (CA76)@ 2.3GHz and 6x Kryo 470 (CA55) @ 1.8GHz then with an Adreno 618 GPU.
Claims of Mediatek cheating benchmarks
Synthetic benchmarks are not the most accurate at the best of times, but recently Mediatek has been caught out for forcing phones to run at their maximum settings whenever a phone detects a benchmarking application.
In the case of Realme, they also have three power plans, and it is not always clear how much boost the smart plan applies to benchmarks vs how it would boost performance in real-life usage.
In the case of the Realme 6i, which I have just got in for review, there was very little difference between the no performance mode and smart mode.
However, all the phones are using the same software, so they are the same in that respect, and we still get an idea of how the chipsets perform.
All these tests are carried out in Smart Mode unless otherwise stated.
Antututu Benchmark
-
Default setting -
Lowest performance setting
| Total | CPU | GPU | MEM | UX | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Realme 6 – Helio G90T | 290644 | 97549 | 81058 | 55547 | 56490 |
| Realme 6 Pro – SD720G | 282336 | 104143 | 70801 | 52273 | 55119 |
| Realme X2 – SD735G | 258311 | 98328 | 67574 | 47945 | 44464 |
| Realme 5 Pro – SD712 | 216501 | 73459 | 61872 | 42013 | 39157 |
| Realme 6i | 201299 | 73376 | 41633 | 45192 | 41098 |
| Realme 5 SD665 | 167866 | 71157 | 33489 | 36568 | 26652 |
With a score of 201,299, the Realme 6i sits 7% below the Snapdragon 712 found in the Realme 5 Pro from last year, which is still on sale, and the same price.
Things look worse when comparing to the Mediatek Helio G90T on the Realme 6; there is a 30% difference in the total score.
Geekbench 5 Benchmark
| Single Core | Multi Core | |
|---|---|---|
| Realme 6 Pro – SD720G | 568 | 1643 |
| Realme 6 – Helio G90T | 516 | 1650 |
| Realme 6i Helio G80 | 350 | 1304 |
| Realme 5 Pro – SD712 | 321 | 1481 |
| Realme 5 SD665 | 316 | 1363 |
| Realme X2 – SD735G | 546 | 1729 |
The Helio G80 does marginally better with the CPU focussed Geekbench with the single-core result taking over the SD712 by 29 points giving it a 9% advantage, but it sits 11% behind in the multi-core.
Again, the 30-Euro more expensive Realme 6 shows off with the result that is 60% and 26.5% higher respectively in the two tests.
3D Mark Benchmark
-
Performance Mode -
Smart Mode
| Slngshot OpenGL | Vulkan | |
|---|---|---|
| Realme 6 Pro – SD720G | 2518 | 2332 |
| Realme 6 – Helio G90T | 2537 | 2593 |
| Realme X2 – SD735G | 2405 | 2270 |
| Realme 5 Pro – SD712 | 2091 | 1979 |
| Realme 6i | 1344 | 1327 |
| Realme 5 SD665 | 1090 | 1061 |
In the gaming orientated benchmark, the 6i falls behind even further with a 35% lower score in the Slingshot Extreme OpenGL test and 32% behind in the Vulkan test.
The Helio G90T was particularly good for gaming so as you would expect; this humiliates the G80 scoring 88% higher in the Slingshot test and 95% higher in the Vulkan test.
PC Mark Work 2.0 Benchmark
- Realme 6 Pro – SD720G – 9936
- Realme 6 – Helio G90T – 10589
- Realme 5 Pro – SD712 – 8729
- Realme 6i – Helio G80 – 8697
- Realme 5 SD665 – 7960
- Realme X2 – SD735G – Not tested
PC Mark is the benchmark that has banned Mediatek chips, including this one. But from my testing, there was negligible difference between performance mode and the lowest setting, with the phone scoring better than expected at 8697. Still not great, but much closer to the other chipsets.
PC Mark Battery Benchmark
One test I have failed to complete so far is the PC Mark battery test, and it is one area the phone should excel at. The low powered chipset, low-resolution screen and massive 5000mAh battery should easily give you a couple of days of usage, if not 3.
Unfortunately, the benchmark crashed twice, and due to the impressive battery, it takes absolutely ages to run. I will update this when I successfully run it.
Androbench Benchmark
| Seq Rd MB/s | Seq Wr MB/s | Rnd Rd iops | Rnd Wr iops | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Realme 6 Pro – SD720G | 491 | 194 | 33510 | 30386 |
| Realme 6 – Helio G90T | 524 | 204 | 43973 | 32746 |
| Realme 6i Helio G80 | 308 | 257 | 19114 | 38757 |
| Realme 5 Pro – SD712 | 293 | 236 | 16553 | 3572 |
| Realme 5 SD665 | 484 | 189 | 29069 | 5521 |
In the storage benchmark, Androbench, the Realme 6i actually does quite well, easily sitting ahead of the Realme 5 Pro and with the highest random write IOPs of all the phoners.
AI Benchmark Benchmark
- Realme 6 Pro – SD720G – 17895
- Realme 6 – Helio G90T – 13807
- Realme 5 Pro – SD712 – 6518
- Realme 5 SD665 – 8252
- Realme 6i – Helio G80 – 4770
- Realme X2 – SD735G – No tested
A bit of an embarrassing result for the G80 being the worst result of any phone I have tested from Realme. The SD712 is 36% higher and the Helio G90T is 189% higher.
Overall
While I like the Realme 6i in general, the is a significant gap in performance between the slightly more expensive Realme 6 with the Helio G90T. Even when we compare it to the older Realme 5 Pro it doesn’t look particularly appealing.
While I am in the early stages of testing this phone, I think it is quickly becoming clear it is not as good as the superb Realme 6.
Purely speculation on my part, but it could be the Realme 6i doesn’t play well with the western market. A 30-Euro/£26 difference is not a great deal of money when it comes to buying a phone for most people in the UK (though I appreciate it will be for some).
However, in its home market, India, where the median salary is 29,600 INR (£313) per month (with many earning much less) that £26 difference represents a significant chunk of a monthly wage (UK median is £2340).
Clearly from the benchmarks alone, if you can stretch your budget that extra little bit (without putting yourself in financial difficulty), then you will be rewarded by a significantly better phone with the Realme 6.
