Vivo T3 Ultra vs Realme GT 6T performance comparison: even-Steven

While gamers and power users have specific performance requirements for their phones, most people just want their daily drivers to work smoothly and without stutter. And this is the reason why evaluating the performance of a smartphone is crucial when one’s out in the market for a new daily driver. Vivo’s new T3 Ultra comes as a performance-oriented device, straying away from the brand’s usual focus on camera capabilities. Priced starting Rs 31,999, the Vivo T3 Ultra goes up against the Realme GT 6T, which is another strong performer in the same price segment, carrying a starting price of Rs 30,999. Here’s a comparison between the two to zero in on the better option between the two, purely from a performance perspective.

Before diving deeper into the performance analysis though, a look at the SoCs powering the devices.

The T3 Ultra is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9200+ SoC, which is a 4nm chip that uses an octa-core CPU and a performance core Cortex-X3 with a clock speed of 3.35GHz. On the other hand, the Realme GT 6T is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, which is also a 4nm, octa-core chip, with its performance Cortex-X4 core clocked at 2.8GHz.

Testing all-round performance: Antutu

Antutu is a globally recognised benchmark for evaluating smartphones. Taking the example of a car, Antutu can be considered a test of the core aspects that affect the vehicle’s performance — the engine, transmission, drive shafts, differentials, etc, and how well they work together. Antutu tests the CPU, GPU, memory and UX of the device. It generates individual scores for each of these and totals them up to display an aggregate score that can be used as a relative measure of performance. This means that if phone ‘A’ scores higher in Antutu as compared to phone ‘B’, the former can be deemed to be the better performer among the two. Individual scores of the various components, say CPU, GPU etc, can also be compared against scores of the same parameters across phones too.

One look at the overall Antutu scores makes it clear these phones are evenly matched in terms of performance, with the Vivo T3 Ultra scoring 1445926, and the Realme GT 6T logging 1450949. There is, of course, some difference in the two scores, but it’s so marginal to be of any consequence.

Looking at the individual component scores though, one can see that the Vivo T3 Ultra is slightly better in terms of the GPU scores (translating into better graphics, and therefore, better gaming perfromance in theory). On the other hand, the Realme GT 6T fares a tad better in terms of memory scores, indicating it could be slightly better in multitasking, and loading apps and other data from storage. Of course, these inferences are basis the scores logged by Antutu.

Overall, this round is a tie, given the similar aggregate scores logged in Antutu by the two phones. 
 
Winner: Tie

Evaluating number-crunching capabilities: Geekbench

Geekbench is yet another well-known benchmark for evaluating performance, and we specifically use its CPU benchmark component. Continuing our car example, Geekbench tests just the engine. As per the developer, the Geekbench score is calibrated against a baseline score of 2500, which is the score of a Dell Precision 3460 laptop equipped with an Intel Core i7-12700. Geekbench scores are divided into single-core and multi-core, with each of these internally comprising integer and floating-point calculations. Without going into extreme detail, you should know that these parameters relate directly to the calculations or the number-crunching capabilities of the CPU. When it’s run, Geekbench uses various types of workloads (or tasks) to test the CPU, including productivity tasks like file compression and navigation, developer tasks like text processing, machine learning tasks like object detection in photos, and imaging tasks like filters and object removal. Some of these tasks are lighter and can be handled by single CPU cores (web browsing for instance), and add to the single-core score generated by Geekbench. Similarly, heavier tasks like applying filters on images need multiple CPU cores, and impact the multi-core score of the benchmark.

Comparing the single-core and multi-core Geekbench scores achieved by the Vivo T3 Ultra and the Realme GT 6T, a similar trend is observed. The scores look just about at par, except for a small difference in the multi-core scores where the Vivo T3 Ultra fares slightly better. In theory, this would imply that the Vivo contender can handle multi-threaded tasks like video editing etc better, but again, the difference is too small to make a difference in the real world. 

