Realme 8 5G review

Three cameras on the back, one at the front

The Realme 8 5G offers a triple-camera on the back, but it's the most basic one. There is a 48MP primary snapper, followed by a pair of 2MP shooters - one for macro photography and another monochrome one for depth info. Unlike the Realme 7 5G, the 8 5G has no ultrawide camera.

A single-LED flash is also around.

The Realme 8 5G's primary camera utilizes a 48MP Samsung ISOCELL Plus S5KGM1 1/2" sensor with Tetracell filter and 0.8µm pixels. The sensor is coupled with f/1.8 lens and supports PDAF. Night Mode is available on this camera.

The macro camera is 2MP with f/2.4 aperture, 1.75µm pixels, but lacks autofocus.

Finally, there is a 2MP depth sensor.

The selfie camera uses a 16MP Samsung ISOCELL S5K3P9 1/3.1" sensor with 1.0µm pixels. This one has f/21 lens, and the focus is fixed.

The camera app is the familiar Oppo/Realme one with a few tweaks for the latest version. There are fewer menus - most of the modes are now on the main rolodex, which is good. The Macro camera is still in the More section, though.

The app offers AI Scene Enhancement (also known as Chroma Boost or Dazzle Color) - it's like an advanced HDR mode, which may stack several images to offers even further improvements in the dynamic range, but the most prominent "improvement" is the higher color saturation.

In the Expert mode you get to tweak exposure (ISO in the 100-6400 range and shutter speed in the 1/8000s-32s range, white balance (by light temperature, but no presets), manual focus (in arbitrary 0 to 1 units with 0 being close focus and 1 being infinity) and exposure compensation (-2EV to +2EV in 1/6EV increments).

Camera app

Photo quality

The main camera saves 12MP by default and those are pretty good for this entry-level class. The resolved detail is enough even if it isn't spectacular, and the processing tries its best with the foliage. The colors are accurate, the noise levels are nicely low, and the dynamic range is wide but not over the top.

Some of the images look a bit over-sharpened, but we are nitpicking here, really. We couldn't hope for better daylight photos within that price bracket.

Main camera, 12MP

Using the AI option usually boosts the color saturation, especially when Blue Sky or Greenery are detected. If unnaturally saturated colors are your thing, then by all means - do use this feature.

Main camera with AI, 12MP

There is a 2X zoom toggle, but it's neither optical nor lossless zoom. It's a pure digital zoom done by cropping and upscaling the center of the standard 12MP output. These look okay on the phone's screen and when downscaled for social networks - image quality is satisfactory.

Main camera 2x zoom, 12MP

There is also a 48MP shooting mode, but you'd be better off without it. First, it takes a couple of seconds to complete, and each photo is about 20MB in size. And then, you'll find out the images are merely upscaled from the 12MP output and then extensively sharpened.

Main camera, 48MP

There is a 2MP monochrome camera on the back of the Realme 8 5G that's used as a depth sensor - meaning it is utilized during portrait mode. And the main camera takes some really good for this class portraits, sharp and contrasty, with commendable dynamic and nice blur. The separation isn't stellar, but it's more than acceptable.

Portraits, 12MP

The 2MP macro camera shoots good photos, that is if you get the distance right as the focus is fixed at about 4-5cm. If you do, and your hand isn't shaky, you'd get sharp, contrasty and colorful macro shots. The detail isn't impressive, but they will surely do for your Instagram or Facebook. But don't aim higher than that.

Macro camera, 2MP

The 16MP selfie camera snaps outstanding photos - they are sharp and rich in detail, with excellent contrast, accurate colors and impressive dynamic range (Auto HDR was enabled). We'd suggest taking a couple of shots each time though, as occasionally the camera shake gets in the way and the photos may come out blurry.

Selfies, 16MP

You can do selfie portraits, too, but here the detail is halved, and the subject separation is far from ideal. They do exhibit the same great colors and contrast, as well as the good dynamic range.

Portrait selfies, 16MP

The main camera shoots good low-light photos, especially considering this budget class. The detail is slightly above average as the noise reduction eats some away, but the contrast is good, and the colors are preserved very well. The balanced exposure and the dynamic range deserve a praise, once again considering the price bracket.

Depending on the available light some photos may look smudgy because of the harsh noise reduction, but that's more of an exception rather than a rule.

Main camera, 12MP

The Night Mode yields a bit more detail but the benefits vary from shot to shot. You can count on it to restore the clipped highlights but it rarely reveals more detail in the shadows. It also improves the color saturation a bit.

Night Mode, 12MP

And here are photos of our usual posters taken with the Realme 8 5G. Here's how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.

Realme 8 5G against the Realme 7 5G and the OnePlus Nord N10 5G in our Photo compare tool

Video recording

The Realme 8 5G captures videos up to 1080@30fps with its main camera. There is no 4K mode, 60fps shooting is not available either.

The video bitrate is 14Mbps, while audio is recorded in stereo at 128kbps bitrate. There is always-on electronic stabilization.

The footage from the main camera has great colors, contrast and the dynamic range is rather good. The level of detail is also very good for 1080p footage. The video also has an always-on EIS.

And here is the Realme 8 5G in our video comparison database.

1080p: Realme 8 5G against the Readmi Note 9 and the Galaxy A32 in our Video compare tool