realme has launched its new midrange smartphones in India in its realme 8 Series, the two new smartphones – the realme8 and the realme 8 Pro are the company’s mid-range offerings between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000. The realme 8 is a toned-down variant of its higher sibling realme 8 Pro which offers a large 108 MP camera sensor. About the realme 8 main highlights, it offers a Super AMOLED display, 64 MP quad cameras, a slim design, and a 30W fast charging. Here’s our realme 8 review.
realme 8 Specifications
- Display: 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, 60 Hz refresh rate, 180 Hz touch sampling rate
- Software: realme UI 2.0, Android 11
- CPU: MediaTek Helio G95 octa-core SoC
- GPU: ARM Mali-G76 MC4 Graphics
- Memory: 4 GB OR 6 GB OR 8 GB RAM
- Storage: 128 GB storage on-board, external microSD card support (dedicated)
- Main Camera: Quad Cameras (64 MP primary + 8 MP ultra-wide-angle + 2 MP macro + 2 MP B&W depth), LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 16 MP
- Connectivity: USB Type-C, 3.5 mm port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
- Security: In-display fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
- Cellular: Dual 4G network, nano SIMs, microSD card slot (dedicated)
- Battery: 5,000 mAh
- Charging: 30W SuperDart Charge fast charging, 100% in 65 minutes, 50% in 26 minutes
- Price: ₹14,999 (4 GB RAM + 128 GB Storage), ₹15,999 (6 GB RAM + 128 GB Storage), ₹16,999 (8 GB RAM + 128 GB Storage)
- Availability: 25th March 2021 on Flipkart, realme.com, and offline stores.
Design, Display, & Build
About its design, the realme 8 is slim and light in weight, the back is a glossy finish body with Dare To Leap slogan written in big. Unlike the realme 8’s matte finish, the backside is sleek, glossy made from plastic, and not glass, the sides are not metallic, hence it may look premium, but won’t provide you a premium touch of the glass and metallic design. realme calls it an Infinite Bold design.
You will find a 64 MP quad-camera setup on the top-left side. The overall build quality is solid and comfortable to hold. Speaking of the front side, it has a full-screen punch-hole camera design with a 16 MP selfie camera.
Surprisingly, the display is an amazing 6.4-inch Super AMOLED with a Full HD+ resolution. Moreover, it has a 180 Hz touch response rate and a 60 Hz refresh rate, this could be a downgrade if we compare it with its predecessor realme 7 with a 90 Hz refresh rate, but the good part is the panel is now switched to AMOLED rather than the cheaper IPS LCD.
On the sides of the phone, the bottom has a USB Type-C port with fast charging support, a loudspeaker, a microphone. The top side has nothing but a second microphone.
The right side has a power button and volume control while the left side has a dual SIM tray in which you have the option to add a microSD card in a dedicated slot, the rest are two 4G SIM slots.
Take a look at our unboxing and first impressions of the realme 8 below.
Software & User Interface
Like the realme 8 Pro, the realme 8 also debuts with the new realme UI 2.0 software. realme has used the Android 11 build here and the realme 8 uses the new Android 11 out-of-the-box which sounds good since many phones are still stuck with the old Android 10. The Android 11 on the realme 8 uses a security patch dated 5th February 2021.
The realme UI 2.0 feels smooth, light in weight, less bloatware that can be further removed if not required. Speaking of the features of the realme UI 2.0, this home-grown UI has been upgraded with 100+ customizations including theme color, dark modes, icon packs, and more.
You get a handful of third-party apps like Facebook, Flipkart, Snapchat as well as a few apps from realme such as the realme Link. You can remove them if not need, the interface is ad-free as far as we have used it and does not hamper the user experience.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
The realme 8 uses the same CPU found in its predecessor, the 12nm MediaTek Helio G95 octa-core CPU clocked at 2.05 GHz coupled with as much as 8 GB RAM and 128 GB onboard storage. It offers ARM Mali-G76 MC4 for graphics applications and gaming.
