Realme and Redmi both launched their latest offerings earlier this month. Many users are potentially looking to make a purchase decision. However, Realme 8 was one of the few devices criticized after launch because the device wasn’t so aggressively competitive compared to the Redmi Note 10. So, let’s check out which you should opt for in this review.
First things first, let’s talk about the pricing of the device. The Realme 8 (4GB + 128GB) costs Rs. 14,999, and the Redmi Note 10 (6GB + 128GB) is priced at Rs. 13,999. So without further ado, let’s get started.
Design
Starting with the device’s design, Redmi has designed a bulky and wider smartphone; instead, Realme has designed a lighter and more comfortable form factor. Like the Realme, the Realme 8 always weighs 177 g, while the Redmi Note 10 If you want an ergonomic smartphone, then the Realme 8 is a choice. Meanwhile, like the recent Realme launch, they have included their tagline on the rear panel of the device, which dares to leapfrog branding.
If you go for the CyberGlow variant, it appears most prominently, while the black variant seems fine. Realme should stop including massive branding on the rear panel, despite much criticism from industry experts. Realme 8 uses a plastic-built material, has a glossy back, and will attract many fingerprints. The volume and power buttons placed on the upper-right side of the edge offer nice tactile feedback. The left edge has a 2x SIM and MicroSD Card slot. We don’t notice any rubber on the SIM track, which means it can’t handle water at all.
Display
It comes with a 6.4-inch sAMOLED display panel with a Full HD+ screen resolution, offering a 60Hz screen refresh rate accomplished by 1000nits of peak brightness. Compared with the Redmi Note 10, the display looks more vibrant despite other factors that look identical, such as viewing angles, contrast, and other factors.
The device also supports an Always-On display, and you can also utilize HD video streaming as the device is Widevine L1 certified. Touch is also good, thanks to 180 Hz of touch sampling. The device has an optical in-display fingerprint scanner, but they have detached the gorilla glass protection on the rear panel.
Performance
Under the hood, the device is powered by the MediaTek Helio G95 Mobile platform, paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 onboard storage, which is value for money. We didn’t notice any lag while opening an application. The device runs on an Android 11-based custom skin, Realme UI 2.0, out of the box. When comparing Realme 9 (Helio G95) to Redmi Note 10 (Snapdragon 678) the Antutu V8 benchmark shows 296,542 points and 237,386, respectively. In terms of performance, Realme does it better with a test of app opening and multitasking to complete the 4K 107MB video to 1080P render within 2:24 min on Realme 8 and 5:43 min on Redmi Note 10.
You can run PUBG Mobile with an optimum settings level, graphics at balanced, and framerate at ultra. On the other hand, COD Mobile considers it more optimized for graphics at high and framerate at MAX optimum settings. However, Genshin Impact falls behind with graphics at LOW and frames at 30 fps. Even after an hour of gaming, you will not notice any major heating issues. This is mostly an issue with the MediaTek chipset, but this time it seems to be a great upgrade. During our testing, we noticed a temperature of 42 °C.
Camera
Camera Realme 8 doesn’t bring any major upgrades to the camera module but packs a 64MP primary + 8M ultra-wide + 2MP depth + 2MP macro lens. In the comparison, we notice a slightly warmer tone on the Redmi Note 10 and slightly boosted exposure. However, Realme captures a bit more over-shaped photos, and Realme Ultra-Wide and HDR shots are far better in Realme. It also uses Soft and, most of the time, Realme to capture more appealing images. In contrast, Portrait seems similar, but Realme has a pink and red tint while capturing a portrait image. Macro shots are also better in Realme, but Redmi Note 10 captures better in Nighttime once you enable Night Mode. Realme Capture captures better images with more contrast.
The selfie camera follows similar instances; hence, the Redmi Note 10 has better edge detection during portrait but still follows the same red tint. In the case of video recording, you can record a video in 1080p at 30 fps with better Redmi stabilization. Not to mention, you can also record 4K at 30 FPS. Neither can do fair stabilization, but still, Redmi looks far better than Realme 8. Up front, both can record a selfie video in 1080p at 30 FPS. Realme isn’t able to beat the Redmi Note 10 in terms of video recording.
Battery
Realme 8 comes with a 5000mAh battery, and you can easily take up to 7–6 hours of screen time. As for charging, the device had a 30W fast charging solution bundled in the box, and it changed within 58 minutes to 100%. The device has a bottom speaker, which isn’t impressive in any case. Here, the Redmi Note 10 seems better with a speaker and has more details. If you have to choose between Realme 8 and Realme 8 Pro, we recommend you go for Realme 8. It provides much better value. Also, Realme 8 Pro expected a 108MP camera, even though it doesn’t feature any standout features and still has similar features. Additionally, between the 8 and Redmi Note 10, Realme 8 failed in critical features such as the in-camera department, so for this price, Redmi Note 10 is a better value for money; however, if you have a lot of performance demands, Realme 8 is not a bad deal either.