Realme 8 Review: Not Enough of a Change

Realme has had fairly the meteoric rise in India over a comparatively quick time span. The extremely aggressive firm at present has a huge portfolio of smartphones, however the fee at which it is going, I believe it must pump the brakes a bit and take a extra centered strategy to its launches. I’m referring to the lately launched Realme 8, which launched alongside the Realme 8 Pro. The firm has managed to cowl just about each single worth level beneath Rs. 20,000, however the sheer quantity of telephones it now sells, together with the 7 collection, X-series and Narzo fashions, implies that there’s a lot of overlapping, with simply minute variations between many of them.

The Realme 8 begins at Rs. 14,999 and going purely by specs, is actually a slimmer Realme 7 with an AMOLED show. The Realme 7 itself is actually a Realme 6 Pro with a MediaTek SoC as an alternative of Qualcomm, and each these fashions are additionally nonetheless on sale at comparable costs. The top-end variant of the Realme 8, which I’ll be reviewing, prices Rs. 16,999. This means it competes instantly with the Realme Narzo 30 Pro, which occurs to have a 5G SoC and a 120Hz show. Do you see what I imply? Choosing a Realme smartphone at present may be fairly difficult.

It’s time to see how the Realme 8 truly performs, and whether or not you need to hassle with it or decide one thing else.

Realme 8 design and show

The Realme 8’s design is closely centered on making it slim and lightweight, and it does a superb job right here. The all-plastic physique helps it obtain a comfy weight of simply 177g, and it is not very thick both at 7.99mm. Both these figures are huge enhancements over the hefty Realme 7. The plastic again is a bit of a letdown, for the reason that edges picked up scuff marks very simply. A glass again may have prevented this. The buttons on the Realme 8 have good suggestions. At the underside, we now have the speaker, headphone jack, and USB Type-C port.

The huge change in comparison with the Realme 7 lies within the show, which is a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED panel with a full-HD+ decision, slightly than an LCD panel. This is the primary time Realme’s non-Pro quantity collection has obtained the AMOLED therapy. With this show, you additionally get a speedy in-display fingerprint sensor, however you sacrifice the 90Hz refresh fee that the Realme 7 supplied. The show has a display protector pre-applied however there is not any official point out of bolstered glass, which earlier fashions had. When we requested Realme, a firm consultant instructed us that it has used Dragontrail glass on the Realme 8.

The Realme 8 has a placing rear panel design, to place it mildly, nevertheless it’s nonetheless plastic and never glass

I’m not a huge fan of the Cyber Silver color that I obtained, because the rainbow impact on sure sections of the again panel and the huge ‘Dare to Leap’ slogan are a bit too flashy for my style. Fingerprints are additionally a huge downside on this colourway. The Cyber Black possibility appears to be like a bit extra subdued and might be the one I’d go together with.

The Realme 8 is one of the extra comfy telephones I’ve reviewed lately and ought to be simple to dwell with, particularly contemplating it has a 5,000mAh battery. However, I believe Realme may have executed a lot extra to up the premium quotient, resembling providing a glass again as an alternative of plastic. The field contents embody a 30W charger, Type-C cable, case, and SIM eject device.

Realme 8 specs and software program

The Realme 8 reuses the MediaTek Helio G95 SoC from the Realme 7, which has confirmed to be ok for gaming at this worth stage. The Realme 8 is accessible in three RAM variants, all having the identical 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage. The 4GB variant is priced at Rs. 14,999, the 6GB variant is Rs. 15,999, and the 8GB variant is Rs. 16,999. Realme despatched me the top-end 8GB variant for this overview. Other specs embody dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, and the same old array of sensors and satellite tv for pc navigation assist.

The 6.4-inch Super AMOLED show on the Realme 8 produces wealthy and vibrant colors

The Realme 8 (and 8 Pro) are some of the primary telephones to ship with Realme UI 2.0 out of the field. It’s based mostly on Android 11, and on the floor, it appears to be like similar to the earlier model. However, there are delicate design and animation modifications. There’s an upgraded icon customisation menu, and all the safety and privateness advantages that include Android 11 have been applied.

Unfortunately, the brand new model hasn’t shed any bloatware, and there is nonetheless a tonne of third-party and redundant apps that come pre-installed. Most of them may be uninstalled if wanted, however some resembling Browser, which may be infamous for spamming you with undesirable notification, can not.

Realme 8 efficiency and battery life

Having an AMOLED show immediately livens up photos and movies, making the Realme 8 a good system for media consumption. The show’s distinction ranges are good and brightness is greater than sufficient even for outside use. The in-display fingerprint sensor could be very fast at authentication, and face recognition is simply as dependable. The backside speaker will get decently loud, though it will have been good to have had stereo audio system.

