Smart Android And Trik-Commenting on Andorid indeed never endless, because smart devices this one is often updated every certain amount of time. So that the market can always be garapnya menerinya with pleasure. And it is not denied if this device has become the lifestyle of each society. To not wonder if the 6th business information and many are turning to mobail smartphone. With Android which thoroughly dominated the mobile industry, choosing the best Android smartphone is almost identical to choose the best smartphone, period. But while Android phones have few real opponents on other platforms, internal competition is intense.
Introduction
If the previous Realme series are anything to go by, we should not expect direct sequels with fully-fledged upgrades. More often, we'd get a slightly different take on the previous generation with a new highlight feature - a few nip and tucks here, a few cuts there, and probably the same price. And that's what the Realme 8 Pro is all about.
The new Realme 8 Pro's most notable upgrade over the Realme 7 Pro is the new 108MP main camera, which not only promises high-quality photos and videos day and night, but it should also give us 3x lossless zoom thanks to some new binning and processing algorithms. The rest of the snappers stay the same - an 8MP ultrawide, a 2MP macro, and a 2MP depth sensor.
The Realme 8 Pro also introduces a new grippy design with a cool sandblasted rear panel.
The rest is pretty much the same. It keeps the same 6.4" 1080p Super AMOLED screen, the same Snapdragon 720G chip, as well as the same 4,500mAh battery.
There are a couple of cuts, too. The Realme 8 Pro has only one speaker, it charges a bit slower at 50W, and the selfie camera resolution was halved. Oddly, the water-repellent coating is gone, too.
Well, we are not sure how the thought processes went when making the Realme 8 Pro, but we aren't big fans of such downgrades. Here is hoping the new camera and its 3x lossless zoom would make up for the omissions, and the new design is an improvement, too.
Realme 8 Pro specs at a glance:
- Body: 160.6x73.9x8.1mm, 176g; Glass front, plastic frame, plastic back.
- Display: 6.40" Super AMOLED, 430 nits (typ), 1000 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 411ppi; Always-on display.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM7125 Snapdragon 720G (8 nm): Octa-core (2x2.3 GHz Kryo 465 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 465 Silver); Adreno 618.
- Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.1; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
- OS/Software: Android 11, Realme UI 2.0.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 108 MP, f/1.9, 26mm, 1/1.52", 0.7µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.3, 119˚, 16mm, 1/4.0", 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide), 1/3.0", 1.0µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/480fps, 720p@960fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30/120fps, gyro-EIS.
- Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 50W, 50% in 17 min, 100% in 47 min (advertised).
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); 3.5mm jack.
The Realme 8 Pro offers many value-adding features such as a 3.5mm jack, NFC, and even a dedicated microSD slot in addition to the dual-SIM support.
The Realme 8 Pro doesn't seem like an upgrade over the Realme 7 Pro, not even over the Realme 6 Pro. But it does offer a good pick of features at a reasonable price, which should be enough to make it a good competitor in the currently over-saturated market.
Unboxing the Realme 8 Pro
The Realme 8 Pro arrives in a familiar yellow box and has the usual contents. There is a SuperDart 65W-rated charger and a USB-A-to-C cable that can handle charging at 6.5A. The power adapter is a bit overqualified for the job as the Realme 8 Pro supports up to 50W charging, but we guess to bundle the chargers you have in stock rather than manufacture newer inferior ones.
Inside the box, you'll also find a transparent silicone case that'll provide extra protection and grip if you need it. It will make the thin Realme 8 Pro thicker and take some of its coolness, though.
Design, build, handling
The Realme 8 Pro is a looker, alright. Its catchy back, with that cool sand-blasted finish and glossy logo, is an instant attention grabber. The camera island looks quite balanced, too, and you can't really guess there is a huge 108MP camera inside.
We'd argue that the DARE TO LEAP logo is a bit too big and flashy for our taste, but if Realme thinks it makes sense and its target group said so - who are we to disagree.
We can express our disappointment over the missing water-repellent coating, though. Unlike the Realme 7 Pro, the 8 Pro has no such thing. There is no rubber gasket around the card slot either, meaning the phone will not take well any exposure to water. We liked the extra peace of mind the coating was giving us, and we do miss it.
The Realme 8 Pro is a bit thinner and lighter than its 6 Pro and 7 Pro siblings and feels somewhat more compact. The curved edges on the back panel probably help.
