realme 8 Pro review
The Realme 8 Pro is a smartphone that trades away some features from its predecessor in exchange for a new high-res camera. The phone boasts a bold and flashy look with a metallic gradient finish and a prominent logo on the backside. However, it lacks water-resistant coating, unlike last year's model. The display remains largely unchanged, featuring a 6.4-inch AMOLED panel with a 1080p resolution and a regular 60Hz refresh rate. While there is a small upgrade in touch sampling rate to 180Hz, the display still offers excellent contrast and content sharpness. Audio quality has taken a hit, with only a single speaker at the bottom that's not very loud and scores just average on audio charts. The phone does offer expandable storage on top of its 128GB built-in capacity. Performance-wise, the Realme 8 Pro is on par with last year's model and some other flagship killers in its price range, thanks to a Snapdragon 720G chipset. Battery life is similar to the previous model, but charging has been downgraded from 65W to 50W. The camera upgrade is the major selling point of this phone, featuring a large 108MP nona cell sensor. Photos taken with the main camera are detailed and have excellent contrast, but can appear slightly smeared when zoomed in. The ultrawide cam takes average-looking photos, while close-ups from the macro camera are soft and noisy. Night mode performs better, producing balanced and true-to-life photos with gentle noise reduction. Selfies are taken with a 16MP front-facing cam, which has decent quality but lacks resolution compared to last year's model. The phone can record videos in up to 4K at 30fps, but without stabilization in that format. Overall, the Realme 8 Pro is a solid mid-ranger with some notable upgrades, but its price point makes it tough to recommend unless you're specifically looking for a high-res camera and can find it at a discount.
Build Quality and Design
The Realme 8 Pro is a phone that makes some compromises in its design and build quality to offer a new high-resolution camera. Compared to the previous model, this device trades away some nicer features for a bolder and more flashy look. One notable aspect of the Realme 8 Pro's design is its metallic gradient finish and prominent logo across the backside. The phone's body is made from plastic with a sandblasted texture that is grippy but feels soft to the touch. The matte plastic frame adds some grip as well, making it great to handle in one hand. However, the Realme 8 Pro misses out on the water-resistant coating on its internals, which was present in last year's model. This omission might be a concern for users who value durability. In terms of build quality, the Realme 8 Pro is quite thin and light, making it easy to handle. However, the use of plastic for the body and frame may not appeal to those looking for a more premium feel. The phone's display is largely unchanged from last year's model, with a 6.4-inch AMOLED panel featuring a 1080p resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. While there is some improvement in terms of brightness, the overall design of the phone may not be as appealing to those who value premium materials. Overall, while the Realme 8 Pro's design and build quality are decent for a mid-range device, it falls short in comparison to last year's model. The lack of water-resistant coating is also a concern.
Battery Life
The Realme 8 Pro's battery life is a notable aspect of its overall performance. The phone boasts a decent-sized 4500mAh battery, which is the same capacity as its predecessor, the Realme 7 Pro. As expected, the battery life of both devices is virtually identical. In our proprietary tests, the Realme 8 Pro achieved an impressive endurance rating of 116 hours, a mere three-hour difference from the Realme 7 Pro's score of 113 hours. This suggests that the new device's power consumption has been carefully managed to maintain parity with its predecessor. While this may not be a significant upgrade in terms of battery life, it is still a commendable achievement considering the phone's upgraded specifications and features. The inclusion of a fast charger (50W) also helps to replenish the battery quickly, making up for any perceived shortcomings. However, it's worth noting that the Realme 8 Pro has lost some ground in terms of charging speed compared to its predecessor, which supported 65W charging. Despite this, the phone still manages to charge from zero to 88% in under an hour, a respectable feat nonetheless. Overall, the battery life of the Realme 8 Pro is solid and reliable, if not exceptional. It should provide users with a full day's use, even with moderate usage patterns.
Display
The Realme 8 Pro's display is a 6.4-inch AMOLED panel with a 1080p resolution and a regular 60Hz refresh rate. While this may seem like a step back from the previous model, it's worth noting that there is a small upgrade in touch sampling rate to 180Hz. This makes the screen more responsive, especially for gaming enthusiasts. In terms of visual quality, the AMOLED display delivers excellent contrast and content is plenty sharp. Colors can be made quite accurate if adjusted in the color settings, and brightness is great for this class, peaking at 450 nits with manual adjustment and nearly 630 nits in auto mode when exposed to bright sunlight. One of the standout features of the Realme 8 Pro's display is its ability to produce excellent images. The screen offers a high level of detail, making it ideal for watching videos or browsing through photos. While some may have expected a higher refresh rate or even a more advanced panel type, the AMOLED display still manages to deliver an enjoyable viewing experience. However, it's worth noting that the Realme 8 Pro's display has remained largely unchanged from its predecessor. In this regard, some users may find themselves disappointed by the lack of innovation in this area. Nevertheless, for those who value a high-quality display and are not looking for cutting-edge technology, the Realme 8 Pro's screen is still more than capable of delivering an impressive performance. Ultimately, while the Realme 8 Pro's display is certainly a strong point, it may not be enough to justify the phone's overall price tag. As with many mid-range devices, there are alternatives available that offer similar or even superior displays for a lower cost.
