Realme 8i was launched in India as the successor of the Realme 7i and a more affordable option than the Realme 8. This new smartphone’s headlining features are its 120Hz display, MediaTek Helio G96 SoC, and 5,000mAh battery. What is also interesting is the Realme 8i’s starting price of Rs. 13,999, which puts it in one of the most competitive segments in the market. Can the Realme 8i outshine the competition, or should you consider other options? I put the Realme 8i to the test to find out.
The Realme 8i packs in a 5,000mAh battery and supports 18W fast charging
Realme 8i price in India
The Realme 8i is available in two variants. The base variant, with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, is priced at Rs. 13,999 in India, whereas the higher variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is priced at Rs. 15,999. You have two colour options to choose from, Space Black and Space Purple. I had the top-end variant in Space Purple for this review.
Realme 8i design
The Realme 8i has grown slightly compared to its predecessor. It sports a bigger display with a hole for the camera in the top-left corner. The borders are thin at the sides but comparatively thicker at the top and the bottom. There’s a fingerprint scanner mounted on the power button on the right, while the volume buttons are on the left. I found the button positioning to be very good as I could reach them without needing to stretch. The left of the frame also has the SIM tray. The frame is flat at the top and bottom, and while the top is blank, the bottom looks busy with a 3.5mm headphone jack, primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and loudspeaker.
The body of the Realme 8i is made of plastic and the rear panel has an “arc beam” texture that pops when light falls on it. This panel is glossy and picks up fingerprints rather easily. The light colour of my review unit made smudges visible very easily. The camera module is in the upper left corner and protrudes slightly. It might look like there’s a quad-camera setup at first glance but this phone only has three cameras. One of the spaces has a flash positioned in it.
Realme 8i has a plastic back panel that …….