Realme GT 6T Review: More Power for Less Price

In a market where price and power don’t lock horns anymore, it’s hard for smartphones to stand out these days. However, the newly launched Realme GT 6T with its India-first Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 seems like a formidable mid-high-segment phone. Moreover, it’s a big comeback of the Realme GT series, after a hiatus of two years. So, I took it upon myself to review the new smartphone. If you’re in the market for a phone with flagship-level performance, should you get the Realme GT 6T? Let’s find out in this review.

Realme GT 6T Specs at a Glance

Before we get into the review, here’s a quick rundown of the Realme GT 6T’s technical specifications for your reference:

Realme GT 6T Box Contents

You get a 120W GaN charger, Type-A to Type-C cable, a good quality silicone case, and a SIM ejector tool right in the box. So, once you get the device, you won’t have to go accessory hunting. As for the phone itself, I have with me the Realme GT 6T’s Fluid Silver 12GB/512GB variant.

Realme GT 6T Design and Build

Key Takeaways:

1. The phones comes with a glass-imitating plastic back.
2. Camera module design makes the phone wobble too much when placed on desk.
3. Frame is plastic, and it comes with IP65 rating.

In terms of design, the device didn’t particularly impress me. The Fluid Silver color option is pretty ordinary, and I like the Razor Green’s hues better. As for the design itself, the dual-tone nano-mirror design at the plastic back tries a little too hard to mimic glass, and it’s a dead giveaway as soon as you lift the phone.

It’s an understated look though, with the realme logo resting subtly on the left side. Besides, although the handset feels cheap in hand, the curved display (more on it later) negates that feeling by a bit. If you have sweaty hands, it can be a bit slippery too.

I have been using the device for a couple of days, with mostly the in-box case on, and I haven’t noticed any scratches on the back. The weight balance, however, feels slightly off, with the top slightly weighing down the phone, possibly due to the inflamed cameras at the back.

This also causes the phone to wobble aggressively when placed on a desk. The good thing about the camera module is that it’s made out of stainless steel. I would have liked some of the metal on the frame too though.

The frame is plastic and comes with a matte finish. I’m not a fan of the cram-buttons-on-one-side design choice either. The volume rocker and power buttons on the right, although tactile enough, wobble and there’s a noticeable lack of sturdiness. It also comes with an IP65 rating as well, which is good enough.

Realme GT 6T Display

Key Takeaways:

1. The 1.5K 6.78-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED display is an absolute eye candy.
2. While Realme claims 6000 nits of peak brightness, we were only able to hit around 2,700 nits with our Lux Meter.
3. As of now, there’s no HDR support on Netflix.
4. You get Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the display.

The 6.78-inch 120Hz ProXDR LTPO AMOLED display of the phone is commendable. So, it can go from 1Hz all the way to 120Hz, thereby saving you some juice (more on this later). Besides, the curved display is the right bit curved, making it appear both convenient and stylish. The narrow bezels at the top and at the chin add to the frontal aesthetics.

Now, while Realme states that this is a 6000 nits panel, we could only manage to hit around 2,700 nits using the Lux Meter at the office. That is amazing as well, but still, nowhere near the claim. It could be due to some other limitations, which I’m not sure you can bypass.

Anyway, the display is still bright enough and offers stellar visibility both indoors and outdoors. The brightness levels can go very dim at night, ensuring that it doesn’t flashbang you. The viewing angles are good and the screen is not that reflective either.

Moreover, since this is a 1.5K resolution Dolby Vision-tuned display, texts and content look sharper than a 1080p panel. I found the colors to be very rich too when watching HDR videos on YouTube, thanks to a 100% DCI-P3 gamut coverage.

However, it doesn’t support HDR on Netflix yet. Still, the blacks and vividity of the colors were good enough. Another thing to note is that you can manually toggle between 1.5k and 1080p resolutions, which is great.

For protection, there’s Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on top, which is the best you can get. During my time with the device, I used it without any screen protector and there’s not a single scratch on it.

Overall, this is easily one of the most gorgeous panels I have come across in the segment, in all honesty.

Realme GT 6T Speaker Output

Key Takeaways:

1. The phone comes with stereo speakers.
2. Audio output is loud, but lacks richness and often sounds flat.

To back the display, there are stereo speakers, which are surprisingly not backed by Dolby Atmos. But, there’s a Dolby Vision-backed display? Anyway, the speakers, although loud, offer a pretty flat output.