Camera
The Realme 8 Pro is the latest offering from Realme, and one of its most notable upgrades over last year's model is the camera system. While the phone may not be a clear upgrade in every department, the cameras are a significant improvement. At the heart of the camera setup is a large 108-megapixel nona cell sensor, which is a major step up from the 64-megapixel quad Bayer sensor on last year's Realme 7 Pro. The rest of the camera configuration remains the same, with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a depth sensor. The main camera takes excellent photos during the day, with detailed images that have great contrast, lively colors, and low noise. However, if you zoom in on these photos, you'll notice that fine details and textures can appear slightly smeared or oily, possibly due to the noise processing. One of the most impressive features of the main camera is its ability to produce lossless three times zoomed photos. These images are rich in detail, with well-handled noise, superb contrast, punchy colors, and good dynamic range. They're hard to distinguish from those taken with a real three times telephoto lens. Portraits taken with the main camera and depth sensor are also impressive, with subjects that are sharp and detailed, and proficient separation from the defocus backgrounds. The 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera takes average-looking photos with mediocre resolution detail, okay contrast, and dynamic range. Shooting close-ups with the macro camera is a challenge due to its fixed focus, but even if you get it right, these photos are soft and noisy with dull colors. In low-light conditions, the main camera struggles to produce well-balanced images with gentle noise reduction, plenty of detail, lifelike colors, and good contrast. However, night mode on the phone can help by producing a brighter image with restored highlights, although it may take some time to process each shot. Selfies taken with the 16-megapixel front-facing camera are decent, but lower in resolution than last year's model. The quality is good, but not exceptional. Overall, the Realme 8 Pro's cameras are a significant upgrade over last year's model, and one of the phone's strongest features. However, it may be worth considering other options that offer similar or even better camera performance at a lower price point.
Price and Value
The Realme 8 Pro has arrived with a bold and flashy design, but beneath its metallic gradient finish lies a phone that trades away some of last year's model's nicer features for a new high-res camera. While the upgrade to a 108-megapixel main sensor is impressive, it's hard to justify the price tag considering what you get. Compared to the Realme 7 Pro, the 8 Pro offers more or less the same specs, but with some notable downgrades. The water-resistant coating on the internals is gone, and audio quality has taken a hit as well, making do without stereo speakers. Expandable storage remains a welcome feature, however. Performance-wise, the phone feels snappy, thanks to the Snapdragon 720G chipset. However, in this price range, competitors offer more power under the hood, making it tough for the 8 Pro to stand out. The camera is undoubtedly the highlight of the Realme 8 Pro, but even with its impressive main sensor, you might not get the most out of it. Photos taken during the day are excellent, but nighttime shots require some tweaking in terms of exposure and noise reduction. Low-light photos from the ultrawide cam are a letdown, to say the least. Given the Realme 8 Pro's pricing, it's tough to recommend unless you're dead set on having a high-res camera without breaking the bank for a flagship model. For around the same price, you can get a Poco flagship killer with more features and upgrades. Even if you're after that camera specifically, the Redmi Note 10 Pro offers better value overall.
Performance
The Realme 8 Pro's performance is a mixed bag. It sports a Snapdragon 720G chipset, which is the same as last year's model and some other devices in its price range. While it can handle games fairly well and the user interface flows smoothly without any lag, it's worth noting that this level of power is not unique to the Realme 8 Pro. In fact, there are several other phones available at a similar price point with more potent processors under the hood. The Realme 7 Pro, for example, also features the Snapdragon 720G chipset and performed similarly in our tests. Battery life, on the other hand, is a different story altogether. The Realme 8 Pro boasts a decent-sized 4500mAh battery, which provides similar endurance to last year's model. In our tests, we measured an endurance rating of 116 hours, which is comparable to its predecessor. However, charging has been downgraded slightly, with the phone now supporting 50W fast charging instead of 65W on the Realme 7 Pro. That being said, you still get a 65W charger in the box, and charging times are still remarkably quick – we were able to charge the phone from zero to 88% in just half an hour. Overall, while the Realme 8 Pro's performance is adequate, it's not particularly impressive given its price point. If you're after a device that can deliver top-notch performance, there may be better options available elsewhere.