Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic happened, the family budget became really tight for many Filipino families. Despite that, our children are being required to have high-speed gadgets for their online schooling. What are we parents got to do when finances are really tight? Thankfully, realme Philippines has launched a mid-range phone with all the high-end specs with the realme 8 series. And without further ado, here is our realme 8 review, the one with the 64MP quad camera.

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What Makes this realme 8 Review so Relatable

This realme 8 review may not have hifalutin technical words used by techno-geeks, but I will tell you how regular cellphone users would appreciate this phone. After all, not all cellphone users are techie — but regular folks who need their phones for different purposes.

realme 8 Review: First Impressions

Between our eldest daughter Shawna and I, these are our first impressions of this phone, which I know will eventually end up with her. Just so hard to let go because I like using it for my mobile photography needs.

Lightweight and Handy

For starters, the phone is lightweight that it feels good in my hands (with short fingers, if I may say). It only weighs 117 grams and is super slim at 7.99mm. This makes a huge difference if you use the phone for long periods of time like I do.

After a while, my fingers become numb if the phone is even a few grams heavier than this. That’s what’s happening to me with my old phone.

Very Long Battery Life

I am online all day every day, even if I may not be actually using the phone. It is connected to the internet, like 24/7. With my old phone, the battery can’t even last 24 hours.

With the 5000mAh battery capacity of the realme8, it can go for more than 2 days with active social media use. We tried watching a 55-minute K-Drama on Youtube with full volume on, and it only ate up 7% of the battery life.

Achi Shawna also noticed that it has good speakers. We played the K-Drama while cooking in the kitchen, and even with our kitchen being quite roomy, the sounds are loud and distinct. Achi really commented that it sounds like we had our USB speakers on.

Super-Fast Charging

The unit comes with the 30W Dart Charge that can reportedly get your battery to 50% charge from zero in just 26 minutes. In my record, it took 15 minutes to charge from 50% to 85%. The average was like 4% charge every 6 minutes.

In our fast-paced lifestyle, this is very important. While I usually charge my phone at night when I sleep, there are times that I forget and would hurriedly charge my phone while I am preparing to go out. And this is usually not enough to I end up connecting to the powerbank while in the car.

With the realme 8, my prep time is also enough to fully charge the phone.

64MP Quad Camera

The realme 8 features a 64MP quad camera with AI capabilities. You can turn it off so that you can manually adjust the settings of your mobile photography. But I like using the FOOD and GREENS mode. It automatically adjusts itself and I get really nice photos.

It also has a Starry Night Mode. While it needs a tripod, I was able to capture many stars in the night sky that we often miss with our naked eye because we live in the city. The light pollution is so much. After taking the nighttime photo using the starry night mode, I was surprised to find out that there were actually more stars in that area.

Super AMOLED Fullscreen

The realme 8 features a Super AMOLED display on a 6.4″ screen. That’s a wide view and the display colors are so vibrant and the photos look amazing. Looking at my IG feed from this phone feels like I could pick out the chocolate bar from my IG post.

Gamers would truly appreciate the Super AMOLED fullscreen because the game scenes are totally life-like with explosive colors!

Photo and Video Filters

We love playing with the photo and video filters, especially the kids. No more editing needed because of the super cool filters like the Neon Portrait, Dynamic Portrait, and AI Color portrait modes. In the photos below taken by the realme 8, I didn’t adjust even the lighting and colors.

For the videos, there are already built-in filters. I love to use them because as a mom, I want to catch the kids in action, but sometimes, their bedroom or the house is just so messy. With the video filters, I can just capture the kids in action anytime without having to fix the room. The messy background gets blurred or desaturated using the filters. Look at the examples below. I just love them!

I would also like to mention that the realme 8 has an ultra wide angle feature. You can zoom out the camera and still get a really nice shot with lots of details. Look at the photos below that I took of our garden while standing on the same spot. The first photo just used the regular angle and the one below used the ultra wide angle.

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As you can see, more of the foreground elements can now be seen in the photo below. Plus, our small garden looks like it has so much depth.

Super Duper Fast Processor

What makes the realme 8 stand out is the MediaTek Helio G95 Gaming Processor, which gives it a lot of power and speed for gaming. If you have teenage children, they will truly appreciate this. No more lagging and hanging in the middle of an exciting game!

Super Affordable Price

My realme 8 features a 128 gb memory, so it can store a lot of data. Meanwhile, it has a 3-card slot to accommodate 3 SIM cards. I think that is amazing because if you have 3 different numbers for work and business, you won’t need an extra phone anymore.

With all these features, the introductory price for the realme 8 is only P13,999 plus there are payment options, too.

A Sulit Phone for the Budget-Conscious Family

In this realme 8 review, I think you would want me to say the bottomline.

For me, I think it’s tipid-sulit because all the good things we usually need in a phone are in one package. It has a good camera for photos and videos plus filters and shooting modes for amateur content creators. Those with an on-the-go lifestyle will appreciate the long battery life and fast charging, while gamers will truly be thankful for the fast processor and Super AMOLED Fullscreen.

Moreover, the package already comes with a clear gel case, so there’s no need to buy a new one until it’s worn out. There is also a screen protector already installed—no need for extra expenses like these in order to protect your unit. That’s about what, P400 savings, and you can already use your unit from the box. I really appreciate this with realme phones, like our realme C25, because it’s got your phone covered. Like, literally.

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