The Realme GT Neo series smartphones are designed to deliver flagship gaming experiences to the younger demographic, with each generation boasting technological breakthroughs. The GT Neo SE series, positioned as a more cost-effective option, often offers a superior experience compared to its peers, without skimping on technological advancements, consistently providing users with experiences that exceed their price tags.
The latest release, the Realme GT Neo6 SE, is touted as the new generation flagship gaming powerhouse, naturally crafted to flagship standards. To deliver the gaming experience that appeals to young users, performance, heat dissipation, battery life, and screen quality are all key factors.
The third-generation Snapdragon 7+ delivers top-notch performance.
The realme GT Neo6 SE employs the third-generation Snapdragon 7+ mobile platform, built on the same 4nm process as the third-generation Snapdragon 8, featuring the same Cortex-X4 super core, albeit with slightly reduced frequency and cache specifications. Its performance and efficiency are on par with flagship standards.
Performance excellence relies heavily on thermal support. The realme GT Neo6 SE boasts a massive 10014 square millimeters of VC cooling area, ensuring robust heat dissipation. With a large area coupled with a dual-layer liquid cooling structure, heat transfer is swift. Moreover, the mid-frame ice-sealed design effectively reduces side temperatures.
The specific performance can be initially assessed by benchmark scores. According to AnTuTu tests, the device consistently scores around 1.46 million points, indicating stable performance. In terms of scores, it can be considered a leader just below the flagship level, with little difference even compared to the second-generation Snapdragon 8 series phones, which score over 1.55 million points.
In GeekBench6, a benchmark test that leans towards CPU performance, the Realme GT Neo6 SE performs impressively well. It achieves a single-core score of around 1880 points and a multi-core score of less than 5000 points. The single-core performance is particularly noteworthy, closely resembling that of the second-generation Snapdragon 8 series. Looking at these scores, it's evident that the Realme GT Neo6 SE delivers commendable performance. With the X4 super-large core enhancement, both performance and efficiency have seen significant improvements compared to its predecessor, the GT Neo5 SE, narrowing the gap with true flagship smartphones even further.
In gaming, GT Mode 5.0 optimizes system resource allocation through AI, ensuring stable frame rates and reduced power consumption. Super HDR enhances dynamic range by boosting brightness, resulting in more exquisite visuals. Hardcore gamers can further boost performance by manually adjusting CPU and GPU frequencies using the Instant Performance Panel, with maximum frequencies reaching 2.8GHz/950MHz, compared to the default 2.15GHz/835MHz, unlocking even more extreme performance capabilities. While heat generation is inevitable, it can be mitigated with the use of a heat dissipation back clip.
The Game-exclusive Memory feature is incredibly handy. As game loading times are getting longer, taking several tens of seconds just to start playing, the realme GT Neo6 SE allows players to seamlessly switch between games and the home screen. The system automatically allocates the game to dedicated memory space, enabling instant access whenever you want to play again.
Let's take a look at the gaming performance in practice. In the standard test model of Genshin Impact on PC, the average frame rate over 30 minutes of gameplay reaches 59 frames per second. There were no frame rate limits set throughout the game, and even in the final stages, it maintained a smooth 60 frames per second performance, showcasing flagship-level fluidity and stability. The average power consumption during gaming was 5.9 watts, with the highest temperature recorded on the front reaching 46.5 degrees Celsius, and on the back reaching 47 degrees Celsius. Clearly, the third-generation Snapdragon 7+ is not a true flagship product, and achieving full frame rates is not as effortless as on flagship platforms. With the processor operating under sustained high loads for extended periods, it's natural to feel the device getting warmer as gameplay continues.
In the high-load game "Honkai Impact 3," the average frame rate of the GTNeo6 SE reaches 49.9 frames per 15-minute session, albeit with some fluctuations. Under heavy load, the frame rate can dip to 45 frames per second. The game draws considerable power, peaking at 7.9 watts, and generates notable heat, with front and back temperatures reaching 48.2 and 49.8 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The device boasts a 5500mAh battery with 100W fast charging capability, ensuring prolonged usage.
Regarding battery life, the GTNeo6 SE maintains the highly acclaimed specifications of its predecessor, featuring dual 4.5V cells and a gallium nitride material across the entire power chain. This design minimizes the battery module's thickness, allowing for a slim profile of just 8.65mm and a lightweight of 191 grams.
The battery, combined with the highly efficient third-generation Snapdragon 7+ processor and LTPO display, provides an equivalent capacity of 5500mAh, resulting in remarkable efficiency in real-world usage. In a three-hour test, the remaining battery level was as high as 68%, indicating robust overall battery life. Among various tested scenarios, gaming was the most power-consuming, while other tasks proved to be quite power-efficient.
