Realme has had fairly the meteoric rise in India over a comparatively quick time span. The extremely aggressive firm at present has an enormous 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 method to its launches. I am referring to the just lately launched Realme 8, which launched alongside the Realme 8 Professional. The corporate has managed to cowl just about each single value level beneath 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 a whole lot of overlapping, with simply minute variations between a lot of them.
The Realme 8 begins at Rs. 14,999 and going purely by specs, is basically a slimmer Realme 7 with an AMOLED show. The Realme 7 itself is basically a Realme 6 Professional with a MediaTek SoC as an alternative of Qualcomm, and each these fashions are additionally nonetheless on sale at related 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 Professional, which occurs to have a 5G SoC and a 120Hz show. Do you see what I imply? Selecting a Realme smartphone right this moment might be fairly difficult.
It is time to see how the Realme 8 really performs, and whether or not you need to trouble with it or choose 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 an excellent job right here. The all-plastic physique helps it obtain a snug 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, we’ve the speaker, headphone jack, and USB Sort-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, slightly than an LCD panel. That is the primary time Realme’s non-Professional quantity sequence 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 provided. The show has a display protector pre-applied however there isn’t any official point out of bolstered glass, which earlier fashions had. After we requested Realme, an organization consultant advised us that it has used Dragontrail glass on the Realme 8.
The Realme 8 has a hanging rear panel design, to place it mildly, however it’s nonetheless plastic and never glass
I am not an enormous 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 an enormous downside on this colourway. The Cyber Black choice seems to be a bit extra subdued and might be the one I might go together with.
The Realme 8 is among the extra comfy telephones I’ve reviewed just lately and needs to be simple to reside with, particularly contemplating it has a 5,000mAh battery. Nevertheless, I believe Realme may have achieved much more to up the premium quotient, similar to providing a glass again as an alternative of plastic. The field contents embrace a 30W charger, Sort-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 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 evaluate. Different specs embrace dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, and the same old array of sensors and satellite tv for pc navigation help.
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 seems to be similar to the earlier model. Nevertheless, there are refined design and animation modifications. There’s an upgraded icon customisation menu, and all the safety and privateness advantages that include Android 11 have been carried out.
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 might be uninstalled if wanted, however some similar to Browser, which might 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 great gadget for media consumption. The show’s distinction ranges are good and brightness is greater than ample even for out of doors 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 might 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 provided 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 properly and seemed good on this show.
The Realme 8 additionally delivers stable battery life. The 5,000mAh capability simply lasted me for a whole day with heavy use, and even longer when my utilization was a bit lighter. In our HD video loop take a look at, 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 help for USB Sort-C Energy Supply (PD) quick charging (as much as 15W).
The Realme 8 has an analogous 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 by way of specs. On the again, there is a 64-megapixel main digicam, 8-megapixel ultra-wide digicam, 2-megapixel macro digicam, and a 2-megapixel monochrome digicam. 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 digicam. The digicam app affords 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 seemed alright when seen on the telephone’s show, however upon nearer inspection, particulars and textures on objects usually appeared flat and never properly outlined. The ultra-wide digicam produced even weaker particulars, as anticipated, with seen barrel distortion alongside the perimeters. Shut-ups fared a lot better by way 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 in case you choose a extra pure look, it is best to depart it off.
Realme 8 major digicam pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)
Realme 8 ultra-wide digicam pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)
Realme 8 close-up digicam pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)
Low-light photographs usually turned out a bit grainy until I used Nightscape mode. This additionally helped get usable low-light photographs with the ultra-wide digicam. For close-ups, the autofocus wasn’t very correct in less-than-ideal mild, so at instances, it took a number of tries to get a great shot.
The Realme 8 can report video at as much as 4K 30fps, however with none stabilisation. Video high quality is kind of common. At 1080p, the telephone tries to stabilise footage however finally ends up doing a fairly poor job of it. You’ll be able to shoot video with the ultra-wide digicam too, however the high quality is under common and there isn’t any stabilisation. For sure, video high quality in low mild is just not one of the best until your topic or scene could be very properly lit.
Realme 8 selfie digicam pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)
Realme 8 Nightscape digicam pattern (faucet to see bigger picture)
Selfies shot in the course of the day look first rate however ones taken in low mild are simply pretty common. The macro digicam helps you to get excessive close-ups however the high quality is just not nice. Portrait mode works properly and there are numerous filters to play with.
Total, the cameras on the Realme 8 are undoubtedly serviceable in the suitable situations, however this mannequin is just not a step up from the Realme 7 by way of options or high quality.
Verdict
After spending every week with the Realme 8, it is protected to conclude that it is nothing greater than a Realme 7 (Evaluation) with an AMOLED show and barely worse digicam efficiency. I believe the Realme 7 remains to be a greater choose because it’s cheaper, affords 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 also be getting ready to launch a 5G model of the 8 very quickly, which might be priced between the Realme 8 and Realme 8 Professional, so it is price no less than 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 Professional is accessible on the similar value, and affords a extra highly effective 5G SoC in addition to a 120Hz show. There’s additionally the Xiaomi Redmi Be aware 10 Professional, which is healthier than the Realme 8 in each potential approach, no less than on paper, and begins at Rs. 16,999. Aside from the first rear digicam, the Redmi Be aware 10 Professional is similar to the Redmi Be aware 10 Professional Max (Evaluation), which we’ve reviewed and favored fairly a bit.
The Realme 8 may not have any deal-breaking flaws, however it does not actually provide something particular, even when in comparison with its personal siblings, which makes it onerous to suggest.
Why did LG surrender on its smartphone enterprise? We mentioned this on Orbital, the Devices 360 podcast. Later (beginning at 22:00), we speak in regards to the new co-op RPG shooter Outriders. Orbital is accessible on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
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