There’s no richness in the audio output, but on a brighter note, they don’t crackle. Then again, the audio separation is just decent at best.

Realme GT 6T Software Experience

Key Takeaways:

1. Realme UI is one of the cleaner UIs out there.
2. But, it’s not bloatware-free and there are 6 pre-installed apps alongside Glance in the lockscreen.
3. The UI animations are snappy and highly responsive though, and it’s a good experience, overall.

Right out of the box, the Realme GT 6T runs on Android 14 with the RealmeUI 5.0 skin on top. The software is backed by 3 years of major OS updates and 4 years of security patches, which is the most you get in the segment.

Talking about the UI itself, it’s cleaner than some of the other UIs in the segment. However, it’s not bloatware-free, and you get around 6 pre-installed apps on it alongside Glance in the lock screen. Additionally, there are ads in the search menu, which is an annoyance.

Animations are pretty fluid, and opening/closing apps and multitasking feel fluid. In addition, you get to use additional OxygenOS-ported features like File Dock and the full Microsoft Phone Link experience, which is good. Although everything is going for RealmeUI 5.0, the experience takes a hit due to the bloatware.

Realme GT 6T Performance

Key Takeaways:

1. RAM management is amazing on the device, with most apps resuming where I left them.
2. The gaming performance is incredible, but since the processor is new, you don’t see higher settings like 90FPS in BGMI.
3. Realme has said that it will add it to BGMI in mid-June.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 powers the GT 6T, and is the first phone to arrive with it in India. For your reference, this is a step above the 7+ Gen 2 on the POCO F5, and boy was that phone powerful. So, you get the idea. Now, this chipset is coupled with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0.

While we have the top variant, it comes in the 8GB +128GB, 8GB+256GB, and 12GB+256GB configurations too, which is great. However, do note that the base 128GB storage variant has UFS 3.1. With that out of the way, let’s take a look at how the phone fares in daily usage, benchmarks, and gaming:

Day-to-day Usage

The Realme GT 6T is a very reliable performer, and you can feel how specs-stacked it is in daily usage. I had some 20-25 apps open in the background, and the phone handled it like a joke. Shifting between these apps was super smooth, and the RAM management is also stellar, with most apps in the background resuming from where I left them.

Even at 45 degrees outdoors, the phone barely hit the 40-degree mark. This was after I took quite a few photos and videos outdoors. This was a refreshing change, given the hot experience I had with the Pixel 8a recently.

Benchmarks

As for benchmarks, from CPU throttling and AnTuTu to the essential Wild Life tests, I ran them all. I must tell you, this is a very stable phone, with its CPU throttling at just 88%. On the GPU front, it managed to hit the 1.5 million mark on AnTuTu, which is beyond commendable at this price point. Here’s a quick look at how the phone fares against some of the other phones we have tested in the segment:

With that out of the way, here’s a quick rundown of all the benchmarks:

Moreover, in intensive benchmarks like AnTuTu, the temps barely went beyond the 40-degree mark (that too in a non-AC room) after running these benchmarks, as you can see here:

Gaming

As you would expect from a Realme GT series phone, gaming is undoubtedly the stand-out experience. I played a bunch of games on the phone to push it to its ultimate potential. From BGMI and CoD Mobile to Warzone Mobile and even GRID Autosport, here’s what you can squeeze out of these games with this phone:

See, the problem with newer chipsets is that they’re not optimized with games. As a result, you don’t get to see the best possible settings like 90FPS unlocked in games like BGMI for the processor. However, with the commercial release of such phones, those settings usually get unlocked sooner or later. Realme has stated that BGMI will get 90FPS support in mid-June. So, there’s that.

Overall, the gaming experience was terrific on the GT 6T. Even the temps were very well-maintained after an hour of gaming, barely going beyond 42 degrees in a non-AC room. In an AC room, the phone stays cooler with the temps lingering around the 37-40-degree mark.

Besides, the phone cooled down pretty quickly, suggesting that there’s some superior cooling at play here. Realme is calling it their Iceberg Vapor Cooling System tech. Moreover, you can also make use of the brand’s proprietary GT Mode in games to further enhance the performance. From framerate and temperature tracking to control over sensitivity and overlaying apps for usage when gaming, there’s a lot that it brings to the table for a gamer.