The Realme GTNeo6 SE is equipped with 100W SuperVOOC Flash Charge, which charges impressively fast. In our tests, it reached 18% in just 3 minutes, 64% in 15 minutes, and fully charged to 100% in 31 minutes, with a total charging time of only 45 minutes. Despite its large 5500mAh battery, charging speed remains unaffected.
Beyond its long battery life and rapid charging, the GTNeo6 SE boasts durability, offering 4 years of reliable performance with over 1600 charge cycles maintaining over 80% health. It also features the built-in SUPERVOOC S power management chip, ensuring consistent performance even at low battery levels.
With a peak brightness of 6000nits and LTPO technology for smooth power efficiency, the GTNeo6 SE's display delivers an exceptional viewing experience. The flagship-grade 6.78-inch 1.5K screen, co-developed with BOE, utilizes BOE's S1 emissive material, achieving the highest brightness levels.
Unlike other models in the same price range, realme opted for a curved screen design instead of a flat screen. This results in narrow visual borders when the screen is lit, providing a superior visual experience compared to other models. The curved screen offers two main advantages: extreme brightness and smooth display.
In terms of brightness, through our testing, we found that the local peak brightness can indeed reach 6000 nits, and in some cases even surpass this mark, which is not just a claim. Of course, high brightness is meant to serve the actual display effect. In HDR video playback, the high brightness support enables high dynamic effects, making the images incredibly lifelike. Additionally, in gaming, HDR quality enhancement can be achieved, and it also supports flagship-level Pro-XDR display effects, resulting in photos taken in real life appearing more realistic.
The realme GT Neo6 SE adopts flagship-level 8TLTPO technology for seamless fluidity, with a refresh rate that can dynamically adjust between 0.5Hz and 120Hz. Compared to fixed refresh rate adjustments at similar price points, it excels in both smoothness and power efficiency.
The display features GreenField AI eye protection, utilizing AI-powered detection from the front camera to adjust various parameters dynamically based on the user's eye fatigue level. It supports hardware low blue light and up to 2160Hz high-frequency dimming. With a maximum touch refresh rate of 2500Hz, it offers instantaneous touch sampling. Specifically tailored for gaming, it introduces a SmartTouch feature in games like Honor of Kings, optimizing different screen areas to enhance responsiveness and control.
Taking a look at the design, the body features classic curved surfaces, while the edges boast a straight-line design, with a gradual arc transition on the side frames. The back adopts a dual-tone design, with most of the material sporting a matte metallic finish, while the lens area undergoes a nanometer coating process, presenting a glossy visual effect, offering two distinct visual impacts. However, the glossy surface lacks some fingerprint resistance, so it's advisable to use a case if that's a concern. The body is only 8.65mm thick, weighing 191 grams, offering a quite pleasant handling experience.
In terms of overall experience, the realme GT Neo6 SE is equipped with a dual rear camera setup. The main camera features a 50-megapixel IMX 882 sensor, boasting a 1/1.95-inch photosensitive area, an F/1.88 large aperture, and optical image stabilization, making it a very competent mid-range primary camera. Notably, in terms of algorithm support, it inherits flagship features such as the Ultra Clear Engine and Super Clear Image Engine, especially emphasizing realistic lighting and shadow effects.
From the sample images, the Realme GT Neo6 SE exhibits high clarity in its photos. The flower pistils captured casually are clear and not blurry, showcasing a certain level of zoom capability. It allows for easy composition switching between 1X and 2X. In photography, a slight breeze can cause the flower branches to sway slightly, but the snap effect is still very satisfactory.
In more complex lighting conditions, the Realme GTNeo6 SE exhibits rich details in both light and shadow, with no overexposure in the highlights, presenting a high dynamic range effect. The texture of the building surfaces in dark areas is well preserved, resulting in a nice contrast between light and shadow and providing a realistic depiction.
Actually, both of the previous two samples are photos processed with AIGC elimination. The original images contained many pedestrians and vehicles, but after AIGC elimination, they became photos without any distracting elements. The key point is that there are no traces of photo editing at all. Compared to the original images, it's like seeing two completely different effects.
In terms of other features, all the essential functions are present without compromise. There's no shortage of infrared remote control, X-axis linear motor, stereo dual speakers, NFC, or screen fingerprint recognition. There are no obvious shortcomings.
Of course, the final evaluation of a smartphone cannot ignore the price. The starting price of 1699 CNY for the realme GT Neo6 SE is very affordable. Although the 8GB+256GB storage may be slightly insufficient for some users, it is still acceptable for certain budget-conscious consumers, especially considering the advantage of the 300 CNY price reduction. Moving into the realm of 12GB+256GB storage, the realme GT Neo6 SE's initial sale offers a price advantage of 100 CNY, making it hard to resist at 1899 CNY. Clearly, realme continues to deliver top-notch experiences with flagship-level screens and performance. With ample support from flagship-level technologies at a lower cost, for those seeking a budget-friendly gaming flagship experience, the realme GT Neo6 SE might just be the ideal choice.
