The realme 8 Pro is the more powerful smartphone off the realme 8 duo released in the Philippines this week. On paper, the realme 8 Pro seems to be a familiar smartphone except for the whopping 108MP primary sensor from the handset's "Ultra Quad Camera". This looks like a significant improvement from the 64MP quad camera system of the Pro model in the previous realme number series. Complementing the strategic positioning of the handset as a capable camera phone, there's also the bold new design with the brand's "Dare to Leap" slogan at the back panel.
realme 8 Pro Review
More than just the camera, this realme 8 Pro review is a take on the smartphone being an all-rounder device. Join us as we take a good look at this very promising smartphone.
Review Summary:
Pros
- Sparkling new realme UI 2.0
- 50-watt fast charging
- Stunning display with HDR10 support
- 3x lossless zoom
- Amazing design
- Straight-up good camera
Cons
- Dare to Leap logo seemed to be imposing
The realme 8 Pro still has the familiar Snapdragon 720G chipset with octa-core CPU and Adreno 618 GPU. We have seen this in many budget smartphones last year, including the model it replaces. We also have the same configuration available in our region which is the 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM.
Design
The realme 8 Pro is arguably a good looking smartphone. At the back, we have a rectangle quad rear camera module which comes with a stylish design. The module is divided in two sections. The upper part is in black square design where the sensors are situated, while the bottom part is a transparent section where the LED flash and the 108MP QUAD CAMERA prints are positioned. Although it appears to be a well put-together with stylish design philosophy, we have a protruding camera module which is not new to most phones these days.
The frame and body is made of plastic material, but it's a good kind of plastic. We have the infinite blue for our review unit. I personally like this color, it gives off an infinite blue sky appeal. Touching it, you'll feel a matte finish. This also means that it's not a fingerprint magnet. We have a very conspicuous "DARE TO LEAP" slogan incorporated in the back's design. It is embossed with shiny transparent texts. This is the only part of the backing that's prone to fingerprints. The slogan also covers about one-third of the space at the back. Being a minimalist person, I find this slogan to be very imposing.
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On the front, we have a punch hole design which houses the selfie camera. The hole-punch design is very ideal for watching movies and gaming. It gives the illusion of a fuller display; that's on top of the thin side bezels. I also think this is a better solution than motorized pop-ups and the notch.
The phone's frame also has these gradient tones where you can find the ports and buttons. Here's a quick rundown of their placements:
- top: secondary microphone
- left: SIM tray with dedicated slot for microSDXC card
- right: volume and power buttons
- bottom: 3.5mm audio jack, primary mic, USB Type-C port, loudspeaker
Moreover, the screen has rounded corners with thin top and side bezels which are great, although we have a sizeable chin. Overall, the design is somewhat refreshing and I think I prefer rocking this without a case in the wild.
Display
Just like its predecessor, the realme 8 Pro frames a 6.4 inch Super AMOLED display with 1080 x 2400p resolution and 409ppi pixel density. It is also worth-noting that this model still has the standard 60Hz refresh rate. I am not complaining, I would still choose a 60Hz AMOLED display over a 90Hz LCD panel. With LED, we can take advantage of best display features like the Always-On display and HDR10 to name a few.
On top of that, the panel registers deep blacks and clear whites which are very eye-watering especially if you'd use this smartphone in streaming videos. Watching my current favorite series, Jupiter's Legacy in Netflix, is such a worthwhile experience. Of course, watching content in YouTube is much better since the app supports HDR10 videos.
realme 8 Pro's display also boasts the 180Hz sampling rate. For the uninitiated, the sampling rate is the rate at which your phone samples touches on the display panel. Unlike most phones which has 120Hz sampling rate, realme 8 Pro's 180Hz allows your phone to look for touch inputs 180 times per second. This technology is great for gaming.
The in-display fingerprint sensor is also zippy in detecting my thumb. It instantaneously unlocks the phone alongside the cool animation on the screen. The OSIE effect is still useful by punching up the contrast while employing vibrant tones on the system's display.
Performance
The realme 8 Pro is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G. If you're familiar with the previous realme number series of devices, you can instantly tell that this is the same processor that powers the realme 7 Pro. On that note, I still think that the chipset is very competitive at this price point. I could tell that realme has been working with software optimizations using the chipset. We will tackle more of the realme UI 2.0 on the software segment.
In terms of day to day performance, the smartphone's interface is very fluid. With 8GB of RAM on board, the device could handle most of the demanding tasks. In our GeekBench benchmark test, the realme 8 Pro scored 1683 multi-core and 567 single-core scores, which are quite decent in this segment.
The realme 8 Pro can handle games very well. It's also zippy in terms of multitasking and pulling up heavy apps. There's no noticeable lag or stuttering on whatever task thrown at it. Playing high-graphic games like Genshin Impact is definitely enjoyable with the smartphone. MOBA games like Mobile Legends and Wild Rift are some of the games we like to play in high settings.
