realme 8 5G Full Review
With the launch of realme’s first-ever 5G midrange smartphone - realme 8 5G, realme reinforced its commitment to provide 5G access to more people around the world in its inaugural virtual 5G summit held earlier this month. The entry of the realme 8 5G in the Philippine market is a testament to that mission.
Since we are already finished with the unboxing and first impression of the realme 8 5G, this review will further help you in deciding if this smartphone is the one you are looking for.
Design
The realme 8 5G still uses polycarbonate plastic for the frame and back panel. The curved back panel has a glossy finish design called Dynamic Speed Light and shows a subtle radiant light effect when light is reflected. However, it is very prone to fingerprint smudges, so it’s best to use the free protective silicone case right away.
As for the color, realme 8 5G is available in two colors: Supersonic Blue and Supersonic Black. My unit comes in Supersonic Black color.
Aside from its improved design, the realme 8 5G is super slim having 8.5mm thickness and lightweight at 185g, making it easier to hold and may fit well in both hands and pockets.
Display and Multimedia
The display of the realme 8 5G uses a 6.5-inch FHD+ (2400x1080) IPS LCD screen. There’s a punch-hole camera located at the upper left and like most smartphones in this segment, the side bezels are relatively slim but with a pretty thick chin. Although there’s no glass type protection mentioned, it has a pre-installed screen protector.
What makes this device stand out is the 90Hz refresh rate and maximum 180Hz sampling rate. The 90Hz display has a refresh rate of 50% which is higher when compared to a conventional 60Hz display, resulting in a seamless and visually pleasing experience when you’re navigating the UI or scrolling through articles or social media feed.
The IPS display panel produces great colors; viewing angles are good and the screen can get bright at 600nits (peak brightness); still, a bit more boost could be used so you can use it outdoors comfortably.
The audio quality of the loudspeaker is like your typical smartphone. It can get loud but no bass; and the audio quality is average. There’s also some distortion when you maximize the volume. I recommend using headphones or an external speaker for better audio quality.
Camera
Rear Cameras
The realme 8 5G boasts a triple-camera set-up consisting of the 48MP primary camera with F1.8 aperture, PDAF and Night Mode. There's also a 2MP macro lens with a 4cm shooting distance, 2MP B&W portrait lens and a single LED flash.
Quality from the rear cameras under bright lighting conditions is pretty good---you could get accurate colors and sharp detail, though dynamic range can be better.
For low light, the camera shoots good low-light photos and performs well in certain situations with the Night Mode feature turned on.
Also present in the realme 8 5G are the five exclusive night mode filters: Modern Gold, Cyberpunk, Flamingo, Astral and Dazzle.
Front Selfie Camera
realme 8 5G uses a 16MP in-display front camera with an F2.1 aperture. The camera also supports different features such as AI Beauty, Portrait Mode and Night mode.
For selfies, it produces good photos, especially in bright conditions. Background blurring for portrait selfies isn’t that perfect but good enough.
Video
For video, the realme 8 5G captures videos up to 1080p/720p@30fps with its main and front-facing camera. There is no 4K mode and 60fps shooting, but there is always-on electronic image stabilization (EIS) called Ultra Steady.
The recorded video from the main camera produces good colors, contrast and dynamic range.
realme UI, Apps and Security
realme 8 5G runs on realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11. realme UI 2.0 brings more customization options for its Gen Z realme fans. It also enables realme users to customize their security features according to their needs, thus, improving the overall security of the smartphone.
Realme UI 2.0 has the latest features such as System Themes, Icon Customization, Dual Mode Music Share, Subtitle Stitching, DeepSea Privacy Plan, Sleep Capsules and Dark Mode, to name a few. Pre-installed are the standard Google suite of apps, as well as some bloatware apps.
In terms of security, realme 8 5G is equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the power button. It is also equipped with facial recognition for unlocking the device.
Both works well---the side-mounted sensor is pretty fast and with high accuracy. However, the face unlock feature can slow down in situations where there isn’t much light.
Hardware and Performance
The realme 8 5G adopts a MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G processor, which mixes 2x 2.2GHz Cortex-A76 cores and 6x 2.0GHz Cortex-A55. The Dimensity 700 uses a 7nm production processor, allowing the Dimensity 700 to use its high-performance processors while efficiently consuming power and extending battery life. The Dimensity 700 also comes with an Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU with 950MHz clock speed and a 5G modem.
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| realme 8 5G Gaming - Asphalt 9: Legends (Visual Quality in Default) |
With the combination of the CPU, GPU and 8GB RAM, realme 8 5G brings good performance across the board; resource-intensive apps are no problem at all and the GPU handled various gaming applications very well.
realme 8 5G is available in the Philippines in one storage variant - 128GB storage, with 110GB of available storage (18GB used out of the box). If you need additional storage, you can further expand the storage up to 1TB via its dedicated microSD card slot.
