Realme 8 Pro review

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 720G 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.