T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro review: Is this Magenta's secret weapon?

When T-Mobile announced the Revvl 6 Pro in July, I could tell the company was onto something. The phone is the latest entry in T-Mobile's Revvl lineup, giving customers an entry-level smartphone option on what I consider the best U.S. carrier. It gives customers some bells and whistles you'd find on more expensive phones, but for less.

For the latest Revvl 6 series, the focus was bringing T-Mobile's Ultra Capacity 5G speeds to more users, allowing them to experience super-fast data speeds for a price that won't break the bank. But given the price point, some sacrifices had to be made. 

Whether or not these compromises make the Revvl 6 Pro worth it will ultimately be up to you. In any case, here are my thoughts on my experience with the phone.

T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro: Price and availability

T-Mobile launched the Revvl 6 Pro in late July, alongside the lower-end Revvl 6. The Pro model is available at the carrier as of August 4 for a retail price of $220. However, customers can snag one for free when adding a line of service.

The Revvl 6 Pro is also available on Metro by T-Mobile, where customers can get it for as low as $40 — or even free — depending on if they open a new account with a new number, or port their number over to Metro.

T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro: What I like

For a phone at this price point, it's hard to expect very much in terms of performance. However, many of the best budget Android phones launched in 2022 have stepped things up, and the Revvl 6 Pro is no different. 

The phone is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 700, a fairly adequate phone that has been popular among some budget devices. Thanks to this chip, the Revvl 6 Pro runs pretty smoothly in day-to-day use, although you shouldn't expect a speed demon. The 6GB of RAM also helps it manage multitasking with a fair amount of ease, and gaming, while not spectacular, is manageable.

This is also helped by the mostly "stock" Android 12. It looks and feels similar to my Pixel 6 Pro, although much, much cheaper, and somehow feels much more barebones (more on this later). One software highlight is that the phone is expected to receive at least two OS upgrades, which is better than what many low-end phones get. With Android 13 already rolling out on Pixel phones, hopefully, we can expect the update for the Revvl sooner rather than later.

While using the phone regularly for about two weeks, the Revvl 6 Pro manages roughly a day of battery life, thanks to the large 5,000Ah battery. I start my day at 5 a.m., and I'm usually in bed by 10 pm, but the phone can usually last throughout the day with little battery left by the end of the night. 

In comparison, my primary smartphone, the Galaxy S22, can barely get me through half a day until it needs to be charged up again, so this is a major plus for the Revvl. That said, I haven't been able to reach the same two-day battery life that I could get from the Moto G 5G (2022); another budget phone powered by the Dimensity 700, sporting the same battery capacity. However, your mileage may vary depending on how you use your phone.

And when I do have to charge, the phone supports not only 15W wired charging (not the fastest, by any means), but it also supports wireless charging (10W), which is something of a rarity at this price point. 

I recently questioned why wireless charging hasn't become as ubiquitous as I hoped over the past decade. Some analysts suggest that it will still take some time, as not enough Android phones support the feature, particularly on the lower end. Including it in the Revvl 6 Pro makes me hopeful that more companies might be able to pull this off on their budget phones.

Then there's T-Mobile's Ultra-Capacity 5G. This gives the phone access to that highly-coveted mid-band spectrum that provides the best of both worlds in terms of speed and availability. Running random speed tests will show data speeds averaging about 500Mbps, which is pretty impressive for a budget phone, hitting speeds you'd expect to see in flagship phones.

All this in a phone priced just above $200 simply screams great value. And for the most part, you'd be right. However, it's not all sunshine and roses, and there are some things that I don't quite vibe with.

T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro: What I don't like

Of course, there are bound to be several compromises for a phone at this price, and with the Revvl 6 Pro, they can often spoil the experience. 

Off the bat, the phone's design leaves a lot to be desired. It reminds me of some older Motorola phones of the past few years with the square camera stove in the back. However, the phone comes in this unattractive gunmetal gray that makes the phone look as cheap as it is. At least with phones like the OnePlus Nord N200 5G, there's at least an attempt to make the phone look premium.

The unfortunate hardware choices extend to the display as well, which is quite large at 6.82-inches, but only sports an HD+ resolution at 60Hz. Keep in mind that this display is a hair larger than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, so pixels are very noticeable with such low resolution. As a result, nothing really looks good, whether you're consuming media or just scrolling through apps.