The front is the place for the 6.4" Super AMOLED screen. We saw the same panel on the Realme 7 Pro - a 1080p one with a 60Hz refresh rate. The punch-hole for the 16MP selfie camera is super tiny - one of the smallest we've seen recently.
We don't know if it's just us, but while the side bezels are nicely thin, the chin looks a bit thicker than it was on the Realme 7 Pro. And it's definitely larger, as one that an LCD screen would usually have. This is nit-picking for such an affordable phone, but we couldn't help but notice it.
Above the screen, almost invisible, is the earpiece grille. There is no second speaker on the Realme 8 Pro, in stark contrast with the Realme 7 Pro. There is no notification LED light either.
The Realme 8 Pro features an under-display fingerprint reader, and it is one of the best the technology has to offer today. The scanner is plenty fast, and the accuracy is close to excellent.
We liked the back of the Realme 8 Pro a lot. It's curved a bit and made of plastic, with a grippy sand-blasted finish. It looks like the color is uniform, but once the light hits it, it seems like it spreads from the camera towards the edges, like a shining sun. It's one of the coolest yet subtle effects we've seen, and we've spent some crazy amount of time just looking at this piece.
As we said, we aren't big fans of the gigantic insignia, but we do like the camera island. It's a two-step piece with one thin glass jutting out of the phone, and then each of the four cameras has its own protruding metal rings. The arrangement makes the Realme 8 Pro wobble, but it's quite okay.
The plastic frame is thin and flat, painted in gray on our unit and offers a matte finish. This, combined with the grippy back, makes for one of the best handling experiences we've had in a while. There is no need for a case; the Realme 8 Pro feels safe in hand no matter the occasion - whether it's shooting photos with one hand or watching videos.
The sides of the Realme 8 Pro
The left side of the frame houses the tri-card slot, where you can put two SIMs and a microSD card. The volume and power keys are on the right.
The top of the phone has one of the mics, while the bottom contains the mouthpiece, the USB-C port, the speaker grille, and the 3.5mm jack.
We really like what Realme has done with the design of the 8 Pro. It's a bit flashy, sure, but the plastic back excels in both grip and looks, while the footprint and thickness are balanced, and we can call this Realme a compact device. We do miss ingress protection, though, and we hope to see it return with the next Realme series.
Display
The Realme 8 Pro borrows its display from the Realme 7 Pro - it's a 6.4" Super AMOLED panel with an extended 1080p resolution (411ppi), 60Hz refresh rate, and a small punch-hole for the selfie camera. There is a Gorilla Glass of unknown revision shielding the screen.
The screen supports an Always-on display, DCI-P3 color gamut, and it can show HDR10 content in some apps. The Realme 8 Pro supports Widevine L1 DRM, and while it can stream in Full HD, according to Netflix and Prime Video - HDR10 is not available. Then there is YouTube, where you can stream HDR10 videos, so we guess it is an app-specific thing.
We thought Realme would offer a high-refresh-rate screen for the 8 Pro, alas that's not the case, and we guess that's postponed for future series.
We did our brightness measurements, and the 8 Pro AMOLED shows some good numbers for this type of panel. Using the brightness scrubber, we got a maximum brightness of 454 nits. When the screen relies on Adaptive Brightness, it can be as bright as 627 nits - great for this class.
Finally, the minimum brightness we were able to achieve with white was 2.0 nits.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 454 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 627 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 459 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 585 | ∞ | |
| 0.327 | 458 | 1401:1 | |
| 0.4 | 534 | 1335:1 | |
| 0 | 511 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 716 | ∞ | |
| 0.376 | 484 | 1287:1 | |
| 0.667 | 571 | 856:1 | |
| 0.318 | 421 | 1324:1 | |
| 0 | 457 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 725 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 475 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 682 | ∞ | |
| 0.355 | 456 | 1285:1 | |
| 0.487 | 616 | 1265:1 | |
| 0 | 386 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 794 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 393 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 814 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 323 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 756 | ∞ | |
The Realme 8 Pro display supports DCI-P3 and sRGB color spaces. You get to choose between Brilliant (oversaturated), Vivid (default, DCI-P3), or Gentle (sRGB) color modes. In each of these, you will get a color temperature slider going from cool to warm.
