The tips range from network settings to the camera to display and nearly every other thing on the phone that you will be using on a day-to-day basis. So, without any further ado, let’s get straight into it.
1. Network Settings
Dual-Channel Network Acceleration – If you enable this option, your phone will detect if your Wi-Fi network is faster and more stable or if your mobile data in that scenario is performing better and accordingly switch between the two. This provides improved network connectivity but at the cost of battery life, so use it according to your preferences. Also helps to increase your network speed. Can be found under Settings > Wi-Fi > Dual-Channel Network Acceleration. Multi-screen Interaction – This feature lets you cast your phone’s screen onto your TV so that you can enjoy content on a large screen. Once you enable this option, you need to select a compatible display or TV from the list which also needs to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your phone (You will need to check if your TV has support for Miracast/screen mirroring). Once selected, you can view your smartphone’s display on the TV. Can be found under Settings > Other Wireless Networks > Multi-screen Interaction.
2. Notification Bar
Enable Battery Percentage – The battery icon by default on the notification bar does not indicate the battery percentage in numerals, but that can be enabled by heading over to Settings > Notification & Status Bar > Battery Percentage. Network Speed – ColorOS 6 lets you display the network speed in real-time on the notification bar. This can be enabled by going to Settings > Notification & Status Bar > Show Real-Time Network Speed. Quite handy if you want to check if your internet connection is working or not.
3. Display and UI
Always-On Display – Realme X is the first phone from the brand to come with an AMOLED panel which allows for an Always-On display. This feature is handy if you want to quickly glance your phone for time and notification rather than having to unlock it each time. Very handy once you get used to it. Can be enabled under Settings > Display & Brightness > Off-Screen Clock. Themes – ColorOS 6 has in-built support for various custom themes. These themes will change the way the UI elements look and will introduce new icons, wallpapers etc. If you wish to try out different themes, head over to Settings > Home Screen & Lock Screen Magazine > Set Theme > Download More. App Drawer – ColorOS 6 has brought support for enabling the app drawer on the home screen. Instead of displaying all your apps on the home screen itself, you can now have them arranged in the app drawer. To toggle this, head over to Settings > Home Screen & Lock Screen Magazine > Home Screen Mode and select whichever option you prefer. Smart Assistant – Smart Assistant is an extra panel that is displayed to the left of the home screen. It contains widgets, frequently used apps and similar shortcuts to help you navigate through the phone. If you wish to enable it, go to Settings > Smart Services > Smart Assistant. Display RAM Status – This option will display your RAM usage in the recent apps panel which essentially tells you the free RAM from the available memory. You can enable this by going to Settings > Additional Settings > Display RAM/Memory Information for Recent Tasks.
4. Navigation and Gestures
Navigation Keys – There are various options to choose from in terms of the layout of the navigation keys. You can reorder the buttons or choose a set of buttons from stock Android or the ColorOS defaults. To do this, go to Settings > Convenience Aid > Navigation Keys and choose your pick. Gesture Navigation – If you don’t like the nav buttons taking up screen real estate, you can totally do away with them by enabling gesture navigation. You can follow the on-screen instructions to see how they work. To enable, head over to Settings > Convenience Aid > Navigation Keys. Screen-off Gestures – Screen-off gestures allow you to draw a certain pattern or alphabet on the screen when the display is turned off which triggers a preset option. For example, double-tapping on the display to wake up the device, drawing “C” to launch the camera etc. You can customize this by going to Settings > Convenience Aid > Gesture & Motion > Screen-off Gestures. 3-Finger Screenshot – Swiping 3 fingers in a downward motion across the screen will let you take a screenshot. Enable this by going to Settings > Convenience Aid > Gesture & Motion > 3-Finger Screenshot. App Split-screen – To enable split-screen or multi-window, which means you can use 2 apps simultaneously, you will need to swipe 3 fingers upwards instead of downwards which will trigger the action. Enable by going to Settings > App Split-screen. Smart Sidebar – Smart Sidebar is a tiny little bar that shows up on the edge of the display which houses multiple shortcuts and app icons. If you want to jump to a frequently used app from within another app, the Smart Sidebar can be handy. You can configure the shortcuts according to your preferences. Enable it by going to Settings > Convenience Aid > Smart Sidebar. Assistive Ball – This is similar to the Smart Sidebar but also has some system-specific functionality like navigating through the UI, taking screenshots etc. rather than app shortcuts. If you do not wish to use the nav keys very often, you can use the quick ball. Enable it by going to Settings > Convenience Aid > Assistive Ball.