As I mentioned before, the Revvl 6 Pro uses a "stock" version of Android 12, which is pretty bare aside from a separate and mostly useless T-Mobile shelf in the Discovery feed. 

I've already expressed how I'm not much of a fan of Google's Android 12 UI on the Pixel, and the Revvl somehow makes it even worse by stripping some of the more interesting features. For instance, selecting a wallpaper will change the system theme colors, but there's no option to change the colors manually, which is a weirdly limiting oversight.

Also, while the Revvl has some of the Android 12 staples like the Privacy dashboard and security section, there's very little in terms of "extra" features. Phones like the Pixel, and even Motorola devices, have at least OEM-specific features and helpful gestures that users can customize. The Revvl 6 Pro has tap-to-wake, lift-to-wake, and lets you double-tap the power button to open the camera. 

Even the power button is limited and lets you only toggle it for Google Assistant access. Turning the phone off requires you to press and hold the power button and volume up button, while simply holding down the power button does nothing, and you can't change that. Needless to say, I'm still not used to this, and find it irritating that it can't be changed.

The placement of the power button is also something I haven't gotten used to. This also doubles as the fingerprint sensor, but it's so flush with the chassis that it always takes me longer than it should to unlock the phone because my finders can never quite find the button without turning the phone to locate it.

T-Mobile upgraded the Revvl 6 Pro's camera system, which now features a 50MP primary sensor. You'd think that might give the phone a fighting chance in the camera department, but you'd be wrong. In fact, I find these cameras to be quite plain. 

In the right lighting conditions, you'll get something halfway decent, but that's about the best the camera can do. Otherwise, images show a surprising lack of detail despite the extra sharpening. Images also tend to appear blurry, as if the lens is obscured by a smudge (it isn't). This extends to the ultrawide and macro lenses, which are just as unimpressive, if not more so.

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The Revvl 6 Pro also has a tendency to punch up the saturation and tends to oversharpen images. That said, sometimes the Revvl gets a few points for dynamic range, although it can be hit or miss.

Given the overall meh performance of the cameras, I find it hilarious that T-Mobile decided it needed to engrave "Camera Pixel" on the camera stove as if that really means something.

T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro: Competition

If you're willing to splurge slightly above the Revvl 6 Pro's asking price, I recommend the Moto G 5G (2022). It's a solid phone that offers fantastic two-day battery life and a marginally better design. Plus, it has some of Motorola's goodies to help enhance the experience more. Although, you will miss out on an ultrawide sensor, wireless charging, and NFC.

The OnePlus Nord N200 is another great 5G phone offered by T-Mobile. It's roughly the same price as the Revvl 6 Pro, but with a higher resolution display, Qualcomm chipset, and slightly faster charging. That said, it offers lower resolution cameras, less internal storage, and less RAM.

The Galaxy A13 is also an option at this price point. It comes with a 50MP rear sensor, 5,000mAh battery, and a 6.5-inch HD+ display, making it a bit denser than the Revvl 6 Pro. However, it offers a lesser MediaTek chipset and less RAM, and still costs more than the Revvl.

T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if...

• You're looking for an affordable 5G phone
• You prefer a "stock" Android experience
• You want a phone with wireless charging
• You're looking to switch to T-Mobile or add a line

You shouldn't buy this if...

• You want a good camera experience
• You need a sharp display
• You're not a fan of "stock" Android

The T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro is a budget phone that makes a lot of compromises to reach such a low price. But despite those compromises, the phone offers some surprising features and specs that sort of make up for it. 

Sure, it has a boring design, but it also has great battery life. Sure, the cameras aren't the best, but the phone performs well enough for most people. You get plenty of RAM, lots of storage, and there's even wireless charging, something you don't see often at this price.

With the Revvl 6 Pro, T-Mobile found a unique balance to give customers a value Android phone that just works. To me, that's the main appeal of this device; it's for users that just want a modern, affordable 5G smartphone without needing to worry about much else. While it's not a phone I would personally buy, I would likely recommend this to someone who just needs a phone that will get you through the day.

And this is how you bring customers in.