Realme 8s 5G review

Android 11 and Realme UI 2.0

The realme 8s 5G runs on Android 11, with Realme UI 2.0 on top - a combo common across the Realme 8 family. The second version of Realme's launcher offers richer customization options, a couple of extra Dark Mode styles, refined floating and mini windows, and enhanced security.

On the surface, Realme UI 2.0 looks quite clean. The lock screen and desktop are straightforward. The task switcher is very AOSP as well. There is an optional Google Feed panel, and you can also choose whether you want an app drawer or not.

Lock screen • Home screen • Google Feed • Task switcher • Notification shade • Quick toggles

That simplicity, however, is just skin deep, and there is an astonishing amount of customization available in Realme UI 2.0. Before we get to all of those positive aspects of the OS, we just have to take a second to complain about the insane amount of preloaded apps and notification ads and bloat on our review unit.

We get that subsidizing hardware through software-level deals is a common and often user-beneficial practice, but we think Realme might be going overboard. A non-exhaustive list of apps, preloaded on our Realme 8s 5G includes HeyFun, Realme Community, Realme Store, Soloop, FinShell Pay, Hot Apps, realme Link, Facebook, Amazon, Amazon Video, Amazon Music, Dailyhunt, Josh, Linkedin, Booking.com, Moj. Thankfully, nothing that can't be easily uninstalled.

Preloaded apps and bloat

Back to customizing Realme UI 2.0. Most of the options are neatly organized within the Personalisations menu. There is full-featured icon customization, not just limited to packs. You can also tweak system colors and fonts. You can even adjust the look of the quick toggles.

Personalisations menu

The more "general" or behavioral-related settings have their own top-level settings menu. It includes the optional home screen settings, where you can decide if you want an app drawer or not or use a simple mode, with no app drawer and bigger icons.

More customization • Even more settings • Home screen mode • Home screen gestures

Some of the gesture settings are also housed within this menu. Not all of them, though. There are a few other settings menus that also pertain to various customization for Realme UI 2.0. That is actually one of our main complaints with it - the need for better organization. The groundwork is already there with menus like Personalisations. Now Realme just needs to simplify and reorganize things better. Granted, we did spot a few things swapped around since the last type we checked Realme UI 2.0, so there appears to be some progress.

Settings menu

For instance, there is a separate Notifications and status bar menu that could easily be placed in a more logical spot, alongside other settings. Organizational concerns aside, the number of small tweaks on offer is impressive. You can basically dial both the behavior and look just the way you like them.

Notifications and status bar settings

Continuing on with the tour, there is also a whole other Convenience tools menu. It is also filled to the brim with options. Navigation is fully adjustable, as expected - traditional buttons in both popular arrangements and a full set of gesture navigation.

Convenience tools • Navigation options

And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gestures. Realme UI 2.0 has support for basically every swipe and motion-based shortcut you can think of. Both with the screen on and off. Plus, in-depth customizability for said gestures.

Gesture settings

Speaking of navigation, Realme also recently added and Assistive Ball feature. It is highly customizable too and can either be operated with gestures or taps. Then there is also a Quick Return Bubble, which is specifically designed to quickly jump back into an open game.

Quick Return Bubble • Assistive Ball

Screenshots and Screen recording also have an extensive set of options to adjust.

Screenshots and screen recording

Realme UI 2.0 has quite advanced multi-tasking options too. There is the standard split-screen for supported apps. It can either be triggered by the task manager or via a gesture. Beyond that, Realme UI 2.0 also has two different floating window options. One is bigger than the other, but otherwise pretty similar.

Split-screen and floating windows

There is yet another convenience feature bake into Realme UI 2.0 - Smart Sidebar. It is pretty self-explanatory. You can put shortcuts to both system functions, as well as apps and trigger them quickly.

Smart Sidebar

Dark Mode is available, too, and it's been enhanced with Realme UI 2.0 with support for three different dark styles - black, dark gray or light gray. It can be manual or scheduled. You can also opt to force it on third-party apps, though this doesn't always end well.

Dark Mode

The multimedia apps such as Gallery, Music, and Videos - are provided by Realme. There is also a redesigned File Manager and even a Phone Manager app. We did notice ads inside the Files app, which is unfortunate to see.

