Hotwav R6 Ultra Review: specs and features, camera quality test, gaming benchmark, user opinions and photos

HOTWAV R6 Ultra - an indestructible assistant

Until recently, tablets protected from dust and moisture were a real rarity, available only to truly wealthy buyers. However, over the past few years, several Chinese corporations have decided to radically change the situation. So, now for more than a reasonable amount of money you can get a productive, functional and long-lasting device that can withstand not only the elements, but also falls from an impressive height. The hero of today's review has also joined the list of such devices. But HOTWAV R6 Ultra also stands out from its opponents with a large number of competitive advantages.

Brief characteristics of HOTWAV R6 Ultra:

• case materials: front panel - glass, back panel - plastic, rubber;
• screen: IPS technology, 10.4 inches diagonal, resolution 2000x1200 pixels;
• processor: Mediatek Helio P60 (MT6771), video chip: Mali-G72 MP3;
• RAM/ROM: 8GB (+8GB due to ROM) / 256GB;
• operating system: Android 13;
• battery: 15600mAh, 20W charger;
• main camera: 16MP Samsung S5K2P7;
• front camera: 16MP Sony IMX258;
• sound: stereo speakers;
• navigation: GPS/GLONASS/Beidou/Galileo;
• dimensions and weight: 253 x 172 x 18 mm, 1025 g.

I would like to start reviewing the device with its configuration. The new product greets us with a box made of thick white cardboard, which contains not only the hero of the review, but also the following things:

• protective film on the display (factory);
• protective glass for the screen + napkins included for its installation;
• USB Type-C cable;
• OTG cable;
• 20W charger;
• SIM card tray clip;
• metal brackets for fastening the belt and the belt itself;
• spare bolts.

The quality of the accessories is not satisfactory; the set is really rich; opponents cannot boast of anything similar. The HOTWAV R6 Ultra's design doesn't disappoint either. Reasonable display frames for a tablet protected from dust and moisture, a beautiful camera block, the original texture of the rear panel, rubberized pads on the corners of the screen for additional strength, and the previously mentioned strap for confidently holding the device in your hands allow us to call the exterior more than successful. On the top of the gadget there is a cutout for the speaker, connectors for the USB Type-C cable and a slot for SIM cards/MicroSD cards, covered with plugs. The right side is marked only by a hole for the microphone. At the bottom it is easy to find not only the cutout for the second speaker, but also the volume buttons, the power button, and the hole for the second microphone. The left side is completely empty.

The 10.4-inch display is covered with Gorilla Glass 3, which is nice. The complete film also adds strength to the IPS panel; it is also possible to replace it with additional protective glass. You can’t complain about the clarity of the picture thanks to the resolution of 2000 x 1200 pixels. Viewing angles are more than good, but there are questions about brightness. Although there is no noticeable layer of air between the glass and the sensor, the visibility of the image decreases significantly. Working indoors with the tablet is quite comfortable. There are no proximity or lighting sensors, so there is no auto-brightness. The disadvantage is not critical considering the price tag of the device, but still unpleasant for some buyers. The picture refresh rate was the standard 60 hertz. The viewing angles are decent, the displayed content is not distorted, only at a large angle the image loses its brightness. As a result, the installed IPS panel deserves a “good” rating.

One of the main components of any tablet, along with the display, is the technical specifications. In HOTWAV R6 Ultra they are represented by a MediaTek Helio P60 processor, 8GB of RAM and a Mali G72MP3 video adapter. The chipset is already more than 5 years old, but it performs quite well in an inexpensive tablet. The previously mentioned bunch dials:

252210 points in the AnTuTu v10 benchmark

320 points in single-core and 1264 points in multi-core Geekbench 6 test

These are not the most outstanding results, but still sufficient for everyday use of the device. The Android 13 interface works quite smoothly even with gestures enabled instead of standard buttons. Opening applications like browsers and media players takes a matter of seconds. Of course, loading large pages in Google Chrome or a list of programs in the Play Market occurs with stutters, but they cannot be called critical.

The situation with games is significantly more complicated. PUBG Mobile is a wildly popular first/third person shooter (Battle Royale) game set in an open world. The power of the used chipset is enough to cope with rendering good, but still not the most advanced graphics of a six-year-old project. On medium graphic presets, the gameplay is smooth, freezes and a decrease in FPS are observed only when parts of the location are loaded, which does not happen very often.

Call Of Duty Mobile is a different multiplayer shooter with much faster gameplay. In it, the stability of the frame rate is even more important. You can achieve it only on low graphic presets. At medium settings, lags and freezes appear, which are simply unacceptable in this type of game.

