Full description not available
A**K
Nice
Perfect thank you
S**E
A Good Budget Camera Phone
** As full disclosure, I did not buy this phone. I won it from Realme in a recent competition on Social Media. **I have been using this phone for a few weeks now, having swapped from an Oppo Find X2 Pro (note that Realme and Oppo are sister companies, so the UI is very similar on both and I had upgraded to the Oppo from a Realme 5 Pro prior to that). Phone spec nerds will already know that the Realme 8 Pro is quite a downgrade - but does it really matter?So, what I'm losing out on here is the following:120Hz screen refresh rate down to 60Hz512GB internal storage down to 128GBMemory down from 12GB to 8GBProcessor down from a Snapdragon 865 (AnTutu score 593717) to a Snapdragon 720G (AnTutu score 286666)Screen size down from 6.7" to 6.4"Selfie camera down from 32MP to 16MP5GHowever, here's what I'm gaining:Expandable storage with dedicated MicroSD slotDual SIM (I realise there are dual SIM versions of the Oppo phone, but I don't have one)Camera up to a 4 lens configuration (108MP (wide) / 8MP (ultrawide) / 2MP (macro) / 2MP (depth)) from 3 lens (48MP (wide) / 13MP (telephoto) / 48MP (ultrawide))Bigger batteryIt was the camera that drew me in, thinking that I could easily offset the other downsides by having a far superior camera. I don't use my phone for gaming so the processor shouldn't be a major issue, and there is still plenty of storage with the option to add a storage card.And I was right on that, the camera does take some pretty good pictures, but I'm not 100% sure they are any better than the photos I took with my Oppo. The main camera has plenty of extra megapixels, but the configuration and size of the other cameras make it tricky to make a true comparison. Certainly, there are more options on the Realme camera which does make it more interesting - including an option on video recording to strip out all but specific colours.The performance of the phone is noticeably slower than the Oppo, but not so much that it's a real problem for me - I imagine if you play a lot of games you might be more bothered by this, but at the end of the day it does what I need it to do.I do have to admit that the lack of 5G in this phone annoys me. I'm not certain if I even get 5G where I live, and speed tests on the 4G connection give results that are better than my broadband, so why is it an issue? This is a new phone and in my opinion, should at least be offering the latest connectivity even if it's aimed at a budget market. I have a 5G contract and my Oppo phone provided 5G capability, so this is a sticking point for me.The other main issue I have is with the refresh rate going down from 120Hz to 60Hz. When I upgraded to the Oppo 8 months ago, I went from a 60Hz phone (Realme 5 Pro) and I failed to understand why people were saying that 120Hz was so good in comparison - the Realme 5 Pro was a great phone in my opinion, and I had no issue with screen refresh. I started using the Oppo and it seemed pretty much the same. But here's where it comes out - going from a 60Hz phone to a 120Hz phone may not be so noticeable unless doing direct comparisons, but go the other way and you notice the telltale stutter as you scroll through large web pages for example. This is probably my biggest issue.I want to like this phone, and on the whole, yes I do like it. I can live without 5G despite my annoyance. The camera is very good and offers a lot of cool options, the battery is good and I've always quite liked the UI Realme offer. The performance *could* be better, and I wish they hadn't stuck with the outdated 60Hz screen. At the end of the day, I'm trying to draw a comparison with a phone that costs £275 and one that costs £1000 - it's never going to be a fair comparison, and when you look at it that way, the Realme 8 Pro is a fantastic phone for the money. There are other phones with similar pricing that do have 5G, do have 120Hz screens, but at what cost?For a budget phone with good battery life and an excellent camera setup, yes I like this phone and yes I would recommend it.
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2 months ago
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