You can take a look at our dedicated 360-degree performance coverage video of the device for more clarity:

Realme GT 6T Cameras

Key Takeaways:

1. The primary sensor is good enough and takes decent photos during the day.
2. However, photos can be a bit grainy at night.
3. The ultrawide sensor is basically useless, since it’s just 8MP.
4. Selfies are good, but there’s some skin smoothening and brightening which may not appeal to everyone.

Although this is a performance-centric phone, it comes with a decent enough camera setup. There’s a Sony LYT 600 primary sensor with OIS. However, the secondary sensor is a not-so-useful 8MP ultrawide-angle sensor. At the front, there’s a 32MP selfie shooter though. I took the camera setup out on a short test drive, and here are my findings:

Daylight

During the day, the primary sensor captures some pretty good shots. There are good (if not the best) details upon zooming in. Shadows and highlights are good too, thereby capturing the dynamic range well in shots.

However, shifting to the ultrawide is probably a bad idea. There’s only so much an 8MP sensor can capture. It understandably smudges the details and lightens the shot, creating a color disparity with the primary sensor. The dynamic range is negatively affected a bit as well.

Human subjects are captured well through the primary sensor, and the portrait mode is good enough. The edge detection and depth mapping are nice, and the hair texture and skin pores are detailed. However, the sensor enhances the skin tones a bit and there’s some over-sharpening, which may not appeal to everyone.

Night Time

At night, while the details are not lost by much, photos appear pretty grainy. If you’re into those kinds of shots, you will likely favor this flaw. Otherwise, it will just turn into an annoyance, which you can’t fix. Oh, don’t you dare shift to the ultrawide at night.

You wouldn’t want to view those smudged photos. Plus, if you’re not stable enough, the images can get very blurry, very fast. Besides, it can’t contain light sources that well at night.

Selfies

The 32MP sensor takes pretty good selfies with details maintained well throughout. The portrait mode also offers good edge detection. However, it boosts skin tones way too much, which you may or may not like. Personally, I’m not fond of it. There’s some skin smoothening going as well, which again, I’m not a fan of. Otherwise, the selfies are not too bad at all.

Videos

When it comes to videos, the Realme GT 6T can capture videos in up to 4K 60FPS, which is amazing. The front sensor is limited to 4K 30FPS though. But, you can make use of 1080p 60FPS to get some vlogging in.

Realme GT 6T Battery and Charging

Key Takeaways:

1. Battery is a big strong point of this device, and you get around 7 hours of screen-on-time.
2. With normal usage, you can easily expect around 1.5 days of backup.
3. The fast charging is incredibly fast, charging the big battery in just roughly 26 minutes.

One of the best aspects of the GT 6T is its battery. There’s a massive 5,500mAh unit packed into this device, which gives it the heft. This is one of the biggest batteries I have seen in the segment. The OnePlus 12R does pack a similar battery capacity, but it’s also costlier. So, there’s that.

I played some Genshin Impact, ran some benchmarks, and even watched hours worth of YouTube and Netflix videos, to get 7 hours of screen-on-time. This was with auto-brightness on and the display refresh rate set to auto. So, if you’re a normal user, you can easily squeeze out 1.5 to even 2 days of usage.

If that wasn’t enough, using the in-box 120W charger, I was able to fully charge it in just around 26 minutes, which is absolutely insane. This is the best possible combination of battery and charging that you can get on a phone.

Should You Buy the Realme GT 6T?

While I’m not a fan of the design, the Realme GT 6T has everything going in favor of it. There’s a stunning LTPO AMOLED display to watch content and play games on along with formidable 5,500mAh battery power to back it all up. On top of that, the 120W fast charging support is just a chef’s kiss!

Then comes the performance itself, which leaves barely any room for complaints. From gaming to extensive multitasking, the phone doesn’t break any sweat. Realme knows what it’s doing with this device and it more than delivers.

If you have a budget of between Rs 30,000 – Rs 32,000, this is one of the most powerful phones you can get. It’s also good to see Realme bump its 2 years of major OS updates policy to 3 years with a GT phone at this price point. For Rs 31,000, the Realme GT 6T is an easy recommendation if you favor performance but want a more than decent all-rounder as well.