The default Vivid mode showed very good accuracy to our DCI-P3 targets, with the only exception being the slightly bluish white and gray hues. The Gentle Mode has a perfect accuracy to sRGB targets. The Brilliant Mode is pretty much the same as the Vivid, with more saturated red and green hues.
Battery life
The Realme 8 Pro has a lot in common with the Realme 7 Pro - the 4,500 mAh battery, the same 6.4" AMOLED screen and the same Snapdragon 720G chipset. And that's why we expected Realme 8 Pro to match the Realme 7 Pro battery life scores and endurance.
And it did! The Realme 8 Pro scored an endurance rating of 116 hours (+3h over the 7 Pro). It clocked 35 hours on 3G calls, neatly 17 hours on web browsing, and north of 21 hours on video playback.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Realme 7 Pro for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Charging speed
Realme 8 Pro supports 50W SuperDart Charge, but you get an even more powerful 65W power adapter as part of the phone's retail bundle. The Realme 7 Pro had support for 65W charger, so we are not sure why the downgrade was needed in the first place. Realme is advertising the 50W SuperDart charge as capable of replenishing 50% of a flat battery in 17 minutes, while a full charge should require 47 minutes.
There is no wireless charging or reverse charging support.
In our testing, the 65W power adapter indeed recharged 50% in 17 minutes, while half an hour would take you up to 88%.
30min charging test (from 0%)
- Oppo Find X3 Pro
100% - OnePlus 9 Pro
99% - Realme 7 Pro
94% - Realme 8 Pro
88% - Realme 6 Pro
68% - Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
63% - Realme 7 5G
57% - Samsung Galaxy A52 (25W)
52% - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
50% - Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
37% - Samsung Galaxy A52
34% - Realme 6i
33%
You reach the 100% mark in just 38 minutes. But, you get to Charged after additional 11 minutes of charging, making for a total of 49 minutes - very close to what Realme has promised.
It turns out this is not the first time a BBK phone does this (yes, the 65W-capable OnePlus 9, 9 Pro and Oppo Find X3 behave the same way), and we may need to make some changes to how we time these charging times in light of this discovery.
Time to full charge (from 0%)
- Oppo Find X3 Pro
0:28h - OnePlus 9 Pro
0:32h - Realme 7 Pro
0:37h - Realme 8 Pro
0:38h - Realme 6 Pro
0:57h - Realme 7 5G
1:06h - Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
1:11h - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
1:21h - Samsung Galaxy A52 (25W)
1:30h - Xiaomi Redmi Note 9S
1:45h - Samsung Galaxy A52
2:03h
Speaker
The Realme 8 Pro has one bottom-firing speaker, unlike the Realme 7 Pro, which had a stereo setup. It scored an average score in our loudness test and is on par with the Realme 6 and 6 Pro.
The audio quality is average, too. It has some bass and well-presented mid-tones, but you can hear it lacking in the high notes. Its output isn't as shallow as the Realme 7 Pro's, though, so it's kind of a silver lining.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Android 11 and Realme UI 2.0
The Realme 8 Pro is the first phone we meet running on Android 11 and Realme UI 2.0. The new version of Realme's launcher offers richer customization options, more AOD themes, a couple of extra Dark Mode styles, refined floating and mini windows, and enhanced security.
The phone supports fingerprint unlock, and the optical sensor works very well - it's fast and with high accuracy. You can also add a face for an even speedier unlock - though this is not as secure.
The launcher has no-nonsense homescreens, a simplistic and now cleaner notification/toggles area, and an easy-to-use task switcher. An App drawer is available, too, and it is as clutter-free as one could hope for. You can opt-out of the app drawer if that's your thing.
Realme UI 2.0
Always-on screen is available (called Screen Off), and it can show the usual content - clock, date, notifications icons, battery. The Realme UI 2.0 is supposed to bring many new AOD themes, but they are not present on the Realme 8 Pro just yet. Maybe they'll arrive via a software update later on.
Realme UI supports different icon packs, so if you are not happy with the default one, you can opt for material style, pebbles, or you can even fully customize them by your liking. Thanks to Realme UI 2.0, you can also change the system colors, the fingerprint scanner animation, the notification drawer icons, even the system font.
AOD • Customization options
Dark Mode is available, too, and it's been enhanced with Realme UI 2.0 with support for three different dark styles - black, dark gray or light gray. It can be manual or scheduled. You can also opt to force it on third-party apps, though this doesn't always end well.