Below are the benchmark scores from this device:
- AnTuTu v9.0.10-OB – 359,281
- Geekbench 5 – 574 (Single-core), 1,773 (Multi-core), 1,512 (OpenCL), 1,493 (Vulcan)
- PCMark – 11,301 (Work 3.0)
- 3DMark – 2,357 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1) 2,232 (SSE – Vulkan)
- AndroBench – 1,005.16 MB/s (Seq. Read), 277.92 MB/s (Seq. Write)
18W Quick Charge, Battery Life and Connectivity
realme 8 5G is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery that provides longer battery life in daily use and can easily last you a whole day of moderate usage that includes multiple sessions of gaming, watching YouTube and scrolling through social media feeds. According to the test conducted by realme Lab, the realme 8 5G can last up to 22 days on standby mode, 31 hours of the call time, 153 hours of music streaming and 21 hours of video playback. In the PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life Test, the unit yielded a score of around 12 hours and 36 minutes.
With the 18W type-c Quick Charge, the 5,000mAh battery can be fully charged up to 100% in 2 hours and 30 minutes and nearly 30% in 30 minutes. However, room temperature may affect the charging time of the device.
Deep software optimization like App Quick Freeze, Optimized standby, Optimized Night Charging, Power Saving Mode and Super Power Saving Mode are also available in realme 8 5G which could make a big difference in battery life.
In addition, realme 8 5G supports Smart 5G Power Saving, allowing the phone to intelligently sense the surrounding signal environment and automatically switches between 4G and 5G in no time. This achieves 30% lower power consumption than phones without the Smart 5G feature.
The Dimensity 700 5G processor also supports 5G Dual SIM Dual Standby, enabling the phone to support 5G SIM cards online by 5G network. Advanced Dual Network Acceleration technology also allows for Wi-Fi and 5G network overlay.
Also, note that 5G network may not be available in all areas. Here in Iloilo City, (using Speedtest by Ookla) I am getting as high as 681mbps to as low as 19.7mbps depending on where I am in the city while conducting the test.
Aside from the 5G connectivity, the realme 8 5G has your usual connectivity features, including dual-band WiFi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, a 3.5mm audio jack and USB Type-C.
realme 8 5G Specifications
6.5-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD display (1080 x 2400), 405ppi, 90Hz refresh rate
MediaTek MT6833 Dimensity 700 5G Processor, 7nm
950MHz Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU
8GB LPDDR4x dual-channel RAM
128GB of internal storage (UFS 2.1)
microSD slot (dedicated) up to 1TB
Triple-rear cameras (48MP F1.8 main + 2MP F2.4 B&W + 2MP F2.4 macro)
16MP F2.1 in-display selfie camera
realme UI 2.0 (Android 11 based)
Dual-SIM (Nano) / 5G/4G LTE
Wi-Fi 5 / NFC / Bluetooth 5.1
GPS / AGPS/ Glonass / Beidou / Galileo / Qzss
USB Type-C port / Fingerprint scanner (side)
5,000mAh battery w/ 18W Quick Charger
162.5 x 74.8 x 8.5 mm (dimension)
185 g (weight)
Colors: Supersonic Blue and Supersonic Black
What’s inside the box
If you haven't seen the unboxing of the realme 8 5G yet, the signature yellow-colored box contains the realme 8 5G, USB Type-C Cable, 18W Quick Charger, SIM card ejector tool, protective silicone case, quick guide and important information guide with warranty card.
Price and Availability
The realme 8 5G (8GB+128GB) will be available at the SRP of Php11,990. As an early-bird offer on June 25, the realme 8 5G will be available at Php1,500 OFF (Php10,490 only) and with FREE SHIPPING via realme's Official Flagship Store on Shopee.
The realme 8 5G will also be available in more than 4,500 realme stores and partner dealers nationwide. From June 25-27, the realme Squad will get a free realme Buds Q worth Php1,490 for every purchase of the realme 8 5G.
The realme 8 5G can also be purchased via Home Credit at a 6-month installment plan at 0 % interest. Installment plans for major credit cards are also available.
Verdict
For Php11,990, the realme 8 5G is one of the affordable 5G midrange smartphones that managed to offer premium features such as 90Hz display, 5,000mAh battery and a 48MP camera; brings good performance, speed and 5G connectivity — all in one slim, lightweight and trendy package.
Is this the smartphone you are looking for? The answer is “YES”, I recommend getting it and you won’t be disappointed once you get a hold of this 5G midrange smartphone!
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