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 the moment has an unlimited portfolio of smartphones, however the price at which it is going, I believe it must pump the brakes a bit and take a extra centered strategy to its launches. I am referring to the lately launched Realme 8, which launched alongside the Realme 8 Pro. The corporate has managed to cowl just about each single value level underneath Rs. 20,000, however the sheer variety of telephones it now sells, together with the 7 sequence, X-series and Narzo fashions, signifies that there’s lots of overlapping, with simply minute variations between lots 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 highest-end variant of the Realme 8, which I will be reviewing, prices Rs. 16,999. This implies 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? Selecting a Realme smartphone at present could be fairly difficult.

It is time to see how the Realme 8 really performs, and whether or not you must 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 light-weight, and it does an excellent job right here. The all-plastic physique helps it obtain a cushty weight of simply 177g, and it is not very thick both at 7.99mm. Each these figures are massive enhancements over the hefty Realme 7. The plastic again is a little 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. On the backside, now we have the speaker, headphone jack, and USB Kind-C port.

The massive change in comparison with the Realme 7 lies within the show, which is a 6.4-inch Tremendous AMOLED panel with a full-HD+ decision, fairly than an LCD panel. That is the primary time Realme’s non-Professional quantity sequence has obtained the AMOLED remedy. With this show, you additionally get a speedy in-display fingerprint sensor, however you sacrifice the 90Hz refresh price that the Realme 7 supplied. The show has a display protector pre-applied however there isn’t any official point out of strengthened glass, which earlier fashions had. Once we requested Realme, an organization consultant instructed us that it has used Dragontrail glass on the Realme 8.

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

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

The Realme 8 is without doubt one of the extra snug telephones I’ve reviewed lately and needs to be straightforward to dwell with, particularly contemplating it has a 5,000mAh battery. Nevertheless, I believe Realme may have completed much more to up the premium quotient, comparable to providing a glass again as an alternative of plastic. The field contents embrace a 30W charger, Kind-C cable, case, and SIM eject instrument.

Realme 8 specs and software program

The Realme 8 reuses the MediaTek Helio G95 SoC from the Realme 7, which has confirmed to be adequate for gaming at this value stage. The Realme 8 is obtainable 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 evaluation. Different specs embrace dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, and the standard array of sensors and satellite tv for pc navigation assist.

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

The Realme 8 (and eight Professional) are among the first telephones to ship with Realme UI 2.0 out of the field. It is based mostly on Android 11, and on the floor, it appears similar to the earlier model. Nevertheless, there are delicate design and animation adjustments. There’s an upgraded icon customisation menu, and all the safety and privateness advantages that include Android 11 have been applied.

Sadly, 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 could be uninstalled if wanted, however some comparable to Browser, which could be infamous for spamming you with undesirable notification, can not.

Realme 8 efficiency and battery life

Having an AMOLED show immediately livens up photographs and movies, making the Realme 8 machine 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 underside speaker will get decently loud, though it will have been good to have had stereo audio system.

When it comes to 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. Talking of which, video games ran very effectively and regarded 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 absolutely in roughly 65 minutes. There’s additionally assist for USB Kind-C Energy Supply (PD) quick charging (as much as 15W).

The Realme 8 has the same set of rear cameras because the Realme 7, however the efficiency is not pretty much as good

Realme 8 cameras

The rear cameras are just like what we noticed on the Realme 7 when it comes to specs. On the again, there is a 64-megapixel main digital camera, 8-megapixel ultra-wide digital camera, 2-megapixel macro digital camera, and a 2-megapixel monochrome digital camera. Nevertheless, 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 presents a wealthy number of capturing modes, just like what we have seen on earlier Realme smartphones.

Picture high quality, sadly, is weaker than what I skilled with the Realme 7. Panorama pictures regarded 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. Shut-ups fared significantly better when it comes to 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 photographs usually turned out a bit grainy except I used Nightscape mode. This additionally helped get usable low-light photographs with the ultra-wide digital camera. For close-ups, the autofocus wasn’t very correct in less-than-ideal gentle, so at instances, it took a number of tries to get shot.

The Realme 8 can document video at as much as 4K 30fps, however with none stabilisation. Video high quality is kind of common. At 1080p, the cellphone tries to stabilise footage however finally ends up doing a reasonably poor job of it. You possibly can shoot video with the ultra-wide digital camera too, however the high quality is beneath common and there isn’t any stabilisation. For sure, video high quality in low gentle just isn’t the very 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 throughout the day look first rate however ones taken in low gentle are simply pretty common. The macro digital camera permits 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.

Total, the cameras on the Realme 8 are undoubtedly serviceable in the precise situations, however this mannequin just isn’t a step up from the Realme 7 when it comes to options or high quality.

Verdict

After spending per week with the Realme 8, it is protected 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 continues to be a greater decide because it’s inexpensive, presents a 90Hz show, and hopefully ought to obtain an Android 11 replace quickly. The one 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 price at the least ready.

The highest-end variant of the Realme 8 is a a lot more durable promote than the bottom variant, because the Realme Narzo 30 Pro is obtainable on the similar value, and presents 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 manner, at the least on paper, and begins at Rs. 16,999. Aside from the first rear digital camera, the Redmi Notice 10 Professional is equivalent to the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max (Review), which now we have reviewed and favored fairly a bit.

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

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