Dark Mode
There are many powerful tools within the settings menu if you want full control over your Android OS. Or you can leave everything as is and enjoy a hassle-free Android experience optimized by Realme's AI algorithms and machine learning.
Settings
You can also minimize an app to a mini-windows or a floating window from within the Task Manager. If an app is compatible, you can do either of these or use the familiar Split Screen.
Task Manager • Mini app • Floating window • Split screen
Similar to the recent Galaxies, the Realme UI offers a Smart Sidebar on the edge of the screen - you can customize the actions and app shortcuts that appear there.
Smart Sidebar
The multimedia apps such as Gallery, Music, and Videos - are provided by Realme. There is also a redesigned File Manager and even a Phone Manager app. This completes the non-Google app list.
Gallery • Music • Videos • Phone Manager • File Manager
We are fond of the Realme UI, and we like the new direction. The interface is snappy, clutter-free and easy to use. Yet, it retains plenty of powerful tools should you choose to dig deeper and use them.
Performance and benchmarks
The Realme 8 Pro is based on the Snapdragon 720G chipset, the same one employed by the Realme 7 Pro. And the Realme 6 Pro before that. It offers an octa-core processor in a 2+6 configuration - 2x2.3GHz Kryo 465 Gold (A76-derivative) cores and 6x1.8GHz Kryo 465 Silver (A55-derivative) cores. The Adreno 618 is the GPU in charge of all things graphics.
There are two available configuration for the Realme 8 Pro - 6GB RAM with 128GB UFS2.1 storage and 8GB RAM + 128GB UFS2.1 storage.
The CPU performance is on par with the rest of the Snapdragon 7xx-featuring smartphones, including the Redmi Note 10 Pro, but trailing behind Poco X3 Pro's Snapdragon 860 processor.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Poco X3 Pro
2574 - Huawei P40 Lite
1862 - Realme 7 Pro
1811 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
1785 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
1780 - Poco X3 NFC
1777 - Realme 8 Pro
1678 - Realme 6 Pro
1666 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
1599 - Samsung Galaxy A52
1577
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Poco X3 Pro
735 - Huawei P40 Lite
591 - Realme 7 Pro
576 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
571 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
569 - Poco X3 NFC
568 - Realme 8 Pro
566 - Realme 6 Pro
565 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
534 - Samsung Galaxy A52
525
The same goes for the raw graphics power - the Realme 8 Pro is as good as the 7 Pro and the recent Redmi Note 10 Pro but is no match for the recent Poco.
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Poco X3 Pro
45 - Huawei P40 Lite
21 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
19 - Poco X3 NFC
19 - Realme 8 Pro
18 - Realme 7 Pro
18 - Realme 6 Pro
18 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
18 - Samsung Galaxy A52
17 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
9.3
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Poco X3 Pro
38 - Huawei P40 Lite
18 - Realme 8 Pro
16 - Realme 6 Pro
16 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
16 - Poco X3 NFC
16 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
15 - Samsung Galaxy A52
15 - Realme 7 Pro
14 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
7.9
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Poco X3 Pro
3401 - Realme 8 Pro
1051 - Samsung Galaxy A52
1040 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
482
The overall AnTuTu score also says the Realme 8 Pro is as powerful as many of its mid-range peers, but there are better phones on the same price, too.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Poco X3 Pro
453223 - Huawei P40 Lite
325777 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
295442 - Realme 8 Pro
286666 - Poco X3 NFC
283750 - Redmi Note 9 Pro (Max)
279625 - Realme 7 Pro
278414 - Realme 6 Pro
268785 - Samsung Galaxy A52
261282 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
218788
The Realme 8 Pro packs good enough hardware for this class and can handle well games and heavy apps; it can do multi-tasking, too. There is no UI lag, and we did not notice any stutter whatsoever. The cooling is great, too, and helps for 99.6% stability score on the stress test we use - 3D Mark Wild Life Stress Test.
But this is the third Realme in a row with the same processor and it seems like the company is in some sort of stalemate. It just cannot produce a better midranger, whether it's the chip crisis to blame and/or the pandemic, we don't know. We sure hope the 108MP camera is worth it. Otherwise, the competition's extra features would easily score a win over this phone.