The realme 8 comes in three variants, the base variant has 4 GB RAM with the same 128 GB storage, there’s no other storage variant, but three RAM variants, it’s 4 GB, 6 GB, and 8 GB. The 128 GB storage can be expanded via a dedicated microSD card slot.
No 5G support is found, the MediaTek Helio G95 is a mid-range octa-core CPU with 4G support. There’s no major difference in the performance of the device, you can expect similar performance as its predecessor realme 7.
The Geekbench 5 CPU benchmark scores 531 points in single-core and 1,707 in multi-core. Geekbench 5 GPU benchmark scores 2,284 points. The read-write speed of the UFS storage is at a peak of 524 MB/s (read) and 201 MB/s (write).
On the gaming front, the ARM Mali-G76 MC4 GPU is good for gaming, casual games can be playable in full settings fluently, as well as many games can be run on the phone with medium graphics settings (or medium-high in some games) and not for ultra settings.
Cameras
Moving to the cameras of the phone, the Realme 8 equips a quad-camera setup at the rear side which offers a 64 MP primary camera with f1/1.7″ Sony IMX682 sensor, the one we saw on its predecessor Realme 7.
The rest three cameras use an 8 MP 119° ultra-wide-angle lens for wide-angle shots, a 2MP macro camera for 4 CM macro shots, and a 2 MP B&W portrait lens for portrait shots. The front side offers a 16 MP f/2.45 Sony IMX471 camera for selfies and video calling.
As you can see in the screenshot, the interface loaded with features, the new modes such as the Dual View mode, and Movie mode, aside from the usual modes. The image quality is fairly good, the Sony IMX682 offers a good overall camera performance. Take a look at our camera samples that we have shared below.
The Movie mode offers a wide Cinema view with manual controls, the camera can record in widescreen utilizing the full screen in this mode. The Dual-View mode can be used to record from both the cameras simultaneously, the front and the back. This feature is also seen in some Nokia and LG phones, but it seems realme has added this feature to give users more flexibility to the camera for a variety of creative and interesting short videos.
The video capabilities of the phone offer 4K video and slow motion, the camera records 4K at 30 fps and not in 60 fps. The new Starry mode which is found on its upper sibling isn’t available on the realme 8.
realme 8 Camera Samples
Battery Life & Charging
Speaking of the battery size on the phone, the realme 8 packs a 5,000 mAh battery the same battery we have seen on its predecessor, the realme 7. There’s no difference in the battery department as well as charging, the charging speed is capped at 30W whereas the realme 8 Pro supports 50W charging.
The 5,000 mAh battery should last up to 2 days on average use. It can offer as much as 952 hours of standby time, 43 hours of Talktime, 23 hours of YouTube watching, 98 hours of online music playback, and 10 hours of gaming.
The realme 8 can be charged fully in 65 minutes from 0% to 100% in one go and takes 26 minutes to charge up to 50% battery. The realme 8 Pro, on the other hand, charges the battery in 47 minutes from 0% to 100% and in 17 minutes from 0% to 50% with its 50W fast charging support.
Verdict
The realme 8 isn’t a game changer but has enough traits to draw attention. From its Super AMOLED display, Android 11 out-of-the-box, 30W fast charging, plenty of storage, to its 64 MP quad cameras, it can be a good pick under ₹15,000 as far as if you aren’t asking for a 90 Hz screen. The realme 8 is currently priced at ₹14,999 for its 4 GB RAM and 128 GB storage and goes up to 16,999 for 8 GB RAM variant.
Strength
- Super AMOLED Display
- Plenty of RAM & Storage (8 GB + 128 GB)
- 30W Fast Charging Support
- Slim Design
- Good 64 MP Camera
- Dedicated microSD Card Slot
Weakness
- A 90 Hz Refresh Rate Would Be A Great Addition