Gallery • Albums • Videos • Phone manager • File Manager

Realme has a few additional apps of its own preloaded. Most of them are useful in one way or another. If not, easily uninstallable.

Interestingly enough, even with all of the first-party apps on here, the Realme 8s 5G uses Google's own Phone and Messages apps, which have been available on the app store for some time now. You also get a pretty full set of Google apps preloaded, as well. Not that we are complaining or anything.

Realme also has a game optimizer and launcher, called Game Space. It lets you apply performance profiles and resolution scaling on a per-app basis and also offers performance metrics, including an FPS readout. Neat idea, but it might need some extra work since its readings weren't consistent at times. Beyond that, there are also focus and do not disturb modes to toggle from Game Space and quick shortcuts to other features and apps.

Game Space

Overall, there is plenty to like about Realme UI 2.0. The interface is snappy, clutter-free and easy to use. Yet, it retains plenty of powerful tools should you choose to dig deeper and use them, and the level of optional customizability is truly impressive. We just wish Realme would ease up on the preloaded apps a bit in the future.

Performance and benchmarks

The Realme 8s 5G has the distinction of being the first phone to officially use the new MediaTek Dimensity 810 5G chipset. It is a rather interesting chip for a number of reasons. First up, it is the first in the Dimensity 800 family to be made on a more efficient 6nm N6 manufacturing process. Then there is the question of its CPU and GPU setup. The former is not particularly interesting. There are still eight CPU cores - four "big" Cortex-A76 ones that can clock up to 2.4GHz and four "LITTLE" Cortex-A55 ones that can run at up to 2.0GHz. That should technically make the Dimensity 810 5G faster than the Dimensity 800 in CPU tasks.

GPU is a different story, though. The Dimensity 810 5G is rather inexplicably running just a Mali-G57 MC2 setup, which means two cores, effectively putting it on par with the lowest-end Dimensity 700. While the Dimensity 720 and 800U both have three Mali-G57 cores, and the Dimensity 800 is rocking four of them. We aren't quite sure why MediaTek decided to leave the Dimensity 810 5G in a bit of a GPU-deficient state, all the while equipping it with 120Hz refresh rate support, hinting at aspirations to power mid-range or budget gaming phones. We'll just have to see how that works out for the Realme 8s 5G in the benchmarks.

On a more positive note, Realme has enabled the trendy dynamic RAM extension feature on the Realme 8s 5G. Our review unit is the higher-tier 8GB RAM and 128GB storage variant, which means that its "virtual" RAM capacity, after offloading some of the data to storage, should work out to around 13GB.

RAM expansion

Let's kick things off with some CPU-only tests and GeekBench. We can see that the Realme 8s 5G and the Dimensity 810 5G hold their own well, as expected.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Pro
  2997
• Xiaomi 11T
  2834
• Realme X7 Max 5G
  2614
• Poco X3 Pro
  2574
• Poco X3 GT
  2310
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  2196
• Oppo Reno6 5G
  2131
• Realme 8i
  1886
• Realme 8s 5G
  1842
• Realme 7 5G
  1794
• Realme 8 5G
  1784
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  1783
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  1780
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  1719
• Realme 8
  1690
• Realme 8 Pro
  1678
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  1673
• vivo V21 5G
  1600
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  1599
• Poco M3
  1398
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  1314
• Xiaomi Redmi 10
  1294
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  1034
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  495

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  967
• Realme X7 Pro
  756
• Xiaomi 11T
  742
• Poco X3 Pro
  735
• Oppo Reno6 5G
  722
• Poco X3 GT
  693
• Realme 8s 5G
  616
• Realme 7 5G
  598
• vivo V21 5G
  574
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  572
• Realme 8 5G
  569
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  569
• Realme 8 Pro
  566
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  560
• Realme 8i
  539
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  534
• Realme 8
  533
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  522
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  505
• Xiaomi Redmi 10
  361
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  352
• Poco M3
  308
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  169
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  131

In both multi-core and single-core scenarios, the Realme 8s 5G outpaces the older Realme 8 5G and its Dimensity 700 chipset. The Realme 8 and Realme 8 Pro, with their MediaTek Helio G95 and Snapdragon 720G, respectively, are left in the dust as well.