Quad-camera with a high-end primary and 3x lossless zoom
The real star of the Realme 8 Pro is its quad-camera on the back and specifically, the primary shooter. We are talking about the 108MP main camera, which uses Samsung's ISOCELL HM2 sensor and in addition to the expected top-notch photo quality, it is also advertised for its 3x lossless zoom. The rests of the snappers are the usual mid-range bunch - an 8MP ultrawide cam, a 2MP macro snapper, and a 2MP depth sensor.
Let's talk about the main camera. It is based on Samsung's 1/1.52" ISOCELL HM2 sensor with 0.7µm pixels and Super-PD autofocus, and is coupled with f/1.9 6P lens. Just like the HM1, HM2 uses nine-pixel binning tech and can do up to 3x lossless zoom. It can also shoot stills at up to 12000x9000 pixel resolution and record videos up to 4K@120 fps.
The 3x in-sensor lossless zoom helps preserve details and colors without over-sharpening by taking 12MP photos and mapping the zoomed area. The image processing here is tweaked by Realme to take eight consecutive 12MP shots, which are then enhanced with the aid of an algorithm to increase clarity. Realme claims this process is superior to that of some telephoto modules in terms of sharpness.
Realme also introduces a new Starry Mode for astrophotography time-lapse videos. There is also a new Tilt-shift time-lapse video, which uses an algorithm to capture tilt-shift photos and videos. These shots simulate a miniature world by keeping parts of the image out of focus. The final new additions possible via the new sensor are a bunch of portrait filters including Neon Portrait, Dynamic Bokeh Portrait, and AI Color Portrait.
The ultrawide camera uses an 8MP Hynix HK846 sensor behind f/2.3 lens and 1.12µm pixels. Night Mode is available, here, too.
The two small shooters include a 2MP OmniVision OV02B sensor with f/2.25 aperture and fixed focus at 4cm for macro shots, and a 2MP GalaxyCore GC02K0 depth sensor.
Finally, there is a 16MP f/2.5 selfie camera with fixed focus, a downgrade from the 32MP imager the Realme 7 Pro had at the front.
The camera app is the familiar Oppo/Realme one with a few tweaks for the latest version. There are fewer menus - most of the modes are now on the main rolodex, which is good. It offers AI Scene Enhancement (also known as Chroma Boost or Dazzle Color) - it's like an advanced HDR mode, which may stack several images to offers even further improvements in the dynamic range, but the most prominent "improvement" is the higher color saturation.
In the Expert mode you get to tweak exposure (ISO in the 100-6400 range and shutter speed in the 1/8000s-32s range, 2s for the ultrawide), white balance (by light temperature, but no presets), manual focus (in arbitrary 0 to 1 units with 0 being close focus and 1 being infinity) and exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV in 1/6EV increments).
You do get to shoot on the main and ultrawide cams in this Expert mode but switching them is handled in a truly bizarre way. You get the familiar 1x-2x-5x selector, but that doesn't operate the actual cameras - it's a digital zoom from whichever camera you've picked from the tree selector on the opposite end of the viewfinder. Indeed, the trees switch cameras and once you select a module from there, no focusing distance considerations will auto-switch it - that's good.
Camera app
One thing that bothered us a lot is the Video section. If you've selected 4K or 1080p@60fps, you won't see a 0.6x switch for the ultrawide camera as these resolutions aren't supported. The only way to enable it is to switch to 1080p@30fps from the advanced settings. And switch back to 4K when you are done. Other makers do this hassle-free by shooting at the maximum resolution available, when a camera can't do, say 4K, but Realme seems to have stumbled with this thing here.
Photo quality - daylight
The default 12MP photos shot with the main camera are good - they are detailed enough, free of noise, with excellent contrast, lively if a bit over-saturated colors, and properly impressive dynamic range.
Hopefully, you weren't expecting flagship-worthy quality though. The images exhibit this oil-painting effect on foliage, bricks and even cars, where the high-frequency detail was smeared by the (noise) processing algorithms. It's not that bad, in fact - it reminds us of the recent iPhone 12 series, but it could have been better.
Yes, the 12MP photos are plenty good for the mid-range class and we couldn't ask for more, really. But honestly, we expected them to be slightly better given the flagship camera sensor. Maybe Realme will do better with a firmware update down the road, maybe it won't.
Main camera, 12MP
Realme also offers an AI Scene Enhancement toggle (previously known as Chroma Boost and Dazzle Color) within the camera app. It usually makes an HDR photo with eye-popping colors, depending on the scenes, of course.
