The BQ 6861L Core smartphone has gone on sale, which will please you with its price-to-feature ratio. For 15,990 rubles the smartphone offers:
- Glass body;
- Helio G99 chipset, which scored 409,945 thousand points in the AnTuTu v10 test (see how the smartphone handles games);
- High brightness IPS screen with a diagonal of 6.78 inches and Full HD+ resolution;
- 50 MP main camera, Samsung ISOCELL FROM 1 sensor (see sample pictures);
- 16 MP selfie camera;
- 5000 mAh battery + 33 W fast charging (see battery life test results);
- VoLTE, VoWiFi, frequency aggregation, call recording;
- NFC with support for Mir cards;
- Pure Android 14.
Table of Contents
Specifications
| Screen diagonal | 6.78″ |
| Smartphone screen technology | IPS |
| Screen resolution | 2460 x 1080 |
| Battery, mAh | 5000 |
| Mobile Internet | 4G/LTE |
| Processor | MTK Helio G99 |
| operating system | Android 14 |
| RAM | 6 GB |
| Built-in memory | 128 GB |
| Memory card support | microSD up to 1024 GB |
| SIM quantity | 2 SIM |
| Format SIM | nanoSIM |
| NFC | Eat |
| Wireless communication | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, WCDMA 900/2100 МГц, GPRS, EDGE, 4G Cat.10 FDD B1/2/3/ 5/7/8/20 + TDD B38/40/41, Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac 2.4GHz + 5GHz, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Main camera | 50 MP |
| Front camera | 16 MP |
| Device Dimensions | 168.7 x 76.7 x 9.0 mm |
| Weight | 211 g |
| Equipment | Smartphone, charger, USB cable, warranty card, instruction manual, transparent case |
Appearance
The BQ 6861L Core smartphone looks nice: flat edges, a neat camera block, and the back panel the color of raw clay is covered with glass. In your hand, the phone feels like a solid, weighty (211 grams) block. The build quality is excellent: nothing is loose or pressed anywhere. Before purchasing, we recommend that you look at the smartphone in person: the screen diagonal of 6.78 inches affects the dimensions (168.7 x 76.7 x 9.0 mm).
The smartphone comes with a transparent protective case. The company is, of course, a plus for their care, but I don’t want to use the case, because, firstly, the device turned out to be tactilely pleasant, and secondly, the phone is non-slip. So only use a case if you like to drop your phones.
Screen
BQ 6861L Core costs 15,990 rubles, which is not much at modern prices. I was even more impressed by the quality of the display. This is an IPS panel with a diagonal of 6.78 inches, Full HD resolution (2460 by 1080 pixels) and a refresh rate of 120 Hz.
It is likely that the BQ 6861L Core will be an outlet for those who do not like AMOLED screens and want a smartphone with a high-quality IPS display. The panel dot density is 396 ppi. This means that the human eye cannot see an individual pixel. Accordingly, the display provides a high-quality and bright picture without the friability and distortion typical of inexpensive smartphones.
We can also note a subjective fact: after the acid-colored AMOLED screens, the IPS panel, which is more calm in color, looks refreshing. I would also like to praise the color rendition. By default, the settings are set to “bright” profile, but it is better to select “standard”. This profile gives good color accuracy. Green, blue, and most importantly red are not distorted (on many screens they show red instead of red, and sometimes just orange).
The screen has a refresh rate of 120 Hz. It is better to leave the settings in automatic mode. Then, when displaying a video or static picture, the smartphone will switch to 60 Hz mode to save battery.
The screen has a good brightness reserve of 800 nits, which allows you to comfortably use the phone outdoors on a clear day.
The BQ 6861L Core also has an advanced image scaling system that allows you to change both the size of fonts and icons. So, the smartphone will probably be of interest to those who like the interface to be larger.
The rest of the settings are standard: dark design style, blue light filtering, and when the charging adapter is connected, you can launch a screensaver. The smartphone also allows you to customize charging animation.
Performance
The BQ 6861L Core pleases with its approach to choosing hardware. The system runs Android 14 and is built on a MediaTek Helio G99 chipset, 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128 GB of storage, and also supports microSD memory cards up to 1 TB.
MediaTek Helio G99 is a well-known chipset, which today is found in smartphones priced up to 25-27 thousand rubles. This is an 8-core chipset based on a 6 nm process technology with two high-performance Cortex A76 cores and six energy-efficient Cortex A55 cores. The result is a powerful yet cost-effective chipset.