In both tests, we can see the Realme 8s 5G score close to the Realme 7 5G and its Dimensity 800U chipset, which makes sense. The Dimensity 800, as found inside the Oppo Reno4 Z 5G, manages better multi-core scores but gets left in the dust in the single-threaded test.

AnTuTu introduces a more varied load in its tests, including GPU runs, and considers things like memory and storage. The realme 8s 5G holds up well here as well.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  605819
• Realme X7 Pro
  510317
• Poco X3 GT
  506800
• Poco X3 Pro
  453223
• Oppo Reno6 5G
  362450
• vivo V21 5G
  336699
• Realme 8s 5G
  329661
• Realme 7 5G
  318535
• Realme 8 5G
  302059
• Realme 8
  298328
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  295562
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  295442
• Realme 8i
  293507
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  290161
• Realme 8 Pro
  286666
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  242155
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  226561
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  218788
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  180195
• Poco M3
  177904
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  107189
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  90811

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  680671
• Xiaomi 11T
  590837
• Poco X3 GT
  578505
• Oppo Reno6 5G
  430765
• Realme 8s 5G
  383409
• vivo V21 5G
  365055
• Realme 8 5G
  361505
• Realme 8
  357488
• Realme 8i
  308544
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  223188
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  222125
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  165779

Once again, we see it pulling total scores quite similar to those on Dimensity 800U phones - an admirable achievement.

But just how bad is the GPU situation, given that the Dimensity 810 just has two Mali-G57 cores at its disposal? Well, it's frankly, better than we expected.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  86
• Realme X7 Pro
  80
• Xiaomi 11T
  77
• Poco X3 Pro
  75
• Poco X3 GT
  74
• Realme 7 5G
  35
• vivo V21 5G
  34
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  34
• Realme 8
  33
• Realme 8 Pro
  28
• Realme 8s 5G
  27
• Realme 8 5G
  25
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  25
• Realme 8i
  24
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  24
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  17
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  16
• Poco M3
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  7.7
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  6.1

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  79
• Xiaomi 11T
  72
• Poco X3 GT
  68
• Poco X3 Pro
  67
• Realme X7 Pro
  60
• Realme 7 5G
  31
• Realme 8 Pro
  31
• vivo V21 5G
  31
• Realme 8
  29
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  29
• Realme 8s 5G
  24
• Realme 8 5G
  22
• Realme 8i
  22
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  22
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  21
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  14
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  12
• Poco M3
  11

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  50
• Xiaomi 11T
  47
• Realme X7 Pro
  46
• Poco X3 Pro
  45
• Poco X3 GT
  44
• Realme 7 5G
  20
• Realme 8
  20
• vivo V21 5G
  20
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  20
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  19
• Realme 8 Pro
  18
• Realme 8s 5G
  16
• Realme 8 5G
  15
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  15
• Realme 8i
  14
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  9.6
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  9.3
• Poco M3
  7.2
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  3.4
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  3.3

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  44
• Realme X7 Pro
  40
• Xiaomi 11T
  40
• Poco X3 GT
  38
• Poco X3 Pro
  38
• Realme 8
  18
• Realme 7 5G
  17
• vivo V21 5G
  17
• Realme 8 Pro
  16
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  16
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  16
• Realme 8s 5G
  14
• Realme 8 5G
  13
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  12
• Realme 8i
  11
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  8.7
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  7.9
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  6.1
• Poco M3
  5.9
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  5

The Realme 8s 5G manages frame rates pretty close to those on its Realme 8 5G sibling. This is a result that definitely makes sense, given that the latter's Dimensity 700 chipset basically has the same GPU setup. Over in camp Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 720G and 732G, both rocking an Adreno 618, are pretty close in terms of power too.