Well, here is a bunch of AI-enhanced photos. When the algorithm detects Blue Sky or Greenery you can clearly see the saturated colors. They are currently off the charts, but if that's what you are looking for, by all means - you keep the AI on.
AI main camera, 12MP
You can shoot in 108MP, but our recommendation is to stay away from this mode. It takes about 5 seconds to save an 108MP image and then it will turn up soft and noisy, poor in detail and dynamic, and yet large in size - 30MB or more. The 108MP photos look a lot like (somewhat smart) upscale from the default 12MP output and we can't think of one reason why anyone should try it.
Main camera, 108MP
Realme came up with an improved image processing that makes the best from the new 108MP sensor and allows for 3x lossless zoom. The viewfinder has default 3x and 5x zoom toggles.
Well, imagine our surprise when we looked through the 3x zoomed photos and found them awesome. Sure, the processing sometimes struggles to extract intricate detail and may give you oily foliage, but still, these 3x photos are as good, or even better, as many of the 8MP tele shooters we've seen them take.
The zoomed images are rich in detail, with well-handled noise, great dynamic range, superb contrast, good colors (once again, a bit punchy), and overall - very pleasant look. If someone asked us to guess if these were taken with a real telephoto camera, we would have said yes. Good job, Realme!
3x main camera, 12MP
The 5x images are digitally zoomed over the 3x and yes, you can tell that, but they look incredibly good since they've been cropped and upscaled from the 3x photos. The images are much better than any simple 5x digital zoom and once again we really appreciate the effort Realme has put into offering high-quality magnification on this wide-angle camera.
5x main camera, 12MP
The 8MP photos saved by the ultrawide-angle camera are averagely looking. The resolved detail is mediocre - some has been taken away by the noise reduction. The colors are somewhat off with a noticeable reddish tint, the dynamic range is not that good, while the contrast is okay-ish.
We've seen better ultrawide shooters, but the ones within Realme 8 Pro price bracket offer similar quality, so no one should be expecting more.
Ultra-wide camera, 8MP
The 2MP macro camera has its focus fixed at 4cm and shooting a sharp picture is nearly impossible task. Even if you manage to get the distance right and keep your hand steady, the 2MP images would be soft, noisy, and with unsatisfactory color saturation.
Macro camera, 2MP
The 12MP portraits shot on the main camera with the help of the 2MP depth sensor are impressive - the subjects are sharp and detailed, with accurate colors and their separation from the background is done proficiently. The simulated blur looks pretty good, too, and overall, we are pleased with these portraits.
Portraits, 12MP
The selfie camera on Realme 8 Pro uses a 16MP Quad-Bayer sensor behind f/2.5 lens. The focus is fixed. The photo quality is good, as far as it can be when the phone is saving the photos in 16MP instead of the natively binned 4MP. The resolved detail is expectedly average, but everything else is great - contrast, colors, dynamic.
Selfies, 16MP
The 16MP portrait selfies are as detailed as the regular selfies, with acceptable separation, nice blur, and lively colors.
Portrait selfies, 16MP
Photo quality - low-light
The main camera takes very balanced 12MP photos at night. There is plenty of resolved detail, probably because of the gentle noise reduction, which leaves a lot of noise but also a ton of detail intact. The color saturation is kept close to the real deal, the contrast is good, and the photos do look as we saw the scene with our eyes.
You can observe many clipped highlights, but that's because the phone uses no other enhancements when shooting in its default Photo mode.
Main camera, 12MP
Turning the AI enhancement will grant you an HDR photo with a brighter look and with restored highlights. The detail and noise levels are the same, as is the color saturation. Shooting such photo doesn't require extra time and won't go overboard with the colors, so you may leave the AI-enabled at night.
AI main camera, 12MP
Night Mode is available, of course, but it takes from 5 to 10 seconds to process and save the photo. We guess the 108MP sensor finally took its toll on the mid-range chip and lead to a bottleneck when stacking, processing and saving multiple images. But are they worth it?
Well, the Night Mode photos are even brighter, the noise is gone and that's why they look softer, but we also observed more extracted fine detail at some spots. Yet, the wait was really annoying, some of the highlights remain clipped, and the photos aren't a massive improvement over the AI ones, so this is probably one of the few occasions where we won't recommend using Night Mode.