The smartphone has a good cooling system, so in the AnTuTu v10 test the chipset shows values close to its own record – 409,945 thousand points. At the same time, performance does not drop under load, and the device remains cool. The smartphone also coped well with stress tests (this is when the smartphone works under high load for a long time), that is, even during long gaming sessions you don’t have to worry about freezes or frame rate drops.
The BQ 6861L Core confidently runs all modern games. For example, in Call of Duty Mobile, the smartphone offers medium graphics settings.
In PUBG, the device also offers medium settings by default. Thanks to the thick body and large flat screen, playing on a smartphone is comfortable.
Finally, we decided to get acquainted with Honkai: Star Rail. In terms of graphics, it’s like Genshin Impact (same developer), but in space. The smartphone immediately selected low settings, but confidently maintains a high frame rate, so it’s comfortable to play.
About Android 14
I would like to say that if a smartphone for 15,990 rubles had only such performance and a screen of similar quality, it would be an immediate success. But the BQ 6861L Core has an additional bonus: the smartphone runs on pure Android 14.
Based on editorial experience, I can say that I used to slightly dislike pure Android. On the one hand, it’s great that there are no unnecessary applications. On the other hand, even a weather widget and calculator had to be searched in Google Play Market. And finding a free calculator without ads is not an easy task.
By version 14, Android has become prettier beyond recognition. The system feels clean, light and fast. At the same time, either Google or BQ itself added all the necessary basic software, including a weather widget. Plus, we are pleased with the branded Android 14 wallpapers that are used on Google Pixel smartphones.
Since we’re so lucky to have gotten our hands on pure Android 14, let’s go over the key points. Here is the interface color setting that Google talked about at the presentation. There is also an interesting grid of applications, which also offers a 5 by 5 option.
The shell is clean, there were no third-party pre-installed applications (except Google ones) initially. All applications are either deleted or disabled.
This is what the curtain looks like. If you swipe from the bottom edge of the screen, the notification area will appear. And at the bottom there is a panel with notifications about applications running in the background.
The settings have all the options that other manufacturers like to present as their own development. Here, for example, is the quick access panel. It can be displayed separately as buttons, or the same functions can be operated by gestures. You can also enable the sidebar in the settings. Also, do not forget to enable the anti-accidental touch mode in the settings so that the smartphone does not activate itself in your pocket.
Camera
The smartphone has 4 cameras:
- 16 MP front camera
- 50 MP Samsung ISOCELL JN1
- 5 MP ultra-wide-angle camera
- 2 MP sensor for portrait photography
The Camera app interface is familiar and intuitive to Android users. Among the interesting points, we highlight the built-in Google Lens application for object recognition, as well as additional modes, including shooting documents, panoramas, GIF animations and pro mode.
Let’s look at the camera’s capabilities using photography examples. The main 50 MP module pleased with detail, fast autofocus, good white balance and dynamic range. You can take nice pictures both during the day and at night. Also positive is the 2x zoom mode. This is a digital zoom, but there is practically no loss in quality.
The ultra-wide-angle module with a resolution of 5 MP is demanding on lighting. It is best to use it only during the day. With a lack of light, the smartphone begins to experience difficulties (see photo of lilies below).
The selfie camera was a pleasant surprise. Good dynamic range. Great photos in portrait mode: algorithms clearly blur the background without capturing too much.
The smartphone provides good shooting quality thanks to high-quality main and front cameras. Immediately there is room for creativity in the form of installing applications like GCAM. The camera is definitely workable.
Battery life
The smartphone has a 5000 mAh battery and comes with 33 W charging.
With Wi-Fi turned on and at maximum screen brightness, the smartphone lasted 8.5 hours in the PCMARK test, which simulates the main types of everyday workload (documents, Internet, video calling, instant messengers and mail). This is a good result that can be expected in real life. The BQ 6861L Core’s battery will last even if you have a busy day at work. In normal mode, this is two full days of work.
Connection
There are no questions on this point:
- VoLTE and VoWiFi available
- The smartphone modem supports frequency aggregation and provides good mobile Internet speed
- NFC for bank cards is available
- Navigation and compass available
- There is a recording of phone calls
- Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2
Conclusion
At a price of 15,990 rubles BQ 6861L Core looks like a good deal. The smartphone provides a high level of performance coupled with a bright screen, good camera, clean shell and long battery life. This turns out to be the best option for those who need a reliable device with average characteristics that will last for the next few years.
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INN: 7733691601
Source: mobile-review.com