In phrases of efficiency, the Realme 8 feels snappy. I did miss the fluidity in scrolling supplied by a 90Hz show however usability was nonetheless good. The Helio G95 SoC posts good benchmark numbers too, scoring 2,89,587 factors in AnTuTu. I did not encounter any heating points, even when gaming for lengthy stretches. Speaking of which, video games ran very effectively and seemed good on this show.

The Realme 8 additionally delivers strong battery life. The 5,000mAh capability simply lasted me for a complete day with heavy use, and even longer when my utilization was a bit lighter. In our HD video loop check, it ran for a complete of 24 hours and 11 minutes. 30W quick charging permits it to cost totally in roughly 65 minutes. There’s additionally assist for USB Type-C Power Delivery (PD) quick charging (as much as 15W).

The Realme 8 has a comparable set of rear cameras because the Realme 7, however the efficiency is not nearly as good

Realme 8 cameras

The rear cameras are just like what we noticed on the Realme 7 in phrases of specs. At the again, there’s a 64-megapixel major digital camera, 8-megapixel ultra-wide digital camera, 2-megapixel macro digital camera, and a 2-megapixel monochrome digital camera. However, the first 64-megapixel sensor is manufactured by Omnivision and never Sony, just like the one on the Realme 7. You get a 16-megapixel selfie digital camera. The digital camera app gives a wealthy choice of taking pictures modes, just like what we have seen on earlier Realme smartphones.

Image high quality, sadly, is weaker than what I skilled with the Realme 7. Landscape pictures seemed alright when seen on the cellphone’s show, however upon nearer inspection, particulars and textures on objects typically appeared flat and never effectively outlined. The ultra-wide digital camera produced even weaker particulars, as anticipated, with seen barrel distortion alongside the sides. Close-ups fared significantly better in phrases of particulars, however they tended to have a closely processed look when magnified. The AI scene enhancer has the tendency to spice up colors, so when you choose a extra pure look, it is best to go away it off.

Realme 8 predominant digital camera pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)

Realme 8 ultra-wide digital camera pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)

Realme 8 close-up digital camera pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)

Low-light pictures typically turned out a bit grainy except I used Nightscape mode. This additionally helped get usable low-light pictures with the ultra-wide digital camera. For close-ups, the autofocus wasn’t very correct in less-than-ideal gentle, so at occasions, it took a few tries to get a good shot.

The Realme 8 can file video at as much as 4K 30fps, however with none stabilisation. Video high quality is sort of common. At 1080p, the cellphone tries to stabilise footage however finally ends up doing a fairly poor job of it. You can shoot video with the ultra-wide digital camera too, however the high quality is beneath common and there is not any stabilisation. Needless to say, video high quality in low gentle just isn’t one of the best except your topic or scene could be very effectively lit.

Realme 8 selfie digital camera pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)

Realme 8 Nightscape digital camera pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)

Selfies shot through the day look respectable however ones taken in low gentle are simply pretty common. The macro digital camera enables you to get excessive close-ups however the high quality just isn’t nice. Portrait mode works effectively and there are numerous filters to play with.

Overall, the cameras on the Realme 8 are undoubtedly serviceable in the suitable circumstances, however this mannequin just isn’t a step up from the Realme 7 in phrases of options or high quality.

Verdict

After spending a week with the Realme 8, it is secure to conclude that it is nothing greater than a Realme 7 (Review) with an AMOLED show and barely worse digital camera efficiency. I believe the Realme 7 remains to be a higher decide because it’s inexpensive, gives a 90Hz show, and hopefully ought to obtain an Android 11 replace quickly. The solely actual benefit of the Realme 8 is that it is slimmer and lighter than the 7. Realme can be preparing to launch a 5G model of the 8 very quickly, which could possibly be priced between the Realme 8 and Realme 8 Pro, so it is value not less than ready.

The top-end variant of the Realme 8 is a a lot more durable promote than the bottom variant, because the Realme Narzo 30 Pro is accessible on the similar worth, and gives a extra highly effective 5G SoC in addition to a 120Hz show. There’s additionally the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro, which is best than the Realme 8 in each doable method, not less than on paper, and begins at Rs. 16,999. Other than the first rear digital camera, the Redmi Note 10 Pro is an identical to the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max (Review), which we now have reviewed and favored fairly a bit.

The Realme 8 may not have any deal-breaking flaws, nevertheless it does not actually supply something particular, even when in comparison with its personal siblings, which makes it exhausting to suggest.

Why did LG quit on its smartphone enterprise? We mentioned this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Later (beginning at 22:00), we discuss concerning the new co-op RPG shooter Outriders. Orbital is accessible on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.