Night Mode main cam, 12MP
The 8MP low-light photos from the ultrawide camera are noisy, soft and dark even if they retain good colors. Without further enhancements, those are rather unsaleable.
Ultra-wide camera, 8MP
The AI enhancement isn't of much help when it comes to ultrawide photos at night - it saves a bit brighter but similarly awful photos.
AI ultra-wide cam, 8MP
The Night Mode, on the other hand, does wonders for ultrawide-angle photography. It cleans all the noise, brings more detail, restores clipped highlights, and brightens everything to a very usable extent. You should definitely use Night Mode here.
Night Mode ultra-wide cam, 8MP
The lossless zoom doesn't work at night - you'd be getting a simple 3x digital zoom and it doesn't look good.
3x main camera, 12MP
Once you're done with the real-world samples, head over to our Photo compare tool to see how the Realme 8 Pro stacks up against other phones.
Realme 8 Pro against the Realme 7 Pro and the Redmi Note 10 Pro in our Photo compare tool
Video quality
The Realme 8 Pro captures videos with its main camera and ultrawide snappers. The main camera records video up to 4K at 30fps and there's 1080p at both 30fps and 60fps. The ultrawide shooter is limited to 1080p@30fps video capturing and you can use it only when you set the default resolution (from Settings) to 1080p@30fps.
You get the option to choose between the h.264 and h.265 codecs.
Electronic stabilization is available only at 1080p@30fps mode on both cameras.
The Realme 8 Pro is super generous with the bit rates - the. 4K footage gets 50Mbps while 1080p/30fps is allocated a similarly above average 20Mbps when using the h.264 codec. The audio bitrate is always 320kbps, and the sound is stereo.
The 4K videos captured with the main camera are stellar - they are rich in detail, low on noise, with perfectly accurate colors, great dynamic range, and commendable sound. We suspect the boost in video quality since Realme 7 Pro is because of the missing always-on EIS when shooting in 4K.
The low-light 4K30 fps videos from the main camera are pretty good for this class, too. The noise is kept reasonably low, and this did not come at the expense of fine detail. There is also balanced exposure and preserved colors.
Realme is also offering this AI Highlight video mode. It is shot in 1080p and doesn't offer much improvement rather than literally highlighting the light sources giving them slightly better look and color saturation.
There is no lossless zoom for when shooting videos, sorry.
The 1080p clips from the ultrawide camera are average (probably because of the always-on EIS). The resolved detail is barely enough, the colors are a bit over-saturated, the dynamic range and the contrast are good, though.
Here's a glimpse of how the Realme 8 Pro compares to rivals in our Video compare tool.
2160p: Realme 8 Pro against the Realme 7 Pro and the Redmi Note 10 Pro in our Video compare tool
The competition
The Realme 8 Pro is one very balanced smartphone and offers a thoughtfully picked feature set at a reasonable price. It's a more compact and lightweight smartphone than its peers; it has a Super AMOLED screen, a capable Snapdragon 820G chip, and an interesting 108MP main camera on the back. The battery life turned out excellent, and the charging is incredibly fast. But...
The new model uses the same SoC as the Realme 6 Pro and Realme 7 Pro. It keeps the same screen as the Realme 7 Pro but has lost the dual-speakers setup, the water-repellent coating is gone as well, the charging is a bit slower, and all but the main camera stays the same. What happened? Well, outing a mid-ranger every six months or so is a difficult task, and obviously, upgrades across all specs are impossible. Considering the spreading chip crisis, we can't but think it won't get better for a while.
We know the Realme 8 Pro wasn't made to make the Realme 7 and Realme 6 owners go and buy the new one, even if it would be perfect for the business. It's, in fact, yet another alternative, refined if you will, that'll probably replace some older series on the shelves.
Realme 6 Pro • Realme 7 Pro
Okay, so the Realme 8 Pro is a good phone even if it doesn't make sense to upgrade over the 90Hz Realme 6 Pro or the stereo speakers featuring Realme 7 Pro unless 3x zoom is essential for you. By the way, those phones are still available and sell for a hair cheaper than the 8 Pro, and we recommend checking them out.
The thing is, the Realme 8 Pro is facing an impossible competition outside its bubble and once that bursts, there is nothing Realme can offer over the similarly priced phones.