The loudspeaker is quite okay. I was not blown away by the sound quality, but I am not disappointed either. I think it's just right for a mid-range smartphone. I also have no issues making or taking calls with the handset. I find both the speaker and the receiver clear even when I'm in an enclosed space.
Camera
The realme 8 Pro's main turf is its camera. On paper, the smartphone packs a quad-camera module which is highlighted by the 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor with f/1.9 6P lens. This comes with 3x lossless zoom. There's also an 8MP wide-angle sensor with f/2.3 lens. Both the primary lens and the ultra-wide lens support Night Mode photography. Lastly, there are two 2MP sensors for Bokeh and Macro. For the selfie camera, the realme 8 Pro employs a 16MP fixed-focus sensor with f/2.5 lens.
The camera app had a minor facelift. More modes are now available in the rolodex. The Chroma Boost feature is now called AI Scene Enhancement. This feature improves color saturation and dynamic range of the shot based on the AI algorithm of the scene. The main modes are Night, Video, Photo, Portrait, and 108M. There's also the "More" section which houses the Starry Mode, Dual-View Video, Slo-Mo, Timelapse, AI Mixed Portrait, etc.
The primary camera defaults to 12MP. Photos are quite great with exceptional contrast and color accuracy. Details are good with zero noise. Colors may tend to oversaturate especially if you turn on the AI Scene Enhancement, but I know most of us are fans of this feature. Moreover, the dynamic range is very impressive. In the midrange segment where photo quality is getting better, the realme 8 Pro's camera has definitely elevated the standard. The camera is also capable of 3x lossless zoom which produces astonishing photos.
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| Comparison: 1x, 3x and 5x Zoom |
Primary Camera Sample Photos
There's the 108M mode wherein you can shoot 108MP photos. Honestly, we are not a fan of this mode. Though the picture quality is impressive, you'll get to have over 25MB file size for a single photo. But if you're someone who values the pixel count or wants to crop sections in a single photo, this could be your jam.
The ultra-wide camera is also a worker. It supports night mode. On a well-lit environment, it produces good photos with rich colors and contrast. This sensor is best for capturing landscape shots. The 2MP macro sensor is very convenient for close up shots. Just like the previous handsets with macro camera, you need to position the subject 4cm away.
Wide-angle camera sample photos
We have also tested the Starry Mode and took astrophotography shots. Though, we had some light pollution since we are in the city, we still took good looking snaps using the camera feature. It took us almost 5 minutes to shoot one photo, and you need a steady hand or a tripod to make this work.
The selfie camera is a fixed-focus sensor which produces amazing photos. I love the details, contrast, and color accuracy of the front camera. You can also shoot portrait selfies with good subject-to-background separation.
Software
The realme 8 series runs on the company's proprietary realme UI. It is now on its second major iteration which is based on Android 11. Of course, we can find this OS with the realme 8 Pro.
The phone's youthful design is also very evident in the software side. It gives users a lot of customization. There's a variety of themes that you can choose from in the Theme store. These are either paid or free themes. Most of these have a very cartoonish style, but you can also find other styles that suit your taste.
And if you're not happy with the default icons, you can also customize them. You can change their style, shape, size or color to your liking. You can even change the fingerprint animation, since the realme 8 Pro has an in-display fingerprint scanner. Likewise, you can customize app layout and the notification drawer as well.
The realme UI 2.0 offers a lot of new features on the table. These include mini and floating windows which gives a minified version of an app to appear in front of an existing app, say mini Messenger in front of the Facebook app. It has a system cloner where you can mimic the experience with the software on your existing phone to a new or secondary phone. We also have an Always-On-Display, in which you can also customize according to the theme that you chose. It is also worth mentioning that we have a dual-mode audio if you wanted to share music to the person sitting next to you.
Apart from enhanced security that the latest Android 11 brings, the software also supports zippy optical fingerprint sensor. You can also add a face for facial unlock. The overall feel of the UI is clean and simple. The realme UI 2.0 may have less clutter than the previous versions, but we still have some bloatwares.
The File Manager and Phone Manager apps also had facelifts. Of course, the staple features like the Split Screen, Task Manager, and Smart Sidebar are still where they should be. The realme UI 2.0 is still one of the best Android skins you can have right now.
Battery
realme 8 Pro is powered by 4500 mAh battery. It scored 11 h 59 min in our PCMark Work 2.0 battery life test. In our real-time usage, the smartphone endured the whole day in our moderate usage.
The charging speed is very snappy with realme 8 Pro's 50-watt Super Dart Charging Support. We have no wireless charging here or a reverse charging support. We find the fast charging feature very convenient. We charged the handset from zero to 100% in 50 minutes.
Conclusion
The realme 8 Pro is one of the most budget-centric camera smartphones in the market right now. It looks and performs way above in its price standpoint. We think that the realme 8 Pro is - for the lack of better term - a more dependable smartphone than most of its peers. The smartphone can run games, shoot on-point pictures, charge fast, and more. Everything that a mid-range smartphone does, the realme 8 Pro does it better.
