BQ has introduced a new smartphone BQ 6861L Core to the Russian market. It received a good filling and a fresh design, as well as a nice price. It’s time to figure out how well the device copes with shooting, modern applications and games.
BQ 6861L Core Appearance
The phone received a nice design with a hint of premium – due to the all-glass back cover. The controls are concentrated on the right side of the device. Here you will find a power button with a fingerprint scanner and a volume rocker. On the opposite side there is a slot for two SIMs and a microSD memory card. The possibility of expanding internal memory in 2024 is undoubtedly pleasing.
At the bottom there is a microphone, a USB Type-C port, a speaker and a 3.5 mm audio jack, the presence of which should please fans of good, wired headphones. The gadget weighs 211 grams, and it is 9 mm thick.
The smartphone comes with a full set of accessories. The box contains a 33W charging box, a Type-C cable, a transparent case, a SIM tray eject tool, and a set of documentation. A protective film is glued to the screen from the factory, so at first you will not need to think about buying additional accessories.
BQ 6861L Core Decent screen
The BQ 6861L Core is equipped with a 6.78-inch Full HD+ IPS display with a pixel density of about 396 ppi. The screen is bright enough for both indoor and outdoor use. The bezels aren’t the thinnest, but that’s okay for this class of devices.
The display supports a refresh rate of 120 Hz, while most often smartphones in this price range are only 90 Hz. The interface works very smoothly, and the high refresh rate can be appreciated not only in the shell, but also in standard applications.
The Display Options section has color settings based on your preferences. There’s also a night light option that reduces blue light so you don’t strain your eyes. There is a function to unlock the display by double tap, which is very convenient.
What about iron
The smartphone runs Android 14. The system is perfectly optimized, fast and does not cause problems. The user has various options for customizing and customizing desktops, wallpapers, and fonts. There’s a choice of icon styles, shortcut menus, lock screen clocks, and even charging animations. So you can create unique combinations of designs for different moods.
The smartphone is powered by the well-known mid-range MediaTek G99 processor. It is equipped with two Cortex-A76 cores with a frequency of 2.2 GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores with a frequency of 2 GHz, and the Mali-G57 MC2 graphics accelerator will allow you to run most modern games.
The gadget received a single modification with 128 GB of internal memory, but has support for microSD cards up to 1 TB. RAM is 6 GB of LPDDR4X standard, with the ability to virtually expand RAM at the expense of internal memory. Only this does not affect the overall performance of the device in any way.
In synthetic tests, the smartphone demonstrates performance at the level of many devices based on the MediaTek G99. In AnTuTu, it scores approximately 400,000 points, and in Geekbench 5 – 550 and 1800 in single-core and multi-core tests. That’s enough to play PUBG, CoD Mobile, or Standoff 2 comfortably. Even Genshin Impact can be played on minimum graphics settings, but performance is highly dependent on the location. In heavy scenes, drawdowns and freezes can occur.
For everyday tasks, the filling of a smartphone is quite enough. The device will allow you to comfortably read websites and scroll through social media feeds, communicate in instant messengers, watch videos and play games. Multitasking is no problem – the BQ 6861L Core allows you to use multiple apps at once. Unfortunately, there’s only one speaker, so it’s best to listen to music or watch movies with headphones. At the same time, there are no questions about the volume. You will definitely not miss a call, and you can listen to a voice message somewhere on the street without any problems.
Test results
- ANTUTU 10.1
- 400 000
- GEEKBENCH 5
- 550 single-core
1800 multi-core- AUTONOMY
- 24% battery per hour in Genshin Impact (medium brightness)
9% battery per hour in PUBG (medium brightness)
up to two days in mixed mode (auto brightness)How to shoot
The main module in the BQ 6861L Core received a 50MP Samsung JN1 sensor. There is no optical stabilization, but you can use electronic stabilization during video recording. There is no telephoto lens, but nothing prevents you from using a 2x zoom without losing quality. The other two modules are a 5-megapixel wide and a 2-megapixel macro. They do not differ in anything special, the quality of the photos is average.
The main module can record video in 2K at 30 fps, and the front 1080p. Outdoors on a sunny day, you will get a bright and rich picture with good detail. In the electronic stabilization mode, the picture is slightly cropped at the edges, but it becomes very smooth.
The quality of photos in the daytime is not questionable. They are very colorful, contrasting and detailed. In the evening and at night, it is advisable to use the “Night” mode, which allows you to take bright shots with a minimum amount of noise. For those who want to immerse themselves in the world of photography, there is a special Pro mode that allows you to set all the shooting parameters manually.
The front camera has a 16 MP sensor, but there is no autofocus and flash. The set of settings and functions of the front camera is the same as that of the main one. There is an option to apply filters and use portrait mode to blur the background. The quality of shots from the front module is highly dependent on the lighting. If you shoot outdoors on a clear day, the photos delight with good color reproduction and detail, but indoors they become noisy and not so clear.
Sample video in 2K outside during the daytime:
BQ 6861L Core Autonomy
The battery in the BQ 6861L Core is typical for most modern smartphones with a capacity of 5000 mAh. The gadget has received support for 33W fast wired charging – it replenishes energy from 0 to 100% in about 1.5 hours. Not very fast by modern standards, but if you take into account the good autonomy of the device, this fact should not be very upsetting.
In games, the smartphone consumes about 12% of the charge per hour, and you can watch videos online for more than 10 hours. For most users, the phone will live for 1.5-2 days with 7.5-8 hours of active screen.
BQ 6861L Core Specifications
- DISPLAY
- 6.78″, IPS, 120Hz, FHD+
- CHIPSET
- MediaTek G99
Mali-G57 MC2- RAM
AND STORAGE- 6GB
128GB (UFS 2.2)- ACCUMULATOR
- 5000 mAh
fast charging – 33W- CAMERA
- main – 50 MP + 5 MP + 2 MP,
front – 16 MP- DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT
- 168.7 x 76.7 x 9.0 mm
211 gramsVerdict
The BQ 6861L Core turned out to be a worthy representative of the budget class. It is equipped with a large 120 Hz IPS display, which allows you to comfortably watch videos and play games, there is NFC support for making purchases. The smartphone has good battery life, so buyers do not have to look for an outlet in the middle of the working day. The performance will be enough for most users, and the cameras will provide good photos in the daytime.