Let's check the Redmi Note 10 Pro 6/128GB, which costs exactly as the Realme 8 Pro 6/128GB variant - €300 (it's INR 1,000 cheaper in India). The new Redmi is a dual-glass phone (vs. glass+plastic Realme 8 Pro), with an IP53-rated body (nothing on the 8 Pro), a much better 120Hz AMOLED (vs. 60Hz AMOLED), stereo speakers (vs. one), and a larger battery (5,020mAh vs. 4,500mAh). The only thing that's better on the Realme is the 3x (mostly lossless) zoom, while the performance is on par - the Redmi Note 10 Pro runs on the slightly newer Snapdragon 732G chip, but it is a close match to what the SD720G can do. We see no reason why anyone should go for the Realme 8 Pro and not the Redmi Note 10 Pro in this match.
Then there is the Poco X3 Pro, also coming from Xiaomi's factories. This one costs €50 cheaper than the Realme 8 Pro, or even €100 if you are an early bird. And it offers a 120Hz HDR10 LCD screen within an IP-rated body, a flagship-grade Snapdragon 860 chip, loud stereo speakers and an even larger battery. The main camera is "only" 48MP instead of 108MP, but it does just fine for your regular snaps, day and night. The 3x zoom and the Realme UI could be an argument here - but few people need such zoom, and even if the Realme UI is considered better than MIUI+POCO, given everything else, it's not a huge trade-off by any measure.
Then there is the Poco F3 - it is €50 more expensive than the Realme 8 Pro, though the early birds should be able to get it at €300 for a limited time. The F3 impresses with a sleek glass body and a metal frame, a 120Hz AMOLED screen, the second most powerful Qualcomm chip to date - the Snapdragon 870 5G, there are stereo speakers, an equally large battery, and the same RAM and storage. The F3 omits a 3.5mm jack and a microSD slot, and these are the only concerns we have and things that won't stop us from recommending it over the Realme 8 Pro.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro • Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro • Xiaomi Poco F3
Finally, let's look at more expensive offers - the ones priced at €350, €50 over the Realme 8 Pro. There are two notable smartphones at that price - the Galaxy A52 and the OnePlus Nord.
The 4G version of the Galaxy A52 offers a similar Super AMOLED screen but with a 90Hz refresh rate. The phone is waterproofed, has stereo speakers, and its main camera (even if "only" 64MP) has optical stabilization, and that can make a huge difference on some occasions. The A52 has the same Snapdragon 720G and the same 4,500mAh battery, but if we had to choose - it will be this or some of the Xiaomi phones. Sorry, Realme.
The OnePlus Nord price has dropped down to €360 across different EU retailers, and it's also a phone worth considering. The 5G-capable Nord has a better 90Hz Fluid AMOLED, faster Snapdragon 765G chip, and its 48MP main camera has OIS. We are big fans of Oxygen 11 running on Fluid OLEDs, so we'd definitely consider this over the Realme.
Samsung Galaxy A52 • OnePlus Nord
The verdict
Obviously, there is only one thing wrong with the Realme 8 Pro, and that is the launch price. The competition has cheaper and/or better offers, and there is no place for the Realme 8 Pro among the €300 bunch. Maybe if Realme drops its price down to about €200-€220 - it would be a good alternative for those on the budget, but right now - it's a no-go.
It seems Realme has lost its momentum over the past two years and is out of ideas for its popular mid-range series. Yes, there are a couple of new features, like the high-quality 3x digital zoom, but they are also some downgrades and obvious cost-cutting decisions, which aren't getting Realme any sympathies.
So, the Realme 8 Pro is a good and dependable phone, but it's priced a bit too high for its own good. Hopefully, if it gets a price cut, we may consider recommending it before the Realme 9 Pro. But right now, you can and should get one of the better phones for your hard-earned cash.
Pros
- Good AMOLED screen, bright, HDR10, small punch-hole.
- Excellent battery life, fast charging.
- Runs well most of the games.
- Great photo and video quality in broad daylight.
- We like the 3x (almost) lossless zoom.
- Lovely Android 11 + Realme 2.0 UI combo.
- 3.5mm jack, tri-card slot with standalone microSD, FM radio, NFC.
Cons
- No ingress protection whatsoever.
- 60Hz screen.
- Aging chip.
- Slow main camera when shooting night photos.
- Not the best photo low-light quality either.
- No stereo speakers.
- There are better phones priced closely to the 8 Pro.
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