Realme 8 5G review

Android 11 and Realme UI 2.0

The Realme 8 5G runs on Android 11 with the latest Realme UI 2.0. The second version of Realme's launcher offers richer customization options, a couple of extra Dark Mode styles, refined floating and mini windows, and enhanced security.

The phone supports fingerprint unlock, and the side-mounted sensor works flawlessly - it's fast and with high accuracy. You can also set up face unlock for an even speedier unlock - though this is not as secure.

The launcher has no-nonsense homescreens, a simplistic and now cleaner notification/toggles area, and an easy-to-use task switcher. An App drawer is available, too, and it is as clutter-free as one could hope for. You can opt out of the app drawer if that's your thing.

Realme UI 2.0

Realme UI supports different icon packs, so if you are not happy with the default one, you can opt for material style, pebbles, or you can even fully customize them by your liking. Thanks to Realme UI 2.0, you can also change the system colors, the fingerprint scanner animation, the notification drawer icons, even the system font.

There is a Theme Store, too, so you can spice things up even more.

Customization options

Dark Mode is available, too, and it's been enhanced with Realme UI 2.0 with support for three different dark styles - black, dark gray or light gray. It can be manual or scheduled. You can also opt to force it on third-party apps, though this doesn't always end well.

Dark Mode

There are many powerful tools within the settings menu if you want full control over your Android OS. Or you can leave everything as is and enjoy a hassle-free Android experience optimized by Realme's AI algorithms and machine learning.

Settings

You can also minimize an app to a mini-windows or a floating window from within the Task Manager. If an app is compatible, you can do either of these or use the familiar Split Screen.

Task Manager • Mini app • Floating window • Split screen

Similar to the recent Galaxies, the Realme UI offers a Smart Sidebar on the edge of the screen - you can customize the actions and app shortcuts that appear there.

Smart Sidebar

The multimedia apps such as Photos, Music, and Videos - are provided by Realme. There is also a redesigned File Manager and even a Phone Manager app. This completes the non-Google app list.

Photos • Music • Videos • Phone Manager • File Manager

We are fond of the Realme UI, and we like the new direction. The interface is snappy, feels great wjen working with 90fps, clutter-free and easy to use. Yet, it retains plenty of powerful tools should you choose to dig deeper and use them.

Performance and benchmarks

The Realme 8 5G is one, if not the cheapest 5G smartphone you can get today. It relies on MediaTek's most affordable 5G-enabled chip - the Dimensity 700.

The Dimensity 700 5G chip offers a good octa-core processor with 2x 2.2GHz Cortex-A76 and 6x 2.0GHz Cortex-A55. The GPU is Mali-G57 MC2, and, of course, there is a 5G modem.

Finally, the Realme 8 5G is available in four variants, all containing LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.1 storage - 4GB RAM + 64GB, 4GB RAM + 128GB, 6GB RAM + 128GB, and 8GB RAM + 128GB (ours).

Now, it's benchmarking time!

Well, the Geekbench tests show promising CPU scores. The performance of the Dimensity 700 processor is in line with its competitors - Realme 7 5G and its Dimensity 800U and the OnePlus Nord N10 5G's Snapdragon 690. The Snapdragon 750 within the Galaxy A42 is a bit faster, though.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
  1910
• OnePlus Nord N10 5G
  1848
• Realme 7 5G
  1794
• Realme 8 5G
  1784
• Realme 8
  1690
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  1599
• Realme 7i
  1318

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
  643
• OnePlus Nord N10 5G
  608
• Realme 7 5G
  598
• Realme 8 5G
  569
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  534
• Realme 8
  533
• Realme 7i
  312

The graphics scores aren't something impressive, but it's a budget phone, so we can't really expect much. The Realme 8 5G has a 1080p screen, and you can clearly see the superiority of the Galaxy A42 and its 720p display.

The older Realme 7 5G runs on Dimensity 800U chip, which has the same CPU as the Realme 8 5G's Dimensity 700 SoC but packs a tri-core Mali-G57 vs. dual-core on G57 on this newer model. That's right, the Realme 7 5G is more powerful than its sequel, but this won't be the first time the maker has done this thing, will it?

Anyway, the Realme 8 5G GPU is slightly inferior to the Realme 7 5G's, but it is as powerful as the Adreno 619L GPU inside the Nord N10.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
  56
• Realme 7 5G
  31
• Realme 8
  29
• Realme 7i
  25
• OnePlus Nord N10 5G
  23
• Realme 8 5G
  22
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  15

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme 8
  20
• Realme 7 5G
  20
• Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
  19
• Realme 8 5G
  15
• OnePlus Nord N10 5G
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  9.3
• Realme 7i
  7

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
  33
• Realme 8
  18
• Realme 7 5G
  17
• Realme 8 5G
  13
• Realme 7i
  13
• OnePlus Nord N10 5G
  13
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  7.9

Finally, AnTuTu says the Realme 8 5G overall performance is on par with the Realme 8's, a bit faster than Nord N10, and marginally slower than the Realme 7 5G.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
  324686
• Realme 7 5G
  318535
• Realme 8 5G
  302059
• Realme 8
  298328
• OnePlus Nord N10 5G
  279579
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  218788
• Realme 7i
  172933

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Realme 8 5G
  361505
• Realme 8
  357488

The Realme 8 5G offers more than acceptable speeds across the board. The processor is adequately powerful for demanding tasks, while the GPU handled games very well. We tried playing a few of the most popular 3D titles and the Game Space service automatically chose the best settings and/or resolution and made every game feel smooth, yet looking great. So, even if the dual-core Mali-G57 may seem feeble on paper, it gets the job done surprisingly well.

Game Space

The Realme 8 5G got an excellent stability score on the 3D Mark Wild Life Stress test - 98.8%, meaning it doesn't get hot; in fact - it won't even become warm and absolutely never throttles.

Everything feels smooth on the Realme 8 5G, and we experienced no hiccups while reviewing it. The UI runs with 90fps, but we guess there won't be (m)any games that will be able to run with 90fps with that GPU. Still, being stutter-free at that price is usually a miracle, so good job, Realme!