Winner: Tie

Evaluating sustained performance: Burnout Test

Raw performance is just one aspect of evaluating how fast a phone is. A smartphone can be really fast in short spurts but crumble under stress. This is referred to as throttling, and the Burnout Test is a benchmark which evaluates this. In our car analogy, the Burnout Test is akin to assessing if a car can run fast for longer periods without the engine heating up and the vehicle eventually slowing down (crudely put). You see, CPUs can throttle (or slow down) when subjected to heavy tasks run continuously over a period of time, affecting performance. Intensive gaming is a good example of an activity like this. Burnout Test shows the percentage of a CPU’s performance under stress, which indicates how well it can perform in such scenarios.

This now sounds like a broken record, but the Vivo T3 Ultra and Realme GT 6T’s performance under stress is quite similar as well. The T3 Ultra throttles to 54.2 percent of its peak performance under stress, while the Realme GT 6T fares a tad better, throttling to 58.4 percent of its peak performance, as per the scores logged by the Burnout Test. In theory, the Realme GT 6T should be able to offer slightly better performance under load, but you won’t be able to find a perceptible difference in real life. 

Winner: Tie

Gaming test

Intensive gaming is a good indicator of a smartphone’s performance, and the fact that it relates directly to a real-life use case makes it all the more relevant too. While the car analogy doesn’t apply here, I’d say gaming is akin to driving the car really fast, doing a bunch of stunts and manoeuvres, and checking if it still runs smoothly and the engine doesn’t heat up significantly. As part of our gaming tests, we run Call Of Duty, Real Racing 3, and BGMI for 30 minutes each, noting down frames per second (FPS), and rise in the phone’s temperature (measured using a temperature gun). Higher FPS numbers are good, but higher temps… not so much.




Looking at the average frames per second (FPS) figures across the three games, one can say that the two phones can deliver equivalent gaming performance. And since gaming performance can be related directly to regular, day-day performance, the story here is clear — the two contenders are at par in terms of performance. 



Playing games extensively can heat up smartphones, and looking at the thermal performance of the Vivo T3 Ultra and the Realme GT 6T, a few differences are observed. While the two phones seem to balance each other out by staying cooler (by 1 degree Celcius) in the first two games, the Realme GT 6T fares slightly better and keeps its cool while running Real Racing. In the larger scheme of things, a difference of about 3 degree Celcius in this case doesn’t really matter all that much though, so this round is a tie as well. 
 
Winner: Tie

Verdict

Based on the tests, it seems that the Vivo T3 Ultra and the Realme GT 6T are evenly matched when it comes to performance. Be it basic tasks like web browsing and social media, heavy duty ones like image editing, gaming etc, and the ability to deliver sustained performance when stressed, the two phones stand shoulder to shoulder with each other. If you prioritise performance, you should know that the segment leader in this price segment is the iQOO Neo 9 Pro, which costs marginally higher (Rs 36,998 as of the time of writing) and comes powered by last year’s flagship chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. This phone scores higher in performance benchmarks like Antutu (scoring 1611015) and Geekbench (2023 single-core and 5564 multi-core), and fares about the same when it comes to CPU throttling measured via the Burnout Test (53.7%).

That said, most people don’t just focus on pure performance while deciding upon their next daily driver, and there are aspects where the Vivo T3 Ultra and Realme GT 6T phones differ. For example, the Vivo T3 Ultra’s IP68 rating indicates it can withstand some exposure to dust and moisture better, helping it gain an edge over the Realme GT 6T, which comes with a lower IP65 rating. Similarly, the Vivo phone has a better selfie camera too, both in terms of megapixel count as well as real-life results. The Realme GT 6T does boast higher screen brightness though, with a peak screen brightness of 6000 nits as compared to the 4500 nits on the Vivo T3 Ulta. This indicates the GT 6T could fare a tad better when it comes to display legibility under sunlight. Moving back to performance though, it’s a case of even-Steven.