Poco M3 Pro 5G vs Realme 8 5G: Which is best affordable 5G phone in India?

With the recent launch of the Poco M3 Pro, the number of budget 5G smartphones in India seem to be increasing. The Poco M3 Pro follows the Realme 8 5G and the Oppo A53s 5G to debut in India’s sub-15K 5G segment.

However, the Realme 8 5G comes on top in more areas than not against the Oppo A53s, which makes the former a more worthy competitor to the Poco M3 Pro 5G. So, can the Poco M3 Pro 5G steal the Realme 8 5G’s best budget 5G phone crown in India? Well, stick around and let’s find out.

In terms of performance, both phones are pretty evenly matched when you consider the similarities between the spec sheets. Additionally, the Poco M3 Pro has updated UFS 2.2 storage, while the Realme 8 5G uses virtual RAM.

Both phones have a pretty similar display in terms of refresh rate and resolution. The phones refresh rate can also be scaled to preserve battery life. The battery capacity and charging speeds are also similar on both devices.

Both the Poco M3 Pro 5G and Realme 8 5G use a 48 MP triple camera setup with similar specs. Since we haven’t tested out the cameras on both phones, it’s best to call this one a tie. However, the Realme 8 5G has a high-resolution selfie camera, which is the one difference in the camera department.

The main difference between the two phones comes on the software front. Both handsets run on Android 11 but use different custom skins on top. While Realme UI and MIUI both have their pros and cons, in our view, the former offers a cleaner interface, which gives it an advantage in this area.