Realme 8 Review: A bold new design with the same old hardware

Realme expanded its number series last month with additions of few more models in the form of the Realme 8 and Realme 8 Pro. And while the Realme 8 Pro offered premium features like an AMOLED display, super-fast charging and a 108 MP primary shooter, the standard Realme 8 follows a more balanced formula by offering just the right specs at just the right price (Starting Price Rs 14,999). In our review, we will take a look at how good the Realme 8 is and if it is a worthy successor to the Realme 7.

The majority of the changes on the Realme 8 come on the outside. The company has opted for a new design and bold finish on the Realme 8. Whether you get the phone in Cyber Black or Cyber Silver, the ‘Dare To Leap’ branding is spread across the entire backside. Our model came in a silver finish with a glossy back panel. The silver finish has an edgier look, while the black colour looks more subtle. While I wasn’t a big fan of the edgy finish, it is certainly eye-catching.

However, my gripe was not with the overall look, but with the glossy finish, which attracts fingerprint smudges from the get-go and takes away from the bold design. The back panel itself is plastic and so is the frame, although you do get some glass protection on the screen. There’s a box-shaped camera module on the back with four sensors. You get a SIM tray on the left and a volume rocker and power button on the right. On the bottom, there’s a speaker grille and a headphone jack. The Realme 8 looks quite appealing, but the back panel is too prone to smudges, which almost forces you to use the included cover.

The Realme 8 opts for a 6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display. However, the screen boasts a standard 60Hz refresh rate, although the touch sampling rate goes up to 180Hz. The panel features an advertised pixel density of 409ppi and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits.

There’s a hole-punch camera cutout on the top left of the screen. The big question here is whether you prefer a smooth high-refresh-rate display or a vibrant and colour accurate screen? In my opinion, the AMOLED panel seems to be the better choice, especially considering that the MediaTek chipset is going to struggle to push games past the 60 frames per second.

In terms of performance, the Realme 8 gets the same MediaTek Helio G95 as its predecessor. The chipset is available in 4GB, 6GB, and 8GB RAM options, our model arrived with 8GB of RAM. The Realme 8 features a 128GB of UFS 2.1, across all three variants, while storage is expandable through the dedicated microSD card slot. The Helio G95 is pretty solid for gaming and easily one of the best in this segment. Call of Duty: Mobile ran on high settings without any noticeable frame drops, although we were using the 8GB model.

Two other titles we tried were Raid: Shadow Legends and Dungeon Hunter V, both of which ran smoothly on high settings. The settings for Genshin Impact, on the other hand, had to be lowered from Medium (By Default) to Low. On AnTuTu, the Realme 8 managed an overall score of 301132 points, which is quite impressive for a mid-ranger. In Geekbench, the Realme 8 managed a single-core score of 523 points and a multi-core score of 1684 points. The phone did get a little warm after one hour of Call of Duty: Mobile. Overall, the MediaTek G95 SoC on the Realme 8 is arguably one of the fastest in the segment.

When it comes to optics, the quad-camera setup on the back features a 64 MP, f/1.79 primary sensor. The other three camera sensors are the same – 8 MP, f/2.5 ultrawide shooter with a 119-degree field of view, a 2 MP macro unit, and a 2 MP B&W lens. On the front, the notch house a 16 MP, f/2.45 selfie shooter. The main camera on the back can record 4K video at up to 30fps or 1080p video up to 60fps, while the ultrawide and selfie cameras are limited to 1080p video at 30fps.

The main camera on the Realme 8 takes decent photos in daylight. Chrome Boost steps up brightness and colours in outdoor scenarios, presenting punchier colours. However, the camera didn’t do very well with details and textures. And things just got worst with the ultrawide, with soft edges and lack of details in photos. The macro camera is the same as with most Realme devices, "a hit and a miss".

Night mode does help with low light photos to a certain extent on the primary camera, but you'll need a fair bit of ambient light to get good stills. However, results tend to be inconsistent at times. The Realme 8 features 4K video recording at 30fps good quality, both in terms of detail and colours.  There’s a Dual Video and Ultra Steady Video mode, but it only works in 1080p resolution.

On balance, the cameras here aren't that bad, especially considering the price. Even, the front camera does well in daylight. For the most part, photos taken in low light were too inconsistent. To sum it up, the Realme 8 has a good set of camera, but I've definitely seen better in this segment.

The Realme 8 also gets a solid 5,000 mAh battery with 30W Dart Charge support and an adapter in the box. Battery life is pretty good, offering a day and a half of general use. The phone takes a little over an hour to fully charge. There’s a good balance of battery life and charging speed here, with little to complain about.

On the software front, the Realme 8 runs Android 11-based Realme UI 2.0. The interface seems clean and easy to use with a fair bit of customisation, although there are a bunch of pre-installed apps that can be uninstalled. The phone also supports an always-on display, although it isn’t customizable. Nothing much has changed on the software front, Realme UI is still in its infancy but is only getting better in time.

Overall, the Realme 8 is a really good phone with a lot to offer. You get a solid chipset for gaming, a reliable set of cameras, a vibrant display, a sizeable battery with fast charging, good software, and a bold new design. The Realme 8 simply picks up where the Realme 7 left off. The improvements here are marginal over its predecessor, but on the plus side, you don’t really see any increase in price.

My one gripe with the device would be the inconsistent camera performance in dim light and indoor scenes. Additionally, the phone’s proneness to fingerprint smudges is a hefty cost to pay for a new design. To sum it up, I will summarize the Realme 8 as a bold endeavour from the company, but only on the outside. Beyond design, not much has changed from Realme’s standard mid-range formula, but that may not be such a bad thing.