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  31
• Xiaomi 11T
  29
• Poco X3 GT
  28
• Poco X3 Pro
  27
• Realme 7 5G
  11
• Realme 8 Pro
  11
• Realme 8
  11
• vivo V21 5G
  11
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  11
• Realme 8s 5G
  8.9
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  7.8
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  5.3
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  4.7
• Poco M3
  4.1
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  3.8
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  3.5

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  33
• Xiaomi 11T
  30
• Poco X3 GT
  29
• Poco X3 Pro
  26
• Realme 7 5G
  12
• Realme 8
  12
• vivo V21 5G
  12
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  12
• Realme 8 Pro
  11
• Realme 8s 5G
  9.7
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  8.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  5.6
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  5.4
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  4.6
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  3.5
• Poco M3
  2.8

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  20
• Xiaomi 11T
  20
• Poco X3 GT
  19
• Poco X3 Pro
  18
• Realme 8
  7.5
• vivo V21 5G
  7.5
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  7.4
• Realme 7 5G
  7.3
• Realme 8 Pro
  7.2
• Realme 8s 5G
  5.8
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  5.1
• Poco M3
  4.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  3.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  3.1
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  1.2
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  1.1

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  22
• Xiaomi 11T
  21
• Poco X3 GT
  20
• Poco X3 Pro
  17
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  8.1
• Realme 7 5G
  8
• vivo V21 5G
  8
• Realme 8
  7.7
• Realme 8 Pro
  7
• Realme 8s 5G
  6.2
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  5.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  3.7
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  3.4
• Poco M3
  2.8
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  1.5
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  1.2

Interestingly enough, our Dimensity 800 chipset, inside the Oppo Reno4 Z 5G, appears to consistently be posting fps numbers close to those of the vivo V21 5G and its Dimensity 800U. However, they have four and three Mali-G57 GPU cores, respectively. This, in conjunction with the respectable, if unimpressive Realme 8s 5G numbers, leads us to believe that having more Mali-G57 cores doesn't nearly scale up as linearly as their number would suggest.

3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Pro
  6735
• Oppo Reno6 5G
  3764
• vivo V21 5G
  3331
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  3308
• Realme 7 5G
  3163
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  2638
• Realme 8
  2610
• Realme 8s 5G
  2567
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  2391
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  2357
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  1471
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  1399
• Poco M3
  1175
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  438
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  365

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Pro
  5160
• Oppo Reno6 5G
  3818
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  3180
• vivo V21 5G
  3050
• Realme 7 5G
  3028
• Realme 8
  2639
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  2509
• Realme 8s 5G
  2439
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  2260
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  2257
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  1424
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  1372
• Poco M3
  1106
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  612
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  489

We're inclined to count that as a win for the Realme 8s 5G. Though, even if the Realme 8s 5G is holding up well better than we expected, knowing its GPU situation, it is still a fact that it is far from Dimensity 800 or 800U territory in GPU performance like its name suggests.

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Realme X7 Max 5G
  4216
• Xiaomi 11T
  4172
• Poco X3 GT
  3991
• Realme X7 Pro
  3938
• Poco X3 Pro
  3401
• Oppo Reno6 5G
  2024
• Oppo Reno4 Z 5G
  1647
• vivo V21 5G
  1605
• Realme 7 5G
  1589
• Realme 8
  1486
• Realme 8s 5G
  1231
• Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
  1185
• Realme Narzo 30 5G
  1105
• Realme 8 5G
  1104
• Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
  1104
• Realme 8i
  1102
• Realme 8 Pro
  1051
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021
  722
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
  482
• Poco M3
  368

You can expect a level of GPU power more akin to the Dimensity 700, the MediaTek Helio G95 or the Snapdragon 720G.

Even so, that doesn't make the Realme 8s 5G a total slouch when it comes to gaming. Far from it. Between the respectable, even if unimpressive RAW numbers its GPU can manage and features like dynamic resolution scaling, we got a pretty smooth experience from most titles. However, no games we tried managed to run above 60fps, according to the built-in fps meter.

Just don't expect any miracles in this department. There are other devices much better suited for getting a great gaming experience on a budget.

As for the overall fluidity and real-life performance on the Realme 8s 5G, we have zero complaints regarding the chipset. We never felt strapped for power, and the Dimensity 810 5G has more than enough "oomph" to chew through any daily task, as well as light gaming. It also does so while delivering excellent and modern connectivity, including dual-standby 5G with extensive band support and excellent battery life.