Realme launches its 108MP "Camera Flagship", the 8 Pro

Realme ostensibly presented its new 8 Pro with an emphasis on the capabilities, specs and new features of the first 108MP main camera sensor it has picked up thus far, even if it did do so previously at its 2021 Innovation Event. This may be to distract from the rest of its specs, which are unavoidably underwhelming, not merely in comparison with other mid-rangers launched so far this year, but with this phone's own forebears.

The 8 Pro's Samsung ISOCELL HM2 shooter is joined by pretty run-of-the-mill 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro and 2MP monochrome sensors in its rear camera hump. Despite the fact Realme calls it a feature-flagship, it turns out that it runs on the Snapdragon 720G found in some other low- to mid-tier devices from the brand.

It drives a 6.4-inch AMOLED FHD display with a 180Hz touch-sampling rate - and a standard 60Hz refresh rete. This panel is kept on with a 4500mAh battery with 50W Dart Charging. Yes, that's Dart, and not the improved 65W SuperDart standard found in the 7 Pro.

Nevertheless, Realme emphasizes its 47-minute 0 to 100% time as a special feature in its successor. All in all, the device appears less than prepared to take on similar new 108MP contenders such as those of the Redmi Note 10 series.

It has arrived alongside a rather less well-hyped vanilla 8 variant. This device has the same display and rear camera housing as its "Pro" sibling, yet has a 64MP main camera in place of the headline HM2, as well as the MediaTek Helio G95 SoC and a 5000mAh battery with 30W charging.

In fact, its own only really new facet is its Cyber Silver and Black colorways, which have a holographic tint to their rear branding stripe and camera accent. Saying all that, the 8 and 8 Pro do at least have headphone jacks.

It is only to be up for pre-order in India thus far, and will start at INR 14,999 (~US$207) for a 4GB RAM SKU, or INR 15,999 (~$220) for one with 6GB with an INR 16,999 (~$234) price for a top-end 8GB SKU. They all have 128GB of internal storage, which is an unusual advantage at that price-point, in fairness.

The 8 Pro has been launched in Europe as well as India (where a market-exclusive Illuminating Yellow colorway has also debuted today). It will be available to pre-order in 1 8/128GB SKU for €279 (~$330) in the former; for INR 17,999 (~$248) for a 6GB SKU or INR 19,999 (~$275) for the 8GB model (again, no 64GB modules here). Whether it can compete on its launch-day release (as opposed to March 25, 2021 for the 8) in its first regions remains to be seen.

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