Realme 8 Camera Review, 64MP Worth the Hype?

Nowadays, smartphones in the mid-range segment are filled with 48MP & 64MP cameras. Realme 8 is a mid-range device having a quad-camera setup with the main sensor being a 64MP one along with 8MP Ultrawide, 2MP Macro & 2MP Depth sensor. Launched at Rs. 28,700 in Nepal, is it a good camera phone? I have chosen Bhaktapur as my area of the photoshoot to find out the worth of Realme 8’s camera.

Realme 8’s 64MP Main Sensor Samples

Realme 8 sports a 64MP primary sensor from Sony. As the number implies, shots from the main sensor are decent with an adequate amount of bokeh. Point to be noted, it usually relies on PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus). So, you have to manually point towards your desired field of focus for better focusing. Also, it requires an ample amount of light for getting nice 64MP shots.

Realme 8 Regular 16 MP Camera Samples

The main sensor works as a 16MP shooter for normal photo mode. The pictures are taken from it look nice & crisp in a broad daylight situation. With HDR turned on, colors look vibrant. The dynamic range is also decent. AI scene detections help to capture nice colors of various objects & scenes. One can also shoot in RAW format for post-processing.

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Ultra-wide Shots from Realme 8

Another part where Realme 8 camera shines is at clicking ultra-wide pictures. The 8MP Ultra-Wide lens performs very well in daylight conditions. The field of view is 119° wide. Although the shots look good enough, dynamic range can be a hit or a miss sometimes. The saturation levels up for the miss if you are a fan of bright-toned pictures. I managed to shoot some nice ultra-wide shots of the artistic heritage sites of Bhaktapur.

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Portrait Shots from Realme 8

The portrait shots from Realme 8 are charming in broad daylight. Not only human subjects, but the 16MP camera also does an outstanding job of capturing decent portrait shots of objects as well. The edge detection for human subjects is good most of the time. The AI power of creating nice bokeh with subject differentiation from the background for nonhuman subjects is amazing.

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Realme 8 Macro Samples

Coming on the Macro camera sensor, the device provides below-average performance. Being a 2MP one, the quality of the shots is not nice. Most of the time, it produces blurry images while sometimes, it is ‘okayish’. Also, you can’t get too close to the object.

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Front Camera Samples from Realme 8

The front camera on this phone is a 16MP one. It delivers sound performance for capturing selfies with various AI customizations for selfies. Depending upon personal preference, one may not like its AI features like changing the size of eyes, chin, facial structures, etc. The skin tone won’t look fully natural, given the intense AI customizations on typical Realme phones. But, it manages to perform well for capturing nice selfie portraits.

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Night Shots from Realme 8

Phone cameras have come a long way in photography. In recent years, low light photography has become an important criterion. The camera app has a dedicated night mode that can capture average shots. It works for both primary & ultra-wide lenses. In relatively dark environments, the pictures tend to get grainy & low quality. Night mode can make a significant difference in producing ‘okayish’ images. Also, artificial lighting around the surrounding helps a lot.

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Don’t miss: Realme 8i Price in Nepal and Specs

Videos from Realme 8’s Camera

In the video section, Realme 8 performs average or sometimes, below average in some scenarios. The company claims the device to be equipped with EIS but it doesn’t work nicely. As a result, the footages are quite shaky even with stability turned on.

However, there are some interesting video modes like dual camera video, movie mode, steady, super steady mode, etc. The dual camera enables us to use front and back cameras at the same time. The movie mode can shoot videos at a cinematic 16:9 ratio & also allows manual control for white balancing, autofocus, ISO, shutter speed, EV. It can shoot up to 4k 30 fps but the footage is not stable at all. Also, it can do 1080p 30/60fps. The slow-mo is capped at 120 fps with 720p/1080p resolution.

Check out: Complete hands-on Review of Realme 8

Verdict of Realme 8 Camera

A nice mid-range device with Mediatek Helio G95 & quad-camera setups, Realme 8 does a decent job at taking wonderful portraits, normal & ultra-wide shots. The primary shooter is nice enough for this price segment with brighter tones when HDR is turned on. The ultra-wide amazed me with its 119° FOV & pretty performance in daylight conditions. Similarly, portrait mode for both humans and nonhuman subjects is of very superior quality. The ability to differentiate foreground and background for nonhuman subjects is a commendable job done by the AI engine of Realme 8. The Macro shots are meanwhile nothing to be amused of.

The video section however requires many improvements. Footages are shaky and not stable enough even with EIS available. Also, the dynamic range fluctuates here and then. The company did provide some updates for making EIS fluent but seems like, it still needs more stability. Videos from the front camera are average & the dynamic range is also the same.

The cameras on this phone do perform well in most of their counterparts. Splendid portrait modes from both back and front cameras, cool FOV photos from the ultrawide camera add charm to its camera performance. The only cons we get here are, poor low light photos, below average macro shots, shaky videos & dynamic range fluctuation.

Do check: Realme Mobile Price in Nepal | Latest October 2021 Update