Genshin Impact, surprisingly, does not show that the chipset is behind the modern realities of the gaming industry. With low graphic presets with a frame rate limit of 24/30 frames, we get generally smooth gameplay, which only causes lag when loading parts of the location or large-scale battle scenes with an abundance of special effects. It’s a pity, the game itself looks mediocre at the specified graphics settings; it’s not easy to recognize it as a high-tech project that amazes with the beauty of its open world.

However, don't be discouraged, because you can find many amazing games among the libraries of game consoles from past decades. Perhaps one of the most popular consoles was the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP), which released a great variety of RPGs, fighting games, racing and other projects. The PPSSPP emulator allows you to recall many hits with improved graphics, because, for example, Tekken Dark Resurrection, Burnout Dominator and Soul Calibur Broken Destiny work perfectly when rendered in two or even three times the resolution of the original. You can and even need to have fun.

The sound of the HOTWAV R6 Ultra stereo speakers evoked positive emotions. First of all, we should praise them for their maximum volume level. In peaks it reaches 90 decibels; few opponents can boast of such an achievement. Of course, we can talk about more or less balanced and pleasant to the ear sounds of musical compositions only at a volume level of 75-80 decibels. The bass is audible and the vocals are quite natural. What's disappointing is the lack of a separate headphone jack, for which there is plenty of space in the tablet body. Using wireless headphones is possible, but with some restrictions. Thus, the AptX and LDAC codecs are not supported, so the same Mifo O5 II Gen 2 based on a high-quality reinforcement driver sounds noticeably simpler in the high frequencies due to the use of SBC or AAC.

The only main 16-megapixel photo module is, of course, simpler than analogues in smartphones at a similar price, but it cannot be called completely simple and useless. Daytime photographs are devoid of serious errors in color reproduction, and there are no big problems with dynamic range. The detailing is pretty good. Of course, you shouldn’t expect the same results when shooting in the evening or indoors, but capturing close-up objects is still possible thanks to the LED flash. The front sensor of the same 16 megapixels is noticeably simpler. It is possible to take a good selfie from several takes, but it is recommended to use it for video calling.

The autonomy of the tablet is one of its strongest points. The huge 15600mAh battery is quite capable of lasting up to four days during normal use of the device. The PCMarkWork 3.0 Battery Life benchmark gave a result of 18 hours 16 minutes at 50% brightness. The result is truly impressive. However, the charging time for such a capacious battery is appropriate. This process took a little less than 5 hours.

HOTWAV R6 Ultra also comes with dual SIM support. The quality of communication is not inferior to that of modern smartphones in the mid-price segment (Realme GT2, OnePlus 9RT). The interlocutor's voice comes through clean and clear; there were no problems with audibility on the other side of the conversation. It is necessary to understand that the tablet does not have a separate speaker, so voice calls are made via speakerphone, the main speaker is used. Therefore, even when the volume is set to minimum, those around you will perfectly understand the topic of the conversation. The internet connection didn't disappoint either. Where the mentioned phones received 4G, the device in question showed the same results. The WiFi connection turned out to be even slightly better than that of the Realme GT2. Where the smartphone transitioned to mobile Internet, the tablet struggled to maintain a signal from the router.

Supports HOTWAV R6 Ultra and Satellite Navigation. The GPS Tester test demonstrates the following results, which can be described as ordinary for the MediaTek Helio P60 chipset. The device can be used as a navigator when traveling; the errors in determining the location are small.

GPS operation indoors (apartment building)

GPS work in the city

The tablet runs on Android 13 without any major changes. The interface is pleasing to the eye and intuitive. The developer does not forget about product support; while using the device, an update was received that corrected minor bugs.

Let's summarize the review and consider all the pros and cons of the tablet.

Pros:

• durable rubberized body, ready to survive falls and encounters with the elements thanks to moisture protection according to IP68 standards;
• good equipment;
• high-quality 10.4-inch high-resolution IPS display;
• balanced MediaTek Helio P60 processor and 8GB of RAM, coping with most tasks;
• loud stereo sound (2 speakers, average volume almost 90dB);
• 256GB of ROM with expandability;
• support for two SIM cards;
• decent communication reception;
• no problems with GPS navigation;
• good main and front cameras;
• a 15600mAh battery guarantees about 3 days of operation with the device;
• reasonable price.

Minuses:

• no headphone jack, support for new codecs for wireless headphones;
• The display brightness is not sufficient to operate the device in direct sunlight;
• The charging power of 18W is still too small for such a capacious battery (long charging time);
• The design of the device is standard for a tablet with moisture protection.

Thus, HOTWAV R6 Ultra is a perfectly balanced rugged tablet in the mid-price segment without critical flaws. It can be safely recommended to any fan of rugged mobile electronics.

We would like to thank the HOTWAV Official Store for providing the tablet for review.