5. Buttons
Default Volume Adjustment – The volume keys by default in Android Pie are used to adjust media volume. However, you can vary this in ColorOS6 by heading over to Sound & Vibration > Default Volume Button Adjustment. Trigger Google Assistant – If you have gesture navigation enabled, you cannot trigger Google Assistant by long-pressing the home button, so the alternative to that is to head over to Settings > Convenience Aid > Press and Hold the Power Button for 0.5s to Wake up Google Assistant.
6. Sound
7. Pop-up Camera
Pop-up Camera Sound – You can vary the sound triggered by the pop-up camera mechanism within the camera UI. You can do this by going to Sound & Vibration > Pop-up camera movement sound effect and choose your favorite from the available options or even disable it if you don’t like it.
8. Fingerprint Scanner
Fingerprint Scanner Animation – The Realme X has an in-display fingerprint scanner and you can change the unlock animation by going to Settings > Fingerprint, Face and Passcode > Fingerprint > Animation Style and choosing the one you prefer.
Fingerprint Animation Sound – Along with the animation, you can even change the sound of the fingerprint scanner unlocking mechanism, or just disable it in case you don’t like it. This can be done by going to Settings > Sound % Vibration > Fingerprint Animation Sound.
9. Face Unlock
Face Unlock Brightness Compensation – If you’re using face-unlock, chances are you will use it to unlock your phone in the dark where the experience isn’t as good since the phone relies on just the front-facing camera and no other dedicated hardware for face unlock. However, there is a workaround for this, which is enabling brightness compensation. Head over to Settings > Fingerprint, Face and Passcode > Face > Screen Brightness Compensation Under Dim Surroundings. Swipe Up to Unlock – If you have face unlock enabled, you can either set the phone to unlock instantly after scanning your face or to let you swipe up to unlock. Enable it in Settings > Fingerprint, Face and Passcode > Face > Unlock: By Swiping Up When the Screen is On.
10. Apps and Utility
Default Apps – You can set your default apps for every function like browser, messaging, launcher etc. by going to Settings > App Management > Default App. Clone Apps – ColorOS 6 lets you use multiple instances of the same app like WhatsApp or Facebook by cloning the. You can do this by going to Settings > Clone Apps. Handy if you wish to use two different social media accounts. Game Space – Game Space has some gaming-centric features like boosting RAM, silencing notification while gaming etc. which may be useful to you while gaming. This can help you get better gameplay. Enable by going to Settings > Game Space. Driving and Riding Mode – As the name suggests, these modes help you by connecting to your car’s music system as soon as you get into your car, or silence everything but important calls while riding a bike. Enable by going to Settings > Smart Services > Smart Driving.
Clear Cache – Over a period of time, using multiple apps results in accumulation of cache data which takes up a lot of space. You can clear cache frequently to save up some additional space if you’re running low on storage. You can do so by going to Settings > Additional Settings > Storage > Clean Storage. USB OTG – USB OTG enables you to connect flash drives and other USB accessories to your phone to transfer data, but it is disabled by default on ColorOS> you can enable it by going to Settings > Additional Settings > OTG Connection. Enable Faster Animations – You first need to enable Developer Options to be able to do this. Head over to Settings > About Phone and tap on ‘Build Number’ 7 times which will enable Developer Options. Then go to Additional Settings > Developer Options and scroll down to find 3 different Animation scales, all of which should be changed to 0.5X. Reboot, and your phone will now feel faster! Call Recording – ColorOS 6 has an in-built call recorder which can be really useful for some. You can even auto-record all calls or choose which ones you want to record manually. You can do this by going to the default Phone app > Settings > Call Recording.
So, these were over 30 tips and tricks that you need to know about and try on your new Realme X. They can surely help you customize your smartphone to a large extent and can bring out the full potential of the device across various aspects.
